Painting: Renaissance. Works of Italian Renaissance artists

Renaissance Art

The Renaissance is the heyday of all arts (Theater, Music, painting, architecture, Literature, etc.). I will talk about literature and fine arts.

Renaissance Literature- a major trend in literature, an integral part of the entire culture of the Renaissance. Occupies the period from the 14th to the 16th centuries. It differs from medieval literature in that it is based on new, progressive ideas of humanism. A synonym for Renaissance is the term "Renaissance", of French origin. The ideas of humanism first emerged in Italy and then spread throughout Europe. Also, the literature of the Renaissance spread throughout Europe, but acquired its own national character in each individual country. The term Renaissance means renewal, the appeal of artists, writers, thinkers to the culture and art of antiquity, imitation of its high ideals.

The concept of humanism

The concept of “humanism” was introduced into use by scientists of the 19th century. It comes from the Latin humanitas ( human nature, spiritual culture) and humanus (human), and denotes an ideology directed towards man. In the Middle Ages there was a religious and feudal ideology.

During the Renaissance, there was a departure from feudal-church ideology, ideas of emancipation of the individual, the affirmation of the high dignity of man as a free creator of earthly happiness appeared. Ideas became decisive in the development of culture as a whole, influenced the development of art, literature, music, science, and were reflected in politics. Humanism is a worldview of a secular nature, anti-dogmatic and anti-scholastic. The development of humanism begins in the 14th century, in the works of humanists such as Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, etc. In the 16th century, the process of development of a new worldview slows down due to the influence of the feudal-Catholic reaction. It is replaced by the Reformation.

Renaissance literature in general

Speaking about the Renaissance, we are talking directly about Italy, as the bearer of the main part of ancient culture, and about the so-called Northern Renaissance, which took place in the countries of northern Europe: France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

The literature of the Renaissance is characterized by the above-mentioned humanistic ideals. This era is associated with the emergence of new genres and with the formation of early realism, which is called “Renaissance realism” (or Renaissance), in contrast to the later stages, educational, critical, socialist.

The works of such authors as Petrarch, Rabelais, Shakespeare, Cervantes express a new understanding of life as a person who rejects the slavish obedience preached by the church. They represent man as the highest creation of nature, trying to reveal the beauty of his physical appearance and the richness of his soul and mind. The realism of the Renaissance is characterized by the scale of images (Hamlet, King Lear), poeticization of the image, the ability to have great feelings and at the same time the high intensity of the tragic conflict (Romeo and Juliet), reflecting the clash of a person with forces hostile to him.

Renaissance literature is characterized by various genres. But certain literary forms prevailed. The most popular genre was the short story, which is called the Renaissance short story. In poetry, the sonnet (a stanza of 14 lines with a specific rhyme) becomes the most characteristic form. Dramaturgy is receiving great development. 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 and creates his own new philosophical concepts. In England, Thomas More expresses the ideas of utopian communism in his book Utopia. Authors such as Michel de Montaigne (“Experiments”) and Erasmus of Rotterdam (“In Praise of Folly”) are also widely known.

Among the writers of that time were crowned heads. Duke Lorenzo de' Medici writes poetry, and Margaret of Navarre, sister of King Francis I of France, is known as the author of the collection Heptameron.

Fine art of the Renaissance

The first harbingers of Renaissance art appeared in Italy in the 14th century. The artists of this time, Pietro Cavallini (1259-1344), Simone Martini (1284-1344) and (primarily) Giotto (1267-1337), when creating paintings of traditional religious themes, started from the tradition of international Gothic (Distinctive features of international Gothic painting: colorfulness , sophistication and decorativeness, exaltation, sophistication.), however, they began to use new artistic techniques: building a three-dimensional composition, using a landscape in the background, which allowed them to make the images more realistic and animated. This sharply distinguished their work from the previous iconographic tradition, replete with conventions in the image. The term Proto-Renaissance is used to refer to their work.

Various centuries in the history of Italian art have names derived from the corresponding numerals:

Ducento - 1200s. From Italian duento (two hundred). International Gothic.

Trecento - 1300s. From Italian trecento (three hundred). Proto-Renaissance.

Quattrocento - 1400s. From Italian quattrocento (four hundred). Early Renaissance, High Renaissance.

Cinquecento - 1500s. From Italian cinquecento (five hundred). End of the High Renaissance, Late Renaissance.

Early Renaissance

At the beginning of the 15th century, Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), a Florentine scientist and architect, discovered and described the laws of linear perspective in painting. This allowed artists to obtain perfect images of three-dimensional space on a flat painting canvas.

Another important step was the emergence of non-religious, secular art. Portrait and landscape established themselves as independent genres. Even religious subjects acquired a different interpretation - Renaissance artists began to view their characters as heroes with pronounced individual traits and human motivation for actions.

The most famous artists of this period are Masaccio (1401-1428), Masolino (1383-1440), Benozzo Gozzoli (1420-1497), Piero Della Francesco (1420-1492), Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), Niccolo Pizzolo (1421-1497). 1453), Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516), Antonello da Messina (1430-1479), Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510).

Sculpture became widespread. In the work of sculptors, many forms were developed: statue, relief, bust, etc. They reached new heights in the depiction of plastic art human body: emotions, body movements, complex scenes in multifaceted, perspective reliefs. The most famous sculptors of this period are Donatello (1386-1466) and Lorenzo Ghiberti (1381-1456).

High Renaissance

The highest flowering of Renaissance art occurred in the first quarter of the 16th century, which was called the “High Renaissance.” Works by Sansovino (1486-1570), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Raphael Santi (1483-1520), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Giorgione (1476-1510), Titian (1477-1576), Antonio Correggio ( 1489-1534) constitute the golden fund of European art.

Approaching painting from the point of view of a natural scientist, Leonardo da Vinci achieved high skill in conveying facial expressions of the human face and body, methods of conveying space, and constructing a composition. At the same time, his works create a harmonious image of a person that meets humanistic ideals. These innovations were later developed by Rafael Santi.

The paintings and sculptures of Michelangelo Buonarroti are full of heroic pathos and, at the same time, a tragic sense of the crisis of humanism. His paintings glorify the strength and power of man, the beauty of his body, while emphasizing his loneliness in the world

The works of Giorgione and Titian are distinguished by their interest in landscape and poeticization of the plot. Both artists achieved great mastery in the art of portraiture, with the help of which they conveyed the character and rich inner world of their characters.

Late Renaissance

After the sack of Rome by imperial troops in 1527 Italian Renaissance enters a period of crisis. Already in the work of late Raphael, a new artistic line was outlined, called mannerism. This era is characterized by inflated and broken lines, elongated or even deformed figures, often naked, tense and unnatural poses, unusual or bizarre effects associated with size, lighting or perspective, the use of a caustic chromatic scale, overloaded composition, etc. The first masters Mannerism - Parmigianino, Pontormo, Bronzino - lived and worked at the court of the Dukes of the House of Medici in Florence. Mannerist fashion later spread throughout Italy and beyond. In the 1590s, Mannerism was replaced by Baroque art (transitional figures - Tintoretto and El Greco)

Northern Renaissance

Artists who lived north of the Alps did not have examples of ancient art before their eyes. The archaeological dimension of the Italian Renaissance, which consisted in the study of newly discovered monuments of antiquity, was completely alien to them. The traditions and skills of Gothic art were preserved here for a long time, less attention was paid to the study of ancient inheritance and knowledge of human anatomy. Portraits of northern artists (for example, Holbein) lack the harmonization and idealization of reality that is characteristic of their southern counterparts; in their realism they reach the point of naturalism. On the other hand, they do not break with the elements of folk, peasant life and folklore traditions; The work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder is especially indicative in this regard.

At the junction of international Gothic and pre-Renaissance trends in the Burgundian Netherlands, Old Netherlandish art was born in the 1st half of the 15th century. Complex iconography and intricate symbolism were combined with extreme attention to the details of domestic use. The transition from tempera to oil painting allowed the artist to more clearly and comprehensively convey the diversity, depth and brilliance of the objective world. All these achievements are associated with the names of Robert Campin and his students - the van Eykovy brothers, Roger van der Weyden. In the second half of the century, remnants of Gothic and Italian influences were intricately intertwined in Memling’s work.

Although Italy of the Quattrocento era followed with interest the achievements of Dutch artists, Italian influence began to penetrate these parts only in the 16th century, when the Bavarian Albrecht Dürer went to improve his art in Venice, and in the Netherlands the school of Antwerp mannerism was formed, to which he belonged, in particular , Mabuse. With the beginning of the Reformation, religious painting in northern Europe was banned, but new genres began to form, based not so much on rethinking the artistic achievements of previous generations (as in Italy), but on direct observation of nature - namely, landscape, still life, and genre painting.

Page 20 of 23

Renaissance Art

Revival – new stage in the history of world culture. At this time, the foundations of modern science, in particular natural science, were laid, literature reached a high level, and with the invention of printing, it received unprecedented distribution opportunities. At the same time, a realistic system in art emerged. The term "Renaissance" began to be used back in the 16th century. in relation to fine arts. The author of the Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors and Architects (1550), the artist Giorgio 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 broad meaning.

The culture of the Renaissance (Rinascimento - in Italian, Renaissance - in French) arose in Europe, in those economically most developed areas where the prerequisites for the transition from feudalism to the initial stage of capitalism were ripe.

The new culture emerged with particular consistency and strength in Italian cities, which already at the turn of the XIV–XV centuries. embarked on the path of capitalist development; it became widespread in the Netherlands, as well as in some Rhine and southern German cities of the 15th century. However, the circle of influence of Renaissance culture was much wider and covered the territories of France, Spain, England, the Czech Republic, Poland, where new trends appeared with different strengths and in specific forms.

The culture of the Renaissance is based on the principle of humanism, the affirmation of the dignity and beauty of man, his mind and will, his creative powers. Unlike the culture of the Middle Ages, the humanistic life-affirming culture of the Renaissance was secular in nature. Liberation from church scholasticism and dogmatics contributed to the rise of science. Passionate thirst for knowledge real world and admiration for him led to the reflection in art of the most diverse aspects of reality and imparted majestic pathos and deep insight to the most significant creations of artists.

A new understanding of the ancient heritage was of great importance in the development of Renaissance art. The influence of antiquity had the greatest impact on the formation of the Renaissance culture in Italy, where many monuments of ancient Roman art were preserved. The victory of the secular principle in the culture of the Renaissance was a consequence of the social affirmation of the growing strength of the bourgeoisie. However, the humanistic orientation of Renaissance art, its optimism, heroic character images objectively expressed the interests of not only the young bourgeoisie, but also all progressive strata of society as a whole.

The art of the Renaissance was formed in conditions when the foundations of the feudal way of life were shaken, and bourgeois-capitalist relations with all their merchant morality and soulless hypocrisy had not yet taken shape. The consequences of the capitalist division of labor, detrimental to the development of the individual, have not yet had time to manifest themselves; courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, strength of character have not yet lost their importance. This created the illusion of infinity in the further progressive development of human abilities. The ideal of a titanic personality was affirmed in art. The art of the Renaissance was social in nature. It is this feature that brings him closer to the art of classical Greece. And at the same time, in the art of the Renaissance, especially in late period, was embodied in the image of a person in which the features of individual originality were combined with socially typical qualities.

Painting experienced a flourishing unprecedented before that time, revealing enormous possibilities in depicting life phenomena, man and his environment. The development of sciences, the development of linear and then aerial perspective, the study of proportions and human anatomy - all this contributed to the establishment in painting of a method based on displaying reality with images of reality itself.

New demands facing art have led to the enrichment of its types and genres.
In a monumental Italian painting fresco dominated. Since the 15th century Easel painting occupies an increasingly important place, in the development of which Dutch masters played a special role. Along with the previously existing genres of religious and mythological painting, which were filled with new meaning, the portrait came to the fore, and historical and landscape painting arose.

In Germany and the Netherlands, where popular movements created a need for art that quickly and actively responded to current events, engraving became widespread and was often used in decoration books.

The process of isolating sculpture, which began in the Middle Ages, was completed: along with decorative sculpture decorating buildings, independent round sculpture appeared - easel and monumental. The decorative relief acquired the character of a perspectively constructed multi-figure composition.

The ideals of humanism were expressed in architecture, in the clear harmonious appearance of buildings, in the classical language of their forms, in their proportions and scales related to man.

The nature of applied art has changed, borrowing forms and motifs of ornamentation in life and in antiquity and associated not so much with church, but with secular orders. Its general cheerful character, the nobility of forms and colors reflected that sense of unity of style that is inherent in all types of art of the Renaissance, constituting a synthesis of art on the basis of equal cooperation of all its types.

The art of the Renaissance went through the stages of the early (XV century, corresponds to the time of the emergence of capitalist production in individual cities of Italy, Germany, the Netherlands), High (90s of the XV century - the first third of the XVI century) and late Renaissance (second half of the XVI century .).
IN different countries it manifested itself in different ways. For example, there was no High Renaissance in the Netherlands. The classical country of the Renaissance was Italy, where the periods of the so-called Proto-Renaissance (a harbinger of the Renaissance), early, High and late Renaissance are clearly distinguished, and within the framework of the late Renaissance, along with humanistic art, a decadent manneristic direction, which does not contribute to the knowledge of reality, became widespread.

In the second half of the 16th century. In Western Europe, a crisis of spiritual culture is emerging, caused by deep social upheavals - the so-called price revolution, which caused far-reaching social changes - the pauperization of the masses, the destruction of the feudal classes, civil wars in France, political clashes associated with the Dutch revolution, the violent onslaught of the Counter-Reformation. In fragmented Italy, as in Germany, petty princely despotism is establishing itself. A campaign against humanism in all its manifestations is being declared in Europe. However, humanism was too powerful and vital a phenomenon to fade away without a heroic struggle for its high ideals. In these conditions of the late, final stage of the Renaissance, “tragic humanism” arises, revealing more deeply the contradictions between the human personality and the society around it, the cruel gap between Renaissance ideals and hostile anti-humanistic forces that are beginning to win in society is realized. In addition to Italy, the Netherlands, France and England are also undergoing the late Renaissance stage. This stage gives rise to the richest and most mature fruits of the Renaissance in art and literature - in them realism, filled with internal tragedy, flourishes.

Italian art of the Renaissance had a unique character and at all stages of almost three centuries of development it rose to exceptional creative heights. The grandiose scope of Renaissance culture, the huge number of outstanding works compared to the small territories where they were created, still cause surprise and admiration. All forms of art were on the rise. In various regions of Italy, local schools of painting developed, producing artists whose creative quests found their highest implementation in the art of the titans of the Renaissance - Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian.

Art acquired a huge role in public life; it became an urgent need of the people of that time. The construction of public buildings was considered a matter of civic importance; the opening of the most significant monuments turned into national holidays.

The first rise of a new culture in Italy dates back to the 12th–13th centuries. The northern Italian cities of the state, led by Venice, seized the intermediary trade between Western Europe and the East. Florence, Siena, and Milan are becoming major centers of handicraft production. Political power they were concentrated in the hands of merchants and artisans. United into guilds, they actively opposed local feudal lords and helped repel the onslaught of foreign conquerors (primarily German emperors). Under conditions of political independence, new forms of capitalist structure arose in cities. These changes caused fundamental shifts in worldview and culture, characterized by an interest in man as a thinking and feeling personality, in antiquity. On early stage transitional era culture was largely controversial nature, the new often coexisted with the old, or was clothed in traditional forms.

A decisive turn towards overcoming the medieval tradition in Italian art occurred in the 15th century. (quattrocento). At this time, various territorial schools were emerging, paving the way for the realistic method. Leading center humanistic culture and realistic art remains Florence.

The art of the High Renaissance dates back to the end of the 15th century. and the first three decades
XVI century The "Golden Age" of Italian art was chronologically very brief, and only in Venice did it last longer, until the middle of the century. But it was at this time that the wonderful creations of the titans of the Renaissance were created.

The highest rise of culture took place in the most difficult times historical period life in Italy, in conditions of sharp economic and political weakening of the Italian states. Turkish conquests in the East, the discovery of America and a new sea route to India deprive Italian cities of their most important role shopping centers; disunity and constant internecine hostility make them easy prey for the increasingly centralized northwestern states. The movement of capital within the country from trade and industry to agriculture and the gradual transformation of the bourgeoisie into the class of landowners contributed to the spread of feudal reaction. The invasion of French troops in 1494, the devastating wars of the first decades of the 16th century, and the defeat of Rome greatly weakened Italy. It was at this time, when the threat of its complete enslavement by foreign conquerors loomed over the country, that the strength of the people was revealed, entering the struggle for national independence, for a republican form of government, and its national self-awareness was growing. This is evidenced by the popular movements of the early 16th century. in many Italian cities, and in particular in Florence, where republican rule was established twice: from 1494 to 1512 and from 1527 to 1530. A huge social upsurge served as the basis for the flowering of the powerful culture of the High Renaissance. In the difficult conditions of the first decades of the 16th century. The principles of culture and art of a new style were formed.

A distinctive feature of the culture of the High Renaissance was the extraordinary expansion of the social horizons of its creators, the scale of their ideas about the world and space. The view of a person and his attitude to the world changes. The very type of artist, his worldview, and position in society are decidedly different from that occupied by the masters of the 15th century, who were still largely associated with the class of artisans. The artists of the High Renaissance were not only people of great culture, but creative individuals, free from the guild framework, forcing representatives of the ruling classes to take their ideas into account.

At the center of their art, generalized in artistic language, is the image of an ideally beautiful person, perfect physically and spiritually, not abstracted from reality, but filled with life, inner strength and significance, the titanic power of self-affirmation. The most important centers of new art, along with Florence, at the beginning of the 16th century. become papal Rome and patrician Venice. Since the 30s, the feudal-Catholic reaction has been growing in Central Italy,
and along with it, a decadent movement in art, called Mannerism, spreads. And already in the second half of the 16th century. tendencies of anti-mannerist art emerge.

In this late period, when only individual centers of Renaissance culture retain their role, it is they who produce the most significant works of artistic merit. These are the late creations of Michelangelo, Palladio and the great Venetians.

The second half of the 16th century was a complex transitional period in the art of Venice, marked by the interweaving of a variety of trends. With the intensifying economic crisis in Venice and the growing feudal-Catholic reaction throughout Italy, a gradual transition from the artistic ideals of the High Renaissance to the late Renaissance was taking place in Venetian culture. The perception of the world becomes more complex, a person’s dependence on the environment is more realized, ideas about the variability of life develop, and the ideals of harmony and integrity of the universe are lost.

A kind of center of Renaissance art of the 15th–16th centuries. There were the Netherlands - one of the richest and most advanced countries in Europe, which successfully competed in trade and industry with the cities of Italy and gradually ousted them from the world market. However, the process of formation of Renaissance culture proceeded more slowly in the Netherlands than in Italy, and was accompanied by compromises between the old and the new. Until the end of the 14th century. Dutch art developed in traditionally religious forms, absorbing the advanced achievements of French and German Gothic. Start independent development art dates back to the end of the 14th century, when the Dutch provinces were forcibly united under the rule of the Burgundian dukes (1363–1477) into an independent “intermediate” (Engels) state located between France and Germany; it included Flanders, Holland and numerous provinces between the Meuse and Scheldt. Heterogeneous in ethnic, economic and political terms, speaking various dialects of Romance and Germanic origin, these provinces and their cities did not create a single national state until the end of the 16th century. Along with the rapid economic growth, the democratic movement of free trade and craft cities and the awakening of national self-awareness in them, a culture blossoms, in many ways similar to the Italian Renaissance. The main centers of new art and culture were the rich cities of the southern provinces of Flanders and Brabant (Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Tournai, and later Antwerp). Urban burgher culture with its cult of sober practicality developed here next to the lush culture of the princely court, which grew on French-Burgundian soil.

The peculiarities of the historical development of the Netherlands determined the peculiar coloring of art. Feudal foundations and traditions were preserved here until the end of the 16th century, although the emergence of capitalist relations, which broke class isolation, led to a change in the assessment of the human personality in accordance with the real place that it began to occupy in life. Dutch cities did not gain the political independence that commune cities had in Italy. At the same time, thanks to the constant movement of industry into the countryside, capitalist development penetrated into deeper layers of society in the Netherlands, laying the foundations for further national unity and the strengthening of the corporate spirit that bound certain social groups together. The liberation movement was not limited to cities. The decisive fighting force in it was the peasantry. The fight against feudalism therefore acquired more acute forms. IN late XVI V. it grew into a powerful Reformation movement and ended in the victory of the bourgeois revolution.

Dutch art acquired a more democratic character than Italian art.
It has strong features of folklore, fantasy, grotesque, sharp satire, but its main feature is deep feeling national uniqueness of life, folk forms of culture, way of life, customs, types, as well as displaying social contrasts in the life of various strata of society. Social contradictions life of society, the reign of hostility and violence in it, the diversity of opposing forces exacerbated the awareness of its disharmony. Hence the critical tendencies of the Dutch Renaissance, manifested in the flowering of expressive and sometimes tragic grotesque in art and literature, often hiding under the guise of a joke “to speak the truth to kings with a smile” (Erasmus of Rotterdam. “A word of praise for stupidity”). Another feature of the Dutch artistic culture of the Renaissance is the stability of medieval traditions, which largely determined the character of Dutch realism in the 15th–16th centuries. Everything new that was revealed to people over a long period of time was applied to the old medieval system views, which limited the possibilities of independent development of new views, but at the same time forced to assimilate the valuable elements contained in this system.

Interest in the exact sciences, ancient heritage and the Italian Renaissance appeared in the Netherlands already in the 15th century. In the 16th century with the help of his “sayings” (1500), Erasmus of Rotterdam “unraveled the secret of the mysteries” of the erudites and introduced living, free-loving ancient wisdom into the everyday life of wide circles of the “uninitiated.” However, in art, referring to the achievements ancient heritage and the Italians of the Renaissance, Dutch artists followed their own path. Intuition replaced scientific approach to the image of nature. The development of the main problems of realistic art - mastering the proportions of the human figure, constructing space, volume, etc. - was achieved through acute direct observation of specific individual phenomena. In this, the Dutch masters followed the national Gothic tradition, which, on the one hand, they overcame, and on the other, rethought and developed towards a conscious, purposeful generalization of the image, complicating individual characteristics.

The successes achieved by Dutch art in this direction prepared the achievements of realism in the 17th century. Unlike Italian, Dutch Renaissance art did not come to establish the unlimited dominance of the image of the perfect titanic man. As in the Middle Ages, man seemed to the Dutch to be an integral part of the universe, woven into its complex spiritual whole. The Renaissance essence of man was determined only by the fact that he was recognized as the greatest value among the multiple phenomena of the Universe. Dutch art is characterized by a new, realistic vision of the world, an affirmation artistic value reality as it is, an expression of the organic connection between man and his environment, comprehension of the possibilities that nature and life endow a person with. In depicting a person, artists are interested in the characteristic and special, the sphere of everyday and spiritual life; They enthusiastically capture the diversity of people's individualities, the inexhaustible colorful wealth of nature, its material diversity, they subtly feel the poetry of everyday things, unnoticed but close to people, the comfort of lived-in interiors. These features of the perception of the world appeared in Dutch painting and graphics of the 15th and 16th centuries. V everyday genre, portrait, interior, landscape. They showed the typical Dutch love for details, the concreteness of their depiction, narration, subtlety in conveying moods and at the same time an amazing ability to reproduce complete picture the universe with its spatial limitlessness.

New trends manifested themselves unevenly in various types art. Architecture and sculpture up to the 16th century. developed within gothic style. The turning point that took place in the art of the first third of the 15th century was most fully reflected in painting. Her greatest achievement associated with the emergence of easel painting in Western Europe, which replaced the wall paintings of Romanesque churches and Gothic stained glass windows. Easel paintings on religious themes originally they were actually works of icon painting. In the form of painted folding frames with gospel and biblical scenes, they decorated the altars of churches. Gradually, secular subjects began to be included in altar compositions, which subsequently acquired independent significance. Easel painting separated from icon painting and became an integral part of the interiors of wealthy and aristocratic houses.

For Dutch artists, the main means of artistic expression is color, which opens up the possibility of recreating visual images in their colorful richness with utmost tangibility. The Dutch were sensitive to the subtle differences between objects, reproducing the texture of materials, optical effects - the shine of metal, the transparency of glass, the reflection of a mirror, the refraction features of reflected and scattered light, the impression of the airy atmosphere of a landscape receding into the distance. As in Gothic stained glass, the tradition of which played important role in the development of pictorial perception of the world, color served as the main means of conveying the emotional richness of the image. The development of realism caused a transition in the Netherlands from tempera to oil paint, which made it possible to more illusively reproduce the materiality of the world.

The improvement of the oil painting technique known in the Middle Ages and the development of new compositions are attributed to Jan van Eyck. Application oil paint and resinous substances in easel painting, applying it in a transparent, thin layer to the underpainting and white or red chalk primer accentuated the saturation, depth and purity of bright colors, expanded the possibilities of painting - made it possible to achieve richness and variety in color, the finest tonal transitions.

Jan van Eyck's enduring painting and method continued almost unchanged into the 15th and 16th centuries. in the practice of artists from Italy, France, Germany and other countries.

By the end of the 15th - first third of the 16th centuries. Renaissance art also developed in Germany. This is a time of greatest creative tension, the awakening of passionate interest in human individuality, the search for new means of comprehending reality. The rich experience of Italian and Dutch art helped German artistic culture to move forward. But German artists were attracted to other aspects of life than the Italians. Like the Dutch, they turned to the innermost spiritual life of man, his experiences, and psychological conflicts. The image of a person here is marked either by dreaminess and deep sincerity, or by severity and rebellious impulses, and by the drama of passions.

True to the truth of life, German art was less rational, it was inferior to Italian in development scientific foundations, it did not have those consistently rationalistic philosophical views that among the Italians led to unconditional faith in human reason. The desire for scientific knowledge of the world did not diminish the role of imagination.
German art invariably showed the excitedly personal attitude of its creators to the world, the ability to see life in its complexity and variability. The attraction to a harmonious ideal and complete classical forms was combined with keen sense individually unique. It is no coincidence that the most significant achievements here are associated with portraiture.

The art of the German Renaissance is in many ways close to the Dutch; he has the same developed sense of the individual, the same perception of the phenomena of life in close connection with environment. This determines the special importance of landscape and interior in solving the emotional structure of images. The plastic understanding of forms is combined with an emotional pictorial solution to the problems of light and tonality, which is important for revealing the interconnection of phenomena; it was the most important achievement of the German school of the 16th century, anticipating the search for black grouse in the 17th century.

Compared to Italy and the Netherlands, where Renaissance art flourished earlier, new trends appeared belatedly in German art. In the 15th century German art was almost exclusively religious, and medieval traditions continued to live in it. The suddenness and sharpness of the leap that took place on the verge of the 15th–16th centuries gave rise to contrasts, contradictions, and unexpected combinations of old and new trends in German Renaissance art in general and in the work of individual masters. German art did not know the synthetic development of architecture, sculpture and painting that accompanied the heyday of the Italian Renaissance, where many major artists worked in various forms of art. It bears the stamp of disharmony and tragedy, which abounded social life Germany 16th century

The reason for the complexity of the development of art in Germany is rooted in the peculiarities of the historical development of the country, which became at the end of the 15th–16th centuries. arena of the deepest social conflicts.
In the first half of the 16th century. Germany, which was part of powerful empire Habsburg, remained economically backward and politically fragmented. Many towns and villages in Germany, far from the advanced centers involved in world trade, vegetated in the harsh conditions of the Middle Ages. Like in no other country, the struggle of the bourgeoisie, peasantry and plebeian masses against feudalism here took on the character of a general crisis. At the beginning of the 16th century. The first major national uprising of the burghers took place in Germany. His struggle with the nobility, with the major feudal princes, the uprising of the burghers and a broad popular movement grew into the Reformation.

The Great Peasant War, with its ideals of universal property equality, marked the culmination of the revolutionary movement. The rise of the creative forces of society accompanying the revolution created the conditions for a comprehensive, but short-lived flowering of German culture.
In Germany and its largest cities, the ideas of humanism spread and science developed. Unlike medieval heresies, the Reformation persistently defended the value of earthly things and called on each person to follow his calling and improve himself. Luther's teaching cultivated an effective principle in the individual. Müntzer preached active work among the people, refusal to satisfy personal passions. Like no other Western European country at the beginning of the 16th century, art in Germany was drawn into the whirlpool of the peasant liberation struggle. The principles of realism and new ideals were established in it. Political graphics are being developed: leaflets, pamphlets, caricatures. Many German artists became participants in the political and religious struggle and were persecuted (sculptor T. Riemenschneider, artists M. Grunewald, G. Greifenberg, G. Plattner, P. Lautensack). The invention of printing contributed to the dissemination of scientific literature, political pamphlets, battle satire (“Letters from dark people”), pamphlets not only in literature, but also in the fine arts (Dürer’s students - B. and G. Beham, G. Penz).

Luther “created modern German prose and composed the text and melody of that triumphant chorale that became the Marseillaise of the 16th century.” The flourishing of book illustration, caricature, and easel engraving dates back to this time. New trends clearly manifested themselves in the field of engraving - the most popular form of art, less constrained by tradition (engraving arose at the beginning of the 15th century). However, other forms of art have also embarked on the path of transformation.

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

Renaissance, or Renaissance(French “new” + “born”) had global significance in the cultural history of Europe. The Renaissance replaced the Middle Ages and preceded the Age of Enlightenment.
Main features of the Renaissance– the secular nature of culture, humanism and anthropocentrism (interest in man and his activities). During the Renaissance, interest in ancient culture and it is as if its “rebirth” is taking place.
The Renaissance arose in Italy - its first signs appeared in the 13th-14th centuries. (Tony Paramoni, Pisano, Giotto, Orcagna, etc.). But it was firmly established in the 20s of the 15th century, and by the end of the 15th century. reached its peak.
In other countries, the Renaissance began much later. In the 16th century a crisis of Renaissance ideas begins, a 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 13th century - 14th century)
2. Early Renaissance (beginning of the 15th - end of the 15th century)
3. High Renaissance (end of the 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 medieval Europe. Byzantium never broke with ancient culture.
Appearance humanism(a socio-philosophical movement that 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 emerge in cities, which were not controlled by the church. whose activities were outside the control of the church. In the middle of the 15th century. Printing was invented, which played an important role in the spread of new views throughout Europe.

Brief characteristics of the Renaissance periods

Proto-Renaissance

The Proto-Renaissance is the forerunner of the Renaissance. It is also closely connected with the Middle Ages, with Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic traditions. He 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 secular content, made a gradual transition from planar images to volumetric and relief ones, turned to realism, introduced plastic volume of figures into painting, and depicted the interior in painting.

Early Renaissance

This is the period from 1420 to 1500. Artists of the Early Renaissance of Italy drew motifs from life and filled traditional religious subjects 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. Their creativity begins to develop freely standing statue, picturesque relief, portrait bust, equestrian monument.
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 sense 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 Renaissance architecture in Italy 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 occupies 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 language, and in his ethical treatise “On the Family” (1737-1441) he developed the ideal of a harmoniously developed personality. IN architectural creativity Alberti gravitated towards bold experimental solutions. He was one of the founders of new European architecture.

Palazzo Rucellai

Leon Battista Alberti designed new type a palazzo with a facade, rusticated to its entire 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 is the Loggia Rucellai, where receptions and banquets for trading 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 approximately 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, attracted to his court best artists Italy.

Rafael Santi "Portrait of Pope Julius II"

In Rome, many monumental buildings are built, magnificent sculptures are created, frescoes and paintings are painted, which are still considered masterpieces of painting. Antiquity is still highly valued and carefully studied. 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 the 1590s-1620s. The art and culture of this time are 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 represents a very complex picture struggle between different currents. Many artists did not strive 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 elderly Michelangelo once said, watching artists copy his “Last Judgment”: “This art of mine will make fools of many.”
IN Southern Europe The Counter-Reformation triumphed, which did not welcome any free thought, 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) and others. Caravaggio considered the founder of the Baroque style.

Renaissance Art

The Renaissance is the heyday of all arts, including theater, literature, and music, but, undoubtedly, the main one among them, which most fully expressed the spirit of its time, was fine art.

It is no coincidence that there is a theory that the Renaissance began with the fact that artists ceased to be satisfied with the framework of the dominant “Byzantine” style and, in search of models for their creativity, were the first to turn to antiquity. He was one of the first to abandon the “Byzantine manner” and began to use chiaroscuro sculpture of Pietro Cavallini’s figures in frescoes. But the greatest master of the Proto-Renaissance, Giotto, began to create paintings instead of icons for the first time.

He was the first to strive to convey Christian ethical ideas through the depiction of real human feelings and experiences, replacing symbolism with the depiction of real space and specific objects. In the famous frescoes of Giotto in the Arena Chapel in Padua you can see the saints next to each other unusual characters: shepherds or spinners. Each individual person in Giotto expresses very specific experiences, a specific character.

In the era of Ducento (XIII century) in Italy, instead of literary language Middle Ages - Latin - gradually formed the national language - Italian. He made a great contribution to its creation greatest writer of that time Dante Alighieri (1256-1321). In his early work, La Vita Nueva, written in Italian, Dante tells the story of his love for Beatrice, from their first meeting when they were still children until her death when she was 18 years old.

He carries the image of a simple city woman, exalted by the poet’s love, throughout his life. And completely in the spirit of the Renaissance, the scene from his “Divine Comedy”, in which he depicts his Beatrice sitting on top of a cart, symbolizing the Church at the Gates of Purgatory.

During the early Renaissance, the art of antiquity was mastered artistic heritage, new ethical ideals are formed, artists turn to the achievements of science (mathematics, geometry, optics, anatomy). Florence played a leading role in the formation of the ideological and stylistic principles of early Renaissance art. In the images created by such masters as Donatello and Verrocchio, heroic and patriotic principles dominate (“St. George” and “David” by Donatello and “David” by Verrocchio).

The founder of Renaissance painting is Masaccio (paintings of the Brancacci Chapel, “Trinity”). Masaccio knew how to convey the depth of space, connected the figure and landscape with a single compositional concept, and gave portrait expressiveness to individuals. But formation and evolution picturesque portrait, reflecting the interest of Renaissance culture in man, are associated with the names of artists of the Umrbian school: Piero della Francesca, Pinturicchio.

The work of the artist Sandro Botticelli stands apart in the early Renaissance. The images he created are spiritual and poetic. Researchers note the abstraction and sophisticated intellectualism in the artist’s works, his desire to create mythological compositions with complicated and encrypted content (“Spring”, “Birth of Venus”).

One of Botticelli’s life writers said that his Madonnas and Venuses give the impression of loss, causing in us a feeling of indelible sadness... Some of them lost heaven, others lost earth.

The culmination of the development of the ideological and artistic principles of the Italian Renaissance is the High Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci, a great artist and scientist, is considered the founder of High Renaissance art.

He created a whole series masterpieces: “Mona Lisa” (“La Gioconda”), “Madonna Benois” and “Madonna Litta”, “Lady with an Ermine”. In his work, Leonardo sought to express the spirit of the Renaissance man. He looked for sources of perfect forms of art in nature, but it was him who N. Berdyaev considers responsible for the coming process of mechanization and mechanization human life, which separated man from nature.

Painting achieves classical harmony in the works of Raphael. His art evolves from the early coldly aloof Umbrian images of Madonnas (“Madonna Conestabile”) to the world of “happy Christianity” of Florentine and Roman works. “Madonna and the Goldfinch” and “Madonna in the Armchair” are soft, humane and even ordinary in their humanity.

But the image of the “Sistine Madonna” is majestic, symbolically connecting the heavenly and earthly worlds. Most of all, Raphael is known as the creator of tender images of Madonnas. But in painting he embodied both the ideal of the Renaissance universal man (portrait of Castiglione) and the drama of historical events.

Michelangelo is a master who combined in his art beautiful physicality with the deep spirituality of images inherited from medieval Christian culture. Already in early work Michelangelo demonstrated his tragic worldview (“Crucifixion”), subtle psychologism of images and technical virtuosity (“Lamentation of Christ” from St. Peter’s Basilica). Michelangelo creates his own concept human history(picturesque ceiling of the Sistine Chapel).

A special place in the era of the High Renaissance is occupied by the Venetian school, in which the enjoyment of life and love of nature were combined with a humanistic ideal (the works of Giorgione, Titian). The later Renaissance and mannerism reflect the crisis of Renaissance humanistic ideals.

During this period, Michelangelo’s work reflects the deepening tragedy of his worldview (images of the Medici Chapel, especially “Night”, “The Last Judgment” and the frescoes of the Paolina Chapel). Artists who continue the traditions of the High Renaissance have an increasing desire for decorativeness and splendor (Veronese), subjectivism and spiritualism are growing.

For Mannerists, the image is built not on the basis of studying nature, as was the case with Renaissance artists, but on their inner feeling. Mannerism intricately interweaves mysticism and the ideals of court culture; it is full of allegories and artistic plasticity. In mannerism there is a denial of the Renaissance tradition (Correggio, Amanti, etc.).

Simultaneously with the crisis of Renaissance art in Italy, it flourished in the Netherlands and Germany.

Jan van Eyck - the central figure of the initial period Northern Renaissance. His work reflected one of the fundamental features of this art: a close connection with the art of late Gothic. The Ghent altarpiece, made by the van Eyck brothers, in its figurative structure combines a strict religious feeling with a joyful and poetic perception earthly beauty, ideal images with portraits of real people, complex symbolism with simple human emotions. Jan van Eyck's portraits emphasize spiritual fulfillment and piety in psychologically authentic and naturalistically accurate images.

Complex symbolism, fantasy and grotesque are evident in the work of Hieronymus Bosch. His style seems so unusual for that time that many modern art historians consider Bosch to be the forerunner of surrealism.

The development of the art of the Northern Renaissance is associated with the name of Albrecht Durer, who laid the foundations of secular genres in Germany - portrait, landscape, everyday genres. Another one appears in his work. bright line Northern Renaissance: the desire to portray a person as imperfect and ideal, but reliable.

Speaking about the art of the Northern Renaissance, of course, one should pay attention to the portraits of Holbein and the work of Bruegel.

To summarize, it should be noted that the Renaissance in Italy and the Reformation in Northern Europe can, as N. Berdyaev did, be considered as stages of a transition period, which marked the end on a historical scale of one type of civilization (cosmogenic, traditional) and the beginning of a new, technogenic civilization.

The Italian Renaissance was the source for the Northern Renaissance and Reformation. The Reformation complemented and developed Renaissance ideas in a unique way. If the Italian Renaissance marked the beginning of a new urban bourgeois culture, then the Reformation, having created Protestantism, ensured the dynamic development of capitalism in Europe.

The history of the Renaissance begins in This period is also called the Renaissance. The Renaissance changed into culture and became the forerunner of the culture of the New Age. And the Renaissance ended in the 16th-17th centuries, since in each state it has its own start and end date.

Some general information

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

Renaissance and art

The peculiarity of the Renaissance is that the human body became the main source of inspiration and subject of study 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, refined use of the brush, the play of shadow and light, care in the work process and complex compositions. For Renaissance artists, the main images were from the Bible and myths.

The resemblance of a real person to his image on a particular 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. The prevailing view then 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.

Nature and beauty of the human body

Renaissance art paid great attention to nature. Characteristic element The landscapes had varied and lush vegetation. Heaven blue-blue shade, which pierced the sun's rays that penetrated the white clouds, provided a magnificent backdrop for the floating creatures. Renaissance art revered the beauty of the human body. This feature was manifested in the refined elements of the muscles and body. Difficult poses, facial expressions and gestures, a harmonious 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.