Walking across the Ponte Vecchio, leaving the center of Florence and heading towards Palazzo Pitti, after just a few dozen meters, on the left, there is a small church that could easily escape the notice of an inattentive traveler. Inside, equally hidden from view, enclosed within a gate and shrouded in shadows, very close yet providentially protected from the onslaught of the stream of selfie-taking Instagram zombies on the Ponte Vecchio, lies the most beautiful painting in the world: Pontormo's Deposition. This marvel of art history has a twin that is located just over an hour's drive away, easily reachable for anyone wishing to take a day trip through the Tuscan countryside and art history: Rosso Fiorentino's Deposition in Volterra.
Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino: Two Visions of the Sacred in Mannerist Painting
In the landscape of Italian art of the 16th century, two artists stand out for their radical and innovative style, destined to break with Renaissance tradition: Jacopo Carucci, known as Pontormo (1494-1557), and Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino (1494-1540). These two artists, while sharing the same Florentine artistic environment and some common influences, developed radically different approaches to religious painting, particularly evident in their versions of the Deposition. Through Pontormo's vibrant and acidic colors and Rosso Fiorentino's geometric and fragmented volumes, Mannerism reaches its expressive peak, emphasizing the emotional and spiritual complexity of the time.
Mannerism: An Art Balancing Between Tradition and Innovation
To fully understand the works of Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino, it is necessary to contextualize them within the Mannerist movement. Mannerism, which developed roughly between 1520 and 1600, represents a transitional phase between the balanced and harmonious classicism of the Renaissance and the dramatic exuberance of the Baroque. Mannerist artists departed from the codified rules set by masters like Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo, seeking new formal and expressive solutions. It is an art that reflects the anxiety and spiritual tension of an era when faith wavered under the blows of the Protestant Reformation and political turbulence.
The term 'Mannerism' derives from the Italian word 'maniera,' which implies a particular way of doing things, a conscious artificiality. Mannerist artists no longer sought to represent nature in an ideal way, but rather exaggerated its forms, playing with proportions, colors, and perspectives to create a sense of unease, and at times, sublime abstraction. It is an art that challenges the observer, requiring interpretation and active participation.
Pontormo: Acidic Colors and Emotional Tension
Jacopo Pontormo's Deposition, created between 1526 and 1528 for the Capponi Chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita in Florence, is one of the most emblematic works of Mannerism. This altarpiece seems to float in a suspended dimension, outside of time and space. The scene, devoid of a cross, depicts Christ's body being lifted or lowered by a group of angelic and human figures, but the interpretation remains deliberately ambiguous.
What immediately strikes the observer is the use of color. Pontormo abandons the naturalistic palette of the Renaissance to embrace vibrant and unnatural hues: pale pinks, acidic greens, intense blues, and bright yellows seem to glow against an almost unreal background. This bold and innovative use of color aims to accentuate the emotional aspect of the scene, creating a visual tension that reflects the spiritual anguish of the characters. It is as if the figures are bathed in an otherworldly light, making them ethereal and detached from physical reality.
The figures themselves, elongated and sinuous, seem to sway in an undefined space. The absence of a solid perspectival base and the use of serpentine and contorted poses suggest a spiritual and dreamlike dimension. The gazes of the figures, often empty or distant, amplify a sense of emotional isolation and alienation. Mary, with her pallid face and broken body, appears to be sinking into a state of mystical, almost unreal, sorrow.
It is a work I could gaze at for hours, filled with unusual details: the ethereal tone of the strange pink shirt worn by the young man who, holding the body of Christ as if he were bearing the weight of all the world's suffering, turns toward the observer with a vaguely guilty expression; the care taken in depicting the red curls barely covering his receding hairline and his boxer's flattened nose piques curiosity, while the eye gets lost in tracing the color combinations, from the pink of the shirt, to the peach of the cloak, to the cyan of the cloth covering the back of the young man's neck.
But the true marvel is Christ himself. Here too, just as one is intrigued by the originality of his features (perhaps the first and only red-haired Christ in art history?), they are struck by empathy for the emaciated and exhausted man, who, with all possible gravity, surrenders to the grasp of those lowering him. It is a remarkable painting for its technical mastery, aesthetic originality, and dramatic storytelling.
Pontormo, with his introverted and often restless personality, seems to pour his inner struggles into his works. It is said that the artist was a tormented man, often prone to melancholies and obsessions, living in an almost ascetic isolation. This psychological introspection is reflected in his compositions, where the pathos of the figures conveys an emotional depth that goes beyond the simple evangelical narrative. The result is a work that challenges the expectations of traditional religious art, immersing the viewer in a world of intense spirituality and inner torment.
Rosso Fiorentino: Geometric Volumes and Structural Drama
It is inevitable to compare Pontormo's Deposition with that of Rosso Fiorentino, the other great exponent of Florentine Mannerism, who was Pontormo's workshop companion, ally, and rival.
While Pontormo creates a suspended and dreamlike world through color and the evanescence of forms, Rosso Fiorentino offers a diametrically opposite vision, characterized by a geometric structure and intense physical tension. In his Deposition, completed in 1521 for the Church of San Lorenzo in Volterra, Rosso abandons Renaissance delicacy for a more radical and dramatic approach.
Rosso's work is dominated by a rigorous and fragmented construction. The figures, arranged on different spatial planes, are treated like sculptural blocks, with rigid, almost mechanical poses and angular features. The sharp, broken lines, along with the massive geometric volumes, give the scene a sense of physical drama that contrasts with the emotional fluidity of Pontormo.
The body of Christ, at the center of the composition, is rigid, almost mechanical, and the movement of the surrounding figures seems choreographed, as if they were puppets controlled by an external force. Once again, the image of Christ captures the viewer's attention and unsettles; is that a smile on his face, or the grimace of a corpse, contracted and disfigured (with all the theological implications that question entails)?
Color in Rosso Fiorentino's work is no less important than in Pontormo's, but it is used differently. The tones are more earthy and dark, with intense reds, deep browns, and ochre yellows, giving the scene a dramatic and somber atmosphere. While Pontormo uses color to create a spiritual dimension, Rosso employs it to emphasize the physical drama and emotional violence of the scene.
Comparison Between Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino
Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino, despite having shared a common training in Andrea del Sarto's workshop and having been immersed in the same cultural atmosphere of early 16th-century Florence, pursued completely different stylistic outcomes. Pontormo's Mannerism is entirely focused on inner expression, using color as a tool for introspection and the human figure as a vehicle for complex and ambiguous emotions. In Pontormo, spirituality is abstract, ethereal, almost alien.
Rosso Fiorentino, on the other hand, explores Mannerism from a more structural and dramatic perspective. His figures, while maintaining strong emotional tension, are treated as geometric volumes, and their movement is dictated by a rigorous visual rhythm. In Rosso, the drama is expressed through the physicality of the forms and the organization of pictorial space.
The Role of Mannerism in Art History
Mannerism, often seen as a transitional movement between the Renaissance and Baroque, is actually one of the most complex and fascinating phases in art history. It is an art that responds to a period of crisis, of lost certainties, and reflects the anxiety of a world in change. While the Renaissance sought harmony, balance, and order, Mannerism explores disorder, complexity, and ambiguity.
Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino embody two sides of this tension. Pontormo, with his visionary use of color and his elongated, floating figures, explores the more spiritual and metaphysical side of Mannerism. Rosso Fiorentino, with his geometric and dramatic compositions, highlights the more physical and earthly aspect of this artistic exploration. In both cases, Mannerist art does not settle for representing the visible, but seeks to reveal the invisible, exploring the depths of the human soul and the mysteries of faith.
In conclusion, Pontormo’s Deposition and Rosso Fiorentino’s Deposition are two Mannerist masterpieces that express the spiritual unrest of their time with intensity and originality. Both artists, while following different paths, offer the viewer a profound aesthetic and emotional experience that goes beyond mere representation of reality, reaching into a more abstract and symbolic dimension. Mannerism, with its restless and experimental art, represents a crucial stage in the evolution of Western art, paving the way for the extraordinary innovations of the Baroque and beyond.
Hints
Pontormo’s Deposition is located in the Church of Santa Felicita, just outside the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. As of September 2024, the church is closed on Sundays and public holidays, and open on other days from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm.
The Deposition is located in the chapel to the right of the entrance; you will need plenty of coins to turn on the light (which lasts for a short time) to contemplate the work for as long as needed.
Rosso Fiorentino’s Deposition is the main work of the Pinacoteca in Volterra; updated opening hours are available on the Pinacoteca’s website. A visit to the Pinacoteca lasts about an hour (alongside Rosso Fiorentino’s work, there are also two notable pieces by Luca Signorelli and Ghirlandaio). If visiting Volterra, I recommend purchasing the combined ticket for the Pinacoteca and the Etruscan Museum, which also contains some valuable works.
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