Velasquez & Bronzino

If one wishes to get an impression of the artworks produced in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, there are two particular works which help achieve this goal. The two works of art to be analyzed herein are: 1) Portrait of a Young Man (Bronzino, c. 1550); and, 2) Juan de Pareja (Diego Velazquez, 1649-1650). Respectively, these two works give us a sense of the styles, themes, and moods of the Late Renaissance and the Baroque eras.

Portrait of a Young Man by Bronzino was created in approximately 1550, which makes this work a product of the Late Renaissance period. More specifically, the oil on wood portrait is representative of the Mannerism period in art in the Late Renaissance. In a broad sense, the Mannerists closely followed and adhered to a distinctive manner "One could say that whereas their predecessors sought nature and found their style, the Mannerists looked first for a style and found a manner" (Tansey 631). Unlike artists of the Early and High Renaissance, instead of looking to nature for their inspiration and styles, Mannerists looked to other works of art, like those produced by Michelangelo and found in Roman sculpture and art. The subject of the Mannerists was most often the human form. So it is in Portrait of a Young Man. The painting is 37 x 29 inches, and the portrait is of a young man who is more scholar and intellect than merchant or royalty. His de