ragedies" (40). More reasonable, he says, are explanations of Mannerism in terms of sociological and religious influences. There was a new development in patronage during this period where works were commissioned for no other reason than to have a work made by a certain artist. Many times the subject, and/or the medium were to be decided upon by the artist. Rosso Fiorentinos Descent From the Cross has a profoundly disquieting, visionary style that indicates a deep inner anxiety. There is a cold, icy feel to the painting. Spidery forms spread across a dark sky, and the figures are agitated yet rigid. Even the drapery appears hard, the folds look brittle and ready to crack. The light that bathes the figures and the colors of clothing are brilliant but unreal which reinforces the bad dream feel. Beginning with Mannerism, art begins to become more about the artist than the subject or the person who commissioned it. The pain and distress of Fiorentino is apparent in his work. In his book Mannerism and Maniera, Craig Smyth explains the belief that Mannerist style was connected with the desire for experimentation and creating art for arts sake rather than a spiritual crisis of the period. Smyth also believes that what is usually considered the anti-classical style of Mannerism is based on classical style specifically antique relief. He suggests that Mannerists connected with the idealization of classical art. Smyth says, "the classic solution kept painters feeling at one with them, not in the opposition" (27). Influenced by the figures of an antique relief, the figures in Pontormos Deposition appear to be molded out of stone; graceful linear rhythms are created by the intertwined geometric forms. The claustrophobic staging of the figures and the way they are all pushed up the front of the canvas closely resembles the unrealistic space of a relief. Pontormos forms have a sculptural solidity and cold gray flesh as if they wer...
