mnity of High Gothic monumental sculpture" (p. 66). These statues were painted, which was true of nearly all northern stone and wooden sculpture of the era. The painting of sculpture was itself an art held in high regard: "This much of late medieval sculptural practice, at least, was solidly traditional, although the uses and spirit of sculpture were markedly changing" (p. 66). Michelangelo's David is cited by Vyverberg as an evocation of classical antiquity that "suggested not only the total nudity but the theme of courageous fortitude--the strengthening Michelangelo's own passionate predilections in both instances. But the body reveals an infinitely greater understanding of anatomy than the classical world had generally shown" (p. 121). There were also startling exaggerations of natural proportions, as seen in the enormous head and the powerful hands. One reason for this is that the statue was intended to stand forty feet above street level, though in truth it never did. The statue itself was a celebration not only of the human form but of the Florentine republic defying its enemies (pp. 121-122). Vyverberg cites two pieces of Mannerist sculpture, noting that much sixteenth-century sculpture can be called Mannerist. Benvenuto Cellini is one sculptor who falls within this category. His marble Narcissus shows the handsome youth who scorned the love of others condemned to love only himself, and he sits beside a pool of water and twists his body to gaze longingly at his own reflection: "It is an inspired choice of subject matter for mannerist sculpture--not only in its thinly veiled eroticism but as a demonstration of virtuosity in sculptural line that is both tortured and graceful" (p. 140). Vyverberg says that by the middle of the century, Mannerism in the visual arts was more academic and cl |
