西元一五二○年代至一六○○年左右，正當義大利文藝復興藝術進入晚期之際，一批匠心獨運、敢於嘗試的藝術家，大肆發揮個人理想，乃至超越古典規範，造成表現奇特、風格不一的藝術潮尚。這股左右當時藝壇之趨勢，常被斥為文藝復興藝術的衰退現象。可是其豐富的創意、及首開純藝術創作的風氣，卻啟迪了後代藝術家，引發創作上多面向思考的動機。有感於十六世紀矯飾主義與二十世紀以來藝術發展的情形類似，因此興起深入研究的動機。本論文由探討矯飾主義名稱之起源開始，進一步釐清矯飾主義藝術之種種疑難問題，以澄清其在西洋藝術史之地位。

　　　　　When the Italian Renaissance reached its late and fading stage, a school of artists from 1520 to about 1600 devoted their own skills and mind streams for presenting their personality and creativity in art. Their creativity derailed the classic doctrine. Eventually, their creation became a fashion that possessed a unique artistic style, which is different from the old establishment advocated by their predecessors. Although this fashion prevailed in the period, Mannerism was often labeled as a recession of the Renaissance by the late critics. With their versatile innovations, this school of artists pioneered a new style of creative art, and furthermore, motivated later artists to apply multidimensional thoughts into their creativity. This article is motivated by the similarities between the evolution of Mannerism in the 16th century and the evolution of art since the 20th century. This article starts with a search for the root of Mannerism, followed by clarification for unsettled problems in order to establish the historical stature for Mannerism.