The era of renaissance in different countries. Renaissance: The Years of the Renaissance

The epochal period in the history of world culture, which preceded the New Age and changed, was given the name Renaissance, or Renaissance. The history of the era originates at the dawn of the 14th century in Italy. Several centuries can be characterized as the time of the formation of a new, human and earthly picture of the world, which is inherently secular in nature. Progressive ideas found their embodiment in humanism.

The years of the Renaissance and the concept

It is quite difficult to set a specific time frame for this phenomenon in the history of world culture. This is explained by the fact that in the Renaissance, all European countries entered at different times. Some earlier, others later, due to the lag in socio-economic development. Approximate dates can be called the beginning of the 14th and the end of the 16th century. The years of the Renaissance are characterized by the manifestation of the secular nature of culture, its humanization, and the flourishing of interest in antiquity. By the way, the name of this period is connected with the latter. There is a revival of its introduction into the European world.

General characteristics of the Renaissance

This turn in the development of human culture occurred as a result of a change in European society and relations in it. An important role is played by the fall of Byzantium, when its citizens fled en masse to Europe, bringing with them libraries, various ancient sources unknown before. An increase in the number of cities led to an increase in the influence of simple classes of artisans, merchants, and bankers. Various centers of art and science began to appear actively, the activities of which the church no longer controlled.

It is customary to count the first years of the Renaissance with its onset in Italy, it was in this country that this movement began. Its initial signs became noticeable in the 13-14th centuries, but it took a firm position in the 15th century (20s), reaching its maximum flowering by its end. There are four periods in the Renaissance (or Renaissance). Let's dwell on them in more detail.

Proto-Renaissance

This period dates from approximately the second half of the 13th-14th century. It is worth noting that all dates relate to Italy. In fact, this period is a preparatory stage of the Renaissance. It is conditionally customary to divide it into two stages: before and after the death (1137) of Giotto di Bondone (sculpture in the photo), a key figure in the history of Western art, architect and artist.

The last years of the Renaissance of this period are associated with an epidemic of plague that struck Italy and all of Europe as a whole. Proto-Renaissance is closely connected with the Middle Ages, Gothic, Romanesque, Byzantine traditions. The central figure is considered to be Giotto, who outlined the main trends in painting, indicated the path along which its development went in the future.

Early Renaissance period

By the time it took eighty years. The early years of which are characterized in two ways, fell on the years 1420-1500. Art has not yet completely renounced medieval traditions, but actively adds elements borrowed from classical antiquity. As if on the rise, year after year under the influence of changing conditions of the social environment, there is a complete rejection by artists of the old and a transition to ancient art as the main concept.

High Renaissance period

This is the peak, the peak of the Renaissance. At this stage, the Renaissance (years 1500-1527) reached its zenith, and the center of influence of all Italian art moved to Rome from Florence. This happened in connection with the accession to the papal throne of Julius II, who had very progressive, bold views, was an enterprising and ambitious person. He attracted to the eternal city the most best artists and sculptors from all over Italy. It was at this time that the real titans of the Renaissance create their masterpieces, which the whole world admires to this day.

Late Renaissance

Covers the time period from 1530 to 1590-1620. The development of culture and art in this period is so heterogeneous and diverse that even historians do not reduce it to one denominator. According to British scientists, the Renaissance finally died out at the moment when the fall of Rome took place, namely in 1527. plunged into the Counter-Reformation, which put an end to any free-thinking, including the resurrection of ancient traditions.

The crisis of ideas and contradictions in the worldview eventually resulted in mannerism in Florence. A style that is characterized by disharmony and far-fetchedness, a loss of balance between the spiritual and physical components, characteristic of the Renaissance. For example, Venice had its own road of development, and such masters as Titian and Palladio worked there until the end of the 1570s. Their work remained aloof from the crisis phenomena characteristic of the art of Rome and Florence. Pictured is Titian's Isabella of Portugal.

Great Masters of the Renaissance

Three great Italians are the titans of the Renaissance, its worthy crown:

All their works are the best, selected pearls of world art, which were collected by the Renaissance. Years go by, centuries change, but the creations of the great masters are timeless.

enters into high renaissance period. If the Proto-Renaissance lasted almost a century and a half, the early Renaissance - almost a century, then the High - only 30-40 years. But it was the Cinquicento that gave the world a large galaxy of masters of rare genius and versatility: Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Santi, Michelangelo Buanarotti, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Andrea Verrocchio.

The art of the High Renaissance became an expression of the complexity and scale of the historical existence of the era. As if in contrast to the ever-increasing political and economic decline, the art of the Cinquecento is imbued with lofty and bright ideals. Never before have the heroes of paintings and sculptures been so exalted, free and powerful. They embodied the titanic ideal of man. new era asserting itself in a harmonious and rationally arranged world. Therefore, from the previous period - the art of the Quattrocento - it is distinguished primarily by the large scale of the images. But it wasn't theirs main feature: both grandiose and small in size works of art were distinguished by their inner significance, depth, complexity, and special grandeur of images. Such works were created by artists of a new type - active creative personalities, free from the previous guild restrictions, conscious of their high destiny; people of great knowledge, possessing all the values of the culture of their time.

Among the artists of the Cinquicento, three versatile thinkers and artists stand out - Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo, who were called divine by contemporaries. They became the personification of the main values of the Italian Renaissance: intelligence, harmony and power. All the cable were great painters, they worked both in the field monumental painting(frescoes), and in the easel. Each of them became a pioneer of ideas, images, techniques that determined the further development of fine arts. Three masters of genius reflect different sides European culture: Leonardo - a daring breakthrough into the unknown, a thirst for knowledge of the world, penetration into the secrets of nature; Raphael - comprehension of the subtlest movements of the human soul; Michelangelo - titanic heroism, tragedy and majesty. At the same time, they embody the three main layers of painting: Leonardo - epic-narrative, Raphael - lyrical, Michelangelo - dramatic.

He is perhaps the most extraordinary figure in the history of world art culture. Possessing versatile abilities and talents, he was in the full sense Homo universale (universal man). At the same time he was a painter, art theorist, sculptor, architect, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, anatomist and engineer, and in all fields proved to be an innovator. He will give the only example of a great painter for whom his art was not the main business of life.

About 15 authentically owned paintings have come down to us. This is not because some of his works perished, but rather because, experimenting endlessly, striving to achieve perfection, he often did not finish his work. Most of his undertakings remained in drawings and records. Leonardo was multifaceted and impatient, he was captured by the very process of cognition and creativity: having made some kind of invention or work, he discarded it in order to take up another.

His most important creations were the Last Supper fresco in one of the Milanese monasteries, as well as the world-famous portrait of the young Florentine Mona Lisa. In The Last Supper, Leonardo gives a new, different from the traditional, solution to the biblical theme: for the first time he depicts a psychological conflict, an open manifestation of strong feelings, the process itself dramatic event. Christ told the apostles: "One of you will betray me." Quattrocento artists usually represented the apostles sitting at that moment isolated from each other, in static and monotonous poses, and Judas was singled out, placed separately at the opposite side of the table. In Leonardo, the apostles, after the words of Christ, come into great excitement, which is expressed in movements and postures, hand gestures and facial expressions. They are amazed, shocked, indignant, doubtful, discussing. The artist divides the apostles into four groups of three each, and places Judas next to the beloved disciples of Christ, highlighting only the shadow falling on the face. The stormy movement and emotional tension of the apostles are combined with the noble calmness of Christ, which creates a harmonious completeness of the composition as a whole.

The most famous work of Leonardo da Vinci and, perhaps, of all world art is the portrait of Mona Lisa, the wife of the wealthy Florentine Francesco del Giocondo. This portrait, also known as the Gioconda, is associated with many legends, scientific hypotheses, and studies. The traditional compositional scheme - a human figure in the foreground against the backdrop of a landscape, has acquired an unprecedented psychological depth of the image, has become the highest artistic embodiment human personality. The portrait fascinates and delights: with the external immobility of the model, the life of the soul is conveyed, subtly changing shades of thoughts, feelings, moods. The contrast between the unusually lively expression of the Mona Lisa's face and the motionless majestic pose, the nature of which reflects the landscape, is especially obvious.

Sites - an artist of a completely different stock than Leonardo. He was not an innovator in art. His work was a synthesis of the achievements of previous artists and became the most striking expression of the classical line in the art of the Cinquicento. His works of art are harmonious and clear, the person in them is perfect, and the world is in balance. In his works, Raphael embodied the brightest and most sublime ideas of Renaissance humanism about man, his exceptional place in the world around him.

The artist's favorite was the image of the Madonna, in which he was able to most fully reveal his ideas about the nobility and perfection of man, about the harmony of external and internal beauty. Paintings on this plot Raphael wrote all his life. But as the artist became more and more mature, the character of the image also changed; touching, light lyricism, soft soulfulness, tenderness of his young Madonnas early works changed to big mental strength, deep, selfless maternal love.

The most famous creation of Raphael and one of the most famous works of world painting is his "Sistine Madonna" - a painting painted for the church of St. Sixtus of one of the Italian monasteries. The traditional composition of the apparition of the Mother of God is presented by the artist in the form of a young Madonna, lightly stepping barefoot on the clouds and carrying her son, Christ, to people. The soulful face of the Madonna expresses both infinite love and foresight. tragic fate son, awareness of its inevitability and mournful readiness to sacrifice him for the sake of people. The artist combined deep religiosity with high humanity, creating the greatest and most beautiful embodiment of the theme of motherhood.

Buanarotti stands out even among the greatest artists of that era. His art marks the culmination of the Renaissance, but also marked its end. Over 70 years old creative way Michelangelo coincided with a historical period full of upheavals. Very important on this path was the complete fusion for the artist of the concepts of man and fighter. The ability for heroic deeds, the struggle for freedom served as the leitmotif of his work.

Above all the arts, Michelangelo put sculpture and wanted to be only a sculptor. But by the will of fate, he also became a painter and an architect. Striving for the realization of main topic- the struggle of spirit and matter, he was the first in the history of sculpture to combine the ideal of bodily beauty with an abstract spiritual idea, finding the main form of its expression in the statue of David. Unlike his predecessors - Donatello and Verrocchio - Michelangelo portrayed the hero before the accomplishment of the feat. The gigantic figure embodies the boundless power of a free person, conveys both the beauty of an idealized body and a huge internal tension at the moment of the utmost concentration of strength and will.

The most outstanding and grandiose work of the master was the painting of the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace (the total area of the fresco is over 600 square meters). On the ceiling of the chapel, he depicted Old Testament scenes - from the Creation of the world to the Flood. On the sides, their continuation was the plots "David and Goliath", "Judith and Olofsrn", "The Execution of Haman" and "The Bronze Serpent". In the Renaissance, plafond painting was predominantly decorative, limited to simple subjects. Michelangelo, on the contrary, depicted pictures of the creation of the world and the life of the first people on earth, episodes from the Bible, the prophets and sibyls (prophets), the ancestors of Christ. On the ceiling of the chapel, he created the world of the titans. His God is an inspired creator, in a powerful impulse creating the universe and man; the first people are powerful and beautiful in body and spirit, the prophets and sibyls are brave in their insight into the future, no matter how formidable it may seem to them.

The most impressive fresco is the scene of the Last Judgment, placed on the altar (eastern) wall of the chapel. The composition of The Last Judgment was conceived by the artist as a multitude of naked human figures surrounding God in a halo of light. The central character of the fresco is the figure of Christ lifting right hand in a threatening gesture. To the left of it are depicted open graves and the dead rising from them. Above are souls rushing upward, above which the righteous are located. At the very top of the fresco, angels carry the instruments of Christ's torment. On the right side, below the angels, again the righteous, under which are the rebellious titans, even lower is the boat with Charon, who drives sinners to hell. The whole image is permeated with movement.

Mariupol State University

Essay

On the topic: The personality of the new man of the renaissance

Performed: 2nd year student

Correspondence form of education

Specialties

« Language and Literature (English)

Schukina Anna

Plan

Introduction

1 Background of the Renaissance. Three stages in the development of culture in the era

Renaissance…………………………………………………………………………

2 Features of the Renaissance…………………………………………

2.1 Periods of the Renaissance………………………………………………

2.2 The dawn of literature……………………………………………………….

2.3 Common features of the Renaissance in Europe……………………………

3.Renaissance architecture…………………………………………………

3.1 Music……………………………………………………………………..

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………

Bibliography…………………………………………………………..

Introduction

The Renaissance, or Renaissance (French Renaissance, Italian Rinascimento; from "ri" - "again" or "reborn") is an era in the history of European culture that replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of the new time. Approximate chronological framework era - the beginning of the XIV - the last quarter of the XVI centuries and in some cases - the first decades of the XVII century (for example, in England and, especially, in Spain). A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in a person and his activities). There is an interest in ancient culture, there is, as it were, its “revival” - and this is how the term appeared.

The term Renaissance is already found among Italian humanists, for example, in Giorgio Vasari. IN modern meaning the term was coined by the 19th-century French historian Jules Michelet. Nowadays, the term Renaissance has become a metaphor for cultural flourishing: for example, the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century. Contents [remove]

general characteristics

"Vitruvian Man" by Leonardo da Vinci

A new cultural paradigm arose as a result of dramatic changes public relations in Europe.

The growth of city-republics led to an increase in the influence of estates that did not participate in feudal relations: artisans and artisans, merchants, and bankers.

All of them were alien to the hierarchical system of values created by medieval, in many respects church culture, and its ascetic, humble spirit. 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 social institutions.

Secular centers of science and art began to appear in the 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 15th century played a huge role in spreading the ancient heritage and new views throughout Europe.

The revival arose in Italy, where its first signs were visible as early as the 13th and XIV centuries(in the activities of the Pisano family, Giotto, Orcagna, etc.), but it was firmly established only from the 20s of the 15th century. In France, Germany and other countries, this movement began much later. By the end of the 15th century, it reached its peak. In the 16th century, a crisis of Renaissance ideas was brewing, resulting in the emergence of Mannerism and Baroque.

Background of the Renaissance. Three stages in the development of culture in the Renaissance

1. XIV - beginning. 15th century characterized by the stratification and disintegration of the medieval common cultural zone: this means that, for example, in Spain and France, the iron regime of a powerful feudal state is being created, and in Italy capital is rapidly growing. In Italy itself, along with Petrarch and Boccaccio, there coexists the most archaic Franco Sacchetti, as if from some tenth century. Yes, the same Petrarch, the creator of the new poetry, bows before the obsolete pillars of the scholasticism of the University of Paris.

Moreover, if we take Europe as a whole, we can see how economic relations come to life, while cultural ones, on the contrary, freeze. Outside of Italy, there is still no awareness of their time as a turning point in history, there is also no idea of the revival of ancient classics, although interest in antiquity is growing. Increasing interest in one's own creativity national traditions, folklore, language finally.

Stage 2 begins in the middle of the 15th century. Three things happen here important events: the fall of Byzantium with all the ensuing consequences for Europe; the end of the Hundred Years' War with a complete reorientation of European politics and the invention of printing.

With the latest event, the authority of Italian culture is rapidly becoming universal. The ideas of humanism, rebirth, created by the titanic efforts of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio are picked up by representatives of other European countries. Latin penetrates into the most bearish corners of the Old World, for example, to Scandinavia. The old impregnable fortress of the feudal-church ideology is being destroyed, yielding to the ideology of humanism, confirmed not only by literature and art, but also by the abundance of all kinds of scientific discoveries and the expansion of geographical horizons. And not just a man, but a free man forever is glorified by the humanistic harmony of Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Durer, Ariosto, Early Michelangelo, Rabelais, the poets of the Pleiades. T. More creates his famous humanistic "utopia". Political writers Machiavelli, Guicciardini discover patterns for the era historical development. Philosophers Ficino, Mirandolla, la Rama return interest to Plato. Lorenzo Valla, Deperier, Luther are revising religious dogmas. Finally, Europe is shaken by the peasant war in Germany and the Dutch revolution. You and I are beginning to build a state with the addition of Novgorod (1478), Tver (1485) to Moscow, the famous Domostroy is being created, Joseph Volotsky, Maxim Grek, Skorina are working.

During this period, a new system of literary genres was formed, developed to the exemplary ones that appeared at the turn of the 13th century. in Sicily, a sonnet, antique odes, elegies, epigrams are transformed and acquire their final form.

As for completely new, original genres, this is, first of all, dramaturgy, in which, apparently, apart from the stage, and the idea itself, nothing remains of antiquity (yet !!), then journalism is a completely new genre, if, of course, do not take into account the publicists-phrase books of antiquity: Socrates and subsequent sophists. Journalism, by the way, mastered primarily by the Frenchman Montaigne and called by him "essay", which means "experience", as little else will come to court in Russia, in Russian literature: from Radishchev to Solzhenitsyn.

During this period, prose comes to the fore in literature, the real birth of the novel, relatively speaking, realistic takes place: Rabelais, Nash, Cervantes, Aleman, the novella reaches its peak: Boccaccio, Masuccio, Margarita of Navarre, and finally, memoirs appear. Not a confession, but the everyday notes of a private person about himself, devoid of any ecstatic confession: Cellini, Brant.

It was during this period that qualitative features inherent only to them were fixed in national literatures: for example, some rationalism and a sense of proportion, combined with subtle humor, typical of the literature of France.

The writer begins to realize himself not only as a person, but also as a creator. He assigns a high purpose to his mission. It was during this period that the all-European authority of an individual became possible, which was used, for example, by Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Stage 3 takes place in an aggravated and complicated political and ideological situation: from the middle of the 16th century. the wave of the Counter-Reformation is sweeping across Europe. Spain is becoming a stronghold of Catholicism and feudalism, in Italy the free cities are turning into small monarchies, the power of princes is growing in Germany, the "Index of Forbidden Books" is being introduced, the Jesuits are expanding their activities, the Inquisition is being established, France is being torn apart by the struggle of rival feudal factions during the period of religious wars.

Skepticism and even stoicism return from the depths of centuries to replace the opened horizons and prospects, hopes and dreams. Creativity of Montaigne, Camões, Tasso, late Michelangelo, Cervantes, Shakespeare is painted with deep tragic tones.

Writers, artists and philosophers synthesize what they have experienced, and not only personally by them, but as a whole by the epoch, undermine the results, describe the sunset. The classical Renaissance is being replaced by a whimsical, minor, broken mannerism.

The Renaissance is ... the Renaissance

Dramaturgy is developing a lot. The most prominent playwrights of the Renaissance are Lope de Vega in Spain and Shakespeare in England.

Journalism and philosophical prose are widespread. In Italy, Giordano Bruno denounces the church in his works, creates his own new philosophical concepts. In England, Thomas More expresses the ideas of utopian communism in his book Utopia. Widely known are such authors as Michel de Montaigne ("Experiments") and Erasmus of Rotterdam ("Praise of Stupidity").

Among the writers of that time are also crowned persons. Poems are written by Duke Lorenzo de Medici, and Marguerite of Navarre, sister of King Francis I of France, is known as the author of the Heptameron collection.

In the fine arts of the Renaissance, man appeared as the most beautiful creation of nature, strong and perfect, angry and gentle, thoughtful and cheerful.

The world of Renaissance man is most vividly represented in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo. Biblical stories form the vault of the chapel. Their main motive is the creation of the world and man. These frescoes are full of grandeur and tenderness. On the altar wall there is a fresco "The Last Judgment", which was created in 1537-1541. Here, Michelangelo sees in man not the "crown of creation", but Christ is presented as angry and punishing. The ceiling and altar wall of the Sistine Chapel represent a clash of possibility and reality, the sublimity of the idea and the tragedy of the implementation. "The Last Judgment" is considered a work that completed the Renaissance in art.

Features of the culture of the Renaissance

The Renaissance is a transitional era from the Middle Ages to the New Age from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The Renaissance, or Renaissance, got its name because of the revival of the most important principles of the spiritual culture of antiquity that began during this period.

Renaissance, or Renaissance (from the French. renaissance- Renaissance) is a cultural and historical era that marks the transition from the Middle Ages to the New Age.

This period in the history of Western European civilization is exceptional in terms of the unprecedented rise and scale of cultural phenomena in the life of all European countries. Along with a truly cultural revolution, and often on the basis of the achievements of the Renaissance culture, deep socio-economic processes took place that determined the forms of new economic and social relations within the emerging market system. The philosophy of humanism, opposed to the scholastic worldview of the Middle Ages, the cult of freedom of mind, egocentrism - as opposed to the feudal estate order, a largely secular, materialistic understanding of the surrounding reality - these and others major achievements Renaissance cultures formed the foundation of the culture of modern Western civilization.

It was full of extraordinary events and was represented by brilliant creators. The term "Renaissance" was introduced by G. Vasari - a famous painter, architect and art historian - to designate the period of Italian art as the time of the revival of antiquity. The culture of the Renaissance had a distinctly artistic character and was generally oriented towards art, where the cult of the artist-creator occupied a central place. The artist imitates not just the creations of God, but the very divine creativity. A person begins to look for a foothold in himself - in his soul, body, physicality (the cult of beauty - Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael). In this era, the versatility of development and talent was especially revered, the special significance of a person, his creative activity, is revealed.

New economic relations contributed to the emergence of spiritual opposition to feudalism as a way of life and the dominant way of thinking.

Renaissance

Technical inventions and scientific discoveries enriched labor with new, more effective ways actions (a self-spinning wheel appeared, a loom was improved, blast-furnace metallurgy was invented, etc.). The use of gunpowder and the creation of firearms made a revolution in military affairs, which nullified the importance of chivalry as a branch of the military and as a feudal estate. The birth of printing contributed to the development of humanitarian culture in Europe. The use of a compass significantly increased the possibilities of navigation, and the network of water trade links was rapidly expanding. They were especially intense in the Mediterranean - it is not surprising that it was in Italian cities the first manufactories arose as a step in the transition from handicraft to the capitalist mode of production. Thus, the main prerequisites for cultural development in the Renaissance were the crisis of feudalism, the improvement of tools and production relations, the development of crafts and trade, the increase in the level of education, the crisis of the church, geographical and scientific and technical discoveries.

New outlook

Powerful surge in cultural life many European countries, which occurred mainly in the XIV - XVI centuries, and in Italy began in the XIII century., It is customary to call Renaissance (Renaissance). Initially, a new phenomenon in European cultural life looked like a return to forgotten achievements. ancient culture in the field of science, philosophy, literature, art, a return to the classical “Golden Latin”, Thus, in Italy, manuscripts of ancient writers were searched for, works of ancient sculpture and architecture were retrieved from oblivion.

But it would be wrong to interpret the Renaissance as a simple return to antiquity, because. its representatives did not discard achievements at all medieval culture and were critical of the ancient heritage. The Renaissance phenomenon is a very multifaceted phenomenon in the cultural development of Europe, the core of which was a new worldview, a new self-awareness of man. Unlike the ancient view of the world, in which a person is called to learn from nature, Renaissance thinkers believed that a person endowed with free will by God is the creator of himself and this stands out from nature. Such an understanding of the essence of man not only differs from the ancient one, but also conflicts with the postulates of medieval theology. The focus of Renaissance thinkers was a person, not God, as the highest measure of all things, which is why such a system of views is called "humanism"(from lat. humanus - human).

Humanism (from lat. homo - man) - an ideological movement that affirms the value of man and human life.

In the Renaissance, humanism manifested itself in a worldview that placed the focus of world existence no longer on God, but on man. A peculiar manifestation of humanism was the assertion of the primacy of reason over faith. A person can independently explore the secrets of being, studying the foundations of the existence of nature. In the Renaissance, the speculative principles of knowledge were rejected, and experimental, natural scientific knowledge was resumed. Fundamentally new, anti-scholastic pictures of the world were created: the heliocentric picture Nicholas Copernicus and a picture of the infinite universe Giordano Bruno. Most significantly, religion was separated from science, politics, and morality. The era of the formation of experimental sciences began, their role was recognized as giving true knowledge about nature.

What was the basis of the new worldview? This question cannot be answered unambiguously. The Renaissance phenomenon was caused by a number of factors, among which there are the most common for most countries. Western Europe. During the period under review, the process of the formation of new (bourgeois or market) relations was quite clearly observed, which required the destruction of the system of medieval regulation of economic life that hindered their development. New forms of management assumed the release, the allocation of an economic entity into an independent free unit. This process was accompanied by corresponding changes in the spiritual life of society and, above all, those of its strata that were at the epicenter of the changes.

An indispensable condition for personal success is knowledge knowledge and skill, great energy and perseverance in achieving the goal. The realization of this truth forced many contemporaries of the Renaissance to turn their eyes to science and art, caused an increase in the need for knowledge in society, and raised the social prestige of educated people.

Here is how the famous French philosopher and art critic, a deep connoisseur of the Renaissance, spoke about this Hippolyte Taine(1828-1893):

... one cannot look at the art of the Renaissance as the result of a happy accident; there can be no question of a successful game of fate that led to world stage a few more talented heads, accidentally producing some extraordinary crop of geniuses…; it can hardly be denied that the reason for such a wonderful flourishing of art lay in the general disposition of minds towards it, in the amazing ability for it, located in all the sings of the people. This ability was instantaneous, and the art itself was the same.

The ideas of humanism that in a person his personal qualities are important, such as intelligence, creative energy, enterprise, self-esteem, will and education, and by no means social status and origin, fell on fertile ground. As a result of more than two centuries of the Renaissance World culture enriched with spiritual treasures, the value of which is timeless.

Two trends in the culture of the Renaissance determined its inconsistency - these are:

Rethinking antiquity;

Combination with the cultural values of the Christian (Catholic) tradition.

On the one hand, the Renaissance can be boldly characterized as an era of joyful self-affirmation of a person, and on the other hand, as an era of a person's comprehension of all the tragedy of his existence. The Russian philosopher N. Berdyaev considered this era to be the time of the collision of ancient and Christian principles, which caused a deep bifurcation of man. The great artists of the Renaissance, he believed, were obsessed with a breakthrough into another transcendent world, the dream of it was given to them by Christ. They were focused on co the building of another being, felt in themselves forces similar to the forces of the creator. However, these tasks were obviously impossible in earthly life. This leads to a tragic worldview, to "revival anguish."

Thus, with all the diversity of contradictions, with all the cruelty and rudeness of morals, the Renaissance raised society to a qualitatively new level of awareness of itself, its activities and its goals.

You should also pay attention to the inconsistency of the concept of unlimited will and the ability of a person to self-improvement. Its humanistic orientation did not guarantee the substitution of the concept of individual freedom for the concept of permissiveness - in fact, for the antipodes of humanism. An example of this is the views of the Italian thinker Niccolo Machiavelli(1469-1527), who justified any means to achieve power, as well as an English humanist Thomas More(1478-1535) and Italian philosopher Tommaso Campanella(1568-1639), who saw the ideal of social harmony in a society built on a rigid hierarchical system governing all spheres of life. Subsequently, this model will be called "barracks communism." At the heart of this metamorphosis lies a rather deep feeling by the thinkers of the Renaissance of the dual nature of freedom. In this regard, the point of view of the largest Western psychologist and sociologist seems to be very appropriate. Erich Fromm(1900-1980):

“The individual is freed from economic and political fetters. He also acquires positive freedom - along with the active and independent role that he has to play in the new system - but at the same time frees himself from the ties that gave him a sense of security and belonging to some community. He can no longer live his life in a small little world, the center of which was himself; the world has become boundless and menacing. Having lost his definite place in this world, a person lost the answer to the question about the meaning of life, and doubts fell upon him: who is he, why does he live? Paradise is lost forever; the individual stands alone, face to face with his world, boundless and menacing.

End of the Renaissance

In the 40s of the XVI century. the church in Italy began to widely use repression against dissidents. In 1542 the Inquisition was reorganized and its tribunal was set up in Rome.

Many leading scientists and thinkers who continued to adhere to the traditions of the Renaissance were repressed, died at the stake of the Inquisition (among them the great Italian astronomer Giordano Bruno, 1548-1600). In 1540 it was approved Jesuit Order, which essentially turned into a repressive organ of the Vatican. In 1559, Pope Paul IV publishes for the first time "List of banned books"(Index librorum prohibitorum), subsequently supplemented several times. The works of literature named in the "List" were forbidden to be read by believers under pain of excommunication from the church. There were many works among the books to be destroyed. humanistic literature Renaissance (for example, the writings of Boccaccio). Thus, the Renaissance by the beginning of the 40s of the XVII century. ended in Italy.

Features of the culture of Iran, Greece, America, Babylon, Western Europe
Ancient Greek culture and art
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Italy is a country with an interesting and rich history. On its territory, it was formed from the most powerful military empires in the world - Ancient Rome. There were also cities of ancient Greeks and Etruscans. No wonder they say that Italy is the birthplace of the Renaissance, since only in terms of the number of architectural monuments it ranks first in Europe. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael, Petrarch, Dante - this is only the smallest and far from full list all those names of people who created and lived in this beautiful country.

General prerequisites

The features of the ideas of humanism in Italian culture are already manifested by Dante Alighieri, the forerunner of the Renaissance, who lived at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. The most complete new movement manifested itself in the middle of the XIV century. Italy is the birthplace of the entire European Renaissance, since the socio-economic prerequisites for this have matured here first of all. In Italy, capitalist relations began to form early, and people who were interested in their development had to get out from under the yoke of feudalism and the tutelage of the church. They were bourgeois, but they were not bourgeois-limited people, as in subsequent centuries. They were people with a broad outlook, traveling, speaking several languages and active participants in any political events.

Aurora (1614) - Renaissance painting

Cultural figures of that time fought against scholasticism, asceticism, mysticism, with the subordination of literature and art to religion, called themselves humanists. The writers of the Middle Ages took from the ancient authors "letter", that is, individual information, passages, maxims taken out of context.

rebirth

Renaissance writers read and studied entire works, paying attention to the essence of the works. They also turned to folklore, folk art, folk wisdom. The first humanists are Francesco Petrarca, author of the cycle of sonnets in honor of Laura, and Giovanni Boccaccio, author of the Decameron, a collection of short stories.

Flying machine - Leonardo da Vinci

The characteristic features of the culture of that new time are as follows:

Man becomes the main subject of depiction in literature.
He is endowed with a strong character.
Renaissance realism broadly shows life with a complete reproduction of its contradictions.
The authors begin to perceive nature in a different way. If in Dante it still symbolizes the psychological range of moods, then in later authors nature brings joy with its real charm.

3 reasons why Italy became the birthplace of the Renaissance?

Italy by the time of the Renaissance was one of the most fragmented countries in Europe; there has never been a single political and national center. The formation of a single state was hindered by the struggle that took place throughout the Middle Ages between popes and emperors for their dominance. Therefore, economic and political development different regions of Italy was uneven. The areas of the central and northern parts of the peninsula were included in the papal possessions; in the south was the Kingdom of Naples; middle Italy (Tuscany), which included such cities as Florence, Pisa, Siena, and individual cities of the north (Genoa, Milan, Venice) were independent and wealthy centers of the country. In fact, Italy was a conglomerate of disunited, constantly competing and hostile territories.
It is in Italy that truly unique conditions have developed for maintaining sprouts new culture. The absence of a centralized authority, as well as the advantageous geographical position on the ways of European trade with the East contributed to the further development of independent cities, the development of a capitalist and new political order in them. In the advanced cities of Tuscany and Lombardy already in the XII - XIII centuries. communal revolutions took place, and a republican system was formed, within which a fierce party struggle was constantly waged. The main political forces here were financiers, wealthy merchants and artisans.

Under these conditions, the social activity of citizens turned out to be very high, who sought to support politicians who contributed to the enrichment and prosperity of the city. Thus, public support in various city republics contributed to the promotion and strengthening of the power of several wealthy families: the Visconti and Sforza - in Milan and all of Lombardy, the Medici bankers - in Florence and all of Tuscany, the Great Council of the Doge - in Venice. And although the republics gradually turned into tyrannies with obvious features of the monarchy, they still kept to a large extent on popularity and authority. Therefore, the new Italian rulers sought to secure consent public opinion and in every possible way demonstrated their commitment to the growing social movement - humanism. They attracted the most outstanding people of the time - scientists, writers, artists - they themselves tried to develop their education and taste.

In the context of the emergence and growth of national self-consciousness, it was the Italians who felt themselves to be the direct descendants of the great ancient Rome. Interest in the ancient past, which did not fade throughout the Middle Ages, now meant at the same time an interest in one's national past, more precisely, the past of one's people, the traditions of one's native antiquity. No other country in Europe left so many traces of the great ancient civilization as in Italy. And although these were most often just ruins (for example, the Colosseum was used as a quarry for almost the entire Middle Ages), now it was they who gave the impression of grandeur and glory. Thus, ancient antiquity was comprehended as the great national past of the native country.

Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of the Renaissance (Renaissance) Posted on 12/19/2016 16:20 Views: 6535

The Renaissance is a time of cultural flourishing, the heyday of all the arts, but the fine arts were the most fully expressing the spirit of their time.

Renaissance, or Renaissance(French "newly" + "born") was of world importance in the history of European culture. The Renaissance replaced the Middle Ages and preceded the Enlightenment.
The main features of the Renaissance- the secular nature of culture, humanism and anthropocentrism (interest in a person and his activities). During the Renaissance period, interest in ancient culture flourished and, as it were, its “revival” took place.
The revival arose in Italy - its first signs appeared as early as the 13th-14th centuries. (Tony Paramoni, Pisano, Giotto, Orcagna and others). But it was firmly established from the 20s of the 15th century, and by the end of the 15th century. reached its highest peak.
In other countries, the Renaissance began much later. In the XVI century. the crisis of the ideas of the Renaissance begins, the consequence of this crisis is the emergence of mannerism and baroque.

Renaissance periods

The Renaissance is divided into 4 periods:

1. Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the XIII century - XIV century)
2. Early Renaissance (beginning of the XV-end of the XV century)
3. High Renaissance(late 15th - first 20 years of the 16th century)
4. Late Renaissance (mid-16th-90s of the 16th century)

The fall of the Byzantine Empire played a role in the formation of the Renaissance. The Byzantines who moved to Europe brought with them their libraries and works of art, unknown to medieval Europe. In Byzantium, they never broke with ancient culture either.
Appearance humanism(of the socio-philosophical movement, which considered man as the highest value) was associated with the absence of feudal relations in the Italian city-republics.
Secular centers of science and art began to appear in the cities, which were not controlled by the church. whose activities were outside the control of the Church. In the middle of the XV century. typography was invented, which played an important role in spreading new views throughout Europe.

Brief characteristics of the Renaissance periods

Proto-Renaissance

Proto-Renaissance is the forerunner of the Renaissance. It is still closely connected with the Middle Ages, with Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic traditions. It is associated with the names of Giotto, Arnolfo di Cambio, the Pisano brothers, Andrea Pisano.

Andrea Pisano. Bas-relief "Creation of Adam". Opera del Duomo (Florence)

Proto-Renaissance painting is represented by two art schools: Florence (Cimabue, Giotto) and Siena (Duccio, Simone Martini). The central figure of painting was Giotto. He was considered a reformer of painting: he filled religious forms with secular content, made a gradual transition from planar images to three-dimensional and relief images, turned to realism, introduced the plastic volume of figures into painting, depicted the interior in painting.

Early Renaissance

This is the period from 1420 to 1500. Artists Early Renaissance Italy drew motives from life, filled traditional religious plots with earthly content. In sculpture, these were L. Ghiberti, Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, the della Robbia family, A. Rossellino, Desiderio da Settignano, B. da Maiano, A. Verrocchio. Free-standing statues, picturesque reliefs, portrait busts, and equestrian monuments begin to develop in their work.
IN Italian painting 15th century (Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, A. del Castagno, P. Uccello, Fra Angelico, D. Ghirlandaio, A. Pollaiolo, Verrocchio, Piero della Francesca, A. Mantegna, P. Perugino, etc.) are characterized by a sense of the harmonious ordering of the world, conversion to the ethical and civic ideals of humanism, joyful perception of the beauty and diversity of the real world.
The ancestor of Italian Renaissance architecture was Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), an architect, sculptor and scientist, one of the creators of the scientific theory of perspective.

A special place in the history of Italian architecture is occupied by Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472). This Italian scholar, architect, writer and musician of the Early Renaissance was educated in Padua, studied law in Bologna, and later lived in Florence and Rome. He created theoretical treatises On the Statue (1435), On Painting (1435–1436), On Architecture (published in 1485). He defended the "folk" (Italian) language as a literary language, in the ethical treatise "On the Family" (1737-1441) he developed the ideal of a harmoniously developed personality. In architectural work, Alberti gravitated towards bold experimental solutions. He was one of the pioneers of the new European architecture.

Palazzo Rucellai

Leon Battista Alberti designed a new type of palazzo with a façade treated with rustication to its full height and dissected by three tiers of pilasters, which look like the structural basis of the building (Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, built by B. Rossellino according to Alberti's plans).
Opposite the Palazzo stands the Rucellai Loggia, where receptions and banquets for trading partners were held, weddings were celebrated.

Loggia Rucellai

High Renaissance

This is the time of the most magnificent development of the Renaissance style. In Italy, it lasted from about 1500 to 1527. Now the center of Italian art is moving from Florence to Rome, thanks to the accession to the papal throne. Julia II, an ambitious, courageous, enterprising man, who attracted the best artists of Italy to his court.

Raphael Santi "Portrait of Pope Julius II"

Many monumental buildings are being built in Rome, magnificent sculptures are being created, frescoes and paintings are being painted, which are still considered masterpieces of painting. Antiquity is still highly valued and carefully studied. But imitation of the ancients does not stifle the independence of artists.
The pinnacle of the Renaissance is the work of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) and Raphael Santi (1483-1520).

Late Renaissance

In Italy, this is the period from the 1530s to the 1590s-1620s. The art and culture of this time is very diverse. Some believe (for example, British scholars) that "The Renaissance as an integral historical period ended with the fall of Rome in 1527." The art of the late Renaissance is very complex picture struggles of various currents. Many artists did not seek to study nature and its laws, but only outwardly tried to assimilate the "manner" of the great masters: Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo. On this occasion, the aged Michelangelo once said, looking at how artists copy his "Last Judgment": "My art will make many fools."
In Southern Europe, the Counter-Reformation triumphed, which did not welcome any free thought, including the chanting human body and the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity.
Famous artists of this period were Giorgione (1477/1478-1510), Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), Caravaggio (1571-1610) and others. Caravaggio considered the founder of the Baroque style.

1. General information

The Renaissance, or Renaissance, is a period in the cultural and historical development of the countries of Central Western and Northern Europe that replaced the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, the main backgroundfor the cultural rise of the Renaissance, and the Renaissance itself became a powerful impetus for the subsequent development of culture in the Age of Enlightenment. Despite the locality of the Renaissance, it had a global impact on the subsequent development of culture. Renaissance ideas spread unevenly in European countries, so in the Renaissance it is customary to single out several periods.

1.1. Background of the Renaissance

Revival is primarily a phenomenon of urban culture. The emergence in the bowels of the feudal system of new bourgeois economic relations is connected primarily with the city. The blurring of class boundaries and class isolation, the accumulation of material wealth and the growth of the political influence of the townspeople, which manifested itself in the emergence of city-republics, contributes to the formation of a new civic consciousness. The medieval townsman is a person far from the aristocracy of the nobility and the asceticism of the church. He builds the material basis of his life thanks to his energy, diligence, business qualities, knowledge. Therefore, in other people, he appreciates the same qualities. At the same time, the townspeople are for the most part literate people who know how to appreciate the beautiful, striving for knowledge and beauty, and it is precisely on their perception that the beautiful works of art of the Renaissance are oriented. A kind of impetus to the beginning of the Renaissance was the acquaintance of European peoples with the works of ancient culture. The very term Renaissance was understood as an attempt to revive the high achievements of ancient culture, to imitate them, although in fact the results of the Renaissance turned out to be more significant. It is no coincidence that for the first time Renaissance ideas arose in Italy, on the territory of which a significant number of ancient monuments have been preserved. Part of the ideas about the era of antiquity was received by the Italians, who were active in trade in the Mediterranean Sea from Byzantium, where ancient art was not destroyed by the invasion of the barbarians until the 15th century. and developed dynamically.

1.2. Periodization of the Renaissance

1.2.1. Pan-European periodization

In the pan-European periodization of the Renaissance, there are three main periods.

Early Renaissance (from 1420 to 1500) captures mainly the territory of Italy, characterized by the fact that at that time the Renaissance works proper are known only in Italy, in other countries they are still trying to combine traditional techniques with new Renaissance trends, signs of Gothic art are still visible in many works.

High Renaissance (1500 to 1580)the peak of the development of Renaissance art in Italy and the beginning of its decline, the powerful flowering of interest in antiquity and new technologies in art in European countries. Talented people from all over Europe aspire to Rome as the capital of art.

Late Renaissance (1580-1650) the period when in Italy the ideas of the Renaissance, pressed by the church, decline, but get a second wind in the countries of Northern Europe, where they receive a new impetus and are refracted in the works of Dutch, German, English artists, therefore this time is also called the Northern Renaissance. Art northern revival developed under the influence of the Reformation, therefore it is imbued with an anti-clerical spirit and attaches great importance to matters of faith. But unlike Italian art, which sought to embellish, idealize reality, it gravitated more towards reality. At the end of this period, a fascination with false picturesqueness, pretentiousness of forms and an unsystematic arrangement of antique motifs appears, the organicity, the spirit of Renaissance ideas is lost. These trends in art are called mannerism, followed by the Baroque style.

1.2.2. Italian periodization

The Renaissance in Italy did not last long, it fits into the XIV-XVI centuries. In the development of Renaissance ideas and art, it is customary to distinguish the following periods:

Ducento (XIII century) this is how the name of the 13th century sounds in Italian, marked by the appearance of Renaissance signs in art, this period is also called the Proto-Renaissance.

Trecento (XIV century) Italian name of the XIV century. for which the Renaissance ideas manifested themselves primarily in painting. An outstanding painter of this time was Giotto di Bondone (see: 3.1.) At the same time, thanks to the work of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio (see: 3.2.), there was a turn towards humanism in literature.

Quattrocento (XV century) - Italian designation of the art era of the XV century, which is the peak, the flowering of the ideas of the revival in all areas of art, the time of life and work of Botticelli, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Bellini, etc.

Cinquecento (XVI century) the Italian name for the period of the decline of the High Renaissance and the beginning of the Late Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael Santi and Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto, who worked at that time, made an invaluable contribution to the development of not only Italian, but also world culture.