The European art scene of the 16th century was dominated by the person and work of Michelangelo Buonarroti. However, Michelangelo's rapid artistic rise, widespread adoration, and elevation to the status of the norm and an unsurpassable authority in art triggered criticism as early as the Cinquecento. One of the critical art techniques used at the time to delegitimize norms, disparage competitors, and vituperatively discredit works of art was image parody. This study is dedicated to this particular technique of comicization and devaluation through a systematic and exemplary exploration of the "negative" reception of Michelangelo in northern and central Italian art of the period. The first comprehensive study of pictorial and written criticisms of Michelangelo in 16th-century northern and central Italy. A study of the theory, function, and manifestations of pictorial parody in the early modern period.

Starting in the Renaissance, artists were bound to a canon of exemplary motifs and forms, something that again and again provoked counter-reactions. Methods parodying pictures could be used as an intrinsic artistic critique of authorities and aesthetic norms and to articulate claims to autonomy and status. Even though such counter-images were very much present in the early modern period, they have hitherto only rarely been a focus of research. This volume addresses this desideratum. The case studies make a contribution to understanding pre-modern picture parodies from the perspectives of art history, literary studies, and visual culture by shedding light on their use in discourses on modernization and in specific conflict situations.