Counter-Mannerism

noun

A trend in the late sixteenth century that rejected some of the distortions of Mannerism, returning to a more classicist emphasis on clarity.

Meanings

nounCounter-Mannerism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableartA trend in the late sixteenth century that rejected some of the distortions of Mannerism, returning to a more classicist emphasis on clarity.

    The decisive factor in the origins of Colonial painting in Peru came a few years later from late Italian Mannerism and Counter-Mannerism.

    1975, The Connoisseur: An Illustrated Magazine for Collectors
    2 more examples

    Nevertheless the artists did not create in "Counter-Mannerism" a wholly new stvle in the way that Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci were to do in the last decade of the century; it seems that, once trained in Mannerism, they could never entirely lose that touch of elegance and that beguiling preciosity which are still very evident in Barocci 's Deposition.

    1978, Gary R. Walters, Federico Barocci, anima naturaliter, page 72

    Domenico Cresti (or Crespi), known as “il Passignano” (from the name of the district of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, near Florence, where he was born, 1559–1638), was a painter of the late-Renaissance or Counter-Mannerism style; he was educated by the Vallombrosan monks.

    2019, Stefano Gattei, On the Life of Galileo

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

Counter-Mannerism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Counter-Mannerism

MLA

“Counter-Mannerism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Counter-Mannerism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Counter-Mannerism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Counter-Mannerism.

Source: Counter-Mannerism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.