Dalla maniera al modo, dal modo al manierismo. Deleuze e lo stile tra Spinoza e la pittura

Abstract

This paper examines the conceptual and theoretical continuities linking Deleuze’s 1980-1981 lecture courses on painting and Spinoza’s philosophy. The analysis focuses specifically on how the notions of ‘mode’ and ‘manner’ enable a productive understanding of both pictorial and philosophical style. Through a reverse chronological reading – addressing first the painting lectures, then those on Spinoza – the paper demonstrates how Deleuze’s engagement with the transformations of pictorial styles, informed by a heterogeneous constellation of conceptual tools drawn from diverse sources, illuminates a deeper thesis concerning a fundamental ‘mannerism’ operative in both painting and philosophy. This reading strategy reveals the systematic coherence underlying Deleuze’s treatment of style across aesthetic and philosophical registers.