Figura serpentinata

Figura serpentinata - 'serpentine figure' - is the Mannerist convention of composing a figure as an ascending spiral, so that the body twists through several axes and looks finished from every viewpoint. Developed in the sixteenth century out of Michelangelo's extreme contrapposto, it became the era's signature device: Benvenuto Cellini described his Perseus as a figura serpentinata, and Giambologna's group sculptures push the spiral to spectacular effect. The pose does not describe action so much as display grace - the figure seems to rotate before the viewer, dynamic and weightless. It spread from Italian sculpture and drawing across European art, and any later work built on coiling, spiraling poses owes it a debt.

Defining characteristics

• The body twisted in a rising spiral readable from every angle
• Extreme contrapposto: shoulders, hips and head each turned differently
• A vertical coiling axis that draws the eye upward and around the form
• Elegant, weightless motion over stable stance
• Elongated limbs and exaggerated torsion that heighten the display effect

Key figures

• Michelangelo (1475-1564) — His twisting figures provided the contrapposto the device grew from
• Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) — Explicitly composed his Perseus as a figura serpentinata
• Giambologna (1529-1608) — Made the spiral the whole architecture of his multi-figure groups

Example works

• Perseus with the Head of Medusa — Benvenuto Cellini (1545-1554)
• The Rape of the Sabine Women — Giambologna (1581-1583)

Sources

• Figura serpentinata - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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