reflected the environment as it attempted to break down the High Renaissance principles of balance, harmony, and moderation. Italian Mannerist painters distorted the rules of proportion by portraying elongated figures that conveyed a sense of suffering and a strong emotional atmosphere which was filled with anxiety and confusion.

Mannerism

spread from Italy to parts of Europe and became popular through the works of El Greco who elongated and contorted figures and portrayed them with yellow and green shades against an eerie background of grays.

Laocoön

View of Toledo