The Importance Of Mannerism

Painting and drawing that was practiced by artists in the Northern Europe during the early part of the sixteenth century was also known as Mannerism. it was praised for its highly distinctive style. many mannerists were based in Antwerp, France and Germany for which they were important because of their disparity.

"The foremost sixteenth century painter of the Netherlands, and a follower of Bosch, was Pieter Bruegel the elder, (c. 1525-69). Early in his career, Bruegel worked in Antwerp. in 1551 he became a master in the Painter's Guild. The following year he departed in Italy. his trip influenced his work considerably. Bruegel painted 'Netherlandish proverbs' which is the equivalent of Erasmus's Adagia. It is an outdoor scene filled with about

Brueghel's paintings often had themes of the absurdity, wickedness and foolishness of mankind and this one is quite a study of human stupidity. There are around 100 identifiable idioms in the scene and some are still in use today. The title, "The Blue Cloak", comes from "She puts the blue cloak on her husband" which means she deceives him. In the lower center of the painting is a woman in a red dress putting a blue cloak on her husband which indicates that she was cuckolding him. “To bang one's head against a brick wall" and "One foot shod, the other bare" are illustrated by the man with a sword to our lower left who is pressing his head against the brick wall and wearing only one shoe. He is trying to achieve the impossible in pushing against a brick wall and his balance for the effort is very important. Some of the sayings are familiar but perhaps not identical to the modern English usage such as "casting roses before swine". Directly to our right from the woman putting the blue cloak on her husband stands a man dressed in a brown tunic who is dropping flowers among the pigs. This action indicates wasting effort on the unworthy. Many more have faded from use or never been used in English such as "having one's roof tiled with tarts" which means to be very wealthy or to have an abundance of everything.

As a matter of fact, it was connected to sacredness and to the virgin Mary, she was seen wearing a blue robe often in other artworks, symbolizing piousness, celibacy and faith. In this surrounding, off course, the color blue in itself represents the deception. her unfaithfulness is masked by a pretense that all is well. Same is the case with the man shown in the first picture he is absurdly covering himself in a blue cloak, thus depiction of fooling himself.

Bruegel’s representation of human absurdity and foolishness is yet beautifully pictured again and again and his work portrays an extensive study of human stupidity. His use of color brings out the sense of effectiveness of a two-dimensional surface into a three dimensional one. the repeated use of red, brown, orange and gold grasps our attention and forces us to indulge in peoples actions. We find men being cloaked in blue in earlier modern depictions, so it seems the proverb kept its