e made of stone. Like a battle relief where no figure has a personal identity, each of Pontormos figures closely resemble the next, each of their heads and consistently small and oval. The artist was more concerned with grace, form, and details such as drapery rather than the individualism of each character. In his Madonna with the Long Neck, Parmigianino pays close attention to body parts that rarely receive much focus. Shearman says that "There is no figure of speech more characteristic of the language of Mannerism than the figura serpentinata" (81). That is, the figure and all its parts should resemble the letter S. Almost every aspect of Parmigianinos entire work flows gracefully like the tip of a flame: the Madonnas neck, her fingers, her enormous body, the child in her lap, and the woman that adorns her on her left. The figura serpentinata was considered the hallmark of beauty, "leading the eye is a pleasing manner along the continuity of its variety" (Summers, 269).Classical style was interested in portraying the earthly perfection of a human being. While Mannerists were aware of the qualities of perfection, they refined those features to the point of abstraction. In Elizabeth Croppers essay "On Beautiful Women, Parmigainino, Petrarchismo, and the Vernacular Style", she comments on Pietro Testas notes on painting. Testa took unusually clear and concise notes about the features that render a woman beautiful: the shape of her lips, part of her hair, even the color of her gums. The body of Parmigianinos Madonna mimics the form of the antique vase held by the figure on the right of the Madonna. It is the shape of an ideal woman according to Testa. The Madonnas neck is long and graceful like that of a swan, and her fingers seem to slither across her chest like the tongue of a snake. The leg of the figure at the Madonnas side is long, slender and smooth. Parmigianino was playing with the characteristics of feminine beau...
