Antwerp Mannerism

Antwerp Mannerism is the name given to the style of a

group of largely anonymous painters active in the Southern
Netherlands and principally in Antwerp in roughly the first
three decades of the 16th century, a movement marking the tail
end of Early Netherlandish painting, and an early phase within
Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting. The style bore no
relation to Italian Mannerism, which it mostly predates by a
few years, but the name suggests that it was a reaction to the
"classic" style of the earlier Flemish painters,[1][2] just as the
Italian Mannerists were reacting to, or trying to go beyond, the
classicism of High Renaissance art.
Jan van Dornicke, The Marriage of
The Antwerp Mannerists' style is certainly "mannered", and the Virgin, Saint Louis Art Museum
"characterized by an artificial elegance. Their paintings
typically feature elongated figures posed in
affected, twisting, postures, colorful ornate
costumes, fluttering drapery, Italianate
architecture decorated with grotesque
ornament, and crowded groups of
[3]
figures...". Joseph Koerner notes "a diffuse
sense of outlandishness in Antwerp art, of an
exoticism both of subject and means ...
evoking a non-localized elsewhere".[4]

The subject of the Adoration of the Magi was a

particular favourite, as it allowed the artists to
give free rein to their preoccupation with
ornament and the simulation and imitation of Master of the Von Groote Adoration, the Von Groote
luxury products.[5] The Biblical Magi were Adoration of the Magi, with at left King David receiving
also regarded as the patron saints of travellers the Emissaries of the Twelve Tribes and right The Queen
and merchants, which was relevant for the of Sheba before Solomon
painters' clientele in what had become
Europe's main centre for international trade,
in a "meteoric rise" after 1501, when the first Asian
cargos were landed by Portuguese ships.[6] The
theme of rich commodities arriving from distant and
exotic parts of the world had a natural appeal to
Antwerp merchant buyers, a large proportion
themselves foreign. Many artists from around the
Netherlands and further afield moved to the city to
benefit from the boom, which saw large workshops
"that grew into assembly lines", and a great increase
in the quantity of art produced, but also some fall in
quality; this is especially seen among the minor
figures grouped under this term.[7] Many smaller
works were produced without commissions, for sale Adoration of the Magi by Anonymous Antwerp
from shop windows, at fairs, or to dealers, rather Mannerist
than for an individual commission, an indication of a growing trend in Netherlandish painting. The
Antwerp Pand was a trade fair lasting six weeks, where many painters sold works, and the latest
ideas were exchanged and diffused.[8]

Although sometimes spoken of as the "subterm “Antwerp Mannerism” as part of "Northern

Mannerism in the early sixteenth century",[9] the movement is better distinguished from the
Northern Mannerism of later in the century, which developed from Italian Mannerism. There was
very little continuity between the two, with Northern Mannerism proper developing in the
Netherlands only after a gap of about fifty years after Antwerp Mannerism declined in the 1530s,
and after the next stylistic wave of Romanism,[10] heavily influenced by Italian painting, as seen in
the later works of Gossaert.

Contents
Name
Artists
Subjects and style
Drawings and miniatures
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Name
The term Antwerp Manierists was first used in 1915 by Max
Jakob Friedländer in his work Die Antwerpener Manieristen
von 1520, in which he made a first attempt to put order in the
growing number of works from the Netherlands that were
catalogued under the "name of embarrassment 'pseudo-Herri
met de Bles' " (usually now "Pseudo Bles" or "Pseudo-
Blesius").[11] Friedländer used the term Antwerp Mannerism
here as synonymous for "Antwerp style".[12] Even though he
added the location 'Antwerp' to name the artists and placed
Master of the Lille Adoration triptych
them in the year 1520, Friedländer made it clear that he did not
of the Adoration of the Magi,
intend to limit the group strictly to Antwerp and the time
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen,
period to circa 1520, even though he was of the opinion that
Rotterdam
most of the "pseudo-Bles' works originated from Antwerp and
Antwerp workshops.[13] Friedländer placed the works
attributed to the group in a time period between 1500 and 1530.[14]

Despite the name Antwerp Mannerism the style was not limited to Antwerp. The style also
appeared in the north of France and the Northern Netherlands.[15][16]

Artists
Although attempts have been made to identify the
individual artists that were part of this movement, most of
the paintings remain attributed to anonymous masters as
the paintings were not signed. This anonymity has
contributed to a lack of knowledge about or popularity of
their works. Only a minority of the works have been
attributed. The makers of the altarpieces have been given
notnames based on any external knowledge about the
works such as an inscription, a previous owner, the place
where it was kept or a date found on the work. These
include as the Pseudo-Bles, the Master of the Von Groote
Adoration, the Master of Amiens, the Master of the
Antwerp Adoration and the Master of 1518. Works that
cannot be attributed directly to a named master are
attributed to Anonymous Antwerp Mannerist.[17] The The Nativity by Jan de Beer, 1515–1525.
Master of the Lille Adoration is a new figure, first proposed
in 1995.[18]

There is evidence that some workshops developed division of labour, with different artists
specializing in figures, landscape or architectural backgrounds, and dividing the work on a
particular painting between them, and different workshops specializing in one or two subjects.[19]
Compositions were often copied, repeated or adapted; for example at least six versions of an
Adoration of the Magi triptych composition by Joos van Cleve and his workshop are known,
though varying considerably in size, with the widths of the centre panel ranging from 56 to 93
cm.[20]

It has been possible to identify some of the artists. Jan de Beer, the Master of 1518 (possibly Jan
Mertens or Jan van Dornicke) and Adriaen van Overbeke are some of the identified artists who are
regarded as Antwerp Mannerists.[16] The early paintings of Jan Gossaert and Adriaen Isenbrandt
(in Bruges) also show characteristics of the style.[21] The paintings combine Early Netherlandish
and Northern Renaissance styles, and incorporate both Flemish and Italian traditions into the
same compositions.[22][23]

A particular problem is that Antwerp was very badly hit by the Beeldenstorm of 1566, when a large
proportion of the altarpieces in the churches were destroyed by iconoclastic rioters. Some of these
are documented and probably many were signed, which would have helped greatly in attributing
the mostly smaller paintings that have survived; these were no doubt still in private houses. The
Sack of Antwerp or "Spanish Fury" of 1576, by unpaid Spanish troops caused much further
destruction.

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, artists in the large workshop of Cornelis Engebrechtsz. in Leiden
seem to have pulled their reluctant master in the Mannerist direction,[24] and at least the
extravagant clothes and architectural settings are seen in the otherwise more solidly based works of
the Master of Delft and in Haarlem Jan Mostaert. The Antwerp workshop of Joos van Cleve
(probably originally German) could work in the style, as well as others.[25]

Subjects and style

The Antwerp Mannerists typically depicted religious subjects, which they interpreted generally in a
more superficial manner than the Flemish artists of the previous century in favour of a more fluid
form and an abundance of meticulously rendered details.[26]
Although one scholar has described Friedlander's label as "utterly inefficient as a stylistic
guide",[27] there are communalities. Their "essentially late Gothic style is characterized by
calligraphically complicated compositions peopled with elongated, theatrically-dressed figures
animated by improbable poses and repetitive gestures".[28] According to James Snyder,
"Receptivity, not originality, characterises the style of Antwerp painting, resulting in a hodgepodge
of modes that are nearly impossible to sort out... With some effort, a few basic tendencies can be
discerned which include selective eclecticism and archaism in terms of style, Mannerism in matters
of taste, and specialization in subject matter."[29]

The compositions typically include architectural ruins. The

architecture is initially Gothic but later Renaissance motifs
become dominant.[30][31] The "antique" style appears in
paintings when hardly any built examples existed in the Low
Countries, any more than ruins from Roman architecture. The
Mannerist painters show very little evidence of having visited
Italy (where Jan Gossaert had been in 1508–09), and their idea
of alla antica style must be derived from Italian prints, and Master of 1518, triptych with Raising
sometimes drawings. At this period painters or other artists of Lazarus, Last Supper, and Mary
were the usual designers of buildings, especially their Magdalene with donor portrait
ornament, and until a court case in Utrecht in 1543, master-
masons were prohibited from doing so there by guild
restrictions.[32]

The fantastic and exotic costumes many characters wear were

already a feature of Early Netherlandish painting in the
previous century, and the Biblical Magi and their retinues gave
one of the most typical settings for this. They seem to derive
partly from theatrical contexts, such as tableaux vivants in
royal entries and other pageants, which artists were often asked
to design.[34]

Another influence was the visit of the Byzantine Emperor John

VIII Palaiologos and his 700-strong retinue to the Ferrara stage
of the Council of Florence in 1438. They were drawn by
Pisanello and others, and the drawings were copied across
Europe. The emperor's stylish hat, with a long pointed peak in
front, seen on the Medal of John VIII Palaeologus, was
Adoration of the Magi, with left King
especially popular, and versions appear in a good proportion of
David receiving the Emissaries of
paintings of the Magi (as in some illustrated here). The large the Twelve Tribes and right The
costumes were also useful in concealing deficiencies in the Queen of Sheba before Solomon, c.
artists' figure drawing, which the complicated poses would 1515, given to the "Pseudo-blesius",
otherwise have exposed.[35] The artists liked "chromatic" Prado.[33]
colouring, as was becoming fashionable in Italy, and coleur
changeante transitions between colours in fabrics, imitating
silks (called cangiante in Italy).[36]

Compositional elements, especially figures, are often taken from outside sources, especially prints,
but also drawings which appear to have been passed around within and perhaps between
workshops:"Thus background groups are endlessly repeated, the same repoussoire figures fill in a
variey of empty corners, and stock poses answer many demands".[37] The prints of Albrecht Dürer
were the most common easily traceable source.[38] Woodcut style also influenced the type of
underdrawing revealed by special photography, "extremely detailed underdrawing with an
elaborate system of shading (hatching and crosshatching) and broad, curling contour lines". This is
sometimes described as using the "woodcut convention" or having the "woodcut look".[39]
Although "detailed underdrawing in the woodcut convention appears labor intensive, it simplified
the production process and saved on costs".[40]

Apart from the Adoration of the Magi, many of the panels or triptychs produced by the Antwerp
Mannerists depicted the major events in the Life of Christ, including the Nativity, and the
Crucifixion.[26][41] Larger triptych altarpieces for churches might have several small scenes on the
reverses of the hinged wings,[42] giving the "closed view" which was displayed most of the time, the
wings only being opened perhaps on Sundays or feast days (or for visitors on a small payment to
the sacristan).

Drawings and miniatures

A number of highly finished drawings in the Antwerp style, possibly copies of paintings, can be
shown to have been used as the basis for miniatures in illuminated manuscript books of hours
made in France, probably around Tours, by the so-called "1520s Hours Workshop". At the same
time the continuing Ghent-Bruges style of illumination had little influence in French
manuscripts.[43]

Jan de Beer, Martyrdom of Master of the Antwerp

Saint Sebastian Adoration (and workshop), The
Holy Family with Two Saints, c.
1520

Adriaen van Overbeke Triptych

of the crucifixion, Maagdenhuis,
Antwerp

Notes
 1. Snyder, 402
2. Janson, H.W.; Janson, Anthony F. (1997). History of Art (http://www.abramsbooks.com) (5th,
rev. ed.). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-3442-6.
3. Konowitz, p. 180
4. Koerner, 53 (re-arranged)
5. Elizabeth A. H. Cleland, Grand Design: Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Renaissance Tapestry,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 6 October 2014
6. Koerner, 55; Ainsworth, 35; Wisse; Snyder, 399-400
7. Snyder, 400-401
8. Ainsworth, 36–37, 314; Koerner, 48
9. Wisse
10. Snyder, 402
11. Max J. Friedländer: Die Antwerpener Manieristen von 1520. In: Jahrbuch der königlich
preußischen Kunstsammlungen 36, 1915, p. 65–91, p. 65 (in German)
12. Kolder Weij, Hermesdorf, Huvenne:.. The painting of the Low Countries, Part 1. Amsterdam
University Press, 2006, p. 174
13. Max J. Friedländer, 1915, p. 66
14. Max J. Friedländer, 1915, p. 86
15. Wisse; Snyder, 401
16. ExtravagAnt! Antwerp pictures for the European market 1500–1525 (https://www.codart.nl/guid
e/agenda/extravagant-antwerpse-schilderijen-voor-de-europese-markt-1500-1525) at Codart
17. Wisse
18. Konowicz, throughout
19. Ainsworth, 36, 262, 268
20. Leeflang, 63
21. Snyder, 419-421
22. "Maniëristen, Antwerpse". Winkler Prins encyclopedia (8 ed.). 1975.
23. Wisse
24. Snyder, 456
25. Snyder, 412-418; Leeflang, 63
26. "H. Bex-Verschaeren" "Meester van de Antwerpse aanbidding (http://www.openbaarkunstbezit.
be/sites/default/files/tijdschrift/pdf/OKV1965/Meester%20van%20de%20Antwerpse%20Aanbid
ding%20-%20De%20Aanbidding.pdf)", in: Openbaar Kunstbezit, 1965 (in Dutch)
27. Van Den Brink, 166
28. Orth, 79
29. Snyder, 400-401
30. De schilderkunst der Lage Landen: De Middeleeuwen en de zestiende eeuw, Amsterdam
University Press, 2006, p. 172-175 (in Dutch)
31. Koerner, 48
32. Kavaler, 31–36
33. Prado note (https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-adoration-of-de-magi
-king-david-receiving-the/2eb53b52-8511-4639-a5ec-31a60c530373)
34. Ainsworth, 260
35. Snyder, 401; see for example the exposed leg at bottom left in the Crucificxion triptych in the
gallery.
36. Ainsworth, 260
37. Orth, 79 (quoted); Wisse
38. Orth, 80
39. Leeflang, 65
40. Leeflang, 66
41. Snyder, 402
42. Van Den Brink, throughout
43. Orth, 79

References
Ainsworth, Maryan Wynn et al., From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Paintings in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009. ISBN 0-8709-9870-6,
google books (https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/From_Van_Eyck_to_Bruegel/0nXPFSis
M_gC?hl=en&gbpv=1)
Kavaler, Ethan Matt, in Ainsworth, Maryan Wynn (ed), Man, Myth, and Sensual Pleasures: Jan
Gossart's Renaissance : the Complete Works, 2010, Metropolitan Museum of Art,
ISBN 1588393984 9781588393982, fully online (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3aikaSu
3tokC&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false)
Koerner, Joseph Leo, "The Epihany of the Black Magus Circa 1500" in, Bindman, D., Gates, H.
L. (2010). The Image of the Black in Western Art: From the "Age of Discovery" to the Age of
Abolition: artists of the Renaissance and Baroque, United Kingdom: Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press, "Adoration+of+the+Magi"+Jan+Mostaert+Rijksmuseum&pg=PA53 google
books (https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Image_of_the_Black_in_Western_Art_Fr/A
K_mZsynJ6IC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=)
Konowitz, Ellen. “Dirk Vellert and the Master of the Lille Adoration: Some Antwerp Mannerist
Paintings Reconsidered.” Oud Holland, vol. 109, no. 4, 1995, pp. 177–190, JSTOR (https://ww
w.jstor.org/stable/42711510). Accessed 20 Dec. 2020.
Leeflang, Micha. "Joos Van Cleve's "Adoration of the Magi" in Detroit: Revealing the
Underdrawing," Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 82, no. 1/2 (2008): 60-75. Accessed
January 3, 2021. JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/stable/23183284)
Orth, Myra D. "Antwerp Mannerist Model Drawings in French Renaissance Books of Hours: A
Case Study of the 1520s Hours Workshop." The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 47 (1989):
61-90. Accessed December 31, 2020. JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/stable/20169052)
Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art, 1985, Harry N. Abrams, ISBN 0136235964
Wisse, Jacob, “Northern Mannerism in the Early Sixteenth Century (https://www.metmuseum.or
g/toah/hd/nman/hd_nman.htm)”, In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002
Van Den Brink, Peter. "A Shattered Jigsaw Puzzle: On a Partly Reconstructed Altarpiece by the
Master of the Antwerp Adoration", Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 68 (2007): 161-80, Accessed
December 31, 2020. JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/stable/24666605)

Further reading
P. van den Brink, Extravagant!. A forgotten chapter of Antwerp painting 1500-1530, exhibition
catalogue, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 15 October - 31 December
2005; Maastricht, Bonnefantenmuseum, 22 January - 9 April 2006

External links
Media related to Antwerp Mannerists at Wikimedia Commons

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