Renaissance figures list. Renaissance Figures: List and Achievements

The chronology of the Italian Renaissance is connected with the definition of the main features - renaissance . The time in which the features mentioned above barely appear is characterized as the Pre-Renaissance (Proto-Renaissance), or in the designation by the names of the centuries - ducento (XIII century) and trecento (XIV century). The period of time when the cultural tradition that meets these features can be clearly traced was called the early Renaissance (Quattrocento (XV century). The time that became the heyday of the ideas and principles of Italian Renaissance culture, as well as the eve of its crisis, is commonly called the High Renaissance (Cinquecento (XVI century).

The culture of the Italian Renaissance gave the world poet Dante Alighieri, painter Giotto di Bondone, poet, humanist Francesco Petrarch, poet, writer, humanist Giovanni Boccaccio, architect Philip Bruneleschi, sculptor Donatello, painter Masaccio, humanist, writer Lorenzo Valla, humanist, writer Pico della Mirandola , philosopher, humanist Marsilio Ficino, painter Sandro Botticelli, painter, scientist Leonardo da Vinci, painter, sculptor, architect Michelangelo Buonarotti, painter Rafael Santi and many other prominent personalities.

The clear focus of the Renaissance on man is associated with socio-economic factors, in particular with the development of a simple commodity-money economy. In many ways, the reason for the independence of man, his emerging free-thinking was urban culture. It is well known that medieval cities were the concentration of masters of their craft - people who left the peasant economy and who fully believe to live by earning their own bread by their craft. Naturally, ideas about an independent person could only be formed among such people.

The cities of Italy were famous for their various crafts, in addition, they actively participated in transit trade. Obviously, the development of Italian cities was based on reasons of a different nature, but exactly urban culture created new people. However, the self-affirmation of the individual in the Renaissance was not distinguished by a vulgar materialistic content, but was of a spiritual nature. The Christian tradition had a decisive influence here. The time in which the revivalists lived really made them realize their significance, their responsibility for themselves. But they have not yet ceased to be people of the Middle Ages. Without losing God and faith, they only looked at themselves in a new way. And the modification of medieval consciousness was superimposed on a close interest in antiquity, which created a unique and inimitable culture, which, of course, was the prerogative of the tops of society.

Early humanists: the poet-philosopher F. Petrarch (1304-1374), the writer G. Boccaccio (1313-1375) - wanted to create a beautiful human personality, free from the prejudices of the Middle Ages, and therefore, first of all, they tried to change the education system: to introduce the humanities into it , focusing on the study of ancient literature and philosophy. At the same time, the humanists by no means overthrew religion, although the church itself and its ministers were objects of ridicule. Rather, they sought to combine two scales of values.

In his "Confession" Petrarch wrote that the ascetic morality of Christianity purifies the soul, but no less important is the awareness of the value of earthly existence, inherited from the Greeks and Romans. Thus, the medieval opposition of flesh and spirit was eliminated. The rehabilitation of the earthly was manifested in that era, primarily in the apology of the beauty of the world and the human body, carnal love.

Artists also began to see the world differently: flat, as if incorporeal images of medieval art gave way to three-dimensional, relief, convex space. Rafael Santi (1483-1520), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) sang with their creativity a perfect personality, in which physical and spiritual beauty merge together in accordance with the requirements of ancient aesthetics.

The great artist Sandro Botticelli expressed the spiritual content of the early Renaissance more sharply than others. His work meets all the characteristic features of the early Renaissance. This period, more than any other, is focused on search for the best opportunities in the transmission of the surrounding world. It was at this time that developments in the field of linear and aerial perspective, chiaroscuro, proportionality, symmetry, general composition, color, and image relief were going on to a greater extent. This was due to the restructuring of the entire system of artistic vision. To perceive the world in a new way meant to see it in a new way. And Botticelli saw him in line with the new time, but the images he created are striking in the extraordinary intimacy of inner experiences. In the work of Botticelli, the nervousness of lines, impetuous movements, grace and fragility of images, a characteristic change in proportions, expressed in excessive thinness and elongation of figures, falling hair in a special way, characteristic movements of the edges of clothing, captivate. In other words, along with the distinctness of lines and drawing, so revered by the artists of the early Renaissance, in the work of Botticelli there is, like no other, the deepest psychologism. This is unconditionally evidenced by the paintings "Spring" and "The Birth of Venus".

The tragedy of the worldview - the discrepancy between the idea, grandiose and great, the result of creativity, beautiful for contemporaries and posterity, but painfully insufficient for the artist himself - makes Botticelli a true revivalist. The tragedy shines through in the secret spiritual movements shown by the great master in his portraits and even in the sad face of the goddess of beauty Venus herself. . Culturology: Textbook for University Students Ed. by G.V. Fight. - Rostov-n-D: "Phoenix", 2003. S. 244.

The fate and work of Botticelli, as well as the fate of many revivalists, was influenced by the personality of Girolamo Savonarola (1452 - 1498). From one rather traditional point of view, Savonarola is difficult to rank among the cultural figures of the Renaissance. His thoughts and beliefs are too different from the general style of the Renaissance worldview. On the other hand, he is a true representative of this culture. His writings were a great success. He constantly exposed the vices of the aristocracy and the clergy. Yet Savonarola was a revivalist. True faith in Christ, incorruptibility, decency, depth of thought testified to the spiritual fullness of his being and thus made him a true representative of the Renaissance culture. The very appearance of Savonarola's personality confirms the fact that the culture of the Renaissance, not having a folk basis under it, affected only the tops of society. The general style of Renaissance thinking, the modification of religious consciousness did not meet with responses in the souls of the common people, and Savonarola's sermons and his sincere faith shocked him. It was a broad understanding of the people that helped Savonarola, in fact, defeat the humanistic enthusiasm of the Florentines. Savonarola remains in history a vivid example of a revivalist, but only of a completely different type than the humanists F. Petrarch and L. Valla or the artists Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. And this only expands the idea of ​​​​the amazing and attractive culture of the Renaissance - a restless time, “when a person begins to demand freedom, the soul breaks the fetters of church and state, the body blossoms under heavy clothes, the will conquers the mind; from the grave of the Middle Ages, next to the highest thoughts, the lowest instincts break out, "when "a whirlwind movement was reported to human life, it spun in a spring round dance" - as A. Blok figuratively described this culture.

A man with his earthly passions and desires also appeared in literature. The forbidden theme of carnal love, its naturalistic descriptions have gained the right to exist. However, the carnal did not suppress the spiritual. Like philosophers, writers tried to create a harmony between the two principles, or at least to balance them. In the famous Decameron by Boccaccio, mischievous frivolous stories about voluptuaries alternate with tragic stories about unrequited or selfless love. In the sonnets of Petrarch, dedicated to the beautiful Laura, earthly features are given to heavenly love, but earthly feelings are elevated to heavenly harmony.

Among the representatives of the culture of the Renaissance there are individuals who most fully expressed the features of one or another of its periods.

The largest representative of the Proto-Renaissance period, Dante Alighieri, is a legendary figure, a man whose work showed the first trends in the development of Italian literature and culture in general for centuries to come. Peru Dante owns the original lyrical autobiography "New Life", the philosophical treatise "Feast", the treatise "On the Folk Language", sonnets, canzones and other works. But the most, of course, his famous work is the "Comedy" called the descendants of the Divine. In it, the great poet uses a plot familiar to the Middle Ages - he depicts himself traveling through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, accompanied by the long-dead Roman poet Virgil. However, despite the plot far from everyday life, the work is filled with pictures of the life of contemporary Italy and is full of symbolic images and allegories.

The first thing that characterizes Dante as a man of a new culture is his appeal at the very beginning of his creative life to the so-called "new sweet style" - a direction full of sincerity of emotions, but at the same time of profound philosophical content. This style is distinguished by the resolution of the central problem of medieval lyrics - the relationship between "earthly" and "heavenly" love. If religious poetry has always called for abandoning earthly love, and courtly poetry, on the contrary, sang of earthly passion, then the new sweet style, preserving the image of earthly love, spiritualizes it to the maximum: it appears as an incarnation of God accessible to human perception. The spiritualized feeling of love brings with it a joy that is alien to religious morality and asceticism.

The task of approaching the world of eternal essences, to the divine idea, confronts all the artists of the Renaissance, and the fact that Dante gravitates towards symbolism emphasizes this desire. In Dante's Divine Comedy, the personal attitude towards sinners diverges from the generally accepted norms of divine justice. The great poet practically rethinks the medieval system of sins and punishment for them. Dante sympathizes with sinners condemned for sensual love. Of course, only a person of a new era could be so compassionate, even though it was only emerging, but already distinguished by its originality and originality.

All Dante's work: both his "Divine Comedy", and his canzones, sonnets, philosophical works - indicate that a new era is coming, filled with a genuine deep interest in man and his life. In the work of Dante and in his very personality are the origins of this era. Culturology. History of world culture: Textbook for universities / Ed. A.N. Markova. M.: Culture and sport, UNITI, 1998. S. 338.

Drawing the ideal of the human personality, the figures of the Renaissance emphasized its kindness, strength, heroism, the ability to create and create a new world around itself. The Italian humanists Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457) and L. Alberti (1404-1472) considered the accumulated knowledge that helps a person to make a choice between good and evil as an indispensable condition for this. The high idea of ​​a person was inextricably linked with the idea of ​​his free will: a person chooses his own life path and is responsible for his own destiny. The value of a person began to be determined by his personal merits, and not by his position in society: “Nobility, like a kind of radiance emanating from virtue and illuminating its owners, no matter what origin they are.” The era of spontaneous and violent self-affirmation of the human personality was coming, freeing itself from medieval corporatism and morality, subordinating the individual to the whole. It was the time of titanism, which manifested itself both in art and in life. Suffice it to recall the heroic images created by Michelangelo and their creator himself - a poet, artist, sculptor. People like Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci were real examples of the limitless possibilities of man.

The era of the Renaissance (Renaissance) replaced the Middle Ages and lasted until the Enlightenment. It is of great importance in the history of Europe. It is distinguished by a secular type of culture, as well as humanism and anthropocentrism (man comes first). Renaissance figures also changed their views.

basic information

A new culture was being formed thanks to the social relations that had changed in Europe. It was especially affected by the fall of the Byzantine state. Many Byzantines immigrated to European countries, and with them they brought a huge amount of works of art. All this was not familiar to medieval Europe, and Cosimo de Medici, impressed, created the Academy of Plato in Florence.

The spread of city-republics led to the growth of estates that were far from feudal relations. These included artisans, bankers, merchants, and so on. They did not take into account the medieval values ​​that were formed by the church. As a result of this, humanism was formed. This concept refers to a philosophical direction that considers a person as the highest value.

Secular scientific and research centers began to form in many countries. Their difference from the medieval ones was the separation from the church. The invention of printing in the 15th century made a big shift. Thanks to this, prominent figures of the Renaissance began to appear more and more often.

Formation and flourishing

The first was the Renaissance in Italy. Here, its signs began to appear as early as the 13th and 14th centuries. However, he failed to gain popularity then, and only in the 20s of the XV century it was able to gain a foothold. In other European countries, the Renaissance spread much later. It was at the end of the century that this movement flourished.

The next century became a crisis for the Renaissance. The result was the appearance of Mannerism and Baroque. The entire Renaissance is divided into four periods. Each of them is represented by its culture and art.

Proto-Renaissance

It is a transitional period from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. It can be divided into two stages. The first continued during the life of Giotto, the second - after his death (1337). The first was filled with great discoveries, during this period the brightest figures of the Renaissance worked. The second ran parallel to the deadly plague that tormented Italy.

Renaissance artists of this period expressed their skill mainly in sculpture. Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Pisano, as well as Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano can be especially distinguished. The painting of that time is represented by two schools, which were located in Siena and Florence. Giotto played a huge role in the painting of that period.

Renaissance figures (artists), in particular Giotto, in their paintings, in addition to religious themes, also touched on secular ones.

In literature, the coup was made by Dante Alighieri, who created the famous Comedy. However, the descendants, admiring, called it the "Divine Comedy". The sonnets of Petrarch (1304-1374), written during that period, gained immense popularity, and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), author of the Decameron, became his follower.

The most famous figures of the Renaissance became the creators of the Italian literary language. The works of these writers gained fame beyond the borders of their native state during their lifetime, and later they were completely ranked among the treasures of world literature.

Early Renaissance period

This period lasted eighty years (1420-1500). The figures of the Early Renaissance did not abandon the usual recent past, but began to resort to the classics of antiquity in their works. Gradually they moved from medieval to ancient principles. This transition was influenced by changes in life and culture.

In Italy, the principles of classical antiquity were already fully manifested, while in other states they still adhered to the traditions of the Gothic style. Only by the middle of the 15th century did the Renaissance penetrate into Spain and north of the Alps.

In painting, first of all, they began to show the beauty of a person. The early period is mainly represented by the works of Botticelli (1445-1510) and also by Masaccio (1401-1428).

A particularly famous sculptor of that period is Donatello (1386-1466). The portrait type prevailed in his works. Also Donatello for the first time since antiquity created a sculpture of a naked body.

The most important and famous architect of that period was Brunelleschi (1377-1446). He managed to combine in his works the ancient Roman and Gothic styles. He was engaged in the construction of chapels, temples and palaces. He also returned elements of ancient architecture.

High Renaissance period

This time was the heyday of the Renaissance (1500-1527). The center of Italian art is located in Rome, and not in the usual Florence. The reason for this was the newly-made Pope Julius II. He had an enterprising and decisive character, during his stay on the papal throne, the best cultural figures of the Renaissance came to court.

In Rome, the construction of the most magnificent buildings began, sculptors create numerous masterpieces that are the pearls of world art in our time. There is a writing of frescoes and paintings that fascinate with their beauty. All these branches of art are developing, helping each other.

The study of antiquity is becoming more and more profound. The culture of that period is reproduced with increasing accuracy. At the same time, the calmness of the Middle Ages is replaced by playfulness in painting. Nevertheless, the figures of the Renaissance, whose list is extensive, borrow only some elements of antiquity, and create the basis on their own. Each has its own distinctive features.

Leonardo Da Vinci

The most famous figure of the Renaissance is, perhaps, Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519). This is the most versatile personality of that period. He was engaged in painting, music, sculpture, science. During his life, Da Vinci was able to invent many things that have firmly entered our lives today (bicycle, parachute, tank, and so on). Sometimes his experiments ended in failures, but this happened due to the fact that some inventions, one might say, were ahead of their time.

Most of him is known, of course, thanks to the painting "Mona Lisa". Many scientists are still looking for various secrets in it. After himself, Leonardo left several students.

Late Renaissance period

It became the final stage in the Renaissance (from 1530 to 1590-1620, however, some scientists extend it until 1630, because of this there are constant disputes).

In Southern Europe at that time a movement (Counter-Reformation) began to appear, the purpose of which was to restore the greatness of the Catholic Church and the Christian faith. All chanting of the human body was unacceptable to him.

Numerous contradictions resulted in the fact that a crisis of ideas began to manifest itself. As a result of the instability of religion, the figures of the Renaissance began to lose harmony between nature and man, between the physical and the spiritual. The result was the appearance of mannerism and baroque.

Renaissance in Russia

The culture of the Renaissance in some areas also influenced our country. However, its impact was limited by a fairly large distance, as well as the attachment of Russian culture to Orthodoxy.

The first ruler who paved the way for the Renaissance in Russia was Ivan III, who during his time on the throne began to invite Italian architects. With their arrival, new elements and construction technologies appeared. However, a huge upheaval in architecture did not happen.

In 1475, the restoration of the Assumption Cathedral was carried out by the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti. He adhered to the traditions of Russian culture, but added space to the project.

By the 17th century, due to the influence of the Renaissance, Russian icons become realistic, but at the same time, artists follow all the ancient canons.

Soon Rus' was able to master book printing. However, it became especially widespread only in the 17th century. Many technologies that appeared in Europe were quickly brought to Russia, where they improved and became part of the traditions. For example, according to one of the hypotheses, vodka was brought from Italy, later its formula was finalized, and in 1430 the Russian version of this drink appeared.

Conclusion

The Renaissance gave the world many gifted artists, researchers, scientists, sculptors, and architects. Of the huge number of names, one can single out those that are most famous and glorified.

Philosophers and Scientists:

• Bruno.
• Galileo.
• Pico Della Mirandola.
• Nikolay Kuzansky.
• Machiavelli.
• Campanella.
• Paracelsus.
• Copernicus.
• Munzer.

Writers and Poets:

• F. Petrarch.
• Dante.
• J. Boccaccio.
• Rabelais.
• Cervantes.
• Shakespeare.
• E. Rotterdam.

Architects, painters and sculptors:

• Donatello.
• Leonardo da Vinci.
• N. Pisano.
• A. Rosselino.
• S. Botticelli.
• Raphael.
• Michelangelo.
• Bosch.
• Titian.
• A. Durer.

Of course, this is only a small part of the figures of the Renaissance, but it was these people who became its personification for many.

"Renaissance or the Renaissance" - "Love struggle in a dream" (1499) - one of the highest achievements of the Renaissance printing. The Italian Renaissance had practically no influence on other countries until 1450. In the 15th century (1459), the Platonic Academy in Careggi was revived in Florence. Astronomical instruments in Holbein's The Ambassadors (1533).

"Culture of the Renaissance" - Periodization of the Renaissance. Man's faith in his unlimited possibilities. Matthew", "Madonna and Child", "Madonna Doni" (Uffizi), the Medici tombs in Florence. Bellini, head of the Venetian school, a wonderful colorist and portrayer of the naked body. Humanism (from lat. Graduation.

"Renaissance" - The Renaissance. Contradictions of the Renaissance. Renaissance and Reformation: Contradictions of the Renaissance. N.Machiaveli. Jean Calvin "The Pope of Geneva" 1517 - 95 theses of Martin Luther Protestantism. A tragic sense of world catastrophe prevails. Reasons for the Reformation. Secular ethics. Sistine Madonna 1515 - 1519.

"Renaissance Time" - "Madonna de Litta". Secret supper. Rafael Santi. The Renaissance ends with the emergence of new musical genres - solo songs, cantatas, oratorios and operas, The Birth of Christ. Ariosto, Ludovico (Ariosto, Lodovico) (1474-1533), Italian poet. Northern Renaissance. "The Abduction of Europe". Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441).

"Renaissance Renaissance" - Alessandro Filipepi, Filipepi) (1445-1510), Italian painter. France. He was close to the Medici court and the humanistic circles of Florence. An original Renaissance culture developed in Spain, Portugal and England. Raffaello Santi (1483-1520), Italian painter and architect. Rafael Santi. "Dispute".

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At the end of the XIV - beginning of the XV centuries. in Europe, and more specifically in Italy, the culture of the early bourgeoisie begins to emerge, which will be called the Renaissance (Renaissance). At this time, society shows a lively interest in the cultural heritage of antiquity, Ancient Greece and Rome. The very term "Renaissance" speaks of the connection of the new culture with the bygone Golden Ages. Searches and restoration of manuscripts and works of art of the ancient "titans" of antiquity begin everywhere and everywhere.

Compared with the period of the Early Middle Ages, the people of the Renaissance are undergoing very significant changes in worldview. Secular, civic motives are intensifying, various spheres of society's life - philosophy, education, science, literature and art - become self-sufficient and free from church dogmas.

The continuity of the great ancient culture, the affirmation of the ideals of humanism - this is what is usually called the Renaissance. The human right to freedom, happiness, the recognition of the good of man as the basis of the social order, the assertion of the principles of equality, justice, humanity in relations between people, liberation from religious fetters - this is what true humanism proclaims. Representatives of the Renaissance believed that the boundaries of human knowledge do not exist, because the human mind is identical to the mind of a deity, and the individual himself exists as a mortal god.

Personal qualities, such as intelligence, creative energy, enterprise, self-esteem, will, education, are much more important than the origin or social position of the individual. The man of the Renaissance creates himself, and, consequently, the world around him. He is an active being, all spheres of being intersect in him. Sung by the humanists of the Renaissance, man is a free, Universal personality. Creator, creator of the new world.

The main point of application of spiritual forces at that time was art, as it made it possible to most fully liberate. Self-expression, the ability to create, create and reflect in your work a really existing world. The predominant areas of art that aroused keen interest were literature, music, theater. But the most striking, memorable and profound way of expressing the human ideal is architecture, sculpture and, of course, painting. Nevertheless, all types of art were equally valuable and important for the brilliant creators of the Renaissance.

I prefer death to weariness.

I never tire of serving others.

L. da Vinci

One of the finest examples of the "universal man", the owner of a multifaceted talent, is undoubtedly Leonardo da Vinci - the largest figure of the Italian High Renaissance. He was not only a great representative of art - a writer, sculptor, painter, musician, but also a scientist, technician, inventor, engineer. In Italy, he was called a sorcerer, a magician, a man who can do anything!

The world-renowned genius was born on April 15, 1452, not far from Florence, in the small town of Vinci (hence his name). His father was a wealthy notary, Ser Piero di Antonio da Vinci, and his mother was a simple peasant woman named Catarina. Although little Leonardo was an illegitimate child, he lived and was brought up in his father's house. Antonio da Vinci hoped that the growing son would follow in his footsteps, but social life seemed uninteresting to the boy. Although it is likely that the professions of a lawyer and a doctor were not available to illegitimate children, and therefore the craft of the artist was chosen.

After the family moved to Florence, in 1469, Leonardo got a job as an apprentice in the workshop of the famous master Andrea del Verrocchio. For six years, da Vinci studied the secrets of art and sculpture. The mentor quickly recognized the outstanding talent in his student and prophesied a great future for him.

Acquaintance with the famous astronomer Paolo Toscanelli was an important step in awakening young Leonardo's interest in various sciences. At the age of twenty, he began to work independently. A tall, slender, attractive young man, possessed considerable physical strength, bent horseshoes with his hands, he had no equal in fencing, women admired him. In 1472, da Vinci was already a member of the Florentine Guild of Artists, and by 1473 his first independent artistic work is attributed. A few years later (in 1476) Leonardo has his own workshop. From the very first works ("Annunciation", "Madonna Benois", "Adoration of the Magi"), it became clear that a great painter appeared to the world, and further work only increased his fame.

In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci moved from Florence to Milan. The reason for this move was that the head of Florence, Lorenzo Medici the Magnificent, patronized another famous artist of that time, Botticelli. Leonardo did not want to be in the second role and left for Milan. There he entered the service of Duke Ludovico Sforza. The list of his official duties was very extensive: da Vinci was engaged in painting, sculpture, military engineering.


At the same time, he was the organizer of festivities, the inventor of various mechanical "miracles". In addition, Leonardo is actively working on his own projects in various fields (for example, on an underwater bell, an aircraft, etc.). Then he began work on his next masterpiece - the fresco "The Last Supper" in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazia. It depicted the final period of the life of Christ. As contemporaries noted, in this work Leonardo da Vinci showed himself to be a subtle psychologist, he managed to convey the tension of the situation and the different feelings with which the disciples of Jesus were overwhelmed after His sacramental phrase: “One of you will betray Me.”

In 1499, the troops of Louis XII captured Milan and Leonardo moved to Venice, where he entered the service of a military engineer and architect to Cesare Borgia.

In 1503 the artist returns to Florence. It is customary to attribute the writing of, perhaps, his most famous painting, “Mona Lisa” (“Gioconda”), to these years. This work laid the foundation for the genre of psychological portrait in all European art. When creating it, the great master brilliantly used the entire arsenal of means of artistic expression: sharp contrasts and soft undertones, frozen immobility and general fluidity and variability. The whole genius of Leonardo lies in the amazing lively look of Mona Lisa, her mysterious and enigmatic smile. This work is one of the rarest masterpieces of art.

In 1513, at the invitation of the Pope, da Vinci came to Rome to participate in the painting of the Belvedere Palace.

In 1516, the great artist accepted the invitation of the French King Francis I and lived the rest of his days in the royal castle of Cloux near the city of Amboise. During this period of his life, he painted the picture "John the Baptist", prepared a series of drawings on biblical themes, invented a device for measuring the strength of the wind and the speed of the ship. Among his works were projects of earth-moving machines, a submarine. Officially, he received the title of the first royal painter, architect and engineer. Working on the plan of the royal apartments, he acted as an adviser and sage.

Two years after his arrival in France, da Vinci became seriously ill, it was difficult for him to move alone, his right arm became numb, and the next year he completely fell ill. On May 2, 1519, the great "universal man", surrounded by his disciples, died. He was buried in the nearby royal castle of Amboise.

An outstanding artist, a brilliant painter, the author of such masterpieces as "The Adoration of the Magi", "The Last Supper", "Holy Family", "Madonna Liti". "Mona Lisa", belongs to the merit of numerous discoveries in the field of art theory, mechanics, natural sciences, mathematics. Leonardo da Vinci became the embodiment of the ideal of the Italian Renaissance and was perceived by subsequent generations as a kind of symbol of creative aspirations.

FRANCESCO PETRARCA(1304-1374) - the founder of the Italian Renaissance, a great poet and thinker, politician. Coming from a popolan family in Florence, he spent many years in Avignon under the papal curia, and the rest of his life in Italy. Petrarch traveled a lot in Europe, was close to the popes, sovereigns. His political goals: the reform of the church, the cessation of wars, the unity of Italy. Petrarch was a connoisseur of ancient philosophy, he deserves the merit of collecting manuscripts of ancient authors, their textual processing.

Petrarch developed humanistic ideas not only in his brilliant, innovative poetry, but also in Latin prose writings - treatises, numerous letters, including his main epistolary "The Book of Everyday Affairs".

It is customary to say about Francesco Petrarch that he is stronger than anyone - at least in his time - focused on himself. What was not only the first "individualist" of the New Age, but much more than that - a strikingly complete egocentric.

In the works of the thinker, the theocentric systems of the Middle Ages were replaced by the anthropocentrism of Renaissance humanism. Petrarch's "discovery of man" made it possible for a deeper knowledge of man in science, literature, and art.

LEONARDO DA VINCI ( 1454-1519) - brilliant Italian artist, sculptor, scientist, engineer. Born in Anchiano, near the village of Vinci; his father was a notary who moved in 1469 to Florence. Leonardo's first teacher was Andrea Verrocchio.

Leonardo's interest in man and nature speaks of his close connection with humanistic culture. He considered the creative abilities of man to be unlimited. Leonardo was one of the first to substantiate the idea of ​​the cognizability of the world through reason and sensations, which was firmly established in the ideas of thinkers of the 16th century. He himself said about himself: "I would comprehend all the secrets, getting to the bottom!"

Leonardo's research concerned a wide range of problems in mathematics, physics, astronomy, botany, and other sciences. His numerous inventions were based on a deep study of nature, the laws of its development. He was also an innovator in the theory of painting. Leonardo saw the highest manifestation of creativity in the activity of an artist who scientifically comprehends the world and reproduces it on canvas. The contribution of the thinker to the Renaissance aesthetics can be judged by his "Book on Painting". He was the embodiment of the "universal man" created by the Renaissance.

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI(1469-1527) - Italian thinker, diplomat, historian. After the restoration in Florence, the Medici authorities were removed from state activity. In 1513-1520 he was in exile. This period includes the creation of the most significant works of Machiavelli - "The Sovereign", "Discourses on the first decade of Titus Livius", "History of Florence", which earned him European fame. The political ideal of Machiavelli is the Roman Republic, in which he saw the embodiment of the idea of ​​a strong state, the people of which "much surpass the sovereigns both in virtue and in glory." ("Discourses on the first decade of Titus Livius"). The ideas of N. Machiavelli had a very significant impact on the development of political doctrines.

THOMAS MOP(1478-1535) - English humanist, writer, statesman.

Born into the family of a London lawyer, he was educated at Oxford University, where he joined the circle of Oxford humanists. Under Henry VIII, he held a number of high government posts. Very important for the formation and development of More as a humanist was his meeting and friendship with Erasmus of Rotterdam. He was accused of high treason and executed on July 6, 1535.

The most famous work of Thomas More is "Utopia", which reflected both the author's passion for ancient Greek literature and philosophy, and the influence of Christian thought, in particular Augustine's treatise "On the City of God", and also traces an ideological connection with Erasmus of Rotterdam, whose humanistic ideal was in close to More. His ideas had a strong influence on social thought.

Erasmus of Rotterdam(1469-1536) - one of the most prominent representatives of European humanism and the most versatile of the then scientists.

Erasmus, the illegitimate son of a poor parish priest, spent his youth in an Augustinian monastery, which he managed to leave in 1493. He studied the works of Italian humanists and scientific literature with great enthusiasm, and became the greatest connoisseur of Greek and Latin.

Erasmus' most famous work is the satire Praise of Stupidity (1509), modeled after Lucian, which was written in the home of Thomas More in just one week. Erasmus of Rotterdam tried to synthesize the cultural traditions of antiquity and early Christianity. He believed in the natural goodness of man, he wanted people to be guided by the requirements of reason; among the spiritual values ​​of Erasmus - freedom of spirit, abstinence, education, simplicity.

THOMAS MUNZER(circa 1490-1525) - German theologian and ideologist of the early Reformation and the Peasants' War of 1524-1526 in Germany.

The son of a craftsman, Müntzer was educated at the universities of Leipzig and Frankfurt an der Oder, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in theology, and became a preacher. He was influenced by mystics, Anabaptists and Hussites. In the early years of the Reformation, Müntzer was an adherent and supporter of Luther. He then developed his doctrine of the popular Reformation.

In the understanding of Müntzer, the main tasks of the Reformation were not to establish a new church dogma or a new form of religiosity, but to proclaim an imminent socio-political upheaval to be carried out by a mass of peasants and the urban poor. Thomas Müntzer strove for a republic of equal citizens, in which people would take care that justice and law prevail.

For Müntzer, Holy Scripture was subject to free interpretation in the context of contemporary events, an interpretation directly addressed to the spiritual experience of the reader.

Thomas Münzer was captured after the defeat of the rebels in an unequal battle on May 15, 1525 and, after severe torture, was executed.

Conclusion
Concluding the consideration of the philosophical searches of the Renaissance, it is necessary to note the ambiguity of assessments of its heritage. Despite the general recognition of the uniqueness of the Renaissance culture as a whole, this period was not considered original in the development of philosophy for a long time and, therefore, worthy of being singled out as an independent stage of philosophical thought. However, the duality and inconsistency of the philosophical thinking of this time should not belittle its significance for the subsequent development of philosophy, cast doubt on the merits of Renaissance thinkers in overcoming medieval scholasticism and creating the foundations of the philosophy of the New Age.

The most important discovery of the Renaissance is the discovery of man. In antiquity, the sense of kind was not conducive to the development of individuality. Stoicism, putting forward the idea of ​​personality and responsibility, and Christianity, insisting on the real existence of the soul, which lies outside the sphere and jurisdiction of worldly power, created a new concept of personality. But the social system of the Middle Ages, built on status and custom, discouraged the individual, emphasizing the importance of class and group.

The Renaissance went beyond the moral precepts of Stoicism and the spiritual uniqueness of Christianity and saw a man in the flesh - a man in his relationship to himself, to society, to the world. Man has become the center of the universe instead of God. Many countries participated in the Renaissance, but from beginning to end, Italy's share was the largest. Italy never broke with antiquity, the dead weight of uniformity did not crush her as in other countries. Here social life was in full swing, despite wars and invasions, and the city-states of Italy were islands of republicanism among the sea of ​​European monarchies. The superiority in international trade and finance made the Italian cities rich and created the conditions for the flourishing of the sciences and arts.

Renaissance figures formulated new views on social life. Biblical stories about the paradise life of Adam and Eve, about the life of the Jews in the Promised Land, the teachings of Augustine (Aurelius) about the church as the kingdom of God on earth no longer suited anyone. The Renaissance figures tried to portray the society that a person needed without any mention of the Bible or the teachings of the holy fathers. For them, the figures of the Renaissance, society is a necessary environment for human life. It is not in heaven, not a gift from God, but on earth and the result of human efforts. In their opinion, society, firstly, should be built taking into account human nature; secondly, for all people; thirdly, it is a society of the distant future. The greatest influence on the history of philosophical thought and on the historical destinies of European peoples was exerted by the teachings of the Renaissance figures on the state system. This is their doctrine of the monarchy and the communist system. The first of these was the ideological basis of Absolutism, which was established later, and the second contributed to the creation of various kinds of communist theories, including Marxist communism.

This concludes our review of the boundless history of the philosophical thought of the Renaissance. On the foundation of this thought, over a period of one and a half to two centuries, a whole galaxy of unique and great philosophers grew up, including John Locke and Niccolò Machiavelli.

Table number 1. Philosophy of the Renaissance.