Manner

Use of the term manner was extremely widespread, found in the theoretical, practical and critical aspects of artistic vocabulary. Used since the 14th century in Italy, it was Giorgio Vasari who durably defined the main meaning by defining it as the recognisable character of an individual or collective artistic entity. Manner also meant technique before this word was adopted in the 19th century to refer to artistic techniques. The considerable polysemy of this term was a determining factor in an evolution that was complex, rich in semantic shifts, and marked by an increasingly pejorative connotation which resulted in the appearance of two derivatives after 1660. The term style, which was already considered as being the equivalent of manner by Hilaire Pader, and was occasionally used as a synonym, progressively replaced it from the second half of the 18th century.