The era of classicism. Classicism in sculpture

§ 1. The emergence and development of classicism in Europe

INXVII century V Western Europe The era of absolute monarchy begins. The rulers, trying to strengthen and streamline their power, introduced rules of conduct for classes and individual citizens and limited individual freedom. The sublime and varied art of the Renaissance gave way to strict classicism.

Classicism(lat.classicus- “exemplary”) artistic movement that developed in European literature of the 17th century.

(P. Corneille, J. B. Moliere, J. Racine). The poetics of classicism began to take shape in the late Renaissance in Italy, but as an integral artistic system, classicism was formed in France in the 17th century. during the period of strengthening and flourishing of absolutism. This was the reign of Louis XIV, who created a magnificent court at Versailles. The slender alleys, trimmed trees and symmetrical lawns of the Versailles Park, laid out by the gardener Andre Le Nôtre, seemed to “cleanse” nature of any irregularity. The court’s ceremony, thought out to the smallest detail, made his life beautiful and orderly in appearance, no matter what passions were boiling behind the scenes. And so The poets of classicism depicted a life that, even in conflict situations, unfolded reasonably and proportionately. The classicists were confident that their standards of beauty were true for all times, that they themselves did not add anything to the rules of the ancients - the Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Roman poet Horace, who created manuals on poetry. art. The rules were indeed basically the same, but they were applied differently.

Continuing some traditions of the Renaissance (admiration for the ancients, faith in reason, the ideal of harmony and proportion), classicism was also a kind of antithesis to it. Social and personal, generic and individual, reason and feeling, civilization and nature, which appeared in the art of the Renaissance as a single harmonious whole, are contrasted in classicism. Aesthetics is based on the principlerationalism, cult of reason, the highest example, idealworks of ancient art are recognized.

Having put forward the principleimitation of nature. The classicists considered it indispensable to observe the unshakable rules, according to which artistic production is constructed as an artificial, logically constructed whole, with a plot and compositional organization that is strict to the point of schematism. Human characters are depicted in a straightforward, positive and negative heroes are opposed. This corresponded to the social and educational function of art, to which classicism attached great importance.

Classicism established a strict hierarchy of genres, dividing them intohigh, mediumAndlow,and brought it to a strict consistency.High genresdepicted heroes whom the reader should look up to. Above all high genres is the epic poem, otherwise calledepic,extensive narrative about important historical event. Following the epic cametragedy.It was in this genre that the masterpieces of French classicism were created - the works of Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine. In tragedies, as a rule, kings acted and high feelings were depicted. Most famous conflict the tragedy of classicism is a clash of love and a sense of duty. Both poems and tragedies were written only in verse, which were revered immeasurably higher than “despicable prose.” They also belonged to the high poetic genresodes- lyrical poems on important socio-political topics. There were spiritual odes dedicated to God, and solemn ones in which the monarch was glorified.

INmedium genrespeople were depicted in relation to whom the reader considered himself equal, and situations common in society. Refers primarily to the middle genreshigh comedy(compared tolow - common people).She depicted and ridiculed the vices that can be found in the everyday life of high society. Her usual characters are nobles or wealthy townspeople. The greatest master of this genre is Jean Baptiste Moliere, whose plays are staged all over the world to this day. High comedy was usually written in verse, but could also be prose. Satire, which exposed vices, was not necessarily funny, although some witty lines were considered its great advantage. A particularly large area among the middle genres wasdidactic poetry- poetic moral teachings in the form of poems or short epistols (the literal translation of this word from Latin is “letter, message”). The middle genres also included love and philosophical poems.

Among the low genres the most important wasfable.It was either animals or simple people. Their foolish actions helped the reader to extract moral lesson, which justified the depiction of “low” nature. In French classicism, such genres as fable (J. Lafontaine), satire (N. Boileau), comedy (J. B. Molière) achieved high development. It was in the low genres, examples of which built not in the ideal distance of the historical or mythological past, but in the zone of direct contact with modernity, the realistic principle was developed. This primarily applies to Moliere, whose work absorbed various ideological and artistic trends and largely determined the further development of literature in Moliere. Comedy ceased to be a low genre; his best plays were called “high comedies,” because in them, like in tragedy, the most important social and moral problems of the century were resolved.

The rules of composition and style for each genre were different, but there was a common requirement for all - clarity and consistency. Even a lyrical work sought not so much to amaze or touch the reader, but to convince. In the tragedy of classicism, the hero not only acts and expresses his feelings, but first of all analyzes the motives of actions and feelings. The work addressed itself mainly to the reader's mind, and the poetry of classicism was the poetry of the rational word.

§ 2. Classicism in Russian literature

Under the influence of French literature, classicism developed in other European countries - England, Italy, Germany, Russia. Classicism in Russia originated in the second quarter of the 18th century. in the works of the pioneers of new literature: A. D. Kantemir, V. K. Trediakovsky, M. V. Lomonosov. The work of most major writers of the 18th century is somehow connected with classicism. “We suddenly became a new people.” These words of the poet Antioch Cantemir express the self-perception of the Russian people of Peter the Great and post-Petrine times. Everything changed in Russia. The language itself had to be developed anew. Instead of Church Slavonic, Russian became the literary language, but this did not happen immediately, and the struggle for a literary language ended only in the work of A. S. Pushkin.

In this changed society, it was literature that took upon itself the task of education.new personprimarily the nobility. No poetic system was suitable for this purpose.

better than the poetry of rational words - classicism. In Russia it arose on a very special historical basis, and therefore developed in its own way.

In the era of classicism, Russian literature mastered the genre and style forms that had developed in the West, joined the pan-European literary process, while preserving its national identity. In particular, Russian classicism is characterized by:satirical focus (important place it includes such genres as satire, fable, comedy, directly addressed to specific phenomena of Russian life); predominancenational historical themesover the ancient (in the tragedies of A.P. Sumarokov, Ya.B. Knyazhnin, etc.); high level developmentode genre(by M.V. Lomonosov and G.R. Derzhavin), in which the patriotic pathos that characterizes Russian classicism as a whole received direct lyrical expression. An important place in Russian classicism also occupiespoem genre: military-patriotic by M. M. Kheraskov, philosophical and didactic by M. V. Lomonosov, V. K. Trediakovsky, etc. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. Russian classicism is influenced by sentimentalist and pre-romantic ideas, which is reflected in the poetry of G. R. Derzhavin, the tragedies of V. A. Ozerov and the civil poetry of the Decembrist poets.

Of all the poetic genres of the era of classicism, both in Western European and Russian literature, the most popular were dramatic ones -tragedyAndcomedy.These also include the most rigid rules of classicism. The first and most important thing in them is strictunity of tone: There should be nothing funny in tragedy, nothing sad in comedy. It was also necessary to complyunity of action: the plot must develop strictly sequentially, without digressions or side lines. It was believed that the confusion of the action dulls interest in the main events. To avoid this, it was prescribed to complyunity of placeAndunity of time: the action should not go beyond the boundaries of one city, better - one house, and even better - one room; time should, as far as possible, be brought closer to the real time of the theatrical performance. The maximum allowable duration of action was one day. Unity of place and time was considered necessary for verisimilitude. Rulesunity of time, placeAndactions(the so-called three unities) were expressed most clearly in the era of classicism.

The plot of tragedy and high comedy had to necessarily include all its components:exposition, plot, action development, climaxAnddenouement.Each part corresponded to one dramatic action, which is why the tragedies of classicism were written in five acts. Each appearance of a new character (phenomenon) was associated with a new event. A well-constructed tragedy of classicism is very dynamic. But it is not so much the events themselves that appear directly before the viewer, but rather messages about them and reasoning about them. The fact is that according to ancient tradition, death could not be depicted on stage. Therefore, most of the tragic events (battles, duels) took place behind the scenes. As an exception, the hero could only stab himself with a dagger, and then at the very end of the play - at the end.

It was very difficult to depict true historical reality or everyday life in this way, therefore, starting from the 19th century. the rules of classicism in general ceased to be observed. In the 90s of the XVIII century. classicism as a literary movement no longer existed in Russia. But what is surprising is that the main thing in the traditions of classicism was adopted by literary innovators - Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Vyazemsky. They went much further than their predecessors in depicting complex human feelings. But the innovators, like the poets of classicism, expressed these feelings with the help of “reasonable words.” The motto of “clarity and simplicity” remained their motto. It is no coincidence that this poetry was called “the poetry of beautiful formulas.” The connection of the poets of Zhukovsky’s school with Russian classicism largely determines the significance of this literary movement for the history of literature.

1.When and where did classicism originate?

2.What impact did the era of absolutism have on the development of literature?

3.What traditions of Renaissance art continued in classicism?

4.What are the basic principles of classicist aesthetics?

5. What does the cult of reason and principle of rationalism?

6. What does it mean principle of imitation of nature?

7.What is an artistic image in classicism?

8.What models did classic writers strive to follow?

9.Why did a hierarchy of genres appear in the art of classicism?

10.Name the high genres and their distinctive features.

11.Name the low genres and their distinctive features.

12.Why did the tragedy genre become the leading genre in classicism?

13.What genres became the main ones in French classicism?

14.Why did Moliere's works get their name? high comedy?

15.When did classicism originate in Russia?

16.Name the Russian classic writers.

17.Name distinctive features of Russian classicism.

18.What genres became leading in Russian classicism?

19.Why did the ode genre receive a high level of development in Russian literature?

20.Name the rules of classicism dramaturgy. What does it mean to maintain the unity of the scene; unity of action time?

21.How was the plot of the works of classicism built?

22.What is the significance of classicism for the history of Russian literature?

Key concepts:classicism, historical events, high genres, tragedy, epic, ode. middle genres, didactic poetry, low genres, comedy, satire, fable, unity of place, time and action, plot, development of action, climax, denouement

CLASSICISM (from the Latin classicus - exemplary), style and artistic direction in literature, architecture and art of the 17th - early 19th centuries, classicism is successively associated with the Renaissance; occupied, along with the Baroque, an important place in the culture of the 17th century; continued its development during the Age of Enlightenment. The origin and spread of classicism is associated with the strengthening of the absolute monarchy, with the influence of the philosophy of R. Descartes, with the development of the exact sciences. The basis of the rationalistic aesthetics of classicism is the desire for balance, clarity, and consistency of artistic expression (largely adopted from the aesthetics of the Renaissance); conviction in the existence of universal and eternal rules of artistic creativity, not subject to historical changes, which are interpreted as skill, mastery, and not a manifestation of spontaneous inspiration or self-expression.

Having accepted the idea of ​​creativity as an imitation of nature, dating back to Aristotle, the classicists understood nature as an ideal norm, which had already been embodied in the works of ancient masters and writers: the focus on “beautiful nature,” transformed and ordered in accordance with the immutable laws of art, thus implied imitation antique models and even competition with them. Developing the idea of ​​art as a rational activity based on the eternal categories of “beautiful”, “expedient”, etc., classicism, more than other artistic movements, contributed to the emergence of aesthetics as a generalizing science of beauty.

The central concept of classicism - verisimilitude - did not imply an accurate reproduction of empirical reality: the world is recreated not as it is, but as it should be. The preference for a universal norm as “due” to everything particular, random, and concrete corresponds to the ideology of an absolutist state expressed by classicism, in which everything personal and private is subordinated to the indisputable will of state power. The classicist portrayed not a specific, individual personality, but an abstract person in a situation of a universal, ahistorical moral conflict; hence the classicists’ orientation toward ancient mythology as the embodiment of universal knowledge about the world and man. The ethical ideal of classicism presupposes, on the one hand, the subordination of the personal to the general, passions to duty, reason, resistance to the vicissitudes of existence; on the other hand, restraint in the manifestation of feelings, adherence to moderation, appropriateness, and the ability to please.

Classicism strictly subordinated creativity to the rules of the genre-style hierarchy. A distinction was made between “high” (for example, epic, tragedy, ode - in literature; historical, religious, mythological genre, portrait - in painting) and “low” (satire, comedy, fable; still life in painting) genres, which corresponded to a certain style, range of themes and heroes; a clear distinction between the tragic and the comic, the sublime and the base, the heroic and the ordinary was prescribed.

From the middle of the 18th century, classicism was gradually replaced by new movements - sentimentalism, pre-romanticism, romanticism. The traditions of classicism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were resurrected in neoclassicism.

The term “classicism,” which goes back to the concept of classics (exemplary writers), was first used in 1818 by the Italian critic G. Visconti. It was widely used in the polemics between classicists and romantics, and among the romantics (J. de Staël, V. Hugo, etc.) it had a negative connotation: classicism and the classics who imitated antiquity were opposed to innovative romantic literature. In literary and art history, the concept of “classicism” began to be actively used after the works of scientists of the cultural-historical school and G. Wölfflin.

Stylistic trends similar to the classicism of the 17th and 18th centuries are seen by some scientists in other eras; in this case, the concept of “classicism” is interpreted in a broad sense, denoting a stylistic constant that is periodically updated at various stages of the history of art and literature (for example, “ancient classicism”, “Renaissance classicism”).

N. T. Pakhsaryan.

Literature. The origins of literary classicism are in normative poetics (Yu. Ts. Scaliger, L. Castelvetro, etc.) and in Italian literature of the 16th century, where a genre system was created, correlated with the system of linguistic styles and focused on ancient examples. The highest flowering of classicism is associated with French literature of the 17th century. The founder of the poetics of classicism was F. Malherbe, who carried out the regulation literary language based on live colloquial speech; the reform he carried out was consolidated by the French Academy. The principles of literary classicism were set out in their most complete form in the treatise “Poetic Art” by N. Boileau (1674), which summarized the artistic practice of his contemporaries.

Classical writers regard literature as an important mission of embodying in words and conveying to the reader the requirements of nature and reason, as a way to “educate while entertaining.” The literature of classicism strives for a clear expression of significant thought, meaning (“... meaning always lives in my creation” - F. von Logau), it refuses stylistic sophistication and rhetorical embellishments. The classicists preferred laconicism to verbosity, simplicity and clarity to metaphorical complexity, and decency to extravagantness. Following established norms did not mean, however, that classicists encouraged pedantry and ignored the role of artistic intuition. Although the classicists saw rules as a way to keep creative freedom within the bounds of reason, they understood the importance of intuitive insight, forgiving talent to deviate from the rules if it was appropriate and artistically effective.

The characters in classicism are built on the identification of one dominant trait, which helps to transform them into universal human types. Favorite collisions are the clash of duty and feelings, the struggle of reason and passion. At the center of the works of the classicists is a heroic personality and at the same time a well-bred person who stoically strives to overcome his own passions and affects, to curb or at least realize them (like the heroes of the tragedies of J. Racine). Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” plays the role of not only a philosophical and intellectual, but also an ethical principle in the worldview of the characters of classicism.

The literary theory of classicism is based on a hierarchical system of genres; analytical dilution across different works, even art worlds, “high” and “low” heroes and themes is combined with the desire to ennoble “low” genres; for example, rid satire of crude burlesque, comedy - of farcical features (“high comedy” by Molière).

The main place in the literature of classicism was occupied by drama based on rule of three unities (see Three unities theory). Its leading genre was tragedy, the highest achievements of which are the works of P. Corneille and J. Racine; in the first, the tragedy takes on a heroic character, in the second, a lyrical character. Other “high” genres play a much smaller role in the literary process (J. Chaplain’s unsuccessful experiment in the genre of epic poem was subsequently parodied by Voltaire; solemn odes were written by F. Malherbe and N. Boileau). At the same time, “low” genres received significant development: irocomic poem and satire (M. Renier, Boileau), fable (J. de La Fontaine), comedy. Genres of short didactic prose are cultivated - aphorisms (maxims), “characters” (B. Pascal, F. de La Rochefoucauld, J. de Labruyère); oratorical prose (J.B. Bossuet). Although the theory of classicism did not include the novel in the system of genres worthy of serious critical reflection, M. M. Lafayette’s psychological masterpiece “The Princess of Cleves” (1678) is considered an example of a classicist novel.

At the end of the 17th century, there was a decline in literary classicism, however, archaeological interest in antiquity in the 18th century, excavations of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and the creation by I. I. Winkelman of the ideal image of Greek antiquity as “noble simplicity and calm grandeur” contributed to its new rise during the Enlightenment. The main representative of the new classicism was Voltaire, in whose work rationalism and the cult of reason served to justify not the norms of absolutist statehood, but the right of the individual to freedom from the claims of the church and state. Enlightenment classicism, actively interacting with other literary movements of the era, is based not on “rules”, but rather on the “enlightened taste” of the public. Appeal to antiquity becomes a way of expressing the heroism of the French Revolution of the 18th century in the poetry of A. Chenier.

In France in the 17th century, classicism developed into a powerful and consistent artistic system and had a noticeable impact on Baroque literature. In Germany, classicism, having emerged as a conscious cultural effort to create a “correct” and “perfect” poetic school worthy of other European literatures (M. Opitz), on the contrary, was drowned out by the Baroque, the style of which was more consistent with the tragic era of the Thirty Years' War; I. K. Gottsched's belated attempt in the 1730s and 40s to direct German literature along the path of classicist canons caused fierce controversy and was generally rejected. An independent aesthetic phenomenon is the Weimar classicism of J. W. Goethe and F. Schiller. In Great Britain, early classicism is associated with the work of J. Dryden; its further development proceeded in line with the Enlightenment (A. Pope, S. Johnson). By the end of the 17th century, classicism in Italy existed in parallel with Rococo and was sometimes intertwined with it (for example, in the works of the Arcadia poets - A. Zeno, P. Metastasio, P. Ya. Martello, S. Maffei); Enlightenment classicism is represented by the work of V. Alfieri.

In Russia, classicism was established in the 1730-1750s under the influence of Western European classicism and the ideas of the Enlightenment; at the same time, it clearly shows a connection with the Baroque. The distinctive features of Russian classicism are pronounced didacticism, accusatory, socially critical orientation, national patriotic pathos, and reliance on folk art. One of the first principles of classicism was transferred to Russian soil by A.D. Kantemir. In his satires, he followed I. Boileau, but, creating generalized images of human vices, adapted them to domestic reality. Kantemir introduced new poetic genres into Russian literature: arrangements of psalms, fables, and a heroic poem (“Petrida,” unfinished). The first example of a classic laudatory ode was created by V.K. Trediakovsky (“Solemn Ode on the Surrender of the City of Gdansk,” 1734), who accompanied it with a theoretical “Discourse on the Ode in General” (both of which followed Boileau). The odes of M.V. Lomonosov are marked by the influence of Baroque poetics. Russian classicism is most fully and consistently represented by the work of A.P. Sumarokov. Having outlined the main provisions of the classicist doctrine in the “Epistole on Poetry,” written in imitation of Boileau’s treatise (1747), Sumarokov sought to follow them in his works: tragedies focused on the work of the French classicists of the 17th century and the dramaturgy of Voltaire, but addressed primarily to the events of national history; partly - in comedies, the model for which was the work of Moliere; in satires, as well as fables, which brought him the fame of the “northern La Fontaine.” He also developed a genre of song, which was not mentioned by Boileau, but was included by Sumarokov himself in the list of poetic genres. Until the end of the 18th century, the classification of genres proposed by Lomonosov in the preface to the collected works of 1757, “On the Use of Church Books in the Russian Language,” retained its significance, which correlated the three-style theory with specific genres, linking with the high “calm” the heroic poem, ode, solemn speeches; with the average - tragedy, satire, elegy, eclogue; with low - comedy, song, epigram. A sample of the irocomic poem was created by V. I. Maikov (“Elisha, or the Irritated Bacchus,” 1771). The first completed heroic epic was “Rossiyada” by M. M. Kheraskov (1779). At the end of the 18th century, the principles of classicist drama appeared in the works of N. P. Nikolev, Ya. B. Knyazhnin, V. V. Kapnist. At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, classicism was gradually replaced by new trends in literary development associated with pre-romanticism and sentimentalism, but retained its influence for some time. Its traditions can be traced in the 1800-20s in the work of Radishchev poets (A. Kh. Vostokov, I. P. Pnin, V. V. Popugaev), in literary criticism (A. F. Merzlyakov), in literary and aesthetic program and genre-stylistic practice of the Decembrist poets, in the early works of A. S. Pushkin.

A. P. Losenko. "Vladimir and Rogneda." 1770. Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).

N. T. Pakhsaryan; T. G. Yurchenko (classicism in Russia).

Architecture and fine arts. The trends of classicism in European art emerged already in the 2nd half of the 16th century in Italy - in the architectural theory and practice of A. Palladio, the theoretical treatises of G. da Vignola, S. Serlio; more consistently - in the works of J. P. Bellori (17th century), as well as in the aesthetic standards of the academicians of the Bolognese school. However, in the 17th century, classicism, which developed in highly polemical interaction with the Baroque, only developed into a coherent stylistic system in French artistic culture. The classicism of the 18th and early 19th centuries was formed primarily in France, which became a pan-European style (the latter is often called neoclassicism in foreign art history). The principles of rationalism underlying the aesthetics of classicism determined the view of piece of art as the fruit of reason and logic, triumphing over the chaos and fluidity of sensory life. The orientation towards a reasonable beginning, towards enduring examples also determined the normative requirements of the aesthetics of classicism, the regulation of artistic rules, the strict hierarchy of genres in fine arts(the “high” genre includes works on mythological and historical subjects, as well as the “ideal landscape” and ceremonial portrait; the “low” genre includes still life, everyday genre, etc.). The consolidation of the theoretical doctrines of classicism was facilitated by the activities of the royal academies founded in Paris - painting and sculpture (1648) and architecture (1671).

The architecture of classicism, in contrast to baroque with its dramatic conflict forms, the energetic interaction of volume and spatial environment, is based on the principle of harmony and internal completeness, both of an individual building and an ensemble. The characteristic features of this style are the desire for clarity and unity of the whole, symmetry and balance, definiteness of plastic forms and spatial intervals, creating a calm and solemn rhythm; a proportioning system based on multiple ratios of integers (a single module that determines the patterns of shape formation). The constant appeal of the masters of classicism to the heritage of ancient architecture implied not only the use of its individual motifs and elements, but also the comprehension of the general laws of its architectonics. The basis of the architectural language of classicism was an architectural order, with proportions and forms closer to antiquity than in the architecture of previous eras; in buildings it is used in such a way that it does not obscure the overall structure of the structure, but becomes its subtle and restrained accompaniment. The interiors of classicism are characterized by clarity of spatial divisions and softness of colors. By making extensive use of perspective effects in monumental and decorative painting, the masters of classicism fundamentally separated the illusory space from the real.

An important place in the architecture of classicism belongs to the problems of urban planning. Projects of “ideal cities” are being developed, new type regular absolutist city-residence (Versailles). Classicism strives to continue the traditions of antiquity and the Renaissance, laying the basis for its decisions on the principle of proportionality to man and, at the same time, scale, giving the architectural image a heroically elevated sound. And although the rhetorical pomp of palace decoration comes into conflict with this dominant tendency, the stable figurative structure of classicism preserves the unity of the style, no matter how diverse its modifications in the process of historical development.

The formation of classicism in French architecture is associated with the works of J. Lemercier and F. Mansart. The appearance of the buildings and construction techniques initially resemble the architecture of 16th century castles; A decisive turning point occurred in the work of L. Lebrun - first of all, in the creation of the palace and park ensemble of Vaux-le-Vicomte, with the solemn enfilade of the palace itself, the impressive paintings of C. Le Brun and the most characteristic expression of new principles - the regular parterre park of A. Le Nôtre. The eastern façade of the Louvre, realized (from the 1660s) according to the plans of C. Perrault (it is characteristic that the projects of J. L. Bernini and others in the Baroque style were rejected), became the programmatic work of classicism architecture. In the 1660s, L. Levo, A. Le Nôtre and C. Lebrun began to create the ensemble of Versailles, where the ideas of classicism were expressed with particular completeness. Since 1678, the construction of Versailles was led by J. Hardouin-Mansart; According to his designs, the palace was significantly expanded (wings were added), the central terrace was converted into a Mirror Gallery - the most representative part of the interior. He also built the Grand Trianon Palace and other buildings. The ensemble of Versailles is characterized by a rare stylistic integrity: even the jets of the fountains were combined into a static form, like a column, and the trees and bushes were trimmed in the form of geometric shapes. The symbolism of the ensemble is subordinated to the glorification of the “Sun King” Louis XIV, but its artistic and figurative basis was the apotheosis of reason, powerfully transforming the natural elements. At the same time, the emphasized decorativeness of the interiors justifies the use of the stylistic term “baroque classicism” in relation to Versailles.

In the 2nd half of the 17th century, new planning techniques developed, providing organic compound urban development with elements of the natural environment, the creation of open spaces that spatially merge with the street or embankment, ensemble solutions for the key elements of the urban structure (Place Louis the Great, now Vendôme, and Place des Victories; architectural ensemble of the Invalides, all by J. Hardouin-Mansart), triumphal entrance arches (Saint-Denis gate designed by N. F. Blondel; all in Paris).

The traditions of classicism in France in the 18th century were almost uninterrupted, but in the 1st half of the century the Rococo style prevailed. In the mid-18th century, the principles of classicism were transformed in the spirit of Enlightenment aesthetics. In architecture, the appeal to “naturalness” put forward the requirement for constructive justification of order elements of the composition, in the interior - the need to develop a flexible layout for a comfortable residential building. The ideal environment for the house was a landscape (garden and park) environment. The rapid development of knowledge about Greek and Roman antiquity (excavations of Herculaneum, Pompeii, etc.) had a huge influence on the classicism of the 18th century; The works of I. I. Winkelman, I. V. Goethe, and F. Milizia made their contribution to the theory of classicism. In French classicism of the 18th century, new architectural types were defined: an elegant and intimate mansion (“hotel”), a ceremonial public building, an open square connecting the main thoroughfares of the city (Place Louis XV, now Place de la Concorde, in Paris, architect J. A. Gabriel; He also built the Petit Trianon Palace in Versailles Park, combining the harmonious clarity of forms with the lyrical sophistication of the design). J. J. Soufflot carried out his project for the Church of Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, drawing on the experience of classical architecture.

In the era preceding the French Revolution of the 18th century, a desire for austere simplicity and a bold search for the monumental geometricism of a new, orderless architecture appeared in architecture (C. N. Ledoux, E. L. Bullet, J. J. Lequeu). These searches (also marked by the influence of the architectural etchings of G.B. Piranesi) served as the starting point for the late phase of classicism - the French Empire style (1st third of the 19th century), in which magnificent representativeness was growing (C. Percier, P. F. L. Fontaine , J.F. Chalgrin).

English Palladianism of the 17th and 18th centuries is in many ways related to the system of classicism, and often merges with it. Orientation towards the classics (not only towards the ideas of A. Palladio, but also towards antiquity), strict and restrained expressiveness of plastically clear motifs are present in the work of I. Jones. After the “Great Fire” of 1666, K. Wren built the largest building in London - St. Paul's Cathedral, as well as over 50 parish churches, a number of buildings in Oxford, marked by the influence of ancient solutions. Extensive urban plans were implemented by the mid-18th century in the regular development of Bath (J. Wood the Elder and J. Wood the Younger), London and Edinburgh (Adam brothers). The buildings of W. Chambers, W. Kent, and J. Payne are associated with the flourishing of country park estates. R. Adam was also inspired by Roman antiquity, but his version of classicism takes on a softer and lyrical appearance. Classicism in Great Britain was the most important component of the so-called Georgian style. At the beginning of the 19th century, features close to the Empire style appeared in English architecture (J. Soane, J. Nash).

In the 17th - early 18th centuries, classicism took shape in the architecture of Holland (J. van Kampen, P. Post), which gave rise to a particularly restrained version of it. Cross connections with French and Dutch classicism, as well as with the early Baroque, affected the short flowering of classicism in the architecture of Sweden in the late 17th and early 18th centuries (N. Tessin the Younger). In the 18th and early 19th centuries, classicism also established itself in Italy (G. Piermarini), Spain (J. de Villanueva), Poland (J. Kamsetzer, H. P. Aigner), and the USA (T. Jefferson, J. Hoban). German classicist architecture of the 18th - 1st half of the 19th centuries is characterized by the strict forms of the Palladian F. W. Erdmansdorff, the “heroic” Hellenism of K. G. Langhans, D. and F. Gilly, and the historicism of L. von Klenze. In the work of K. F. Schinkel, the harsh monumentality of images is combined with the search for new functional solutions.

By the middle of the 19th century, the leading role of classicism was fading; it is being replaced by historical styles (see also Neo-Greek style, Eclecticism). At the same time artistic tradition classicism comes to life in neoclassicism of the 20th century.

The fine arts of classicism are normative; its figurative structure has clear signs of a social utopia. The iconography of classicism is dominated by ancient legends, heroic deeds, historical subjects, that is, interest in the fate of human communities, in the “anatomy of power.” Not content with simply “portraiting nature,” the artists of classicism strive to rise above the specific, individual - to the universally significant. The classicists defended their idea of ​​artistic truth, which did not coincide with the naturalism of Caravaggio or the small Dutch. The world of reasonable actions and bright feelings in the art of classicism rose above imperfect everyday life as the embodiment of the dream of the desired harmony of existence. Orientation towards a lofty ideal also gave rise to the choice of a “beautiful nature”. Classicism avoids the accidental, the deviant, the grotesque, the crude, the repulsive. The tectonic clarity of classicist architecture corresponds to the clear delineation of plans in sculpture and painting. The plastic art of classicism, as a rule, is designed for a fixed point of view and is characterized by smoothness of forms. The moment of movement in the poses of the figures usually does not violate their plastic isolation and calm statuesqueness. In classicist painting, the main elements of form are line and chiaroscuro; local colors clearly identify objects and landscape plans, which brings the spatial composition of the painting closer to the composition of the stage area.

The founder and greatest master of classicism of the 17th century was the French artist N. Poussin, whose paintings are marked by the sublimity of their philosophical and ethical content, the harmony of rhythmic structure and color.

The “ideal landscape” (N. Poussin, C. Lorrain, G. Duguay), which embodied the classicists’ dream of a “golden age” of humanity, was highly developed in the painting of classicism of the 17th century. The most significant masters of French classicism in sculpture of the 17th - early 18th centuries were P. Puget (heroic theme), F. Girardon (search for harmony and laconism of forms). In the 2nd half of the 18th century, French sculptors again turned to public significant topics and monumental decisions (J.B. Pigalle, M. Clodion, E.M. Falconet, J.A. Houdon). Civil pathos and lyricism were combined in the mythological paintings of J. M. Vien and the decorative landscapes of J. Robert. The painting of the so-called revolutionary classicism in France is represented by the works of J. L. David, historical and portrait images which are marked by courageous drama. In the late period of French classicism, painting, despite the appearance of individual major masters (J. O. D. Ingres), degenerated into official apologetic or salon art.

The international center of classicism of the 18th and early 19th centuries was Rome, where art was dominated by the academic tradition with a combination of nobility of forms and cold, abstract idealization, not uncommon for academicism (painters A.R. Mengs, J.A. Koch, V. Camuccini, sculptors A. As is B. Thorvaldsen). In the fine art of German classicism, contemplative in spirit, portraits of A. and V. Tischbein, mythological cardboards of A. J. Carstens, plastic works of I. G. Shadov, K. D. Rauch stand out; in decorative and applied arts - furniture by D. Roentgen. In Great Britain, the classicism of graphics and the sculpture of J. Flaxman are close, and in the decorative and applied arts - the ceramics of J. Wedgwood and the craftsmen of the Derby factory.

A. R. Mengs. "Perseus and Andromeda". 1774-79. Hermitage (St. Petersburg).

The heyday of classicism in Russia dates back to the last third of the 18th - 1st third of the 19th century, although the beginning of the 18th century was already marked by a creative appeal to the urban planning experience of French classicism (the principle of symmetrical axial planning systems in the construction of St. Petersburg). Russian classicism embodied a new historical stage in the flowering of Russian secular culture, unprecedented for Russia in scope and ideological content. Early Russian classicism in architecture (1760-70s; J. B. Vallin-Delamot, A. F. Kokorinov, Yu. M. Felten, K. I. Blank, A. Rinaldi) still retains the plastic richness and dynamics of forms inherent in Baroque and Rococo.

The architects of the mature period of classicism (1770-90s; V.I. Bazhenov, M.F. Kazakov, I.E. Starov) created classical types of metropolitan palace-estate and comfortable residential building, which became models in the widespread construction of country noble estates and in the new, ceremonial development of cities. The art of the ensemble in country park estates is a major contribution of Russian classicism to the world artistic culture. In estate construction, the Russian version of Palladianism arose (N. A. Lvov), and a new type of chamber palace emerged (C. Cameron, J. Quarenghi). A feature of Russian classicism is the unprecedented scale of state urban planning: regular plans for more than 400 cities were developed, ensembles of centers of Kaluga, Kostroma, Poltava, Tver, Yaroslavl, etc. were formed; the practice of “regulating” urban plans, as a rule, consistently combined the principles of classicism with the historically established planning structure of the old Russian city. The turn of the 18th-19th centuries was marked by major urban development achievements in both capitals. A grandiose ensemble of the center of St. Petersburg took shape (A. N. Voronikhin, A. D. Zakharov, J. F. Thomas de Thomon, and later K. I. Rossi). “Classical Moscow” was formed on different urban planning principles, which was built up during its restoration after the fire of 1812 with small mansions with cozy interiors. The principles of regularity here were consistently subordinated to the general pictorial freedom of the spatial structure of the city. The most prominent architects of late Moscow classicism are D. I. Gilardi, O. I. Bove, A. G. Grigoriev. The buildings of the 1st third of the 19th century belong to the Russian Empire style (sometimes called Alexander classicism).

In the fine arts, the development of Russian classicism is closely connected with the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (founded in 1757). The sculpture is represented by “heroic” monumental and decorative sculpture, forming a finely thought-out synthesis with architecture, monuments filled with civic pathos, tombstones imbued with elegiac enlightenment, and easel sculpture (I. P. Prokofiev, F. G. Gordeev, M. I. Kozlovsky, I. P. Martos, F. F. Shchedrin, V. I. Demut-Malinovsky, S. S. Pimenov, I. I. Terebenev). In painting, classicism was most clearly manifested in works of the historical and mythological genre (A. P. Losenko, G. I. Ugryumov, I. A. Akimov, A. I. Ivanov, A. E. Egorov, V. K. Shebuev, early A. A. Ivanov; in scenography - in the works of P. di G. Gonzago). Some features of classicism are also inherent in the sculptural portraits of F. I. Shubin, in painting - in the portraits of D. G. Levitsky, V. L. Borovikovsky, and in the landscapes of F. M. Matveev. In the decorative and applied arts of Russian classicism, artistic modeling and carved decor in architecture, bronze products, cast iron, porcelain, crystal, furniture, damask fabrics, etc. stand out.

A. I. Kaplun; Yu. K. Zolotov (European fine arts).

Theater. The formation of theatrical classicism began in France in the 1630s. The activating and organizing role in this process belonged to literature, thanks to which theater established itself among the “high” arts. The French saw examples of theatrical art in the Italian “scientific theater” of the Renaissance. Since court society was the setter of tastes and cultural values, the stage style was also influenced by court ceremonies and festivals, ballets, receptions. The principles of theatrical classicism were developed on the Parisian stage: in the Marais theater headed by G. Mondori (1634), in the Palais Cardinal (1641, from 1642 Palais Royal), built by Cardinal Richelieu, whose structure met the high requirements of Italian stage technology ; in the 1640s, the Burgundian Hotel became the site of theatrical classicism. Simultaneous decoration gradually, by the middle of the 17th century, was replaced by picturesque and single perspective decoration (palace, temple, house, etc.); a curtain appeared that rose and fell at the beginning and end of the performance. The scene was framed like a painting. The game took place only on the proscenium; the performance was centered on several protagonist figures. The architectural backdrop, a single location, the combination of acting and pictorial plans, and the overall three-dimensional mise-en-scène contributed to the creation of the illusion of verisimilitude. In 17th-century stage classicism, there was the concept of the “fourth wall.” “He acts like this,” F. E. a’Aubignac wrote about the actor (“Practice of the Theatre,” 1657), “as if the audience did not exist at all: his characters act and speak as if they were really kings, and not Mondori and Bellerose, as if they were in Horace's palace in Rome, and not in the Burgundy Hotel in Paris, and as if they were seen and heard only by those who are present on the stage (i.e. in the place depicted)."

In the high tragedy of classicism (P. Corneille, J. Racine), the dynamics, entertainment and adventure plots of A. Hardy’s plays (which made up the repertoire of the first permanent French troupe of V. Lecomte in the 1st third of the 17th century) were replaced by statics and in-depth attention to the spiritual the world of the hero, the motives of his behavior. The new dramaturgy demanded changes in the performing arts. The actor became the embodiment of the ethical and aesthetic ideal of the era, creating with his performance a close-up portrait of his contemporary; his costume, stylized as antiquity, corresponded to modern fashion, his plasticity was subject to the requirements of nobility and grace. The actor had to have the pathos of an orator, a sense of rhythm, musicality (for the actress M. Chanmele, J. Racine wrote notes over the lines of the role), the art of eloquent gesture, the skills of a dancer, even physical strength. The dramaturgy of classicism contributed to the emergence of a school of stage recitation, which united the entire set of performing techniques (reading, gesture, facial expressions) and became the main means of expression of the French actor. A. Vitez called the declamation of the 17th century “prosodic architecture.” The performance was built in the logical interaction of monologues. With the help of words, the technique of arousing emotions and controlling them was practiced; The success of the performance depended on the strength of the voice, its sonority, timbre, mastery of colors and intonations.

“Andromache” by J. Racine at the Burgundy Hotel. Engraving by F. Chauveau. 1667.

The division of theatrical genres into “high” (tragedy at the Burgundian Hotel) and “low” (comedy at the Palais Royal in the time of Moliere), the emergence of roles consolidated the hierarchical structure of the theater of classicism. Remaining within the boundaries of “ennobled” nature, the design of the performance and the outlines of the image were determined by the individuality of the largest actors: the manner of recitation of J. Floridor was more natural than that of the excessively posing Bellerose; M. Chanmele was characterized by a sonorous and melodious “recitation,” and Montfleury had no equal in the affects of passion. The subsequent understanding of the canon of theatrical classicism, which consisted of standard gestures (surprise was depicted with hands raised to shoulder level and palms facing the audience; disgust - with the head turned to the right and hands pushing away the object of contempt, etc.) , refers to the era of decline and degeneration of style.

In the 18th century, despite the decisive departure of the theater towards educational democracy, the actors of the Comédie Française A. Lecouvreur, M. Baron, A. L. Lequesne, Dumenil, Clairon, L. Preville developed the style of stage classicism in accordance with tastes and requests era. They deviated from the classicist norms of recitation, reformed the costume and made attempts to direct the performance by creating an acting ensemble. At the beginning of the 19th century, at the height of the struggle of the romantics with the tradition of the “court” theater, F. J. Talma, M. J. Georges, Mars proved the viability of the classicist repertoire and performing style, and in the work of Rachelle, classicism in the romantic era again acquired the meaning of “high "and sought-after style. The traditions of classicism continued to influence the theatrical culture of France at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and even later. The combination of classicism and modernist styles is characteristic of the play of J. Mounet-Sully, S. Bernard, B. C. Coquelin. In the 20th century, French director's theater became closer to the European one, and the stage style lost its national specificity. However, significant events in the French theater of the 20th century correlate with the traditions of classicism: performances by J. Copo, J. L. Barrot, L. Jouvet, J. Vilar, Vitez’s experiments with the classics of the 17th century, productions by R. Planchon, J. Desart and etc.

Having lost the importance of the dominant style in France in the 18th century, classicism found successors in other countries. European countries. J. W. Goethe consistently introduced the principles of classicism into the Weimar theater he led. Actress and entrepreneur F. K. Neuber and actor K. Eckhoff in Germany, English actors T. Betterton, J. Quinn, J. Kemble, S. Siddons promoted classicism, but their efforts, despite their personal creative achievements, proved to be ineffective and were ultimately rejected. Stage classicism became the object of pan-European controversy and, thanks to German and then Russian theater theorists, received the definition of “false-classical theater.”

In Russia, the classicist style flourished at the beginning of the 19th century in the works of A. S. Yakovlev and E. S. Semyonova, and later manifested itself in the achievements of the St. Petersburg theater school in the person of V. V. Samoilov (see Samoilovs), V. A. Karatygin (see Karatygins), then Yu. M. Yuryev.

E. I. Gorfunkel.

Music. The term “classicism” in relation to music does not imply an orientation towards ancient examples (only monuments of ancient Greek were known and studied music theory), and a series of reforms designed to put an end to the remnants of the Baroque style in musical theater. Classicist and baroque tendencies were contradictory combined in French musical tragedy of the 2nd half of the 17th - 1st half of the 18th century (the creative collaboration of librettist F. Kino and composer J.B. Lully, operas and opera-ballets of J.F. Rameau) and in Italian opera seria, which took a leading position among the musical and dramatic genres of the 18th century (in Italy, England, Austria, Germany, Russia). The heyday of French musical tragedy occurred at the beginning of the crisis of absolutism, when the ideals of heroism and citizenship during the struggle for a national state were replaced by a spirit of festivity and ceremonial officialdom, a craving for luxury and refined hedonism. The severity of the conflict of feeling and duty, typical of classicism, in the context of a mythological or knightly-legendary plot of a musical tragedy decreased (especially in comparison with a tragedy in a dramatic theater). Associated with the norms of classicism are the requirements of genre purity (the absence of comedic and everyday episodes), unity of action (often also of place and time), and a “classical” 5-act composition (often with a prologue). The central position in musical dramaturgy is occupied by recitative - the element closest to rationalistic verbal and conceptual logic. In the intonation sphere, declamatory and pathetic formulas associated with natural human speech (interrogatives, imperatives, etc.) predominate; at the same time, rhetorical and symbolic figures characteristic of baroque opera are excluded. Extensive choral and ballet scenes with fantastic and pastoral-idyllic themes, a general orientation towards entertainment and entertainment (which eventually became dominant) were more consistent with the traditions of the Baroque than with the principles of classicism.

Traditional for Italy were the cultivation of singing virtuosity and the development of decorative elements inherent in the opera seria genre. In line with the demands of classicism put forward by some representatives of the Roman Academy "Arcadia", the northern Italian librettists of the early 18th century (F. Silvani, G. Frigimelica-Roberti, A. Zeno, P. Pariati, A. Salvi, A. Piovene) were expelled from serious opera has comic and everyday episodes, plot motifs associated with the intervention of supernatural or fantastic forces; the range of subjects was limited to historical and historical-legendary ones; moral and ethical issues were brought to the fore. At the center of the artistic concept of the early opera seria is the sublime heroic image of a monarch, less often a statesman, a courtier, an epic hero, demonstrating positive traits ideal personality: wisdom, tolerance, generosity, devotion to duty, heroic enthusiasm. The 3-act structure traditional for Italian opera was preserved (5-act dramas remained experiments), but the number of characters was reduced, and intonation expressive means, overture and aria forms, and the structure of vocal parts were standardized in the music. A type of dramaturgy entirely subordinated to musical tasks was developed (from the 1720s) by P. Metastasio, with whose name the pinnacle stage in the history of opera seria is associated. In his stories, the classicist pathos is noticeably weakened. A conflict situation, as a rule, arises and deepens due to the protracted “misconception” of the main characters, and not due to a real contradiction of their interests or principles. However, a special predilection for the idealized expression of feelings, for noble impulses human soul, although far from a strict rational basis, ensured the exceptional popularity of Metastasio's libretto for more than half a century.

The culmination of the development of musical classicism of the Enlightenment era (in the 1760-70s) was the creative collaboration of K. V. Gluck and librettist R. Calzabigi. In Gluck's operas and ballets, classicist tendencies were expressed in emphasized attention to ethical problems, the development of ideas about heroism and generosity (in the musical dramas of the Parisian period - in a direct appeal to the theme of duty and feelings). The norms of classicism also corresponded to genre purity, the desire for maximum concentration of action, reduced to almost one dramatic collision, strict selection of expressive means in accordance with the tasks of a specific dramatic situation, the utmost limitation of the decorative element, and virtuosity in singing. The educational nature of the interpretation of images was reflected in the interweaving of the noble qualities inherent in classicist heroes with naturalness and freedom of expression of feelings, reflecting the influence of sentimentalism.

In the 1780-90s, the tendencies of revolutionary classicism, reflecting the ideals of the French Revolution of the 18th century, found expression in French musical theater. Genetically related to the previous stage and represented mainly by the generation of composers who followed Gluck’s operatic reform (E. Megul, L. Cherubini), revolutionary classicism emphasized, first of all, the civic, tyrant-fighting pathos previously characteristic of the tragedies of P. Corneille and Voltaire. Unlike works of the 1760s and 70s, in which resolution tragic conflict was difficult to achieve and required the intervention of external forces (the tradition of “deus ex machina” - Latin “god from the machine”), the ending through a heroic act (refusal of obedience, protest, often an act of retribution, the murder of a tyrant) became characteristic of the works of the 1780-1790s etc.), creating a bright and effective release of tension. This type of dramaturgy formed the basis of the “rescue opera” genre, which appeared in the 1790s at the intersection of the traditions of classicist opera and realistic bourgeois drama.

In Russia, in musical theater, original manifestations of classicism are rare (the opera “Cephalus and Procris” by F. Araya, the melodrama “Orpheus” by E. I. Fomin, music by O. A. Kozlovsky for the tragedies of V. A. Ozerov, A. A. Shakhovsky and A. N. Gruzintseva).

In relation to comic opera, as well as instrumental and vocal music of the 18th century, not associated with theatrical action, the term “classicism” is used to a large extent conditionally. It is sometimes used loosely to mean initial stage classical-romantic era, gallant and classical styles (see the article Viennese classical school, Classics in music), in particular in order to avoid judgment (for example, when translating the German term “Klassik” or in the expression “Russian classicism”, extended to all Russian music of the 2nd half of the 18th - early 19th centuries).

In the 19th century, classicism in musical theater gave way to romanticism, although certain features of classicist aesthetics were sporadically revived (by G. Spontini, G. Berlioz, S. I. Taneyev, etc.). In the 20th century, classicist artistic principles were revived again in neoclassicism.

P. V. Lutsker.

Lit.: General work. Zeitler R. Klassizismus und Utopia. Stockh., 1954; Peyre N. Qu’est-ce que le classicisme? R., 1965; Bray R. La formation de la doctrine classique en France. R., 1966; Renaissance. Baroque. Classicism. The problem of styles in Western European art of the 15th-17th centuries. M., 1966; Tapie V. L. Baroque et classicisme. 2 ed. R., 1972; Benac N. Le classicisme. R., 1974; Zolotov Yu. K. Moral foundations of action in French classicism of the 17th century. // News of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Ser. literature and language. 1988. T. 47. No. 3; Zuber R., Cuénin M. Le classicisme. R., 1998. Literature. Vipper Yu. B. Formation of classicism in French poetry of the early 17th century. M., 1967; Oblomievsky D. D. French classicism. M., 1968; Serman I.Z. Russian classicism: Poetry. Drama. Satire. L., 1973; Morozov A. A. The fate of Russian classicism // Russian literature. 1974. No. 1; Jones T. V., Nicol V. Neo-classical dramatic criticism. 1560-1770. Camb., 1976; Moskvicheva G.V. Russian classicism. M., 1978; Literary manifestos of Western European classicists. M., 1980; Averintsev S. S. Ancient Greek poetics and world literature // Poetics ancient Greek literature. M., 1981; Russian and Western European classicism. Prose. M., 1982; L'Antiquité gréco-romaine vue par le siècle des lumières / Éd. R. Chevallier. Tours, 1987; Klassik im Vergleich. Normativität und Historizität europäischer Klassiken. Stuttg.; Weimar, 1993; Pumpyansky L.V. On the history of Russian classicism // Pumpyansky L.V. Classical tradition. M., 2000; Génétiot A. Le classicisme. R., 2005; Smirnov A. A. Literary theory of Russian classicism. M., 2007. Architecture and fine arts. Gnedich P.P. History of Arts.. M., 1907. T. 3; aka. History of art. Western European Baroque and Classicism. M., 2005; Brunov N.I. Palaces of France in the 17th and 18th centuries. M., 1938; Blunt A. François Mansart and the origins of French classical architecture. L., 1941; idem. Art and architecture in France. 1500 to 1700. 5th ed. New Haven, 1999; Hautecoeur L. Histoire de l’architecture classique en France. R., 1943-1957. Vol. 1-7; Kaufmann E. Architecture in the age of Reason. Camb. (Mass.), 1955; Rowland V. The classical tradition in western art. Camb. (Mass.), 1963; Kovalenskaya N. N. Russian classicism. M., 1964; Vermeule S. S. European art and the classical past. Camb. (Mass.), 1964; Rotenberg E. I. Western European art XVII V. M., 1971; aka. Western European painting of the 17th century. Thematic principles. M., 1989; Nikolaev E.V. Classical Moscow. M., 1975; Greenhalgh M. The classical tradition in art. L., 1978; Fleming J. R. Adam and his circle, in Edinburgh and Rome. 2nd ed. L., 1978; Yakimovich A.K. Classicism of the era of Poussin. Fundamentals and principles // Soviet art history’78. M., 1979. Issue. 1; Zolotov Yu. K. Poussin and the freethinkers // Ibid. M., 1979. Issue. 2; Summerson J. The classical language of architecture. L., 1980; Gnudi S. L’ideale classico: saggi sulla tradizione classica nella pittura del Cinquecento e del Seicento. Bologna, 1981; Howard S. Antiquity restored: essays on the afterlife of the antique. Vienna, 1990; The French Academy: classicism and its antagonists / Ed. J. Hargrove. Newark; L., 1990; Arkin D. E. Images of architecture and images of sculpture. M., 1990; Daniel S. M. European classicism. St. Petersburg, 2003; Karev A. Classicism in Russian painting. M., 2003; Bedretdinova L. Catherine's classicism. M., 2008. Theater. Celler L. Les décors, les costumes et la mise en scène au XVIIe siècle, 1615-1680. R., 1869. Gen., 1970; Mancius K. Moliere. Theater, audience, actors of his time. M., 1922; Mongredien G. Les grands comédiens du XVIIe siècle. R., 1927; Fuchs M. La vie théâtrale en province au XVIIe siècle. R., 1933; About the theater. Sat. articles. L.; M., 1940; Kemodle G. R. From art to theater. Chi., 1944; Blanchart R. Histoire de la mise en scène. R., 1948; Vilar J. About the theatrical tradition. M., 1956; History of Western European theater: In 8 vols. M., 1956-1988; Velehova N. In disputes about style. M., 1963; Boyadzhiev G. N. The Art of Classicism // Questions of Literature. 1965. No. 10; Leclerc G. Les grandes aventures du théâtre. R., 1968; Mints N.V. Theatrical collections of France. M., 1989; Gitelman L. I. Foreign acting art of the 19th century. St. Petersburg, 2002; History of foreign theater. St. Petersburg, 2005.

Music. Materials and documents on the history of music. XVIII century / Edited by M. V. Ivanov-Boretsky. M., 1934; Buchan E. Music of the era of Rococo and Classicism. M., 1934; aka. Heroic style in opera. M., 1936; Livanova T. N. On the way from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment of the 18th century. // From the Renaissance to the 20th century. M., 1963; she is the same. The problem of style in music of the 17th century. // Renaissance. Baroque. Classicism. M., 1966; she is the same. Western European music of the 17th-18th centuries. in the range of arts. M., 1977; Liltolf M. Zur Rolle der Antique in der musikalischen Tradition der francösischen Epoque Classique // Studien zur Tradition in der Musik. Münch., 1973; Keldysh Yu. V. The problem of styles in Russian music of the 17th-18th centuries. // Keldysh Yu. V. Essays and studies on the history of Russian music. M., 1978; Lutsker P.V. Style issues in musical art at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. // Epochal milestones in the history of Western art. M., 1998; Lutsker P. V., Susidko I. P. Italian opera of the 18th century. M., 1998-2004. Part 1-2; Kirillina L. V. Gluck's reformist operas. M., 2006.

Classicism (from the Latin classicus - “exemplary”) is an artistic movement (current) in the art and literature of the 17th - early 19th centuries, which is characterized by high civic themes and strict adherence to certain creative norms and rules. In the West, classicism was formed in the struggle against the magnificent Baroque. The influence of classicism on artistic life Europe XVII - XVIII centuries. was widespread and long-lasting, and in architecture continued into the 19th century. Classicism, as a specific artistic movement, tends to reflect life in ideal images that gravitate toward the universal “norm” and model. Hence the cult of antiquity in classicism: classical antiquity appears in it as an example of perfect and harmonious art.

Writers and artists often turn to images of ancient myths (see Ancient literature).

Classicism flourished in France in the 17th century: in drama (P. Corneille, J. Racine, J. B. Moliere), in poetry (J. Lafontaine), in painting (N. Poussin), in architecture. At the end of the 17th century. N. Boileau (in the poem “Poetic Art”, 1674) created a detailed aesthetic theory of classicism, which had a huge impact on the formation of classicism in other countries.

The clash of personal interests and civic duty underlies the French classic tragedy, which reached ideological and artistic heights in the works of Corneille and Racine. Corneille's characters (Sid, Horace, Cinna) are courageous, stern people, driven by duty, completely subordinating themselves to serving the interests of the state. Showing contradictory mental movements in their heroes, Corneille and Racine made outstanding discoveries in the field of depicting the inner world of man. Imbued with the pathos of exploration of the human soul, the tragedy contained a minimum external action, easily fit into the famous rules of the “three unities” - time, place and action.

According to the rules of the aesthetics of classicism, which strictly adheres to the so-called hierarchy of genres, tragedy (along with ode and epic) belonged to the “high genres” and was supposed to develop especially important social problems, resorting to ancient and historical subjects, and reflect only the sublime heroic aspects. " High genres“were opposed to “low” ones: comedy, fable, satire, etc., designed to reflect modern reality. Lafontaine became famous in the fable genre in France, and Moliere in the comedy genre.

In the 17th century, permeated with the advanced ideas of the Enlightenment, classicism was imbued with passionate criticism of the orders of the feudal world, protection of natural human rights, and freedom-loving motives. It is also distinguished by its great attention to national historical subjects. The largest representatives of educational classicism are Voltaire in France, J. W. Goethe and J. F. Schiller (in the 90s) in Germany.

Russian classicism originated in the second quarter of the 18th century, in the works of A. D. Kantemir, V. K. Trediakovsky, M. V. Lomonosov, and reached development in the second half of the century, in the works of A. P. Sumarokov, D. I. Fonvizina, M. M. Kheraskova, V. A. Ozerova, Ya. B. Knyazhnina, G. R. Derzhavina. It presents all the most important genres - from ode and epic to fable and comedy. A remarkable comedian was D.I. Fonvizin, the author of the famous satirical comedies “The Brigadier” and “The Minor.” Russian classicist tragedy showed a keen interest in national history (“Dimitri the Pretender” by A.P. Sumarokov, “Vadim Novgorodsky” by Ya.B. Knyazhnin, etc.).

At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. classicism both in Russia and throughout Europe is experiencing a crisis. He increasingly loses touch with life and withdraws into a narrow circle of conventions. At this time, classicism was subjected to sharp criticism, especially from the romantics.

TOlassicism. a phenomenon throughout Europe, complex in France (series 17) Ordering all eras of life. Discipline replaced chaos. New harmony based on the dictates of reason, duty. A person who bears common traits: hero-scoundrel, hero -stingy. Typologist, classification, clarity, convenience, norm, rules. 3 categories of aesthetics: reason, model, taste. The doctrine of styles, genres-hierarchy. The era of normative sentimentalism ended. Romanticism– first decade of 19, the era of individual artistic consciousness, people at the center of the picture of the world, personality, self-sufficiency, personal freedom, conflict between dreams and actions. Romantic dual worlds: actions. and dreams (the world of ideas). Time is a process of moving history and people, self-worth, personal quality of eras. The problem of the author-creator, the author-personality, a new style of writing. Ballad: lawlessness of fantasy, fiction; poetics of mystery, the beyond , ironic poems.

Classicism (fr. classicisme, from lat. classicus- exemplary) - artistic style and aesthetic direction in European art XVII-XIX centuries

Classicism is based on ideas rationalism, which were formed simultaneously with those in philosophy Descartes. A work of art, from the point of view of classicism, should be built on the basis of strict canons, thereby revealing the harmony and logic of the universe itself. Of interest to classicism is only the eternal, the unchangeable - in each phenomenon it strives to recognize only essential, typological features, discarding random individual characteristics. The aesthetics of classicism attaches great importance to the social and educational function of art. Classicism takes many rules and canons from ancient art ( Aristotle, Horace).

Classicism establishes a strict hierarchy of genres, which are divided into high ( Oh yeah, tragedy, epic) and low ( comedy, satire,fable). Each genre has strictly defined characteristics, the mixing of which is not allowed.

How a certain direction was formed in France, in the 17th century. French classicism freed man from religious and church influence, affirming personality as the highest value of existence. Russian classicism not only adopted Western European theory, but also enriched it with national characteristics.

The founder of the poetics of classicism is considered to be a Frenchman Francois Malherbe(1555-1628), who carried out a reform of the French language and verse and developed poetic canons. The leading representatives of classicism in drama were tragedians Corneille And Racine(1639-1699), whose main subject of creativity was the conflict between public duty and personal passions. “Low” genres also achieved high development - fable (J. Lafontaine), satire ( Boileau), comedy ( Moliere 1622-1673).

Boileau became famous throughout Europe as a “legislator Parnassus", the largest theoretician of classicism, who expressed his views in the poetic treatise " Poetic art" Poets in Great Britain were influenced by him John Dryden And Alexander Pope which made the main form of English poetry alexandrines. For English prose era of classicism ( Addison, Swift) is also characterized by Latinized syntax.

18th century classicism develops under the influence of ideas Enlightenment. Creation Voltaire (1694 -1778 ) is directed against religious fanaticism, absolutist oppression, and is filled with the pathos of freedom. The goal of creativity is to change the world for the better, to build society itself in accordance with the laws of classicism. The Englishman reviewed contemporary literature from the standpoint of classicism Samuel Johnson, around which a brilliant circle of like-minded people formed, including the essayist Boswell, historian Gibbon and actor Garrick.

In Russia, classicism originated in the 18th century, after the transformations Peter I. Lomonosov a reform of Russian verse was carried out, a theory was developed "three calms", which was essentially an adaptation of French classical rules to the Russian language. The images in classicism are devoid of individual features, since they are designed primarily to capture stable generic characteristics that do not pass over time, acting as the embodiment of any social or spiritual forces.

Classicism in Russia developed under the great influence of Enlightenment- the ideas of equality and justice have always been the focus of attention of Russian classic writers. Therefore, in Russian classicism, genres that require the author’s obligatory assessment of historical reality have received great development: comedy (D. I. Fonvizin), satire (A. D. Kantemir), fable(A. P. Sumarokov, I. I. Khemnitser), Oh yeah (Lomonosov, G. R. Derzhavin).

In connection with the declared Rousseau with the call for closeness to nature and naturalness in the classicism of the late 18th century, crisis phenomena are growing; the absolutization of reason is replaced by the cult of tender feelings - sentimentalism. The transition from classicism to pre-romanticism most clearly reflected in the German literature of the era " Sturm and Drang", represented by the names J. W. Goethe(1749-1832) and F. Schiller (1759 -1805 ), who, following Rousseau, saw art as the main force for educating a person.

G.N.Pospelov // Introduction to LP

LITERARY DIRECTIONS. CLASSICISM

A turning point in this regard began to occur in the 17th century, primarily in French literature. And this was no accident. XVII and XVIII centuries in general, were that period in the life of socially developed European peoples when their advanced, natural-scientific, philosophical, and hence political thinking achieved great success, when it became much more fundamental than before, and the rational principles of classifying accumulated knowledge. This led to the dominance of a metaphysical understanding of the life of nature and society.

“For a metaphysician,” Engels wrote about this, “things and their mental reflections, concepts, are separate, unchanging, frozen, once and for all given objects, subject to study one after the other and one independently of the other. He thinks in terms of continuous immediate opposites... For him, a thing either exists or does not exist, and in the same way a thing cannot be itself and at the same time different.” (3, 21).

The general atmosphere of metaphysical thinking also influenced fiction, especially in France, where the corresponding political situation contributed to this. Here, in the life of both privileged classes - the nobility and the bourgeoisie - centripetal, national trends spontaneously prevailed, the exponent of which was royal power, which reached political absolutism. Over the course of a century, during the reigns of Louis XIII and XIV, this power became the “organizing and civilizing center” (Marx) of the country and had, to some extent, national progressive significance.

Under these conditions, in wide circles of the nobles, and partly of the common intelligentsia, a corresponding worldview developed that ideologically affirmed the existing system, which was essentially conservative-feudal, although still timidly striving to move the country along the paths of bourgeois development. Given its purpose, the new worldview could not help but be rationalistic.

On the basis of this worldview, a very powerful literary movement emerged in France, called classicism. For the first time in history, an entire group of writers rose to the level of awareness of their creative principles.

The strength of this movement lay in the fact that its adherents had a very complete and distinct system of civic-moralistic beliefs and consistently expressed them in their work. They therefore created a corresponding literary program. IN early period development of French classicism, its creative “legislator” was F. Malherbe, and then, in the second half of the 17th century, N. Boileau became its outstanding theoretician.

Malherbe wrote solemn odes. He exalted in them - on behalf of the entire nation - the royal power, its civil activity, which supposedly brought benefit to the whole society, opening up for it the possibility of peaceful prosperity. This activity of power was, according to Malherbe, a manifestation of the universal human laws of the mind, and everyone who carried it out and contributed to it, thereby proceeded from a reasonable moral civil consciousness, opposed to everything vicious, selfish, antisocial.

Poetry should also serve these reasonable purposes. It itself must be permeated with the principles of rationality - rigor and clarity of thought, harmony of composition, purity of speech. These same ideas of moral duty to society, civil service, and reasonable organization of artistic creativity were then expressed with great theoretical clarity by Boileau in his poetic treatise “Poetic Art” (“L"art poe-tique,” ​​1674), which became a manifesto of French classicism.

Of particular importance for Boileau was the question of the “purity of genres” of literature - “high” (odes, poems, tragedies) or “low” (satires, fables, comedies). Each genre, in his opinion, should have its own special ideological and emotional orientation and an artistic form corresponding to it. In developing this holistic system of genres, French poets and playwrights should, in his opinion, rely on the creative achievements of ancient literature. The works of Homer, Pindar, Sophocles or Horace, Phaedrus, Aristophanes should become for them classical models, from which certain “rules” for creating works of each genre can be derived. The desire for such a rationalistic specification of creativity was very characteristic of the entire theoretical program of classicism, of its entire aesthetics.

French classicists were ready to imitate ancient writers, but, of course, they could not write the same way. They had a different worldview and different problems of creativity, which naturally arise at a completely different stage of social development. They could dress their heroes in the costumes of antiquity, but these heroes, completely submitting to the rationalistic thoughts of the authors, behaved not like the ancient Greeks and Romans, but like the French of the era of enlightened absolutism.

Boileau himself created mostly satires. But the main provisions of his creative program were shared, to one degree or another, by other writers, in particular the famous creators of the dramaturgy of French classicism - P. Corneille, J. Racine, J. Moliere. Drama in its stage incarnation was generally the best means for demonstrating to the audience with their own eyes the greatness of civic virtues and the destructiveness of civil vices. Given its significance, it required the most careful development of the corresponding creative “rules”.

Particularly important then was the requirement that works of drama should contain the unity of time, place and action. This meant that a single conflict should develop in the play, and its development in the plot should be as compact in time (not take up more than one day in the lives of the characters) and in space (take place entirely in one city or even in one house). This principle of plot construction was fully consistent with the ideological content of the plays of classic playwrights: after all, they revealed in the characters of their heroes only their civic virtues or vices and were largely distracted from the psychological and everyday details of the heroes’ lives. The unity of the conflict and the narrow space-time framework of the plot fully contributed to such an understanding of the characters’ characters and the imposition of a clear “sentence” on them by the moralist author.

But all this did not contribute to the development of realism in the dramaturgy of the classicists. Each of their heroes spoke and acted on stage in order to reveal in himself a virtue or vice abstractly understood by the author, therefore the living process of his thoughts and experiences was greatly impoverished and received a one-sided rational content, and often acquired a journalistic orientation.

The development of the conflict received the same tendentious meaning. The events taking place on stage should, according to the writer’s rationalistic ideas, obviously lead virtue to triumph and vice to punishment. Possible collisions of these principles in the minds of one hero usually had only a rational meaning. The playwright always created the outcome he needed in a conflict, at least through the unexpected intervention of outside forces. The ancient Romans called this technique the appearance of “god from the machine” (“deus ex machina”).

To a greater extent, this didactic character of the dramaturgy of classicism was manifested in the “high” genre of civil tragedies that Corneille and Racine wrote. Many of their works - “The Cid” and “Horace” by Corneille, “Iphigenia in Aulis” by Racine, etc. - were built on the conflict of civic duty and personal feelings in the mind of the protagonist.

But classic playwrights created tragedies of a different type. In them they exposed bad rulers who use their power not for the good of society, but for cruel arbitrariness, for the sake of personal passions. Such are, for example, “Rodogunda” and “Heraclius” by Corneille, “Andromache”, “Athaliah”, “Britannicus” by Racine. The latter depicts the Roman Emperor Nero seeking the favor of Julia, who loves his brother Britannicus. Nero influences the girl with both flattering speeches and ominous threats, and then, not achieving his goal, poisons his brother at a court feast.

In Moliere's comedies, which exposed the vices of modern society, the portrayal of characters was more specific. However, even in them, the abstraction of civil-moralistic thinking, the strictness of the “rules” of the dramaturgy of classicism often prevailed over the realistic principle of reproducing life. Thus, in the comedy “Tartuffe”, in the character of the protagonist, a careerist and intriguer who achieved his goals with the help of hypocrisy and hypocrisy, these traits are revealed with particular force, to the detriment of all others, which makes the image schematic. The denouement of the conflict is also tendentious, in which Tartuffe, who has already lured the simpleton Orgon into his net in order to seize his property, suddenly falls under arrest by order of the king and is an example of punished vice. And in other comedies by Moliere - in “The Miser”, “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”, “The Imaginary Invalid” - this didacticism of creativity is manifested with no less force.

France 17th century was the cradle of classicism. In other European countries - due to stage communities national literatures- it also arose, but took shape with less distinctness and at a later time - depending on the development and degree of national progressiveness of enlightened absolutism.

Thus, in Germany, which at that time was fragmented into small states, the national progressiveness of the feudal government was minimal. But in early XVIII V. and German writers, following the French, sought to create their own theoretical program of classicism. This was Gottsched’s “An Experience in Critical Poetry for the Germans” (1730), which had a great influence on the artistic consciousness of his contemporaries, but did not inspire them to create significant literary works.

In Russia, the reforms carried out by Peter I, which were of enormous national importance, aroused among the noble society an interest in Western European culture and a desire to assimilate it. Already in the 20s of the XVIII century. In Cantemir’s work, a new, secular worldview based on the ideals of progressive noble statehood received expression, so far only in the genres of satire and ode (“messages”). And by the end of the 40s, on the basis of this worldview, through the efforts of Sumarokov (his letters - “epistoles” “about the Russian language” and “about Russian poetry”, 1748) and Lomonosov (his “Rhetoric”), a program of Russian classicism was created, in many ways repeating the main provisions of Boileau's treatise. Over the next thirty years, Russian literature actively developed the corresponding features of content and form, manifested in lyrics (Lomonosov, Sumarokov, early Derzhavin), drama (Sumarokov, Fonvizin, Knyazhnin) and in poetic epic (Trediakovsky, Kheraskov).

The significance of classicism for the overall development of European literature was very great. Despite the rationalistic abstraction of the artistic reproduction of life, classicism contained one very important advantage: it required high discipline of creativity, which was often lacking in the works of the early Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The principle of creative thought, the permeation of the entire figurative system of the work with a single idea, the deep correspondence of the ideological content and artistic form- these “testaments” of classicism were adopted by the best writers of subsequent historical eras and other literary movements.

So, a literary movement is the works of writers of a particular country and era who have achieved high creative consciousness and adherence to principles, which are manifested in the creation of an aesthetic program that corresponds to their ideological and creative aspirations, in the publication of “manifestos” expressing it.

The presence of conscious aesthetic principles usually has a positive effect on the creativity of writers and helps them achieve greater perfection. Such was the work of the poets and playwrights of French classicism, which classicists from other countries imitated to the best of their ability. But in the literature of France in the 17th century. Works also appeared with other properties of content and form, and their authors did not rise to the level of creating corresponding aesthetic programs and thereby did not create other literary movements. This was, for example, “light poetry” (French poesie legere), created by a number of poets led by Jean La Fontaine, the author of a number of short novelistic poems (“fairy tales”) and a short prose-verse novel “The Love of Psyche and Cupid.” In these works, La Fontaine, speaking out against the imitativeness of the classicists' creativity, against its rationalistic discipline, affirms the independence of creativity and the free enjoyment of life - love, art, the beauty of nature. The light, refined, playful form of his poems contrasts with the serious and solemn tone of classicist odes and tragedies. In Russia, due to the staged commonality of national literatures, a similar place is occupied by the work of I. Bogdanovich, primarily his poem “Darling”, written on a plot borrowed from La Fontaine’s novel.

French classicism was the first large, fully established literary movement, marking a new, higher level of historical development of artistic creativity. Since then, the programmatic nature of creativity has become the leading principle of the national literary life of the socially developed countries of Europe. In national literatures, trends that differed in their ideological and creative principles began to take shape, and entered into conscious programmatic polemics among themselves.

"Class!" - we talk about what causes us admiration or corresponds to our positive assessment of an object or phenomenon.
Translated from Latin the word classicus and means "exemplary".

Classicismnamed the artistic style and aesthetic direction in European culture of the 17th-19th centuries.

What about as a sample? Classicism developed canons according to which any work of art should be built. Canon- this is a certain norm, a set of artistic techniques or rules that are mandatory in a certain era.
Classicism is a strict movement in art; it was only interested in the essential, eternal, typical; accidental signs or manifestations were not interesting to classicism.
In this sense, classicism performed the educational functions of art.

Buildings of the Senate and Synod in St. Petersburg. Architect K. Rossi
Is it good or bad when there are canons in art? When is it possible to do this and nothing else? Don't rush to a negative conclusion! The canons made it possible to streamline the work of a certain type of art, give direction, show examples and sweep away everything that is insignificant and not deep.
But canons cannot be an eternal, unchanging guide to creativity - at some point they become obsolete. This is what happened at the beginning of the 20th century. in the visual arts and in music: norms that had been rooted for several centuries had become obsolete and were torn apart.
However, we have already gotten ahead of ourselves. Let's return to classicism and take a closer look at the hierarchy of classicism genres. Let's just say that classicism as a specific movement was formed in France in the 17th century. The peculiarity of French classicism was that it affirmed the personality of man as the highest value of existence. In many ways, classicism relied on ancient art, seeing in it an ideal aesthetic model.

Hierarchy of classicism genres

Classicism established a strict hierarchy of genres, which are divided into high and low. Each genre has certain characteristics, which should not be mixed.
Let's look at the hierarchy of genres using examples various types art.

Literature

Nicolas Boileau is considered the largest theorist of classicism, but the founder is Francois Malherbe, who carried out a reform of the French language and verse and developed poetic canons. N. Boileau expressed his views on the theory of classicism in the poetic treatise “Poetic Art”.

Bust of Nicolas Boileau by F. Girardon. Paris, Louvre
In dramaturgy it was necessary to observe three unities: unity of time (the action must take place over one day), unity of place (in one place) and unity of action (the work must have one storyline). The leading representatives of classicism in drama were the French tragedians Corneille and Racine. The main idea of ​​their work was the conflict between public duty and personal passions.
The goal of classicism is to change the world for the better.

In Russia

In Russia, the emergence and development of classicism is associated primarily with the name of M.V. Lomonosov.

M. V. Lomonosov at the monument “1000th anniversary of Russia” in Veliky Novgorod. Sculptors M.O. Mikeshin, I.N. Schroeder, architect V.A. Hartmann
He carried out a reform of Russian verse and developed the theory of the “three calms”.

“Theory of three calms” M.V. Lomonosov

The doctrine of three styles, i.e. the classification of styles in rhetoric and poetics, distinguishing high, middle and low (simple) styles, has been known for a long time. It was used in ancient Roman, medieval and modern European literature.
But Lomonosov used the doctrine of three styles to build a stylistic system Russian language and Russian literature. Three “styles” according to Lomonosov:
1. Tall – solemn, majestic. Genres: ode, heroic poems, tragedies.
2. Intermediate – elegies, dramas, satires, eclogues, friendly essays.
3. Low - comedies, letters, songs, fables.
Classicism in Russia developed under the influence of the Enlightenment: ideas of equality and justice. Therefore, in Russian classicism a mandatory author's assessment of historical reality was usually assumed. We find this in the comedies of D.I. Fonvizin, satires by A.D. Kantemir, fables by A.P. Sumarokova, I.I. Khemnitser, ode M.V. Lomonosov, G.R. Derzhavina.
At the end of the 18th century. The tendency to see art as the main force for educating a person has intensified. In this regard, the literary movement sentimentalism emerged, in which feeling (and not reason) was declared to be the main thing in human nature. French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau called for being closer to nature and naturalness. This call was followed by the Russian writer N.M. Karamzin – let’s remember his famous “Poor Liza”!
But works in the direction of classicism were also created in the 19th century. For example, “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboedova. Although this comedy already contains elements of romanticism and realism.

Painting

Since the definition of “classicism” is translated as “exemplary,” then some kind of example is natural for it. And supporters of classicism saw it in ancient art. This was the highest example. There was also reliance on the traditions of the High Renaissance, which also saw its model in antiquity. The art of classicism reflected the ideas of a harmonious structure of society, but reflected conflicts between the individual and society, ideal and reality, feelings and reason, which indicate the complexity of the art of classicism.
The artistic forms of classicism are characterized by strict organization, balance, clarity and harmony of images. The plot should develop logically, the composition of the plot should be clear and balanced, the volume should be clear, the role of color should be subordinated with the help of chiaroscuro, and the use of local colors. This is what N. Poussin wrote, for example.

Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)

N. Poussin “Self-Portrait” (1649)
French artist who stood at the origins of classicism painting. Almost all of his paintings were created on historical and mythological subjects. His compositions are always clear and rhythmic.

N. Poussin “Dance to the Music of Time” (circa 1638)
The painting depicts an allegorical round dance of Life. Circling in it (from left to right): Pleasure, Diligence, Wealth, Poverty. Next to the double-headed stone statue of the Roman god Janus sits a baby blowing soap bubbles - a symbol of the fast-flowing human life. The young face of the two-faced Janus looks to the future, and the old face looks to the past. The winged gray-bearded old man, to whose music the round dance spins, is Father Time. At his feet sits a baby who is holding hourglass, reminiscent of the rapid movement of time.
The chariot of the sun god Apollo rushes across the sky, accompanied by the goddesses of the seasons. Aurora, goddess of the dawn, flies ahead of the chariot, scattering flowers along her path.

V. Borovikovsky “Portrait of G.R. Derzhavin" (1795)

V. Borovikovsky “Portrait of G.R. Derzhavin", State Tretyakov Gallery
The artist captured in the portrait a man whom he knew well and whose opinion he valued. This is a traditional ceremonial portrait for classicism. Derzhavin - senator, member of the Russian Academy, statesman, his uniform and awards speak about this.
But at the same time, he is also a famous poet, passionate about creativity, educational ideals and social life. This is indicated by a desk littered with manuscripts; luxury ink set; shelves with books in the background.
The image of G. R. Derzhavin is recognizable. But his inner world is not shown. Rousseau's ideas, which were already actively discussed in society, have not yet appeared in the work of V. Borovikovsky, this will happen later.
In the 19th century Classical painting entered a period of crisis and became a force holding back the development of art. Artists, preserving the language of classicism, begin to turn to romantic subjects. Among Russian artists, first of all, this is Karl Bryullov. His work occurred at a time when works that were classical in form were filled with the spirit of romanticism; this combination was called academicism. In the middle of the 19th century. The younger generation, gravitating toward realism, began to rebel, represented in France by the Courbet circle, and in Russia by the Wanderers.

Sculpture

The sculpture of the era of classicism also considered antiquity as a model. This was also facilitated by archaeological excavations of ancient cities, as a result of which many Hellenistic sculptures became known.
Classicism reached its highest embodiment in the works of Antonio Canova.

Antonio Canova (1757-1822)

A. Canova “Self-portrait” (1792)
Italian sculptor, representative of classicism in European sculpture. The largest collections of his works are in the Paris Louvre and the St. Petersburg Hermitage.

A. Canova “The Three Graces”. St. Petersburg, Hermitage
The sculptural group “The Three Graces” belongs to the late period of Antonio Canova’s work. The sculptor embodied his ideas about beauty in the images of the Graces - ancient goddesses personifying feminine beauty and charm. The composition of this sculpture is unusual: the graces stand side by side, the two outermost ones face each other (and not the viewer) and the friend standing in the center. All three are slim female figures merged in an embrace, they are united by an entanglement of hands and a scarf falling from the hand of one of the graces. Canova's composition is compact and balanced.
In Russia, the aesthetics of classicism include Fedot Shubin, Mikhail Kozlovsky, Boris Orlovsky, Ivan Martos.
Fedot Ivanovich Shubin(1740-1805) worked mainly with marble, sometimes turning to bronze. Most of his sculptural portraits are executed in the form of busts: busts of Vice-Chancellor A. M. Golitsyn, Count P. A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, Potemkin-Tavrichesky, M. V. Lomonosov, Paul I, P. V. Zavadovsky, a statue of Catherine II -legislators and others.

F. Shubin. Bust of Paul I
Shubin is also known as a decorator; he created 58 marble historical portraits for the Chesme Palace, 42 sculptures for the Marble Palace, etc. He was also a master bone carver of Kholmogory carved bones.
In the era of classicism, public monuments in which military valor and wisdom were idealized became widespread. statesmen. But in the ancient tradition it was customary to depict models naked, but moral norms modern to classicism did not allow this. That is why figures began to be depicted as naked ancient gods: for example, Suvorov - in the form of Mars. Later they began to be depicted in antique togas.

Monument to Kutuzov in St. Petersburg in front of the Kazan Cathedral. Sculptor B.I. Orlovsky, architect K.A. Tone
Late, Empire classicism is represented by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.

B. Thorvaldsen. Monument to Nicolaus Copernicus in Warsaw

Architecture

The architecture of classicism was also focused on the forms of ancient architecture as standards of harmony, simplicity, rigor, logical clarity and monumentality. The basis of the architectural language of classicism was the order, in proportions and forms close to antiquity. Order– a type of architectural composition that uses certain elements. Includes a system of proportions, prescribes the composition and shape of elements, as well as their relative position. Classicism is characterized by symmetrical axial compositions, restraint of decorative decoration, and a regular system of city planning.

London mansion Osterley Park. Architect Robert Adam
In Russia, representatives of classicism in architecture were V.I. Bazhenov, Karl Rossi, Andrey Voronikhin and Andreyan Zakharov.

Carl Bartalomeo-Rossi(1775-1849) - Russian architect of Italian origin, author of many buildings and architectural ensembles in St. Petersburg and its environs.
The outstanding architectural and urban planning skills of Russia are embodied in the ensembles of the Mikhailovsky Palace with the adjacent garden and square (1819-1825), Palace Square with the grandiose arched building of the General Staff and a triumphal arch (1819-1829), Senate Square with the buildings of the Senate and Synod (1829 -1834), Alexandrinskaya Square with the buildings of the Alexandrinsky Theater (1827-1832), the new building of the Imperial Public Library and two homogeneous extended buildings of Teatralnaya Street (now Architect Rossi Street).

The General Staff Building on Palace Square

Music

The concept of classicism in music is associated with the works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, who are called Viennese classics. It was they who determined the direction of the further development of European music.

Thomas Hardy "Portrait of Joseph Haydn" (1792)

Barbara Kraft "Posthumous Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" (1819)

Karl Stieler "Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven" (1820)
The aesthetics of classicism, based on confidence in the rationality and harmony of the world order, embodied these same principles in music. What was required of her was: balance of parts of the work, careful finishing of details, development of the basic canons of musical form. During this period, the sonata form was finally formed, and the classical composition of the sonata and symphony parts was determined.
Of course, the path of music to classicism was not simple and unambiguous. There was the first stage of classicism - the era Renaissance XVII V. Some musicologists even consider the Baroque period as a particular manifestation of classicism. Thus, the work of I.S. can also be classified as classicism. Bach, G. Handel, K. Gluck with his reform operas. But the highest achievements of classicism in music are still associated with the work of representatives of the Viennese classical school: J. Haydn, W. A. ​​Mozart and L. van Beethoven.

Note

It is necessary to distinguish between concepts "music of classicism" And "classical music". The concept of “classical music” is much broader. It includes not only the music of the classical era, but also the music of the past in general, which has stood the test of time and is recognized as exemplary.