The exhibition catalog of Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition: Photographs and Mannerist Prints. This hardback catalog (231 pages) was published in 2004 by the Guggenheim Museum in conjunction with the exhibition.

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Catalog content
- Essays: It features scholarly essays by Germano Celant, Arkady Ippolitov, and Jennifer Blessing, who explore the similarities between Mapplethorpe's work and classical art.
- Illustrations: The catalog contains 120 full-page photographic plates and 30 smaller illustrations, comparing Mapplethorpe's photos with classical and mannerist art.

Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition: Photographs and Mannerist Prints was a 2004 exhibition and accompanying catalog organozed by the Guggenheim Museum and the State Museum. The project explored the similarities between Mapplethorpe's photographs and 16th-century Mannerist prints, primarily focusing on how both artistic styles depicted the human form.

The exhibition and its content
The exhibition began at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin in 2004, and later traveled to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The exhibit paired approximately 70 of Mapplethorpe's black-and-white photographs with 50 Mannerist prints from the Hermitage's collection.

Mannerist prints
The 16th-century prints featured in the exhibition were primarily from Flemish and Dutch Mannerist artists, including:
- Hendrick Goltzius
- Jan Harmensz. Muller
- Jacob Mathan
- Jan Saenredam

Mapplethorpe's photographs
The photographs displayed featured Mapplethorpe's signature aesthetic, including:
- The human body: The works explored Mapplethorpe's interest in the nude, athletic, and classical human form.
- Muscularity: The photos highlighted the muscularity and physicality of his subjects, such as bodybuilder Lisa Lyons and dancer Derrick Cross.
- Portraiture: Other Mapplethorpe portraits were included that evoke classical themes through their composition.
- Connection to Mannerism
Both Mapplethorpe's photos and the Mannerist prints demonstrate a "stylish style," characterized by:
- Elongated and exaggerated figures, which defied the ideal proportions of the Renaissance.
- The cruelty of beauty, portraying an obsessive search for an ideal form that requires intense concentration.
- Highly detailed observation of figural gestures.