Highly Charged Emotionalism

Rosso - Moses Defending the Daughter of Jethro - c. 1523 - Oil on canvas, 160 x 117 cm (64 x 46.8 in.) - Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence“Il Rosso” (c. 1495-1540) (called so for his red hair) was an exponent of the expressive style that is often called early, or Florentine, Mannerism, and was also one of the founders of the Fontainebleau school. Vasari says that he 'would not bind himself to any master' (a story that fits in with his individuality of temperament). But in his youth he learned the most from Andrea del Sarto, and together with Andrea's pupil Pontormo (Rosso's friend and close contemporary) he was one of the leading figures in the early development of Mannerism. The earliest works of Rosso and Pontormo combined influences from Michelangelo and from northern Gothic engravings in a novel style, which departed from the tenets of High Renaissance art and was characterized by its highly charged emotionalism. Rosso's work was quite sophisticated and varied in mood. At the end of 1523, Rosso moved to Rome, where his exposure to Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, the late art of Raphael, and the work of Parmigianino resulted in an even more radical realignment of his style.