Mannerism........¿¿¿

Abraham Janssens, The Origin of the Cornucopia can fit within the realm of Mannerism for a few reasons. The first being how the figures within the painting are twisted and positioned in ways that make them seem out of balance. For a lot of the figures I feel as if they are either going to fall forward onto their faces, or fall sideways, as if they are drunken and unstable. The second reason being how out of proportion each of the figures are. This is especially noticeable in the figure on the right side of the foreground, her thigh/leg is utterly massive, however most of the figures in the painting have out of proportion limbs.

The Origin of the Cornucopia reminds me a lot of the Allegory with Venus and Cupid on page 663. In both of the paintings all of the figures seem rather pudgy with well toned muscles. It's kind of a strange mix that seems to come from this Mannerist style. The more I look around Cornucopia the stranger the things I see. Especially in that one woman in the right foreground. I've just now realized how big her shoulder is, it's just as big, if not bigger than her entire head. Both of these paintings are also very busy, with each figure doing something, such as pointing one way but looking another. It's all rather confusing and I'm not sure what the focus of the paintings should be.

Vincent Sellaer, Leda and the Swan and Her Children reminds me a lot of Pontormo’s Entombment on page 661. The lighting, and the way the figures are painted, are quite different in each painting. However they are similar in how the figures seem to be floating in space and not resting on everything. They seem stacked and you can't tell what their bodies are resting on.

In Leda and the Swan what I really want to know is what she is leaning her body on. You can see that under the cloth that he leg is laying on something, and that her right arm is resting on the swans neck, but she feels horribly off balance and as a painter it bothers me to be honest...

The weightlessness, and the lack of balance that each figure has ties the painting to Mannerism. There is some elongation with the figures as well, but it isn't quite as apparent. I can really only see it in the woman's left arm, and with the standing child in the background. I feel as if the child should be a lot shorter then that, but then I'm also not sure where his feet are supposed to be..

However I will say that I think that the swan was a good choice for this mannerist painting, because they already have elongated necks. (Hah.. bad joke)