Mannerism, a term used by German art historians in the early twentieth-century to categorize the seemingly uncategorizable art of the Italian sixteenth century, is all over the map:

• Elongated proportions, affected poses, and unclear perspective.

• Artificiality, as opposed to Renaissance and Baroque naturalism.

• Manipulated irrational space; unnatural lighting.

• The "stylish" style or the Maniera: Italian for an artist's characteristic "touch" or recognizable "manner".

The Mannerist style in European art emerges in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, lasting until about 1580 in Italy, when the Baroque style begins to replace it. Northern Mannerism continues into the early seventeenth century.

The earliest practitioners are Jacopo da Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino in Florence, Raphael's student in Rome Giulio Romano, and Parmigianino in Parma.

The term is also used to refer to some late Gothic painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530, especially the Antwerp Mannerists—a group unrelated to the Italian movement.

Stylistically, Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo.

Where High Renaissance art emphasizes proportion, balance, and ideal beauty, Mannerism exaggerates such qualities, often resulting in compositions that are asymmetrical or unnaturally elegant.

Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial (as opposed to naturalistic) qualities.

Mannerism favors compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting.