Mannerist Architecture

Timeline

1. c. 1520–1550Rome and Mantua · ItalyMichelangelo's vestibule of the Laurentian Library and Giulio Romano's Palazzo del Te broke classical orders and proportions, marking the start of Mannerist architecture with dramatic staircases, unconventional cornices, and decorative tension.
2. 1551–1560Caprarola and Florence · ItalyVignola's Villa Farnese (begun 1559) is famed for its pentagonal plan and grand scale; the Medici family expanded the Uffizi in Florence, and Mannerist architecture became the courtly language for displaying humanist learning and political authority.
3. c. 1560–1620Prague and Munich courts · GermanyThrough architects' mobility and print circulation, Mannerist spatial experiments influenced Holy Roman Empire court architecture, laying a transitional foundation for 17th-century Baroque palace and church spatial language.