Sky Arte launches three-part series on Mannerism with Waldemar Januszczak

Sky Arte premieres a three-part documentary series titled 'Manierismo – L’arte più pazza del mondo' on Saturday, October 12, 2024. The series, produced by Sky Original, is hosted by British art critic, award-winning filmmaker, and TV presenter Waldemar Januszczak. It aims to reframe Mannerism—often dismissed as a transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque—as a positive, flexible, and revolutionary era that transformed painting, architecture, sculpture, landscape design, and decorative arts across Europe. The first episode, 'Bye Bye Rinascimento,' chronologically situates Mannerism and explores its origins in Italy before extending to Northern Europe. Januszczak describes Mannerism as more of an era than a style, a 'moment of loosening' that had a huge revolutionary impact. He contrasts Mannerist artists like Pontormo and Arcimboldo, who shared a powerful desire to innovate, with Baroque figures Caravaggio and Rubens. Subsequent episodes, 'Gli Anni della Follia' and 'La Grande Fuga,' will air in the following weeks. The content on Sky Arte's website is curated by Artribune.