The Brutality of the Mannerist Vision To look at the work of Niccolò Circignani is to confront the visceral reality of late-Renaissance and Mannerist tension. He was not interested in mere decoration; he focused on the heavy, often gruesome weight of religious narrative. His name, often eclipsed by his nickname Il Pomarancio, carries the mark of a painter who understood how to use elongated proportions and complex compositions to drive home a point. In the church of San Stefano Rotondo in Rome, his presence is felt through over thirty graphic scenes of martyrdom. These are not polite religio…