Narcissus

The “serpentine” pose of the figure, even if imposed by flaws in the marble, as Cellini himself says, is certainly consonant with the canons of Mannerism, which resolve Michelangelo’s vital counterpoint into rhythmic complications. In the languid head the naturalism of Hellenistic sculpture is interpreted with that exhausted elegance which also belongs to the paintings of a Primaticcio or a Parmigianino.