Romanism (painting)

Romanism is a term used by art historians to refer to painters from the Low Countries who had travelled in the 16th century to Rome. In Rome they had absorbed the influence of leading Italian artists of the period such as Michelangelo and Raphael and his pupils. Upon their return home, these Northern artists (referred to as ‘Romanists’) created a Renaissance style, which assimilated Italian formal language. The style continued its influence until the early 17th century when it was swept aside by the Baroque.^[1]

By drawing on mythological subject matter, the Romanists introduced new themes in Northern art that corresponded with the interests and tastes of their patrons with a humanist education.^[2] The Romanists painted mainly religious and mythological works, often using complex compositions and depicting naked human bodies in an anatomically correct way but with contrived poses. Their style often appears forced and artificial to the modern viewer. However, the artists saw their efforts as an intellectual challenge to render difficult subjects through a struggle with form.

The term Romanism is now less commonly used as a better understanding of the work of the artists that formed part of the Romanists has highlighted the diversity rather than the commonalities in their responses to Italian art.^[1]