ABSTRACT
Mannerism is a twentieth-century term derived from maniera, 'style', to summarise the distortions from the classical norms of architecture which emerged and the parallel phenomena in painting and sculpture of the same period. Thus, while many Renaissance architects knew their Vitruvius backwards, Michelangelo actually applied the elements of classical architecture backwards. The elongated figures of Parmigianino are often regarded as the epitome of Mannerism in painting. Alberti's 'visual pyramid': side elevation, picture plane, equal divisions behind the picture plane joined to the viewer's eye, viewer's eye, points at which these lines cross the picture plane, which provide the horizontal divisions for, a grid in perspective in which, is the 'centric' or 'vanishing' point. Venetian Gothic Architectural style characterised by ogee arches and quatrefoil tracery which reached its most fully developed form in the fifteenth century and was lauded by Ruskin in The Stones of Venice.
