Mannerist style in the interior – the aesthetics of pathos and the logic of mannerism
The Mannerist style in the interior is not about restraint, it is about “everything at once”. Paphos, flaunting wealth and prosperity. The “mannered” setting resembles a carved box with inlays. This includes jewelery and lustrous costume jewelry, precious cameos and their plastic imitations, portrait pendants, carved mirrors, gold-plated toiletries, fine porcelain figurines, richly embroidered and lace batiste handkerchiefs. It takes great taste and considerable effort to give this placer nobility.
Main characteristics and features
The style of mannerism in the interior is not so much an independent direction, but a series of trends, where expression and pomposity, a kind of ostentation, are put at the head. He only claims luxury and therefore carefully imitates it.
Here, form tends to dominate content. You need to keep a balance so that it does not look vulgar and is just as comfortable.
Characteristic features of the style of mannerism in the interior:
- Architecture. Imitation is welcome, overloaded with details, excessive on the verge of the grotesque. Imitations of elements, illusions (bas-reliefs, stucco, blind windows, pseudo-columns and statues, false arches) are quite acceptable. All elements are required to work on the overall impression of luxury and pomposity. For Mannerism, spacious rooms with high ceilings and very large windows are best suited.
- Color spectrum. It is characterized by the use of saturated colors. Deep, noble shades of scarlet and burgundy, chocolate and beige, blue and green dominate. Pink, blue, light green and other pastel colors dilute and complement the main range. A lot of gilding is also used.
- Finishing. Redundancy reigns in the decoration – everything is a little too much here. The walls are richly decorated with gilded stucco or its imitation, painted with ornaments, frescoes with fantastic and mythological scenes. Drawings on the ceilings are acceptable if the dimensions of the room allow it. The floor is covered with marble slabs or their high-quality imitations, figured parquet.
- Furniture. Furnishings are chosen not for convenience, but for “compliance”. Deliberately luxurious tables and cabinets with an abundance of intricate carvings, antique armchairs, sofas and couches with dense smooth upholstery, carved legs and backs – all this recalls the style of Louis XIV.
- Textile. There are really a lot of fabric elements. Thick carpets with classic ornaments, multi-layer curtains made of dense, heavy fabrics, complex draperies are welcome.
- Accessories. The Mannerist furnishings are overloaded with details. The walls are densely decorated with reproductions of paintings of the 16th century – for example, the ideologue of Mannerism, Giorgio Vasari. A single style is almost out of place: baroque candelabra side by side with modernist sculptures, Chippendale caskets – with Empire vases, Victorian porcelain, antique statues and classic wrought iron candlesticks.
- Light. A massive round crystal chandelier, which is placed in the center of the ceiling, is responsible for the main lighting. Often it is framed by stucco, and the area around it is filled with painting. The second light tier is made up of wall sconces and tall floor lamps with dense lampshades. The third tier includes table lamps.
History of Mannerism
Mannerism originates in Italy in the 16th century. It was Rome and Florence that became the flagships of mannered art. It was characterized by the rejection of harsh reality and its substitution by illusions and symbols. In fact, this style acted as a transitional stage in culture – it connected the Renaissance and the Baroque.
The style of mannerism in the interior has become a logical continuation of the cultural direction of the same name. That is why it, like everything transitional, is characterized by some illogicality and even randomness. Today, Mannerism is rarely used in interior design. At least in its purest form. However, many of its elements fit perfectly into the atmosphere of modern apartments and houses, literally transforming their aesthetic perception.
