"Madonna with the Long Neck" and "Allegory with Venus and Cupid"

When looking at Parmigianino's "Madonna with the Long Neck" and Bronzino's "Allegory with Venus and Cupid," we see two pieces that represent the sixteenth century's mannerism style.

Elongation was thought to create a more elegant look in terms of mannerism, which my be one of the main reasons why mannerism styled art contained a lot of unnatural looking human figures. When looking at both "Madonna with the Long Neck" and " Allegory with Venus and Cupid," we see a lot of elongation being used in different areas of each painting as well as oddly proportioned bodies. In Parmigianino's "Madonna with the Long Neck," we see Mary holding her sleeping child. Mary herself has a very oddly proportioned figure with her obvious long neck, which holds up her smaller sized head. Below her neck we see her unnaturally slanted shoulders and her elongated fingers resting on her chest. Her legs also appear to be very long as we can see a point at which they begin and they look much bigger than the rest of her body. In Mary's lap is her baby who also has unnaturally long features. For one, his body as a whole is very long giving him the height of about a three or four year old. He seems to have the head of a baby as well as the feet of a baby but his body is very long, especially his legs. I also find it very interesting how Mary's son is given a muscular figure. The fact that he has the outline of muscles, gives him an even more unnatural look. Right next to Madonna and her baby we see a lady looking up at Madonna and this lady seems to have a very long thigh on her right leg that is peeking out. Looking at where her shoulders and her head are, she seems to have a very small torso. When comparing Madonna to the women who stand beside her, Madonna is huge. If she were to stand up, she would be incredibly tall next to those beside her. She would also probably be taller than the canvas used, another common trait in mannerism.

When looking at Bronzino's "Allegory with Venus and Cupid," we see a few areas of elongations but mostly, the figures appear to be awkward for other reasons. Cupid has the head of a young boy but a tall body of almost a teenage boy. The young features within his face do not go along with the length of his body. The way that cupid bends over to kiss Venus is very awkward as uncomfortable looking. It looks as if Venus is supporting him from falling over. Looking at Venus, she too is in an awkward pose. It looks as if her buttocks is elevated in some way yet the way her legs are bent, she looks as if she is supposed to be sitting. Her right leg looks as if it would be the leg supporting her lift but it's hard to tell if her thigh is supporting her or if her knee is. Either way, her body seems unnaturally supported. Again, we see elongated fingers used in both Cupid and Venus' hands. The man in the corner about Venus and Cupid, who reveals they're wrong-doing has an incredibly long arm to me. Compared to where his shoulder is, it seems as if his arm is a lot longer than it should be. Just like Mary, if Venus were to stand up, she would be incredibly huge and would be much taller than the canvas used.

Although many figures within each of these paintings are unnaturally proportioned, we still see a bit of elegance in them. For instance, both paintings contain drapery with simple folds and realistic wrinkles. There is also elegance in the way that each figure is posed. Mary has such a simple yet pretty look on her face and although her fingers are very long, the way that her hand rests on her chest shows elegance. Venus shows elegance in the way that she grabs Cupid's arrow from his quiver and the way her other arm drapes down. Both Mary and Venus are not making any sudden movements. They both seem very calm and peaceful in what they are doing. Even their children give off a sense of elegance through their bodies. Mary's baby peacefully sleeps in her lap and shows no sign of any rapid action or movement. We see the same thing with Cupid. He looks very still and at ease.

Overall, both pieces are very interesting and intriguing to the eye. They also give us an idea for what mannerism was about and how well Parmigianino and Bronzino used it.