Renaissance years. General characteristics of the Renaissance

The Renaissance is usually divided into 4 stages:

Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the XIII century - XIV century)

Early Renaissance (early 15th century - late 15th century)

High Renaissance (late 15th - early 20s of the 16th century)

Late Renaissance (mid-16th - 90s of the 16th century) Revival [electronic resource]. // Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia: in Russian. // Access mode: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C2%EE%E7%F0%EE%E6%E4%E5%ED%E8%E5. Date of treatment 02/10/2013

Proto-Renaissance is closely connected with the Middle Ages, with the Romanesque, Gothic traditions, this period was the preparation of the Renaissance. This period is divided into two sub-periods: before the death of Giotto di Bondone and after (1337). The most important discoveries, the brightest masters live and work in the first period. The second segment is associated with the plague epidemic that hit Italy.

At the end of the 13th century, the main temple structure, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, was erected in Florence, the author was Arnolfo di Cambio, then the work was continued by Giotto, who designed the Campanile of the Florence Cathedral.

Earlier than all, the art of proto-Renaissance manifested itself in sculpture (Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Pisano). Painting is represented by two art schools: Florence (Cimabue, Giotto) and Siena (Duccio, Simone Martini).

Giotto became the central figure in painting. Renaissance artists considered him a reformer of painting. Giotto outlined the path along which its development went: filling religious forms with secular content, a gradual transition from flat images to volumetric and embossed ones, an increase in realism. Giotto introduced the plastic volume of figures into painting, depicted the interior in painting.

The period of the so-called "Early Renaissance" in Italy covers the time from 1420 to 1500. During these eighty years, art has not yet completely abandoned the traditions of the recent past, but is trying to mix with them elements borrowed from classical antiquity. Only later, and only little by little, under the influence of more and more changing living conditions and culture, did the artists completely abandon the medieval foundations and boldly use the 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 kept its traditions for a long time. gothic style... North of the Alps, and also in Spain, the Renaissance does not come until the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts until about the middle of the next century

The third period of the Renaissance - the time of the most magnificent development of his style - is usually called “ High Renaissance».

It stretches in Italy from about 1500 to 1527.

At this time, the center of influence 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 Italian artists to his court, occupied them with numerous and important works and gave others an example of love for art.

Under this Pope and under his closest successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the times of Pericles: many monumental buildings are built in it, magnificent sculptural works are created, frescoes and paintings are painted, which are still considered pearls of painting; at the same time, all three branches of art harmoniously go hand in hand, helping one another and mutually acting on each other.

Antique is now studied more thoroughly, reproduced with greater rigor and consistency; serenity and dignity replace the playful beauty that was the aspiration of the preceding period; reminiscences of the medieval disappear completely, and a completely classical imprint falls on all creations of art. But the imitation of the ancients does not drown out their independence in artists, and they, with great resourcefulness and liveliness of imagination, freely rework and apply to business what they consider appropriate to borrow for themselves from ancient Greco-Roman art.

The work of three great Italian masters marks the pinnacle of the Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564) and Raphael Santi (1483-1520).

The later Renaissance in Italy spans the period from the 1530s to the 1590s and 1620s. Some researchers classify the 1630s as the Late Renaissance, but this position causes controversy among art critics and historians. The art and culture of this time are so diverse in their manifestations that it is possible to reduce them to one denominator only with a great deal of convention.

During this period in Southern Europe the counter-reformation triumphed, mannerism developed in Florence, and the artistic traditions of Venice had their own logic of development.

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

The Renaissance, or Renaissance(fr. "anew" + "born") had world significance in the history of European culture. The Renaissance replaced the Middle Ages and preceded the Age of 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 flourishes and its “revival” takes place.
The renaissance arose in Italy - its first signs appeared in the XIII-XIV centuries. (Tony Paramoni, Pisano, Giotto, Orcaña, etc.). But it was firmly established from the 20s of the 15th century, and by the end of the 15th century. reached its highest flowering.
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 (early XV-late 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, not known medieval Europe... In Byzantium, they never broke with ancient culture.
The emergence humanism(a social-philosophical movement that considered man as the highest value) was associated with the absence of feudal relations in the Italian city-republics.
In the cities, secular centers of science and art began to arise, which were not controlled by the church. whose activities were outside the control of the church. In the middle of the 15th century. typography was invented, which played an important role in spreading new views throughout Europe.

Brief characteristics of the periods of the Renaissance

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 in painting was Giotto. He was considered a reformer of painting: he filled religious forms with secular content, made a gradual transition from flat images to three-dimensional and embossed ones, 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 of the Early Renaissance of Italy drew motives from life, filled traditional religious subjects with earthly content. In sculpture they were L. Ghiberti, Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, the della Robbia family, A. Rossellino, Desiderio da Settignano, B. da Maiano, A. Verrocchio. A free-standing statue, a picturesque relief, a portrait bust, and an equestrian monument began to develop in their work.
In Italian painting of the 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 feeling of harmonious order of the world, appeal to the ethical and civic ideals of humanism, a joyful perception of the beauty and diversity of the real world.
The founder of the Renaissance architecture in Italy was Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) - an architect, sculptor and scientist, one of the founders of the scientific theory of perspective.

A special place in the history of Italian architecture is Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472)... This Italian scientist, 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 one, 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 founders of the new European architecture.

Palazzo Rucellai

Leon Battista Alberti designed a new type of palazzo with a façade treated with rustic stone to its full height and dissected by three tiers of pilasters that look like the structural basis of the building (Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, built by B. Rossellino according to Alberti's plans).
Opposite the Palazzo is the Loggia Rucellai, where receptions and banquets for business partners were held, and 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 from Florence moves to Rome, thanks to the accession to the papal throne Julia II, an ambitious, courageous, enterprising man who attracted the best Italian artists to his court.

Raphael Santi "Portrait of Pope Julius II"

In Rome, many monumental buildings are being built, magnificent sculptures are being created, frescoes and paintings are painted, which are still considered masterpieces of painting. Antiquity is still highly regarded and studied thoroughly. But imitation of the ancients does not drown out 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 1590-1620s. 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 a very complex picture of the struggle between various currents. Many artists did not seek to study nature and its laws, but only outwardly tried to learn the "manner" of the great masters: Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo. On this occasion, the aged Michelangelo once said, watching how artists copy his "Last Judgment": "Many of this my art will make fools."
In southern Europe, the Counter-Reformation triumphed, which did not welcome any free-thinking, including the glorification of the 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), etc. Caravaggio considered the founder of the Baroque style.

The history of the Renaissance begins in This period is also called the Renaissance. The Renaissance changed into culture and became the predecessor of the culture of the New Age. And the Renaissance ended in the XVI-XVII centuries, since in each state it has its own date of beginning and end.

Some general information

Representatives of the Renaissance era are Francesco Petrarca and Giovanni Boccaccio. They became the first poets who began to express lofty images and thoughts in frank, common language. This innovation was received with a bang and spread in other countries.

Renaissance and art

The peculiarities of the Renaissance is that the human body became the main source of inspiration and the subject of research for artists of this time. Thus, the emphasis was placed on the similarity of sculpture and painting with reality. The main features of the art of the Renaissance period include radiance, exquisite use of the brush, the play of shadow and light, thoroughness in the process of work and complex compositions. For the artists of the Renaissance, images from the Bible and myths were the main ones.

Into the similarity real person with his image on this or that canvas was so close that the fictional character seemed alive. This cannot be said about the art of the twentieth century.

The Renaissance (its main trends are briefly outlined above) perceived the human body as an endless beginning. Scientists and artists regularly improved their skills and knowledge by studying the bodies of individuals. Then the prevailing opinion was that man was created in the likeness and image of God. This statement reflected physical perfection. The main and important objects of Renaissance art were the gods.

The nature and beauty of the human body

Renaissance art paid great attention to nature. The landscapes were characterized by varied and lush vegetation. The skies of a blue-blue hue, which were pierced by the rays of the sun that penetrated the clouds of white, provided a magnificent backdrop for soaring creatures. Renaissance art admired the beauty of the human body. This feature manifested itself in the refined elements of the muscles and body. Difficult poses, facial expressions and gestures, a well-coordinated and clear color palette are characteristic of the work of sculptors and sculptors of the Renaissance period. These include Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt and others.

Renaissance, or Renaissance - an era in the history of European culture, which replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of modern times. The approximate chronological framework of the era - the beginning of the XIV - the last quarter of the XVI centuries and in some cases - the first decades of the XVII century. Distinctive feature the Renaissance - the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (interest, first of all, in a person and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its "revival" takes place - and this is how the term appeared.
The term Renaissance is already found in Italian humanists, for example, in Giorgio Vasari. V 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.

The birth of the Italian Renaissance
In the history of the artistic culture of the Renaissance, Italy made a contribution of exceptional importance. The sheer scale of the greatest prosperity that marked the Italian Renaissance seems especially striking in contrast to the small territorial dimensions of those urban republics where the culture of this era originated and experienced its high rise. Art during these centuries took public life an unprecedented position. Artistic creation became an insatiable need for people of the Renaissance era, an expression of their inexhaustible energy. In the foremost centers of Italy, a passion for art has captured the widest sections of society - from the ruling circles to ordinary people... The erection of public buildings, the installation of monuments, the decoration of the main buildings of the city were a matter of national importance and the subject of attention of senior officials. The emergence of outstanding works of art turned into a major public event. The general admiration for outstanding masters can be evidenced by the fact that greatest geniuses epochs - Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo - received from their contemporaries the name divino - divine. In terms of its productivity, the Renaissance, which spanned about three centuries in Italy, is quite comparable to a whole millennium during which medieval art developed. Amazing is the very physical scale of everything that was created by the masters of the Italian Renaissance - the majestic municipal buildings and huge cathedrals, magnificent patrician palaces and villas, works of sculpture in all its forms, countless monuments of painting - fresco cycles, monumental altar compositions and easel paintings ... Drawing and engraving, handwritten miniatures and the newly emerging printed graphics, decorative and applied art in all its forms - there was, in fact, not a single area of ​​artistic life that did not experience a rapid upsurge. But perhaps even more striking is the unusually high artistic level of the art of the Italian Renaissance, its truly global significance as one of the pinnacles of human culture.
The culture of the Renaissance was not the property of Italy alone: ​​the sphere of its dissemination covered many of the countries of Europe. At the same time, in a particular country, individual stages of the evolution of Renaissance art found their predominant expression. But in Italy, the new culture not only emerged earlier than in other countries, but the very path of its development was distinguished by an exceptional sequence of all stages - from the Proto-Renaissance to the late Renaissance, and in each of these stages Italian art gave high results, exceeding in most cases of achievement of art schools in other countries. In art history, traditionally, the Italian names of those centuries are widely used in which the birth and development of Renaissance art falls. Italy. The fruitful development of Renaissance art in Italy was facilitated not only by social, but also by historical and artistic factors. Italian Renaissance art owes its origin not to any one, but to several sources. In the period leading up to the Renaissance, Italy was the crossroads of several medieval cultures. In contrast to other countries, both main lines of medieval European art - Byzantine and Roman-Gothic, complicated in certain regions of Italy by the influence of the art of the East - found equally significant expression here. Both lines contributed to the formation of Renaissance art. From Byzantine painting, the Italian Proto-Renaissance took on an ideally beautiful structure of images and forms of monumental pictorial cycles; the Gothic imagery system contributed to the penetration of emotional excitement and a more concrete perception of reality into the art of the 14th century. But even more important was the fact that Italy was the custodian of the artistic heritage of the ancient world. In Italy, unlike other European countries, the aesthetic ideal of the Renaissance man was formed very early on, which goes back to the teaching of the humanists about homo universale, about the perfect man, in which bodily beauty and strength of mind are harmoniously combined. As the leading feature of this image, the concept of virtu (valor) is put forward, which has a very broad meaning and expresses the active principle in a person, the purposefulness of his will, the ability to implement his lofty plans in spite of all obstacles. This specific quality of the Renaissance figurative ideal is not expressed in all Italian artists in such an open form as, for example, in Masaccio, Andrea del Castagno, Mantegna and Mikalangelo - masters in whose work images of a heroic character prevail. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, this aesthetic ideal did not remain unchanged: depending on the individual stages of the evolution of Renaissance art, its various aspects were outlined in it. In the images of the early Renaissance, for example, traits of unshakable inner integrity are more pronounced. Harder and richer spiritual world heroes of the High Renaissance, giving the most vivid example of the harmonious attitude inherent in the art of this period.

Story
The Renaissance (Renaissance) is a period of cultural and ideological development of European countries. All European countries went through this period, but each country has its own historical framework of the Renaissance. The renaissance arose in Italy, where its first signs were noticeable back in the 13th and 14th centuries (in the activities of the Pisano, Giotto, Orcanyi family, 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 the ideas of the Renaissance was brewing, which resulted in the emergence of Mannerism and Baroque. The term "Renaissance" began to be used as early as the 16th century. in relation to the fine arts. The author of "Biographies of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects" (1550), the Italian artist D. Vasari wrote about the "revival" of art in Italy after long years of decline during the Middle Ages. Later, the concept of "Renaissance" acquired a broader meaning. Renaissance- this is the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning new era, the beginning of the transition from a feudal medieval society to a bourgeois one, when the foundations of the feudal social way of life were shaken, and bourgeois-capitalist relations had not yet developed with all their mercenary morality and soulless hypocrisy. Already in the depths of feudalism in the free cities there were large craft workshops, which became the basis of the manufacture of modern times, here the bourgeois class began to take shape. With special consistency and strength, it manifested itself in Italian cities, which already at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. embarked on the path of capitalist development, in the Dutch cities, as well as in some of the Rhine and southern German cities of the 15th century. Here, in the conditions of incompletely developed capitalist relations, a strong and free urban society developed. Its development took place in a constant struggle, which was partly trade competition and partly a struggle for political power. However, the circle of dissemination of the Renaissance culture was much wider and covered the territories of France, Spain, England, Czech Republic, Poland, where new trends manifested themselves with different strengths and in specific forms... This is the period of the formation of nations, since it was at this time that the royal power, relying on the townspeople, broke the power of the feudal nobility. Large monarchies based on a common historical destiny, on nationalities are formed from associations that were states only in a geographic sense. Literature has reached a high level, having received unprecedented distribution opportunities with the invention of printing. There was an opportunity to reproduce on paper any kind of knowledge and any achievements of science, which greatly facilitated training.
The founders of humanism in Italy are considered Petrarch and Boccaccio - poets, scientists and experts in antiquity. The central place that the logic and philosophy of Aristotle occupied in the system of medieval scholastic education is now beginning to be occupied by rhetoric and Cicero. The study of rhetoric should, according to the humanists, provide a key to the spiritual makeup of antiquity; mastering the language and style of the ancients was seen as mastering their thinking and worldview and the most important stage in the liberation of the individual. The study by humanists of the works of ancient authors has brought up the habit of thinking, for research, observation, studying the work of the mind. And new scientific works grew out of a better understanding of the values ​​of antiquity and at the same time surpassed them. The study of Antiquity left its mark on religious beliefs and customs. Although many humanists were devout, blind dogmatism died. The Chancellor of the Florentine Republic, Caluccio Salutatti, declared that Scripture is nothing more than poetry. The nobility's love for wealth and splendor, the splendor of the cardinal's palaces and the Vatican itself were defiant. Church positions were viewed by many prelates as a convenient feeding trough and access to political life. Rome itself, in the eyes of some, turned into a real biblical Babylon, where corruption, unbelief and licentiousness reigned. This led to a split in the bosom of the church, to the emergence of reformist movements. The era of free urban communes was short-lived, they were replaced by tyranny. The trade rivalry of cities over time turned into a bloody rivalry. Already in the second half of the 16th century, feudal-Catholic reaction began.

The humanistic bright ideals of the Renaissance are replaced by moods of pessimism and anxiety, intensified individualistic tendencies. A number of Italian states are experiencing political and economic decline, they are losing independence, there is a social enslavement and impoverishment of the masses, class contradictions are aggravated. The perception of the world becomes more complex, the dependence of a person on the environment is more conscious, ideas about the variability of life are developing, the ideals of harmony and integrity of the universe are lost.

Renaissance or Renaissance culture
The Renaissance culture is based on the principle of humanism, the assertion of the dignity and beauty of a real person, his mind and will, his creative forces... In contrast to the culture of the Middle Ages, the humanistic life-affirming culture of the Renaissance was of a secular nature. Liberation from church scholasticism and dogma contributed to the rise of science. A passionate thirst for knowledge of the real world and admiration for it led to the display in art of the most diverse aspects of reality and gave a majestic pathos to the most significant creations of artists. An important role for the formation of the art of the Renaissance was played by a new understanding of the ancient heritage. The impact of antiquity most strongly affected the formation of the Renaissance culture in Italy, where many monuments of ancient Roman art have survived. The victory of the secular principle in the culture of the Renaissance was a consequence of the social establishment of the growing bourgeoisie. However, the humanistic orientation of the Renaissance art, its optimism, heroic and public character his images objectively expressed the interests of not only the young bourgeoisie, but also all progressive strata of society as a whole. Art The renaissance took shape in conditions when the consequences of the capitalist division of labor, which were detrimental to the development of personality, had not yet appeared, courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, strength of character have not yet lost their significance. This created the illusion of infinity of further progressive development of human abilities. The ideal of a titanic personality was affirmed in art. The all-round brightness of the characters of the Renaissance people, which found its reflection in art, is largely due to the fact that "the heroes of that time have not yet become slaves to the division of labor, limiting, creating one-sidedness, the influence of which we so often observe in their successors."
New demands facing art have led to the enrichment of its types and genres. In monumental Italian painting, fresco is widespread. Since the XV century. Easel painting takes an increasing place, in the development of which the Dutch masters played a special role. Along with the previously existing genres of religious and mythological painting, which are filled with new meaning, a portrait is put forward, historical and landscape painting... In Germany and the Netherlands, where the popular movement aroused the need for art that quickly and actively responded to events, engraving became widespread, which was often used in the decoration of books. The process of separation of sculpture, which began in the Middle Ages, is coming to an end; along with decorative plastics that adorn buildings, an independent round sculpture appears - easel and monumental. The decorative relief takes on the character of a perspectively constructed multi-figured composition. Turning to the ancient heritage in search of the ideal, inquisitive minds discovered the world of classical antiquity, searched for the works of ancient authors in the monastic depositories, dug up fragments of columns and statues, bas-reliefs and precious utensils. The process of assimilation and processing of the ancient heritage was accelerated by the resettlement of Greek scientists and artists from Byzantium to Italy, which was captured by the Turks in 1453. In the saved manuscripts, in the dug statues and bas-reliefs of amazed Europe, new world, hitherto unknown - ancient culture with its ideal of earthly beauty, deeply human and tangible. This world gave birth to people great love to the beauty of the world and a stubborn will to know this world.

Periodization of Renaissance art
The periodization of the Renaissance is determined by the supreme role of fine art in its culture. The stages of the history of art in Italy - the birthplace of the Renaissance - have long served as the main reference point.
Especially distinguish:
introductory period, Proto-Renaissance ("the era of Dante and Giotto", circa 1260-1320), overlapping with the period of Duchento (XIII century)
Quattrocento (XV century)
and cinquecento (16th century)

The chronological framework of the century does not completely coincide with certain periods of cultural development: for example, the Proto-Renaissance dates from the end of the 13th century, the Early Renaissance ends in the 90s. XV century, and the High Renaissance is becoming obsolete by the 30s. XVI century It continues until the end of the 16th century. only in Venice; to this period the term "late Renaissance" is often used. The era of Duchento, i.e. The 13th century was the beginning of the Renaissance culture of Italy - the Proto-Renaissance.
More common periods are:
Early Renaissance, when new trends actively interact with Gothic, creatively transforming it;
Medium (or High) Revival;
Late Renaissance, a special phase of which was Mannerism.
The new culture of the countries located to the north and west of the Alps (France, the Netherlands, the German-speaking lands) is collectively referred to as the Northern Renaissance; here the role of the late Gothic was especially significant. The characteristic features of the Renaissance were also clearly manifested in the countries of Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, etc.), and they affected Scandinavia. A distinctive Renaissance culture developed in Spain, Portugal and England.

Characteristic of the Renaissance style
This style of interior, which was named by the contemporaries of the Renaissance style, brought a free new spirit and faith in the endless possibilities of mankind to the culture and art of medieval Europe. The characteristic features of the Renaissance interior are large rooms with rounded arches, carved wood trim, intrinsic value and relative independence of each individual detail, from which the whole is assembled. Strict organization, consistency, clarity, rationality of building a form. Clarity, poise, symmetry of parts relative to the whole. The ornament imitates antique patterns. Elements of the Renaissance style were borrowed from the arsenal of forms of Greco-Roman orders. Thus, windows began to be made with semicircular, and later with rectangular ends. The interiors of the palaces began to be distinguished by monumentality, the splendor of marble staircases, as well as the richness of decorative furnishings. Deep perspective, proportionality, harmony of forms are mandatory requirements of the Renaissance aesthetics. The nature of the interior space is largely determined by vaulted ceilings, the flowing lines of which are repeated in numerous semicircular niches. The Renaissance color scheme is soft, the halftones pass into each other, no contrasts, complete harmony. Nothing catches your eye.

The main elements of the Renaissance style:
semicircular lines, geometric patterns (circle, square, cross, octagon), predominantly horizontal articulation of the interior;
steep or sloping roof with tower superstructures, arched galleries, colonnades, round ribbed domes, high and spacious halls, bay windows;
coffered ceiling; antique sculptures; leafy ornament; painting of walls and ceilings;
massive and visually stable structures; diamond rust on the facade;
the shape of the furniture is simple, geometric, solid, richly decorated;
colors: purple, blue, yellow, brown.

Renaissance periods
Revival is divided into 4 stages:
Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the XIII century - XIV century)
Early Renaissance (early 15th century - late 15th century)
High Renaissance (late 15th - early 20s of the 16th century)
Late Renaissance (mid-16th - 90s of the 16th century)
Proto-renaissance
Proto-Renaissance is closely connected with the Middle Ages, with the Romanesque, Gothic traditions, this period was the preparation of the Renaissance. This period is divided into two sub-periods: before the death of Giotto di Bondone and after (1337). The most important discoveries, the brightest masters live and work in the first period. The second segment is associated with the plague epidemic that hit Italy. All discoveries were made on an intuitive level. At the end of the 13th century, the main temple structure, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, was erected in Florence, the author was Arnolfo di Cambio, then the work was continued by Giotto, who designed the Campanile of the Florence Cathedral. The art of the proto-Renaissance manifested itself in sculpture. Painting is represented by two art schools: Florence (Cimabue, Giotto) and Siena (Duccio, Simone Martini). Giotto became the central figure in painting. Renaissance artists considered him a reformer of painting.
Early renaissance
The period in Italy covers the time from 1420 to 1500. During these eighty years, art has not yet completely abandoned the traditions of the recent past, but is trying to mix with them elements borrowed from classical antiquity. Only later, and only little by little, under the influence of more and more changing living conditions and culture, did the artists completely abandon the medieval foundations and boldly use the examples of ancient art, both in the general concept of their works and in their details.
Art in Italy has already resolutely followed the path of imitation of classical antiquity, in other countries it has long kept the traditions of the Gothic style. North of the Alps, and also in Spain, the Renaissance does not come until the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts until about the middle of the next century.
High Renaissance
The third period of the Renaissance - the time of the most magnificent development of his style - is usually called the "High Renaissance". It stretches in Italy from about 1500 to 1527. At this time, the center of influence 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 Italian artists to his court, occupied them with numerous and important works and gave others an example of love for art ... Under this Pope and under his closest successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the time of Pericles: many monumental buildings are built in it, magnificent sculptural works are created, 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 acting on each other. Antique is now studied more thoroughly, reproduced with greater rigor and consistency; serenity and dignity replace the playful beauty that was the aspiration of the preceding period; reminiscences of the medieval disappear completely, and a completely classical imprint falls on all creations of art.
Late Renaissance
The later Renaissance in Italy covers the period from the 1530s to 1590-1620s. Some researchers classify the 1630s as the Late Renaissance, but this position causes controversy among art critics and historians. The art and culture of this time are so diverse in their manifestations that it is possible to reduce them to one denominator only with a great deal of convention. In southern Europe, the Counter-Reformation triumphed, which looked with apprehension at all free-thinking, including the praise of the human body and the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity, as the cornerstones of the Renaissance ideology. In Florence, worldview contradictions and a general feeling of crisis resulted in the “nervous” art of contrived colors and broken lines - Mannerism.

She gave the world a strong-willed, intelligent person, the creator of her own destiny and herself. There have been significant changes in the mindset of people in comparison with the Middle Ages. First of all, secular motives in European culture intensified. Various spheres of social life - art, philosophy, literature, education - have become more and more independent and independent. The main actor era, an energetic, liberated person who dreams of realizing his personal earthly ideals, striving for independence in all spheres of his activity, trying to realize diverse interests, challenging established traditions and orders, has become a kind of cultural center.

Its name Revival(in French "Renaissance", in Italian "Renaissance") received from the light hand of the Italian artist, architect and art historian Giorgio Vasari, who in his book "Biographies of Great Painters, Sculptors and Architects" designated the period of Italian art with this term from 1250 to 1550. Thus, he wanted to emphasize the return to the life of society of the cultural ideals of antiquity and to define a new cultural and historical era that replaced the Middle Ages.

Preconditions and features of the Renaissance culture

The main prerequisite for the formation of a new type of culture was a new worldview, due to significant changes in the life of many European countries. In Italy, and then in the Netherlands, Germany, France, England, trade developed rapidly, and with it the first industrial enterprises- manufactories. New living conditions naturally gave rise to new thinking, which was based on secular freethinking. The asceticism of medieval morality did not correspond to the real life practice of new social groups and strata that have come to the fore in public life. The features of rationalism, prudence, awareness of the role of a person's personal needs were increasingly manifested. A new morality has emerged, justifying the joys of worldly life, affirming the human right to earthly happiness, to free development and the manifestation of all natural inclinations. Strengthening secular sentiments, interest in the earthly deeds of man had a decisive influence on the emergence and formation of the culture of the Renaissance.

The birthplace of the Renaissance was Florence, which in the XIII century. was a city of wealthy merchants, owners of manufactures, a huge number of artisans, organized in workshops. In addition, the workshops of doctors, pharmacists, musicians, lawyers, solicitors, and notaries were very numerous for that time. It was among the representatives of this class that circles of educated people began to form, who decided to study cultural heritage Ancient Greece and Ancient rome... They turned to the artistic heritage of the ancient world, the works of the Greeks and Romans, who at one time created the image of a person who was not constrained by the dogmas of religion, beautiful in body and soul. Therefore, a new era in the development of European culture was called "Renaissance", reflecting the desire to return the samples and values ​​of ancient culture in new historical conditions.

The revival of the ancient heritage began with the study of the Greek and Latin languages; later, Latin became the language of the Renaissance. The founders of a new cultural era - historians, philologists, librarians - studied old manuscripts and books, compiled collections of antiquities, restored forgotten works of Greek and Roman authors, and re-translated scientific texts distorted in the Middle Ages. These texts were not only monuments of another cultural era, but also "teachers" who helped them to discover themselves, to shape their personality.

Gradually, other monuments of the artistic culture of antiquity, primarily sculptural ones, fell into the circle of interests of these ascetics. At that time, in Florence, Rome, Ravenna, Naples, Venice, there were still quite a lot of Greek and Roman statues, painted vessels, and architectural buildings. For the first time in a millennium of domination of Christianity to antique sculptures they were not treated as pagan idols, but as works of art. In the future, the ancient heritage was included in the education system, and got acquainted with literature, sculpture, philosophy wide circle people. Poets and artists, imitating ancient authors, strove to revive ancient art. But, as often happens in culture, the desire to revive old principles and forms leads to the creation of a new one. The culture of the Renaissance was not a simple return to antiquity. She developed it and interpreted it in a new way based on the changed historical conditions. Therefore, the culture of the Renaissance was the result of a synthesis of the old and the new. The culture of the Renaissance was formed as denial, protest, rejection medieval culture... Dogmatism and scholasticism were denied, theology was deprived of its former authority. The attitude towards the church and the clergy became critical. Researchers agree that in no era in the history of European culture have so many anti-church writings and sayings been created as in the Renaissance.

However, the Renaissance was not a non-religious culture. Many best works this era were born in the mainstream of church art. Almost all the great masters of the Renaissance created frescoes, designed and painted cathedrals, referring to biblical characters and subjects. Humanists re-translated and commented on the Bible and engaged in theological research. Therefore, we can talk about rethinking religion, and not about rejecting it. Man's comprehension of the world filled with divine beauty becomes one of the ideological tasks of this era. The world attracts a person, since he is spiritualized by God, but it is possible to know him only with the help of his own feelings. In this process of cognition, the human eye, according to cultural figures of that time, is the most faithful and reliable means. Therefore, in the era of the Italian Renaissance, there is a keen interest in visual perception, painting and other types of spatial art flourish, allowing you to more accurately and truly see and capture the divine beauty. In the Renaissance, artists more than others determined the content of the spiritual culture of their time, due to which it has a pronounced artistic character.

The formation of the Renaissance image of the world and the artistic style that implements it can be divided into several stages: preparatory, early, high, late and final. Each of them had a different look and was heterogeneous from the inside. At the same time, medieval styles still existed - late Gothic, Proto-Renaissance, Mannerism, etc. Together, they form a rich and varied palette of means of expressing the Renaissance worldview.

Renaissance art strove for rationalism, a scientific view of things, imitation of nature. At this time, an exceptional interest in the harmony of nature arises. Imitation of it became the central principle of the Renaissance theory of art and implied adherence to the laws of nature, and not to the external appearance of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world. There was a contamination (a combination of two principles in one work) of the image of nature and creativity according to the laws of nature.

The embodiment of the beauty of man, who was considered as the highest creation of the natural world, acquired particular importance. Artists primarily paid attention to the bodily perfection of a person. If the medieval consciousness considered the body as an outer shell, the focus of animal instincts, a source of sinfulness, then the Renaissance culture considered it the most important aesthetic value. After several centuries of neglect of the flesh, interest in physical beauty is growing rapidly.

At this time, a significant role was assigned to the cult of female beauty. Many artists have tried to unravel the mystery of the charm of the fair sex. This was largely due to the revision of the position of women in real life. If in the Middle Ages her fate was inextricably linked with housekeeping, raising children, detachment from secular entertainment, then during the Renaissance, a woman's living space expanded significantly. The ideal of a relaxed, educated, emancipated lady, who shines in society, who is fond of art, who knows how to be an interesting interlocutor, is being formed. She strives to show her beauty by revealing her hair, neck, arms, wearing low-cut dresses, using cosmetics. The pier includes the decoration of clothes with gold, silver embroidery, precious stones, lace. A beautiful, smart, educated woman seeks to charm, to influence the world with her attractiveness and charm.

Unlike the Middle Ages, which created the ideal of a fragile woman with thin camp, with a pale face, a serene look, humble, brought up in prayer, the Renaissance will give preference to physically strong damsels. At this time, curvy female forms are appreciated. The ideal of beauty, aesthetically attractive, was considered a pregnant woman who personified a truly feminine principle, participation in the great mystery of procreation. The signs of male beauty were physical strength, internal energy, will, determination, the ability to achieve recognition, fame. The Renaissance era gave rise to a variety of estimates in the interpretation of the beautiful, based on the cult of human uniqueness.

All this led to an increase in the role of art in public life, which became the main type of spiritual activity during the Renaissance. For people of that era, it became what religion was in the Middle Ages, and in modern times - science and technology. The public opinion was dominated by the belief that piece of art is able to most fully express the ideal of a harmoniously organized world, where a person takes the central place. All forms of art were subordinated to this task to varying degrees.

The role of the artist is especially growing, who is being compared with the creator of the universe. Artists set as their goal imitation of nature, they do not believe that art is even higher than nature. In their work, technical skill, professional independence, scholarship, an independent view of things and the ability to create a “living” work of art are increasingly appreciated.

Along with the works of monumental painting and sculpture, which were directly associated with architectural structures, the works of easel art, which acquired an independent value, received more and more development. A system of genres began to take shape: along with the religious-mythological genre, which still occupied the main place, at first a few works of the historical, everyday and landscape genres appeared; the revived portrait genre is of great importance; a new type of art appears and will become widespread - engraving.

In that era, the dominant position of painting predetermined its influence on other arts. If in the Middle Ages it depended on the art of words, limiting its tasks to illustrating biblical texts, then the Renaissance changed places between painting and literature, making literary narration dependent on the image of the visible world in painting. Writers began to describe the world as it could be seen.

Italian Renaissance art

The formation and development of the Renaissance culture was a long and uneven process. Italy became the birthplace of the Renaissance, where a new culture was born earlier than in other countries. The chronological framework covers the period from the second half of the XIII century. to the first half of the 16th century. inclusive. During this time, the art of the Italian Renaissance went through several stages of development. Among art historians, these stages are usually called by the name of the centuries: XIII century. called duchento (literally - two hundredths), XIV century. - trecento (three hundredths), XV century. - Quattrocento (four hundredths), XVI century. - cinquecento (five hundredth).

The first shoots of a new worldview and shifts in artistic creation appeared at the end of the XIII century, and at the beginning of the XIV century. they were replaced by a wave of Gothic art. These phenomena became a kind of "pre-revival" and received the name Proto-Renaissance. New phenomena in the culture of Italy were widely developed in the 15th century. This stage, designated as quattrocento, is also called the early Renaissance. Its full completeness and flourishing art culture It reached a revival by the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century. This period of the highest flowering, which lasted only 30-40 years, is called the High, or classic, Renaissance. In general, the Renaissance became obsolete in Italy in the 1530s, but the last 2/3 of the 16th century. it continues to exist in Venice. This period is usually called the late Renaissance.

Proto-Renaissance culture

The beginning of a new era is associated with the work of the Florentine artist Giotto di Bondone. V fine arts Proto-Renaissance Giotto is a central figure, as the major painters of the Renaissance considered him a reformer of painting. Thanks to him, the laborious technique of mosaic was replaced by the technique of fresco, which was more in line with the requirements of painting, allowing for greater accuracy in conveying the volume and density of the material than a mosaic with its imperceptibility of matter, and faster to create multi-figured compositions.

Giotto was the first to implement the principle of imitating nature in painting. He began to draw living people from nature, which was not done either in Byzantium or in medieval Europe. If in the works of medieval art disembodied figures with ascetic stern faces barely touched the ground, then Giotto's figures appear voluminous, material. He achieved this effect thanks to light modeling, according to which the human eye perceives the light closer to it, the dark more distant. When working on the frescoes, the artist paid special attention to showing the state of mind of the characters.

The boundary between Duchento and Trecento (XIII-XIV centuries) turned out to be a turning point in the cultural life of Italy. In a certain sense, it crowns the Middle Ages and at the same time serves as the starting point of the Renaissance. During this period, poetry most fully expressed a new culture and a new sense of the world. It was in the literature that the gravitation towards the new, manifested in other value orientations, was most clearly indicated. The brightest, talented exponents of new traditions were Dante, Franchsko Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio.

Dante Alighieri at the beginning of his poetry, he was closely associated with a new direction in Italian poetry, known as the school of the "new sweet style", in which love for women was idealized and identified with love for wisdom and virtue. His first works were lyric poems of love content, in which Dante acted as an imitator of the French courtly poets. Its main character literary creation was a young Florentine woman, Beatrice, who died seven years after their meeting, but the poet carried his love for her throughout his life.

Dante entered the history of world culture as the author of the poem "The Divine Comedy". Initially, he called his grandiose epic a comedy, following the medieval tradition, according to which any literary work with a bad start and a good ending. The epithet "Divine" was added to the name at the end of the 14th century. in order to emphasize the artistic value and poetic excellence of the work.

"The Divine Comedy" has a clear structure: three main parts - "Hell", "Purgatory", "Paradise", each of which consists of 33 songs, it was written by terzins - poetic forms in the form of three stanzas. The content of Dante's poem is associated with his theory of four meanings of poetic works - literal, allegorical, moral and analogous (i.e. higher).

The poem “Divine Comedy” is based on the traditional plot of the “visions” genre, when a person who is mired in his vices, heavenly forces (most often in the guise of his guardian angel) help to understand his unrighteousness, making it possible to see hell and heaven. A person falls into a lethargic sleep, during which his soul goes to the afterlife. Dante's plot looks like this: the savior of his soul is his long-dead beloved Beatrice, who sends the ancient poet Virgil to help Alighieri's soul, accompanying him on his journey through hell and purgatory. In paradise, he follows Beatrice herself, since the pagan Virgil has no right to be there.

Dante depicted hell as an underground funnel-shaped abyss, the slopes of which are surrounded by concentric ledges - "circles of hell". Narrowing down, it reaches the center of the globe with an icy lake into which Lucifer is frozen. In the circles of hell sinners are punished; the more terrible their sin, the lower in the circle they are. During his journey, Dante goes through all nine circles of hell - from the first, where unbaptized babies and virtuous non-Christians are, to the ninth, where traitors are tormented, among whom we see Judas. Not all sinners disgust and censure Dante. So, in the interpretation of the love of Francesca and Paolo, the poet's sympathy is manifested, because love for him is not a condemned sin, but a feeling determined by the very nature of life.

Dante presented Purgatory as a huge cone-shaped mountain towering in the middle of the ocean in the southern hemisphere. According to the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, purgatory is a place where the souls of sinners, who have not received forgiveness in earthly life, but also not burdened with mortal sins, before gaining access to heaven, burn in a cleansing fire. (Note that the cleansing fire of purgatory was perceived by some theologians as a symbol of pangs of conscience and repentance, by others as a real fire.) The period of stay of the sinner's soul in purgatory could be shortened by his relatives and friends who remained on earth by performing "good deeds" - prayers, masses, donations to the church.

Paradise, according to Dante, is a wonderful and mysterious area. This radiant abode of God is shaped like a round lake and is the heart of the Paradise rose. Blessed souls who find themselves there take a place corresponding to their exploits and glory.

Dante's great poem is a unique picture of the universe, nature and human existence. Although the world depicted in The Divine Comedy is fictional, it is in many ways similar to earthly pictures: hellish depths and lakes are like terrible sinkholes in the Alps, hellish vats are like the vats of the Venetian arsenal, where tar is boiled for caulking ships, a mountain of purgatory and forests on her are the same as the earthly mountains and forests, and the paradise gardens are like the fragrant gardens of Italy. To this day, The Divine Comedy remains an unsurpassed masterpiece of literature. Dante's powerful fantasy depicted such an unusually convincing world that many of his ingenuous contemporaries sincerely believed in the author's journey to the next world.