Prospero Fontana: A Mannerist

Prospero Fontana - Portrait of a Cardinal - Oil on canvas - 48-1/2 x 43 in. (123.2 x 109.2 cm) - The Norton Simon Museum - Pasadena, CAMannerism refers to an artistic style that gained popularity following the High Renaissance. It is considered to be a period of technical accomplishment but also of formulaic, theatrical and overly stylized work. It was initially inspired by a fascination—almost an obsession—with Michelangelo.

Mannerist Art is characterized by somewhat incomprehensible compositions, featuring muscular and elongated figures in complex poses. It is regarded by many scholars to be the first modern art movement. However, although it was very much liked by the public, it was not appreciated by the Church. Because the Counter-Reformation was heavily patronized by the Church, Mannerism was replaced by the Baroque, which represented a return to standards set in the Renaissance.

By the 1540s, Italian painter Prospero Fontana (1512-1597) was an established artist and worked frequently in Rome, often with Giorgio Vasari.

“In 1550 Pope Julius III formally recognized Fontana’s privileged position at the papal court. The Pope commissioned a portrait from the artist and extended him a principal role in the development of artistic policies. As a portraitist, Fontana favored the formal traditions of this genre as practiced in Florence over the naturalistic representations of Northern Italy.

The unidentified cardinal featured in the painting here sits in a room of indeterminate space with a view beyond into a series of salons. His large body boldly occupies the foreground. The cardinal’s relationship to the room and the connection between the foreground and background is ambiguous, a stylistic convention popular among Mannerist painters.” (Norton Simon Museum)