Renaissance culture. High Renaissance

Renaissance- an era in the history of culture and art that reflected the beginning of the transition from feudalism to capitalism. In classical forms, the Renaissance took shape in Western Europe, primarily in Italy, but similar processes took place in Eastern Europe and Asia. In each country, this type of culture had its own characteristics associated with its ethnic characteristics, specific traditions, and the influence of other national cultures. The revival is associated with the process of formation of secular culture and humanistic consciousness. Under similar conditions, similar processes developed in art, philosophy, science, morality, social psychology and ideology. Italian humanists of the 15th century focused on the revival of ancient culture, the ideological and aesthetic principles of which were recognized as an ideal worthy of imitation. In other countries, such an orientation towards the ancient heritage may not have existed, but the essence of the process of human liberation and the affirmation of strength, intelligence, beauty, personal freedom, the unity of man and nature are characteristic of all cultures of the Renaissance type.

The main feature of the Renaissance is integrity and versatility in the understanding of man, life and culture. The sharp increase in the authority of art did not lead to its opposition to science and craft, but was perceived as equal value and equality various forms human activity. During this era, applied arts and architecture reached a high level, combining artistic creativity with technical design and craft. The peculiarity of Renaissance art is that it has a pronounced democratic and realistic character, with man and nature at its center. Beauty, harmony, grace are considered as properties of the real world.

Early Renaissance( Petrarch, Boccaccio, Donatello, Botticelli, Giotto)

High Renaissance ( Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Francois Rabelais)

In the 16th century in Italy, Renaissance art entered its peak phase. The art of Italy at this time is complex and contradictory. At this time, the highest rise of art, based on the traditions of humanistic culture, took place. And at the same time, new artistic phenomena arise, expressing the collapse of humanistic ideals, giving rise to mannerism, which is spreading in many European countries.
Late Renaissance— crisis of humanism (Shakespeare, Cervantes). The features of a crisis have emerged. In Western Europe, this was reflected in the emergence of academicism and mannerism in the fine arts, in the attack of religiosity and mysticism on secular and humanistic culture. A gap has emerged between art and science, beauty and utility, between the spiritual and physical life of a person. The humanism of the late Renaissance was enriched by an awareness of the contradictory nature of life and a tragic worldview.

Early Renaissance

The Renaissance is considered a transitional period from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age. During this period, changes occur in economic and cultural life. The first rudiments of capitalist industry appear, banking and international trade develop. At this time, a scientific picture of the world was formed, experimental natural science was born, and the heliocentric system was substantiated by the greatest scientists of the era, N. Copernicus, G. Bruno, and G. Galileo. In addition, the discovery of new lands and the first voyages around the world by Columbus and Magellan took place.

In different countries, Renaissance culture develops at different rates. In Italy, the Renaissance dates back to the XIV-XVI centuries, in other countries - to the XV-XVI centuries. The highest point in the development of Renaissance culture occurred in the 16th century - the High, or Classical, Renaissance, when the Renaissance spread to other European countries.

The cultures of various European peoples are united by the ideas of humanism. The principle of humanism, i.e. the highest cultural and moral development of human abilities, most fully expresses the main orientation of European culture of the XIV-XVI centuries. The ideas of humanism capture all layers of society - merchant circles, religious spheres, the masses. A new secular intelligentsia is emerging. Humanism affirms the belief in the limitless possibilities of man. Thanks to humanists, freedom of judgment, independence in relation to authorities, and a bold critical spirit come to spiritual culture. The personality, powerful and beautiful, becomes the center of the ideological sphere.

The first hymn to human dignity was “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri - a work that combined poetry, philosophy, theology, science, imbued with faith in the earthly destiny of man. Dante's younger contemporary, Francesco Petrarca, a philosopher and lyric poet, is considered the founder of the humanistic movement in Italy. The works of Italian humanists contain the main idea that man is the creator of his destiny and himself, as, for example, in the work of Pico della Mirandola “On the Dignity of Man.” According to humanists, a person has freedom of action, he himself controls fate and society, making rational choices.

During the heyday of humanism, science, poetry, architecture, and fine arts reached an unprecedented scale. Many rulers became patrons of the arts. These people often combined the features of monstrous villains and subtle connoisseurs of beauty; good and evil intertwined in the most bizarre way during the Renaissance.

An important feature of the Renaissance culture was the appeal to the ancient heritage. The ancient ideal of man, the understanding of beauty as harmony and proportion, the realistic language of plastic arts, in contrast to medieval symbolism, were revived. Artists, sculptors and poets of the Renaissance were attracted to the subjects of ancient mythology and history, and ancient languages ​​- Latin and Greek. The invention of printing played a major role in the dissemination of ancient heritage.

Renaissance culture was influenced by medieval culture with her long history and strong traditions, but humanists criticized the culture of the Middle Ages, considering it barbaric; During the Renaissance, a huge number of works appeared directed against the church and its ministers. At the same time, the Renaissance was not a completely secular culture. Some figures wanted to reconcile Christianity with antiquity or create a new, unified religion, rethink it. The art of the Renaissance was a unique synthesis of ancient physical beauty and Christian spirituality.

Renaissance culture originated in Italy. The Italian Renaissance is divided into four stages: Proto-Renaissance (Pre-Renaissance) - the second half of the 13th - 14th centuries; Early Renaissance - XV century; High Renaissance - end of the 15th - first third of the 16th century; Late Renaissance - end of the 16th century.

The Proto-Renaissance, or trecento, is closely connected with the Middle Ages, with Romanesque, Gothic, and Byzantine traditions; it was a preparation for the Renaissance. The beginning of a new era is associated with the name of Giotto di Bondone, whom Renaissance artists considered a reformer of painting. Giotto outlined the path along which its development took place: filling religious forms with secular content, a gradual transition from flat images to three-dimensional and relief ones, an increase in realism. The largest art schools in Italy were located in Pisa and Siena. The work of Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano largely determined the further development of Italian art. At the same time, national literature in Italian was born. The greatest poet of this era, Dante, preserved traces of medieval poetry in his work and combined them with Renaissance realistic images. In the works of the poet Francesco Petrarch and the founder of Italian literary prose Giovanni Boccaccio's humanistic, Renaissance features triumph over the Middle Ages. Main content literary works becomes a description of the earthly real world, a person with his experiences and passions.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the Renaissance in Italy finally defeated the Gothic style. The emergence of a powerful center of Renaissance culture in Florence entailed a renewal of the entire Italian artistic culture. Creation greatest masters Early Renaissance, or Quattrocento - Donatello, Masaccio, Botticelli - is imbued with the ideals of humanism, it raises a person above the level of everyday life, exalting him.

The 15th century was a turning point in the history of European culture. Almost simultaneously, artists in Italy and the Netherlands turned to depicting the earthly world and began to affirm the ethical value and beauty of man. The real world and the bodily nature of man required a reliable depiction of space and filling it with figures and objects. The development of art in this era closely interacts with the growth of scientific knowledge. From that time on, the art of Italy acquired a realistic orientation and a life-affirming secular character, which constituted the most important feature of the Renaissance. Early Renaissance artists used the ancient heritage more widely and creatively. The desire to understand the world encourages artists to study it, which helps expand their horizons, liberate art from the narrowness of a guild craft and create auxiliary disciplines. Artists of this time discovered the laws of linear perspective. At the same time, the Renaissance style took shape in architecture, which was influenced by ancient, Gothic and Byzantine culture. Construction technology is being improved, Renaissance architects design buildings and often carry out the construction themselves; they are often sculptors, decorators, and painters.

The first half of the 15th century is characterized as the beginning of the Renaissance in music. At this time, the Renaissance ideal of harmony and beauty, the norms of the so-called strict style. In music, as in other forms of art, there is an increasing tendency to depict the diversity of the world, and the idea of ​​diversity is combined with the desire for harmony and proportionality of all elements of the whole. A rethinking of the social status of music is taking place - a democratic public is emerging, amateur music-making is becoming widespread. The role of secular genres is increasing, and interest in the art of dance is emerging.

New art, which triumphed at the beginning of the 15th century. in Florence, does not immediately gain recognition in other areas of the country. In northern Italy, Gothic style dominated for a long time, gradually being replaced by the Renaissance. Florence at this time was the center of Italian humanism. In the middle of the 15th century, the Platonic Academy was founded here, which established a continuous connection between the Renaissance and antiquity.

High Renaissance

The masters of the High Renaissance sought to achieve a harmonious synthesis of the most beautiful aspects of reality in their works. The formation of High Renaissance art began at the end of the 15th century in Florence. The first artist of the High Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci - an artist-scientist, a painter who tried his hand at architecture and sculpture, a mathematician, a natural scientist, a mechanic, and an inventor. He was an explorer and innovator in all his endeavors and left his mark on the history of science and technology, in many ways ahead of his time. From the very beginning of Leonardo's creative activity, the main features of his art were determined - interest in psychological solutions, the desire for brevity and generalization, for the spatial arrangement and volume of forms. The artist paid great attention to the development of perspective construction and arrangement of figures in space. The notes he left about painting contain a lot of information on anatomy, perspective, and the interaction of colors. Leonardo's theoretical works were not published during his lifetime, but many of his ideas became famous and influenced the work of a number of artists. Another famous artist The High Renaissance, Raphael, synthesized the achievements of his predecessors and created the image of a perfect man in the traditions of humanism. Raphael's works have much in common with the work of his great contemporaries - Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Michelangelo in his work reflected the deep contradictions of his time, embodied the anxiety and foreboding of impending catastrophes. The Venetian school dominated Italian art in the 16th century. special place. Here Giorgione stood at the origins of the High Renaissance. In his work, he strove for rhythm and harmonious unity, spirituality and psychological expressiveness of images; the main motive of his paintings was the unity of man and nature. Giorgione Titian continued the work, whose works are characterized by an earthly, cheerful feeling. In his work, great importance is attached to color and color relationships. A large place in Titian's work is occupied by portraits, in which he sought to create an image that corresponds to humanistic ideals and to reveal the spiritual appearance of a person. Titian applied new painting techniques that had a significant impact on the development of European art.

The literature of the High Renaissance is characterized by the flourishing of the heroic poem of L. Pulci in Italy, L. Camões in Spain, in the center of which is a man born for great deeds. In France, the High Renaissance period is represented by the work of Francois Rabelais. His work “Gargantua and Pantagruel” gives a comprehensive picture of society and its heroic ideals in folk fairy-tale and philosophical-comic form.

In the music of the High Renaissance, new genres appeared - madrigal, chanson, villancico; Instrumental music—canzones, ricercars, improvisational pieces—preludes, fantasies, toccatas—acquired independence. National music schools are being formed - Dutch (Josquin Depres, Guillaume Dufay), Italian (Palestrina, Gesualdo), French (C. Janequin), German, English, Spanish, etc.

During the period when Italy entered its highest stage of prosperity, Northern Renaissance. The art of the Northern Renaissance has more of a medieval worldview, religious feeling, symbolism; it is more conventional in form, more archaic, and less familiar with antiquity. The philosophical basis of the Northern Renaissance was pantheism, which dissolved God in nature and endowed it with divine attributes. Pantheists believed that every piece of nature is worthy of depiction, since it contains a piece of God. This led to the emergence of landscape as an independent genre. At the same time, the portrait genre emerged. If in the Italian Renaissance the aesthetic side came to the fore, then in the Northern Renaissance the ethical side came to the fore. German artists believed that spiritual beauty was more important than physical beauty.

Late Renaissance. Crisis of Humanism

The later Renaissance is characterized by a crisis in the idea of ​​humanism and an awareness of the prosaic nature of the emerging bourgeois society. The disappointment of humanists comes from the enormous discrepancy between reality and Renaissance ideas about man. By the end of the 16th century. this disappointment has become widespread. The crisis of humanism matured gradually, arising in its depths. Humanistic aspiration was expressed in results that were unexpected for the humanists themselves. So, in the first half of the 16th century. Copernicus's work on the heliocentric system is published. The earth has ceased to be the center of the universe. The man became small and lost in the endless universe.

The crisis of humanism was also expressed in the creation of utopias. The first utopians T. More and T. Campanella were humanists. Utopian ideas arose as a reaction to the contradictions and inconsistencies of humanism, its inability to answer the questions that worried humanists. Utopia - after the name of the country invented by T. More - is a fantastic structure of an ideal society that has no roots in reality. The emergence of utopias indicates a loss of trust in history and human nature. Utopians deny man the creative principle, limiting his existence to primary needs.

In the art of Western Europe, the features of the crisis of humanism were reflected in the emergence of academicism and mannerism. A gap has emerged between art and science, beauty and benefit, between the spiritual and physical life of a person. Already in the 20-30s. In the 16th century, along with the Renaissance, new phenomena emerged in the art of Italy. The discord between humanistic ideals and reality gave rise to disbelief in the possibility of harmonious development of the individual. A number of artists abandoned classical principles to search for new means of expression. The works of these artists violated the principles of balance and harmony characteristic of the art of the High Renaissance. This direction was called mannerism. It was finally formed by the middle of the 16th century. Mature mannerism is characterized by the desire to isolate itself from life, to put art above reality. The new ideal of grace is based on arbitrary norms aesthetic taste. Deprived of the high ideological content characteristic of the art of the Renaissance, the art of Mannerist artists became not only too cutesy, but also cold and inexpressive. In the second half of the 16th century, mannerism spread to all European art; only the Venetian school, which remained faithful to the traditions of the Renaissance and its humanistic principles, did not succumb to its influence, however, it also abandoned heroism and turned to the depiction of real living people and their environment. Landscapes, portraits, and crowd scenes occupied a large place in Venetian art. The largest representatives of the Venetian school are Veronese and Tintoretto. Veronese's paintings are distinguished by the sophistication of colorful combinations, the dynamism and boldness of the composition, most of them are characterized by cheerfulness and elation. In the last decades of the 16th century, the crisis of Renaissance humanism also influenced the Venetian school. This is noticeable in Tintoretto’s work, which combines realism with mannerist sophistication of forms.

The Italian Renaissance influenced the art of Spain. Spanish artists adopted a lot from the Italians, but mannerism turned out to be closer in spirit to them than the Renaissance. From the middle of the 16th century. this direction was supplanted by court art. The most famous Spanish artist of the second half of the 16th century is El Greco, whose work is closer to the Venetian school. He became the last major representative of European mannerism.

In the art of the Netherlands of the 16th century. development occurred gradually, new features were combined with old ones. One of the trends in Dutch painting is “Romanism” - an appeal to the art of Italy, influenced by both the Renaissance and Mannerism. In the second half of the 16th century, the genre of portraiture developed in the Netherlands, and its new variety took shape - the group portrait. Everyday painting stands out as an independent genre. The greatest artist of the Netherlands is Pieter Bruegel, whose art is national in form and content. Bruegel vividly reflects contemporary life.

Italian Renaissance art also influenced German culture. German artists became familiar with the achievements of the Renaissance and mastered the scientific foundations of art. For German art of the 16th century. Characterized by the expansion of themes, mastery of the image of space and the human body. Among the artists of Germany of the 16th century, Albrecht Dürer stands out, a painter and engraver who left treatises on the theory of art. Dürer, in addition to painting and graphics, was also involved in the natural and exact sciences, embodying the Renaissance type of artist-scientist. Other major German artists of that time were Lucas Cranach and Hans Holbein.

The highest rise of Late Renaissance literature is the dramas of Shakespeare and the novels of Cervantes. Cervantes' most famous work was the novel The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote La Mancha", in which the writer gave a broad realistic picture of life in Spain. "Don Quixote" parodies chivalric romances, introducing the hero into an environment alien to him. The romantically minded hidalgo is unable to understand that the time of chivalry has passed. The drama of the unlucky knight is close to Cervantes, who, like a significant part of the Spanish nobility of that time, could not adapt to new living conditions and felt his worthlessness. Other works of Cervantes, for example, "Edifying Novels", became a kind of description contemporary to the author morals

In the works of the greatest playwright of this era, Shakespeare, the crisis of humanism found a particularly vivid embodiment in the image of Hamlet, who is torn between humanistic ideals and the need to act in a far from ideal society, where any action is contrary to the spirit of humanism. Shakespeare's work was an expression of the wealth of ideas and passions that arose during a turning point. The literature of this period turns to the earthly nature of man, his feelings and passions, and the struggle for real interests. A new personality, proactive and enterprising, comes to the fore in her. Shakespeare's historical dramas recreate the most tragic moments English history and imbued with thoughts of the greatness of England. Shakespeare's works reflected the contradictions of consciousness, doubts and hesitations of a turning point.

Music at the end of the 16th century underwent the same changes as other forms of art. The music of this period is often referred to as mannerism. At the same time, musical genres are further developing. In the second half of the century, the genres of opera and ballet appeared. A major role in the formation of opera was played by C. Monteverdi, who developed the traditions of Renaissance music and strove for the unity of dramatic and musical beginnings. Another major composer late XVI V., O. Lasso, combined Dutch, German, French and Italian in his writings musical culture. The humanistic features of the Renaissance were reflected in the work of the head of the Roman school, J. Palestrina.

Art of Italy in the 16th century. is still experiencing its heyday, but in the second half of the century the artist ceases to feel like a divine creator. The collision of the humanistic ideal with reality causes deep disappointment. Humanists began to consider their ideas about man not from the point of view of eternity, but in specific life situations, and then their humanism, having undergone radical changes and transformations, became a worldview of a completely non-Renaissance type.

Conclusion

Art during the Renaissance was the main type of spiritual activity. There were almost no people indifferent to art. Works of art most fully express both the ideal of a harmonious world and the place of man in it. This task in varying degrees all forms of art are subordinated.

The main stages and genres of Renaissance literature are associated with evolution humanistic concepts during the Early, High and Late Renaissance. The literature of the Early Renaissance is characterized by a short story, especially a comic one, glorifying an enterprising and free from prejudices personality. The High Renaissance was marked by the flowering of the heroic poem. During the Late Renaissance, the genres of novel and drama developed, based on tragic and tragicomic conflicts between a heroic personality and an unworthy system of social life.

The progressive humanistic content of Renaissance culture is clearly expressed in theatrical art, which is significantly influenced by ancient drama. It is characterized by an interest in the inner world of a person endowed with a bright individuality. Traditions develop in the Renaissance theater folk art, tragic and comic elements are combined, as in the theater of Italy, Spain, and England. In the 16th century, improvisational commedia dell'arte developed in Italy. The theatrical art of the Renaissance reached its greatest flowering in the works of Shakespeare.

Professional music in the Renaissance is imbued with a new humanistic worldview, ceases to be a purely church art and is influenced by folk music. Various genres of secular musical art appeared - frottala and villanella in Italy, villancico in Spain, ballad in England, madrigal, which spread from Italy to all European countries. New genres of instrumental music are emerging, and national schools of performing the organ and lute are emerging. The Renaissance was completed by the emergence of new musical genres - solo songs, opera, oratorios.

The ideals of the Renaissance were most fully expressed by architecture, sculpture, and painting, and painting during this period came to the fore, pushing aside architecture. This is explained by the fact that painting had more opportunities to display the real world, its beauty, richness and diversity.

A characteristic feature of Renaissance culture is the close connection between science and art. Artists, trying to most fully reflect all natural forms, turn to scientific knowledge. Produced new system artistic vision of the world. Renaissance artists developed the principles of linear perspective. This discovery helped to expand the range of depicted phenomena, to include landscape and architecture in the pictorial space, turning the picture into a kind of window into the world. The combination of scientist and artist in one creative personality was possible only during the Renaissance. The Titans of the Renaissance - Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Raphael Santi, Albrecht Durer, the greatest artist-scientists, embodied the characteristic features of the Renaissance - universality, versatility, creative talent. During the Renaissance, new styles and trends emerged and developed, which largely determined both the flourishing of modern culture and its further development.

2. Technical Advances Renaissance

The philosophy of the Renaissance is characterized by a pantheistic tendency. Pantheism was most clearly manifested in the works of Bernardino Telesio, Francesco Patrizi, Giordano Bruno and Tommaso Campanella. Thus, it is characteristic of Telesio’s teaching that both God and his creation, including the immortal human soul and purposefully constructed nature, turn out to be impersonal principles.

For Patrizi, the light is above all, and the entire universe, together with man and material things, is only a hierarchical emanation of this primal light, i.e. Before us is Neoplatonism.

Bruno created one of the most profound and interesting forms of pantheism in Italy in the 16th century; the basis of his teaching about the beauty of the divine universe and, consequently, about the beauty of each individual element of such a universe, heroically striving to merge with the deity (which is also the material universe), lies the basic ontological principle - everything is in everything (this principle is used in 20th century science .).

Campanella’s pantheistic system is very contradictory, since it features a real monotheistic god and at the same time proclaims complete freedom of human sensory perception, complete freedom of logic, epistemology and science based on it, and thereby complete independence from the deity and his institutions.

The contradictions of Campanella’s system and his flirting with the exact sciences, in which he understood little, indicate both the progressive collapse of the Renaissance and the progressive formation of modern natural science. One of the most striking phenomena of the Renaissance in the traditional presentation is usually the heliocentric system of Copernicus and the doctrine of infinite measures by Giordano Bruno. Nevertheless, Copernicus's discovery was advanced and revolutionary event for subsequent centuries, but for the Renaissance it was a phenomenon not only of decline, but even of Renaissance self-denial. The fact is that the Renaissance appeared in the history of Western culture as an era of exaltation of man, as a period of faith in man, in his endless possibilities and in his mastery of nature. But Copernicus and Bruno turned the Earth into some insignificant grain of sand of the universe, and at the same time man turned out to be incomparable, incommensurable with the endless dark abyss of world space.

The revivalist loved to contemplate nature with the motionless Earth and the ever-moving vault of heaven. But now it turned out that the Earth is some kind of insignificance, and no sky exists at all. The Renaissance man preached the power of the human personality and his connection with nature, which for him was the model of his creations, and he himself also tried in his work to imitate nature and its creator - the Great Artist.

But along with the great discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler, all this human power collapsed and crumbled to dust. A picture of the world emerged in which man has become a nonentity with an endlessly inflated mind and self-esteem. Thus, heliocentrism and the infinite number of worlds not only contradicted the culture of the Renaissance, but were its negation.

Along with all this, the everyday practice of alchemy, astrology and all magic covered the entire Renaissance society from top to bottom and was by no means the result of ignorance.

It is the result of the same individualistic thirst to master the mysterious forces of nature, which makes itself felt even in Francis Bacon, that famous champion of inductive methods in science. Connected with this is the historical paradox that the Holy Inquisition flourished during the Renaissance.

Hunts for heretics and witches, unbridled terror and collective psychoses, cruelty and moral insignificance, suffering and ordinary bestiality are the products of the Renaissance; they, like the activities of the Holy Inquisition, do not oppose the then great achievements of the spirit and thought of man, but are connected with them, are their integral part, and express the authentic aspirations and needs of man.

After all, the Renaissance is very rich in endless superstitions that permeated absolutely all layers of society, including scientists and philosophers, not to mention politicians and rulers.

3. Art of the Renaissance.

The culture of the Renaissance, its art and, above all, plastic art make it possible to formulate a paradox: the archetype of youth, which in its essence is an expression of the search for immutability, is seemingly historical.

The basis of this paradox is the position adopted by the Renaissance about the fundamental genetic identity of the natural world and the world of culture. This position in Renaissance culture becomes a leitmotif in the works of writers, philosophers and artists.

Picodella Mirandola's classic formulation in the Oration on the Dignity of Man is an expression of the generally accepted idea of ​​the fundamental unity of the world.

Finally, the Renaissance represents the first cultural form regeneration of time, consciously expressing the idea of ​​renewal.

The Renaissance can also be looked at as a great, integral attempt to begin history anew, an act of renewal of the beginning, a regeneration of social time. In general, we can say that it was in the Renaissance culture that the idea of ​​​​the limitless power of man, of his unlimited capabilities was developed.

The aesthetics of the Renaissance orients art towards imitation of nature. However, what comes first here is not so much nature as the artist, who in his creative activity becomes like God. In the creator of a work of art, who is gradually freed from church ideology, what is most valued is a keen artistic view of things, professional independence, and special skills, and his creations acquire a self-sufficient, rather than sacred, character.

One of the most important principles of perception of works of art is pleasure, which indicates a significant democratic tendency as opposed to the moralizing and scholastic “scholarship” of previous aesthetic theories.

The aesthetic thought of the Renaissance contains not only the idea of ​​the absolutization of the human individual as opposed to the supra-mundane divine personality in the Middle Ages, but also a certain awareness of the limitations of such individualism, based on the absolute self-affirmation of the individual.

Hence the motives of tragedy found in the works of W. Shakespeare, M. Cervantes, Michelangelo and others. This is the inconsistency of a culture that has moved away from ancient medieval absolutes, but due to historical circumstances has not yet found new reliable foundations.

The fine arts of the Renaissance are in many respects a contrast to the medieval. It marks the emergence of realism, which determined the development of European artistic culture for a long time.

This affected not only the spread of secular images, the development of portraits and landscapes, or a new, sometimes almost genre-specific interpretation of religious subjects, but also a radical renewal of the entire artistic system. During the Renaissance, an objective image of the world was seen through human eyes, so one of the important problems facing artists was the problem of space.

The art of antiquity constitutes one of the foundations of the artistic culture of the Renaissance. It is known that the ancient heritage was also used in the Middle Ages, for example, during the Carolingian Renaissance, in the painting of the Ottonian period in Germany, in Gothic art.

But the attitude towards this heritage was different. In the Middle Ages, individual monuments were reproduced and individual motifs were borrowed. And representatives of the Renaissance find in ancient culture what is in tune with their own aspirations is commitment to reality, cheerfulness, admiration for the beauty of the earthly world, for the greatness of heroic deeds. At the same time, having developed in different historical conditions, having absorbed the traditions of the Romanesque style and Gothic, the art of the Renaissance bears the stamp of its time.

Compared with the art of classical antiquity, the human spiritual world is becoming more and more complex and multifaceted.

The artists' works become signatures, that is, they are clearly copyrighted. More and more self-portraits are appearing. An undoubted sign of a new self-awareness is that artists are increasingly shying away from direct orders, devoting themselves to work out of inner motivation.

By the end of the 14th century, the external position of the artist in society also changed significantly.

Artists are beginning to receive all sorts of awards public recognition, positions, honorary and monetary sinecures. A. Michelangelo, for example, is elevated to such a height that, without fear of offending the crowned princes, he refuses the high honors offered to him. The nickname “divine” is enough for him.

He insists that in letters to him any titles should be omitted, and they should simply be written “Michelangelo Buonarotti.” A genius has a name. The title is a burden for him, because it is associated with inevitable circumstances and, therefore, with at least a partial loss of that very freedom from everything that interferes with his creativity.

But the logical limit to which the Renaissance artist gravitated was the acquisition of complete personal independence, implying, of course, first of all creative freedom.

In architecture, an especially important role was played by the appeal to the classical tradition. It manifested itself not only in the rejection of Gothic forms and the revival of the ancient order system, but also in the classical proportionality of proportions, in the development in temple architecture of a centric type of building with an easily visible interior space.

Especially a lot of new things were created in the field of civil architecture. During the Renaissance, multi-story city buildings (town halls, houses of merchant guilds, universities, warehouses, markets, etc.) received a more elegant appearance; a type of city palace (palazzo) emerged - the home of a wealthy burgher, as well as a type of country villa. Issues related to city planning are being resolved in a new way, and city centers are being reconstructed.

Unlike the Middle Ages, when the main customers of works were the church and large feudal lords, now the circle of customers is significantly expanding and their social composition is changing. Along with the church, guild associations of artisans, merchant guilds, city authorities, and private individuals - both nobles and burghers - often give orders to artists.

Along with monumental forms, easel forms are becoming increasingly widespread - painting on wood and canvas, sculpture made of wood, bronze, rherracotta and majolica.

The chronological boundaries of the development of Renaissance art in different countries do not completely coincide. Due to historical circumstances, the Renaissance in the northern countries of Europe was delayed compared to the Italian one.

And yet, the art of this era, with all the variety of particular forms, has the most important common feature - the desire for a truthful reflection of reality. In the last century, the first Renaissance historian Jacob Burckhard defined this feature as “the discovery of the world of mankind.”

The art of the Renaissance is divided into four stages: Proto-Renaissance (late XIII - first half of the XIV century),

Early Renaissance (XV century),

High Renaissance (end of the 15th century, first three decades of the 16th century),

Late Renaissance (middle and second half of the 16th century).

In the literature about the Renaissance, Italian names of centuries are often used: Ducento - XIII century, Trecento - XIV century, Quattrocento - XVI century.

REFERENCES

1. Kravchenko A.I. Culturology: Textbook for universities. - 3rd ed. - M.: Academic Project, 2001.

2. Cultural studies for technical universities. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2001.

3. Bichko A.K. Ta in. Theory and history of light and veterinary culture: Course of lectures. – K.: Libid, 1992. – 392 p.

4. Cultural studies in questions and answers. Tutorial. Rotov-on-Don: “Phoenix”, 1997 – 480 p.

t to solving ideological problems. That is why the culture of the Renaissance has a distinctly artistic character. 1. Renaissance culture Western Europe XIV–XVI centuries – Italian Renaissance The tendency to rethink antiquity in the Italian Renaissance is strong, but it is combined with cultural values many origins, in particular with Christian (Catholic) ...

A new type of person has been forged. This era “needed titans” - and “gave birth to titans in strength of thought, passion and character, but also in versatility and learning.” It is difficult to find a major cultural figure of the Renaissance who did not write poetry. Talented poets were Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci; poems were written by Giordano Bruno, Thomas More, Ulrich von Hutten, and Erasmus of Rotterdam. Art...

God, not man. God is the beginning of all things, and man is the center of the whole world. This ideological turn was carried out by the humanists of the Renaissance. Humanism (Latin humanus - human) is one of the central phenomena of Renaissance culture. The figures of the Renaissance attached great importance to studia humanitatis - the mastery of spiritual culture. Cicero, from whom this term was borrowed, understood by...

In contrast to the Catholic point of view, the moral significance of worldly professional work and the religious reward for it have grown enormously.” Different historians resolve the issue of the relationship between the Renaissance and the Reformation in different ways. Both the Reformation and the Renaissance placed the human personality at the center, energetic, striving to transform the world, with a pronounced strong-willed beginning. But the Reformation...

Danae/ Titian

The Italian Renaissance entered a new stage of development at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. The culmination of art (the end of the 15th and the first decades of the 16th century), which presented the world with such great masters as Raphael, Titian, Giorgione and Leonardo da Vinci is called stage of the High Renaissance.

The focus of artistic life in Italy at the beginning of the 16th century moved to Rome. Among the large states of Italy, the papal region occupied one of the leading roles even at the end of the previous century. It was less developed economically than Venice and Florence, but had strength in international significance, becoming for some time the focus of national unification aspirations in the state.

Judith/Giorgione

The popes sought to unite all of Italy under the rule of Rome, making attempts to turn it into a cultural and leading political center. But, without ever becoming a political reference point, Rome is transformed for some time into the citadel of spiritual culture and art of Italy. The reason for this was also the patronage tactics of the popes, who attracted the best artists to Rome.

The Florentine school and many others (old local ones) were losing their former significance. The only exception was the rich and independent Venice, which demonstrated a vibrant cultural originality throughout the 16th century. The new role was harmoniously combined with the historical past of the city. Memories of the former greatness of the Roman Empire were not forgotten and with renewed vigor acquired new meaning. At the beginning of the 16th century, this served as an impetus for the development of interest in ancient world And historical development. For High Renaissance Inspiration for classical antiquity is very characteristic.

Mona Lisa/Leonardo da Vinci

Rome became the most favorable place for this hobby. Over the centuries, its countless ancient monuments have attracted various artists. The perception of the classical heritage in Rome was fully and to a deeper extent. Due to the constant connection with the great works of the archaic, art was freed from verbosity, often so characteristic of the work of Quattrocento virtuosos. Artists of the High Renaissance acquired the ability to omit small details that do not affect the overall meaning and strive to achieve harmony and a combination of the best aspects of reality in their creations.

Ideals humanism permeated the art of the High Renaissance. Creativity is characterized by faith in the unlimited possibilities of man, in his individuality and in the rational world apparatus.

There is a change from the naive narrative style and everydayism common in Quattrocento art to problems affecting civic duty. The main motive High Renaissance art the image of a harmoniously developed and strong person both in body and spirit appears, who is above everyday routine. Artists strive to highlight the main plot and avoid details.

Last Judgment/Michelangelo

The beginning of the 16th century is characterized by the achievement of a higher level of harmony and unity in the new art form. It differs from the medieval style by having the same rights as sculptures And painting, so do architecture. Since sculpture and painting get rid of the unquestioning slavery of architecture, which gives life to the formation of new genres of art such as: landscape, history painting, portrait.

In this period architecture High Renaissance is gaining the greatest momentum. Its characteristic features are: monumentality, representative grandeur, grandeur of plans (coming from Ancient Rome), intensively manifested in Bramant’s projects for St. Peter’s Cathedral and the reconstruction of the Vatican.

A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in man and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its “revival,” as it were, occurs - and this is how the term appeared.

Term Renaissance already found among Italian humanists, for example, Giorgio Vasari. In its modern meaning, the term was introduced into use by the 19th century French historian Jules Michelet. Currently the term Renaissance developed into a metaphor for cultural flourishing: for example, the 9th-century Carolingian Renaissance.

general characteristics

A new cultural paradigm has emerged as a result of fundamental changes public relations in Europe.

The growth of city-republics led to an increase in the influence of classes that did not participate in feudal relations: artisans and craftsmen, merchants, bankers. The hierarchical system of values ​​created by the medieval, largely ecclesiastical culture and its ascetic, humble spirit were alien to all of them. This led to the emergence of humanism - a socio-philosophical movement that considered a person, his personality, his freedom, his active, creative activity as the highest value and criterion for evaluating public institutions.

Secular centers of science and art began to emerge in cities, the activities of which were outside the control of the church. The new worldview turned to antiquity, seeing in it an example of humanistic, non-ascetic relations. The invention of printing in the middle of the century played a huge role in the spread of ancient heritage and new views throughout Europe.

Periods of the era

Early Renaissance

The period of the so-called “Early Renaissance” covers the time from year to year in Italy. During these eighty years, art has not yet completely abandoned the traditions of the recent past, but has tried to mix into them elements borrowed from classical antiquity. Only later, and only little by little, under the influence of increasingly changing conditions of life and culture, do artists completely abandon medieval foundations and boldly use examples of ancient art both in the general concept of their works and in their details.

While art in Italy was already resolutely following the path of imitation of classical antiquity, in other countries it long adhered to the traditions of the Gothic style. North of the Alps, and also in Spain, the Renaissance begins only at the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts until approximately the middle of the next century, without producing anything particularly remarkable.

High Renaissance

The second period of the Renaissance - the time of the most magnificent development of his style - is usually called the "High Renaissance", it extends in Italy from approximately to 1580. At this time, the center of gravity of Italian art from Florence moved to Rome, thanks to the accession to the papal throne of Julius II, an ambitious, courageous and enterprising man, who attracted the best artists of Italy to his court, entertaining them numerous and important works and who gave others an example of love for the arts. Under this pope and his immediate successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the time of Pericles: many monumental buildings are created in it, magnificent sculptural works are executed, frescoes and paintings are painted, which are still considered the pearls of painting; at the same time, all three branches of art harmoniously go hand in hand, helping one another and mutually influencing each other. Antiquity is now studied more thoroughly, reproduced with greater rigor and consistency; calmness and dignity are established instead of the playful beauty that was the aspiration of the previous period; memories of the medieval completely disappear, and a completely classical imprint falls on all creations of art. But imitation of the ancients does not drown out their independence in artists, and they, with great resourcefulness and vividness of imagination, freely rework and apply to their work what they consider appropriate to borrow from Greco-Roman art.

Northern Renaissance

The Renaissance period in the Netherlands, Germany and France is usually identified as a separate style movement, which has some differences with the Renaissance in Italy, and is called the “Northern Renaissance”.

The most noticeable stylistic differences are in painting: unlike Italy, the traditions and skills of Gothic art were preserved in painting for a long time, less attention was paid to the study of ancient heritage and knowledge of human anatomy.

Renaissance Man

The science

In general, the pantheistic mysticism of the Renaissance prevailing in this era created an unfavorable ideological background for the development of scientific knowledge. The final formation of the scientific method and the subsequent Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. associated with the Reformation movement opposed to the Renaissance.

Philosophy

Renaissance philosophers

Literature

The literature of the Renaissance most fully expressed the humanistic ideals of the era, the glorification of a harmonious, free, creative, comprehensively developed personality. The love sonnets of Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) revealed the depth of the inner world of man, its richness emotional life. In the XIV-XVI centuries, Italian literature experienced a heyday - the lyrics of Petrarch, the short stories of Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the political treatises of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), the poems of Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) and Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) brought it forward among the “classical” (along with ancient Greek and Roman) literatures for other countries.

The literature of the Renaissance was based on two traditions: folk poetry and “book” ancient literature, so it often combined the rational principle with poetic fiction, and comic genres gained great popularity. This was manifested in the most significant literary monuments of the era: Boccaccio's Decameron, Cervantes' Don Quixote, and Francois Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel.

The emergence of national literatures is associated with the Renaissance - in contrast to the literature of the Middle Ages, which was created mainly in Latin.

Theater and drama became widespread. The most famous playwrights of this time were William Shakespeare (1564-1616, England) and Lope de Vega (1562-1635, Spain)

art

Painting and sculpture of the Renaissance are characterized by the rapprochement of artists with nature, their closest penetration into the laws of anatomy, perspective, the action of light and other natural phenomena.

Renaissance artists, painting pictures of traditional religious themes, began to use new artistic techniques: constructing a three-dimensional composition, using a landscape in the background. This allowed them to make the images more realistic and animated, which showed a sharp difference between their work and the previous iconographic tradition, replete with conventions in the image.

Architecture

The main thing that characterizes this era is the return to tsui

To the principles and forms of ancient, mainly Roman art. Particular importance in this direction is given to symmetry, proportion, geometry and the order of its component parts, as clearly evidenced by surviving examples of Roman architecture. The complex proportions of medieval buildings are replaced by an orderly arrangement of columns, pilasters and lintels; asymmetrical outlines are replaced by a semicircle of an arch, a hemisphere of a dome, niches, and aedicules.

Renaissance architecture experienced its greatest flourishing in Italy, leaving behind two monument cities: Florence and Venice. Great architects worked on the creation of buildings there - Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Donato Bramante, Giorgio Vasari and many others.

Music

In the era of the Renaissance (Renaissance), professional music loses its purely church art and is influenced by folk music, imbued with a new humanistic worldview. The art of vocal and vocal-instrumental polyphony reaches a high level in the work of representatives of “Ars nova” (“New Art”) in Italy and France of the 14th century, in new polyphonic schools - English (XV centuries), Dutch (XV-XVI centuries. ), Roman, Venetian, French, German, Polish, Czech, etc. (XVI century).

Various genres of secular musical art appear - frottola and villanella in Italy, villancico in Spain, ballad in England, madrigal, which originated in Italy (L. Marenzio, J. Arkadelt, Gesualdo da Venosa), but became widespread, French polyphonic song (K . Janequin, C. Lejeune). Secular humanistic aspirations also penetrate into religious music - among the Franco-Flemish masters (Josquin Depres, Orlando di Lasso), in the art of composers of the Venetian school (A. and G. Gabrieli). During the period of the Counter-Reformation, the question was raised about expelling polyphony from the religious cult, and only the reform of the head of the Roman school Palestrina preserves polyphony for catholic church- in a “purified”, “clarified” form. At the same time, some valuable conquests were also reflected in the art of Palestrina. secular music Renaissance. New genres of instrumental music are emerging, and national schools of performing the lute, organ, and virginel are emerging. The art of making is flourishing in Italy bowed instruments with rich expressive capabilities. The clash of different aesthetic attitudes is manifested in the “struggle” of two types of bowed instruments - the viol, which was common in the aristocratic environment, and

Conscious modern man The Renaissance is associated, first of all, with the unprecedented the rise of fine art, with names" Titans of the Renaissance", who not only created unsurpassed masterpieces, but also established in culture ideal of a creative person― a titanic, versatile and multifaceted personality, competing with God himself in his creativity (in ancient greek mythology Titans - a generation of powerful gods - ancestors and rivals of the Olympian gods).

Thus, it is through art and artistic creativity that the Renaissance man awakens within himself the hitherto dormant potential that was actively suppressed by medieval ideas about the sinful and base nature of man, which was fully revealed in the culture of modern times.

· The beginning of a new realistic concept in art in the era Proto-Renaissance put by the Italian painter Giotto di Bondone , whose heroes, being biblical characters, already differ from the disembodied images of medieval art. Giotto's main achievement was a completely new sense of personality, the affirmation of high moral principles. This was especially evident in his fresco “The Kiss of Judas”.

· The founding fathers of art Early Renaissance, it is generally accepted: in painting - Masaccio , in sculpture - Donatello, in architecture - Brunelleschi , who belonged to the Florentine school of art.

At the forefront of creativity Masaccio ― depiction of human psychology, the embodiment of life’s humanistic ideals in traditional religious scenes. In the fresco “Expulsion from Paradise,” the master was able to convey not only the movement of the naked figures of Adam and Eve, pursued by an angel, but also the confusion and fear that gripped them when they left Paradise. A similar interpretation of the religious theme European painting I didn't know yet.

Creation Donatello dates back to the time of the final overcoming of the traditions of medieval Gothic and the establishment of a new style. Altar compositions, reliefs on bronze doors, tombs, round plastic - there is, perhaps, no area of ​​sculpture to which Donatello would not have made a significant contribution. He was the first sculptor since Antiquity who dared to depict a naked human body, sculpting a statue of the young shepherd David.

The founder of the Early Renaissance architectural style is Filippo Brunelleschi . Built according to his design, using extraordinary engineering solutions, the dome of the Florence Cathedral had great social, ideological and artistic significance. Dominating the city's buildings, it was perceived as a monument “rising to the heavens,” erected to the glory of the city and the triumph of the human mind. Many other buildings created by Brunelleschi transformed the appearance of Florence. With him light hand Forms forgotten since antiquity returned to architecture - arches, domes, graceful colonnades.

Three "titans" of the Early Renaissance were also rule makers direct perspective, which replaced the medieval reverse perspective and gave works of art realism and depth of space rendering.

Thus, during the Early Renaissance, the main features were established Renaissance style in art.

The seeds thrown by the founders of the Renaissance brought a rich harvest - in the second half of the 15th century. Local schools are gaining strength in Northern Italy, Umbria, and Venice.

Creativity occupied an intermediate position between the Early and High Renaissance Sandro Botticelli, who inspiredly recreated the images of ancient myths. In his most significant paintings "Spring" and "Birth of Venus" Botticelli was inspired not only

Greek mythology, but also works of modern poetry, the main theme of which was the appearance of a beautiful woman - the embodiment of unearthly beauty.

Botticelli's art had a great influence on many painters, bearing, at the same time, the imprint of a special individual uniqueness.

· Images from the art of the previous period High Renaissance They differ primarily in their scale. The High Renaissance period lasted only about three decades - from the end of the 15th century. until the 30s of the 16th century, but in its cultural and historical significance, in the grandeur of the artistic values ​​created, it has no equal. In addition, in history there were no more examples of such a number of brilliant artists appearing at the same time: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael Santi, Giorgione, Titian, Giovanni Bellini ...

A characteristic feature of art in that period is the tendency towards synthesis and generalization - in the works of artists the main place is occupied by collective image an ideally beautiful harmonious person, perfect physically and spiritually.

All Renaissance features were most clearly and concentratedly manifested in the work of the greatest “titan” of the High Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci , whose very personality is a symbol of the power of intelligence and versatility.

Art and science, in his opinion, exist inseparably - these are two sides of the universal process of cognition. As a scientist, Leonardo was distinguished by deep knowledge and extraordinary comprehensiveness. He studied anatomy, the life of animals and plants, mechanics, astronomy, engineering, optics, developed a project for the irrigation system of Lombardy, explored the phenomena of light and sound, designed fortresses and cities, aircraft and underwater vehicles, centuries ahead of the time in which he lived.

Leonardo used all his rich knowledge in artistic creativity, primarily in painting, which he considered " a universal way of understanding the world". He improved the technique in many ways oil painting, having achieved particular success in depicting the transition from light to shadow.

Paintings Leonardo da Vinci has survived a little. Some remained unfinished, others were destroyed or damaged, like the famous fresco " The Last Supper" in a monastery in Milan. He conveyed the biblical story, which has attracted artists since ancient times, in an original way with extraordinary realism. Never before has an artist been able to put so many observations of life into this scene human soul like Leonardo did. However, experiments with paints led to the fact that even during the master’s lifetime, the destruction of the brilliant creation began.

Leonardo created the most beautiful spiritual female images. A mysterious smile Mona Lisa(Mona Lisa) and five hundred years later it still excites millions of viewers.

Contemporary of Leonardo Rafael Santi lived a short but extremely fruitful life, leaving behind big number magnificent works, many students and followers. like other “titans” of the Renaissance, Raphael had versatile talents. Following other prominent Renaissance masters, he took part in the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome as an architect.

Raphael's favorite subject was image of Madonna. His brush captured the most spiritual images Mother of God throughout the history of Christianity, for which Raphael was called " master of Madonnas". Raphael's most famous work is "The Sistine Madonna", which in its harmony, in its greatness of sacrifice and tragedy was a kind of result and synthesis of the artist's many years of quest.

considered a masterpiece of monumental art by Raphael frescoes four stations (rooms) Vatican Palace. One of them - " Athens school"is a gallery of scientists and philosophers of Antiquity. The artist's outstanding contemporaries served as models for some of them.

The gigantic power of creative genius Michelangelo Buonarroti makes it stand out even among greatest artists that era. In the versatile work of Michelangelo, who created grandiose masterpieces in the field of architecture, sculpture, painting, and poetry, the Renaissance humanistic ideal finds its highest embodiment.

The dome he designed and built, crowning St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, is a truly unique example of engineering.

Michelangelo's famous statue of David became a symbol of the patriotism and heroism of the citizens of his native Florence during the siege by the French army, and sculptural composition Pieta [lat. mourning] - the most in a wonderful way Our Lady grieving over the body of her dead son.

The ensemble of paintings, grandiose in scale and unsurpassed in skill, is especially striking Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, which the artist completed independently, without anyone’s help (and this despite the fact that he himself considered himself not an artist, but a sculptor!).

The frescoes decorating the vault are filled with scenes from the Bible and contain more than three hundred figures. A wall fresco" Last Judgment"is rightfully considered the most convincing depiction of God's Judgment on sinful humanity.

It is interesting that at the feet of Christ Michelangelo placed the figure of St. Bartholomew, holding in his left hand the skin flayed alive from him by the persecutors of the first Christians. Michelangelo gave his own features to the face distorted by suffering, which is depicted on the flayed skin, capturing the unbearable mental and physical torment that he experienced while creating his greatest creation.

· Tragic mood of creativity outstanding masters Late Renaissance Titian And Tintoretto becomes understandable in the light of the complex political fate of Italy, which in the 16th century was the object of the struggle between France and Spain.

By this time, Renaissance art was already degenerating into a crisis trend - mannerism[from it. pretentiousness, pretentiousness], with his characteristic religious exaltation, subjectivism, and mannered sophistication of form.