Medium revival. General information

The Renaissance, which began in Italy in the first quarter of the 15th century, turned the medieval world upside down, changing it forever. Translated from French or Italian, "renaissance" is "born again", which is associated with the revival of ancient traditions in art. The Renaissance is a magnificent breakthrough for humanity, there can be no doubt about it. During that period, wonderful works of painting, sculpture and architecture were created. Great books have been written (and published). The creations of the human genius, created by famous masters of the past, continue to delight to this day and will never lose their charm.

Scary Middle Ages

It is generally known that the Renaissance era replaced the Middle Ages, which were, as usual, dark, of course, harsh, and were characterized by various religious atrocities - everyone has heard about the Inquisition. There are sources that directly state that due to the intrigues of the insidious catholic church Renaissance and fell into disrepair.

In part, this view of things has a right to exist, but the clergy's merits in this process are unlikely to be so great. Just human society develops cyclically, each revolution is followed by a reaction, and the Renaissance epoch became a victim of quite natural processes, especially since many of its ideas were alien to the ignorant society of those times suffering from numerous epidemics. It is very difficult to instill in a person his divine essence when he is poor, dependent and is in constant fear.

Church as a bulwark of civilization

Some historians directly accuse the Middle Ages of various crimes against humanity, even where this is not true. For example, some sources take the liberty of claiming that science did not develop in the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, many modern European universities appeared precisely on the site of former monasteries (Oxford) or through the efforts of clergy (Sorbonne).

There is no point in denying that practically all the education of antiquity was ecclesiastical (and continued to remain so for many decades to come). This is easily explained: the highest percentage of elementary literate people was concentrated in the clergy, and if so, then who should teach their “unreasonable fellows” if not monks and other clergy?

The development of civilization is continuous. Although sometimes humanity had to take a step back, the culture of the Renaissance would never have taken place in the form in which we know it, if it had not passed its thorny path in the darkness of the Middle Ages. So great literary works would not have been born if they had not been preceded by the centuries-old work of numerous nuggets (whose work we call folklore only because their names remained unknown). If medieval knightly poetics did not exist, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and Petrarch's sonnets would hardly have taken place.

The seeds must fall on fertile soil

Contrasting the previous era with the next is not very correct. Voltaire argued that history is a myth that everyone agreed with. It is impossible not to admit the veracity of this witty statement. The history of the Renaissance, a complex and diverse phenomenon, cannot be interpreted unambiguously. Exists great amount versions explaining this grandiose event in the annals of mankind, many of which have a right to exist.

The belief that the Renaissance artists suddenly discovered for themselves and began to imitate it, taken from the school, should be considered sketchy. After all, samples of creativity of Greco-Roman art did not disappear anywhere, significant works of ancient authors were translated from the VIII century, but no Renaissance happened for another eight centuries.

Of course, the fall of the Second Rome (Constantinople), when cultural figures (and not only) frightened by the Muslim horde rushed to the West, taking with them libraries, icons and (most importantly) their knowledge and experience, played a huge role. After all, the influence of Byzantium on the art of the Renaissance is undeniable. Even if the Roman Church rejected icon painting, it grew in a different field. Icon of the Mother of God and the famous " Sistine Madonna»Michelangelo, with all the differences - both in technique and in content - are the image of the same woman with the same baby.

A confluence of favorable circumstances

The revival became possible due to the confluence of many factors and reasons, one of which really is that the Renaissance is a kind of response to the Catholic Church, whose influence at that time was colossal, the wealth was incalculable, and the desire for power was insatiable. This state of affairs gave rise to a powerful protest in society: rarely does anyone like harsh dogmas and asceticism prescribed in all spheres of life. A person had to constantly feel on himself a higher (and hostile) force, which at any moment could fall on him, punishing him for sins. The claims of the holy church were contrary to human nature itself.

The second factor, of course, is the rapid formation of the state. The secular power, acquiring a harmonious hierarchy and significant means to lead its subjects, was not at all eager to surrender the palm of primacy to spiritual power. Examples of violent battles between the church and powerful monarchs are not at all uncommon in history. The Renaissance owes its death to one of them.

The third reason is probably the fact that the Renaissance was a time when cultural life happily left the monasteries, where it was locked for many years, and concentrated in rapidly growing and wealthy cities. Harsh dogmas that ordered artists to write only in one way and in no other way, restrictions on subjects, etc. could not cause delight in really talented people. They strove for freedom, they got it.

The fourth, important condition for the birth of the Renaissance was money, no matter how cynical it may sound. It is no coincidence that grateful descendants are obliged to the richest Italy in those days for the emergence of this wonderful style. The Renaissance was not born out of poverty. The dogma that an artist should be hungry is untenable. The entire Renaissance era is proof of this. The creator must also eat, which means that he needs orders, means and space to use his talent.

Blessed Florence

All this was found in Florence, and not least thanks to the ruler of the city - Lorenzo the Magnificent. The courtyard of the nobleman was brilliant. The most talented painters, sculptors and architects have found a reliable patron in Lorenzo. Numerous palaces, temples, chapels and other architectural works were built in the city. Painters received numerous orders.

As a rule, it is customary to distinguish between three periods of the Renaissance, but some researchers include one more - the so-called Proto-Renaissance, still closely associated with the Middle Ages, but already acquiring new features permeated with light. One of the most notable events of that time was the construction of the Florentine Cathedral (XIII century) - a magnificent structure with wonderful interior decoration.

Early renaissance

After "preliminary preparation", the Early Renaissance appeared on the scene: historians name the years of the beginning and the end of this period quite unanimously - from 1420 to 1500. It took eighty years to free oneself from the strict canons dictated by the church, and turn to the heritage glorious ancestors... During this period, imitation of antique models becomes widespread. Images of a naked human body with a loving reflection of the smallest muscles and veins characterize a new style unknown to Catholic Europe. The Renaissance became a real hymn to earthly beauty, which was sometimes sung in such explicit forms that would have horrified the audience some one hundred and fifty years ago.

It cannot be said that such trends found understanding among all contemporaries: there were ardent fighters against the Renaissance, who, thanks to their activities, achieved obscurantism of dubious eternal glory in the field of obscurantism. The clearest example can serve as the head of the Florentine Dominican monastery - Savonarola. He was an inexhaustible critic of humanistic "lewdness" and did not hesitate to burn works that so outraged him. Among the irrecoverable losses are several paintings famous masters era, including Sandro Botticelli. His brushes belong to such Renaissance as "The Birth of Venus", "Spring", "Christ in the Crown of Thorns." I must say that almost all of the surviving canvases of the author are devoted to biblical themes, and it is difficult for a modern person to understand what could anger the stern Dominican in them.

However, the process was started, and not in human strength was to stop him. Savonarola died in 1498, and the Renaissance continued to march across the country, conquering new cities - Rome, Venice, Milan, Naples.

Among the most prominent and characteristic representatives Early renaissance called the sculptor Donatello, the painters Giotto and Masaccio. During this period, the laws of perspective, discovered in the 15th century, were first applied in painting. This allowed later to create three-dimensional, three-dimensional paintings of the Renaissance - previously this was not available to artists.

In architecture, vector further development asked Filippo Brunelleschi, creating the magnificent dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

High Renaissance

The peak of the development of the era was the third period of the Renaissance - the High Renaissance. It lasted only 27 years (1500-1527) and is associated primarily with the work of the great masters, whose names each of us knows: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.

At this time, the cultural capital of Europe was transferred from Florence to Rome. The new Pope Julius II (ascended the throne in 1503) was an extraordinary man, a great admirer of art and a rather broad-minded person. If it were not for the clergyman, people would not have seen many works of art that are rightfully considered the pearls of the world cultural heritage.

The most the best masters marked with the seal of genius receive numerous orders. The city is boiling with construction. Architects, sculptors and painters work side by side (and sometimes "combining positions"), creating their immortal works. At this time, the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral was designed and began - the most famous and grandiose church of the Catholic faith.

The painting of the Sistine Chapel, made by Michelangelo with his own hand, embodies all the meaning, perfection and beauty that the Renaissance artists gave us, who chose Man as the center of their Universe (just like that, with a capital letter): a god-like creature, a creator whose possibilities are almost endless.

Everything comes to an end

In 1523, Clement VII became Pope and immediately got involved in a war with Emperor Charles V, creating the so-called League of Cognac, which included Florence, Milan, Venice, and France. The pontiff did not want to share his power with the Habsburgs, but he had to pay for it To the eternal city... In 1527, the army of Charles V, which did not receive a salary for a long time (the emperor wasted himself during the hostilities), first laid siege to, and then broke into Rome and plundered its palaces and temples. The great city was depopulated, and the High Renaissance came to an end.

The Encyclopedia Britannica claims that as a holistic historical era The Renaissance, the century (1420-1527) that ruled blessed Italy, is over. Those who disagree with the compilers of the world's most famous reference book call the period that began after 1530 the Late Renaissance and still cannot agree on when it ended. There are arguments in favor of the 1590s, 1620s, and even the 1630s, but it is unlikely that individual residual phenomena can be signs of an entire era.

Age of Degeneration

At that time cultural phenomena are very diverse, there are trends that are considered manifestations of crisis and degeneration in art (for example, Florentine mannerism). It is characterized by a certain pretentiousness, excessive detail, concentration on the "artist's idea", accessible only to a narrow circle of experts. Sculpture, architecture and painting of the Renaissance, which were in a relentless search for harmony, gave way to unnatural postures, endless curls and monstrous colors characteristic of a new trend in the art world.

However, it is too early to talk about the final death of the Renaissance. In some cities of Italy, Renaissance artists continue to live, who remain true to the great traditions. So, the great Titian, who can be considered the brightest representative Renaissance, worked in Venice until 1576.

Meanwhile, Italy and Europe have befallen Hard times... Following the freedoms inconceivable in the Middle Ages, which the Renaissance brought with it, a severe reaction ensued. The reformed Holy Inquisition again took the reins into their own hands. Bonfires blazed on the squares - the fire devoured both heretics and their works.

Almost all the books introduced by the new Pope Paul IV into the Roman "Index of Forbidden Books" were destroyed (a little earlier, the corresponding lists were published in the Netherlands, Paris and Venice). The works of the inquisitors were difficult, because it was in the Renaissance that printing appeared - at the end of the 15th century, Gutenberg managed to create the first printed Bible. The heretical appeals of the humanists of the Renaissance were scattered, of course, not in millions of copies, but the holy fathers had something to do.

Historians say that the religious persecution in Italy was the most merciless in Europe - a cruel retribution for a century of freedom and beauty.

Northern Renaissance - one of the phenomena of the Renaissance

Most often, when they talk about the Renaissance, they mean exactly the Italian Renaissance - this phenomenon was born and reached its peak here. Today in Italy entire cities can be considered monuments of architecture, painting and sculpture of the era.

However, of course, the Renaissance was not limited to the Apennines alone. The so-called Northern Renaissance originated in Europe closer to the middle of the 16th century and presented the world with many beautiful works. Characteristic feature this style was more influenced by the medieval gothic art... Here, the ancient heritage was not given so much attention as in Italy, and more indifference was shown to the intricacies of anatomy. The creators of the Northern Renaissance include Durer, Van Eyck, Cranach. In literature, this event was marked by the works of Shakespeare and Cervantes.

The influence of the Renaissance on culture cannot be overemphasized: it is enormous. Having rethought and enriched ancient culture, the Renaissance created its own - and gave humanity a huge amount immortal works arts that have certainly improved the world we live in.

Micah did everything [email protected]

Chapter I. Revival

-The role of art

-Philosophy and religion

-Humanism

-Periodization and regions

-People of the era

-New species and genres

Chapter II. Italian Renaissance

-Trecento

-Quattrocento

-High Renaissance in Central Italy

-High Renaissance in Venice

Chapter III. Northern Renaissance

-Dutch Renaissance

-German Renaissance

-French Renaissance

Conclusion Chapter I ... Revival

an era in the history of European culture of the 13-16 centuries, which marked the onset of the New Age.

The role of art

The revival was self-determined, first of all, in the field of artistic creation. Like an era European history it is marked by many significant milestones, including the strengthening of the economic and social liberties of cities, spiritual fermentation, which eventually led to the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, Peasant war in Germany, the formation of the absolutist monarchy (the largest in France), the beginning of the era of the Great geographical discoveries, the invention of European printing, the discovery of the heliocentric system in cosmology, etc. However, its first sign, as it seemed to contemporaries, was the “flourishing of the arts” after long centuries of medieval “decline”, the flourishing that “revived” ancient artistic wisdom, in this sense for the first time uses the word rinascita (from which the French Renaissance and all its European analogues) are used by G. Vasari.

At the same time, artistic creation and especially fine arts are now understood as a universal language that allows one to learn the secrets of "divine Nature". By imitating nature, reproducing it not conventionally in a medieval way, but naturally, the artist enters into competition with the Supreme Creator. Art appears in equal measure both as a laboratory and as a temple, where the paths of natural science and knowledge of God (as well as the aesthetic feeling, “the sense of beauty” that is being formed for the first time in its final intrinsic value) constantly intersect.

Philosophy and religion

The universal claims of art, which ideally should be "accessible to everything", are very close to the principles of the new Renaissance philosophy. Her the largest representatives- Nikolay Kuzansky, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Paracelsus, Giordano Bruno - make the problem the focus of their thoughts spiritual creativity, which, covering all spheres of being, thereby with its infinite energy proves the right of man to be called a "second god" or "like a god".
Such an intellectual and creative aspiration may include - along with the ancient and biblical-evangelical traditions - purely unorthodox elements of Gnosticism and magic (the so-called "natural magic", combining natural philosophy with astrology, alchemy and other occult disciplines, in these centuries is closely intertwined with the beginnings of a new, experimental natural science). However, the problem of man (or human consciousness) and his rootedness in God still remains common for everyone, although the conclusions from it can be of the most varied, and compromise-moderate, and daring "heretical" character.
Consciousness in a state of choice - both meditations of philosophers and speeches are devoted to it religious leaders of all confessions: from the leaders of the Reformation M. Luther and J. Calvin, or Erasmus of Rotterdam (preaching the "third way" of Christian-humanistic tolerance) to Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, one of the inspirers of the Counter-Reformation. Moreover, the very concept of "Renaissance" has - in the context of church reforms - and a second meaning, signifying not only the "renewal of the arts", but the "renewal of man", his moral composition.

Humanism

The task of educating the "new man" is understood as the main task era. The Greek word for "upbringing" is the clearest analogue of the Latin humanitas (where "humanism" comes from). Humanitas in the Renaissance view implies not only the mastery of ancient wisdom, which was given great value but also self-knowledge and self-improvement. Humanities-scientific and human, scholarship and everyday experience should be combined in a state of ideal virtu (in Italian, both "virtue" and "valor" - due to which the word carries a medieval-knightly connotation). Reflecting these ideals in a natural way, the art of the Renaissance gives the educational aspirations of the era a convincingly sensual visualization.
Antiquity (that is, the ancient heritage), the Middle Ages (with their religiosity, as well as the secular code of honor) and Modern times (which put the human mind, its creative energy at the center of their interests) are here in a state of sensitive and continuous dialogue

Periodization and regions

The periodization of the Renaissance is determined by the supreme role of the fine arts in its culture. The stages of the history of art in Italy - the birthplace of the Renaissance - have long served as the main reference point. Especially distinguished: the introductory period, the Proto-Renaissance, "the era of Dante and Giotto", circa 1260-1320, partially coinciding with the period of Duchento (13th century), as well as trecento (14th century), Quattrocento (15th century) and Cinquecento (16th century) ... More general periods are the Early Renaissance (14-15 centuries), when new trends actively interact with Gothic, overcoming and creatively transforming it; as well as the Middle (or High) and Late Renaissance, a special phase of which was Mannerism. New culture countries located north and west of the Alps (France, the Netherlands, German-speaking lands), collectively referred to as the Northern Renaissance; here the role of late Gothic (including such an important, "medieval-Renaissance" stage as "international Gothic" or "soft style" of the late 14-15 centuries) was especially significant. Specific traits The Renaissance was also clearly manifested in the countries of Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, etc.), and had an effect in Scandinavia. A distinctive Renaissance culture developed in Spain, Portugal and England.

People of the era

It is natural that the time, which attached central importance to "God-equal" human creativity, put forward in art individuals who - with all the abundance of then talents - became the personification of entire eras national culture(personalities - "titans", as they were romantically called later). Giotto became the personification of Proto-Renaissance, the opposite aspects of the Quattrocento - constructive rigor and soulful lyricism - were respectively expressed by Masaccio and Fra Angelico and Botticelli. "Titans" of the Middle (or "High") Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelo Angelo are artists - symbols of the great frontier of the New era as such. The most important stages of Italian Renaissance architecture - early, middle and late - are monumentalized in the works of F. Brunelleschi, D. Bramante and A. Palladio.
J. Van Eyck, I. Bosch and P. Bruegel the Elder personify the early, middle and late stages of Dutch Renaissance painting with their work. A. Dürer, Grunewald (M. Niethardt), L. Cranach the Elder, H. Holbein the Younger approved the principles of the new fine art in Germany. In the literature of F. Petrarch, F. Rabelais, Cervantes and W. Shakespeare - to name only the largest names - not only made an exceptional, truly epochal contribution to the formation of national literary languages, but became the founders of modern lyrics, romance and drama as such.

New types and genres of art

The theory of linear and aerial perspective, proportions, problems of anatomy and cut-off modeling. The center of Renaissance innovations, an artistic "mirror of the era" was an illusory-nature-like pictorial painting, in religious art it displaces the icon, and in secular art it gives rise to independent genres of landscape, everyday painting, portrait (the latter played a primary role in the visual confirmation of the ideals of humanistic virtu).

The art of printed woodcut and metal engraving, which became truly widespread during the Reformation, gets its final intrinsic value. The drawing from the working sketch turns into separate species creativity; the individual style of the stroke, stroke, as well as the texture and effect of incompleteness (non-finito) are beginning to be appreciated as independent artistic effects.

Picture, illusory-three-dimensional becomes and monumental painting, gaining more and more visual independence from the wall array. All types of fine arts now, in one way or another, violate the monolithic medieval synthesis (where architecture prevailed), gaining comparative independence. Types of absolutely round, requiring a special tour of the statue, equestrian monument, portrait bust are formed (in many respects reviving the ancient tradition), it develops completely new type solemn sculptural and architectural tombstone.

The ancient order system predetermines new architecture, the main types of which are harmoniously clear in proportions and at the same time plastic-eloquent palace and temple (architects are especially fascinated by the idea of ​​a centric temple building). The utopian dreams characteristic of the Renaissance do not find full-scale embodiment in urban planning, but latently inspire new architectural ensembles, whose scope accentuates the "earthly", centrically-perspectively organized horizontals, and not the Gothic vertical aspiration upward.

1. General information

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

1.1. Prerequisites for Renaissance

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

1.2. Periodization of the Renaissance

1.2.1. Pan-European periodization

In the general European periodization of the Renaissance, three main periods are distinguished.

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

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

Late Renaissance (1580-1650) the period when in Italy the ideas of the Renaissance, pressed by the church, fell into decay, but received a second wind in the countries of Northern Europe, where they received a new impulse and refracted in the works of Dutch, German, English artists, therefore this time is also called the Northern Renaissance. The art of the Northern Renaissance developed under the influence of the Reformation, therefore it is imbued with an anti-clerical spirit and attaches great importance to issues of faith. But unlike Italian art striving to embellish, idealize reality, gravitated more towards reality. At the end of this period, a fascination with false picturesqueness, pretentiousness of forms and a haphazard arrangement of antique motifs appeared, the organicity, the spirit of Renaissance ideas was lost. These art trends are called mannerism, followed by the establishment of the Baroque style.

1.2.2. Italian periodization

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

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

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

Quattrocento (XV century) - Italian designation of the era of art of the 15th century, which is the peak, flowering of the ideas of renaissance in all areas of art, the time of life and work of Botticelli, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Bellini, etc.

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

It replaced the Middle Ages and preceded the Enlightenment and Modern Times. It falls - in Italy - at the beginning of the XIV century (everywhere in Europe - from the XV-XVI centuries) - the last quarter of the XVI centuries and in some cases - the first decades of the XVII century. A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture, its humanism and anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in a person and his activities). Interest in ancient culture flourishes, its "revival" takes place - and this is how the term appeared.

Term Revival already found among Italian humanists, for example, among Giorgio Vasari. V modern meaning the term was coined by the 19th century French historian Jules Michelet. Currently, the term Revival has become a metaphor for cultural flourishing.

general characteristics[ | ]

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

In the cities, secular centers of science and art began to arise, the activities of which were outside the control of the church. The new worldview turned to antiquity, seeing in it an example of humanistic, non-ascetic relations. The invention of printing in the middle of the 15th century played a huge role in the spread of ancient heritage and new views throughout Europe.

Renaissance periods[ | ]

Revival is divided into 4 stages:

1. Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the XIII century - XIV century)
2. Early Renaissance (early 15th - late 15th century)
3. High Renaissance (late 15th - early 20s of the 16th century)
4. Late Renaissance (mid-16th - 1590s)

Proto-renaissance[ | ]

Proto-Renaissance is closely related to the Middle Ages, in fact, and appeared in the Late Middle Ages, with Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic traditions, this period was the forerunner of the Renaissance. It is divided into two sub-periods: before the death of Giotto di Bondone and after (1337). The most important discoveries, the brightest masters live and work in the first period. The second segment is associated with the plague epidemic that hit Italy. At the end of the 13th century, the main temple structure, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, was erected in Florence, the author was Arnolfo di Cambio, then the work was continued by Giotto, who designed the campaign for the Florence Cathedral.

First of all, the art of Proto-Renaissance manifested itself in sculpture (Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Pisano). Painting is represented by two art schools: Florence (Cimabue, Giotto) and Siena (Duccio, Simone Martini). Giotto became the central figure in painting. Renaissance artists considered him a reformer of painting. Giotto outlined the path along which its development went: filling religious forms with secular content, a gradual transition from flat images to three-dimensional and embossed ones, an increase in realism, introduced the plastic volume of figures into painting, depicted the interior in painting.

Early renaissance[ | ]

The period of the so-called "Early Renaissance" in Italy covers the period from 1500 to 1500. During these eighty years, art has not yet completely abandoned the traditions of the recent past (the Middle Ages), but is trying to mix with them elements borrowed from classical antiquity. Only later, and only little by little, under the influence of more and more changing conditions of life and culture, did the artists completely abandon medieval foundations and boldly use examples of ancient art, both in the general concept of their works and in their details.

While art in Italy was already resolutely following the path of imitation of classical antiquity, in other countries it kept its traditions for a long time. gothic style... North of the Alps, as well as in Spain, the Renaissance comes only at the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts until about the middle of the next century.

High Renaissance[ | ]

The third period of the Renaissance - the time of the most magnificent development of his style - is usually called the "High Renaissance". It stretches across Italy from about 1527. At this time, the center of influence of Italian art from Florence moved to Rome, thanks to the accession to the papal throne of Julius II - an ambitious, courageous, enterprising man who attracted to his court best artists Italy, who occupied them with numerous and important works and gave others an example of love for art. Under this Pope and under his closest successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the times of Pericles: many monumental buildings are built in it, magnificent sculptural works are created, frescoes and paintings are painted, which are still considered pearls of painting; at the same time, all three branches of art harmoniously go hand in hand, helping one another and mutually acting on each other. Antiquity is now being studied more thoroughly, reproduced with greater rigor and consistency; serenity and dignity replace the playful beauty that was the aspiration of the preceding period; reminiscences of the medieval disappear completely, and a completely classical imprint falls on all creations of art. But the imitation of the ancients does not drown out their independence in the artists, and they, with great resourcefulness and liveliness of imagination, freely process and apply what they consider appropriate to borrow for themselves from ancient Greco-Roman art.

Creativity of the three greats Italian craftsmen marks the pinnacle of the Renaissance, these are Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) and Raphael Santi (1483-1520).

Late Renaissance[ | ]

The later Renaissance in Italy spans the period from the 1530s to 1590-1620s. The art and culture of this time are so diverse in their manifestations that it is possible to reduce them to one denominator only with a great deal of convention. For example, Encyclopedia Britannica writes that “Renaissance as a holistic historical period ended with the fall of Rome in 1527 ". V Southern Europe the Counter-Reformation triumphed, which looked with apprehension at all free-thinking, including the glorification of the human body and the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity, as the cornerstones of the Renaissance ideology. In Florence, worldview contradictions and a general feeling of crisis resulted in the “nervous” art of contrived colors and broken lines - Mannerism. Mannerism reached Parma, where Correggio worked, only after the artist's death in 1534. The artistic traditions of Venice had their own logic of development; Until the end of the 1570s, Titian and Palladio worked there, whose work had little in common with the crisis phenomena in the art of Florence and Rome.

Northern Renaissance[ | ]

The Italian Renaissance had practically no influence on other countries until after the city. After the city, the style spread throughout the continent, but many late Gothic influences persisted even before the onset of the Baroque era.

The very concept of "Renaissance" (rinascita) arose in Italy in the XIV century as a result of understanding the innovation of the era. Traditionally, the founder of the Renaissance in literature is considered Dante Alighieri. It was he who first turned to man, his passions, his soul in his work called "Comedy", which will later be called " Divine Comedy". It was he who was the first poet who clearly and inexorably revived humanistic tradition. Northern Renaissance is a term used to describe the Renaissance in northern Europe, or more generally, throughout Europe outside Italy, north of the Alps. Northern Renaissance is closely related to Italian Renaissance, but there are a number of characteristic differences. As such, the Northern Renaissance was not homogeneous: in each country it had certain specific features... In modern cultural studies, it is generally accepted that it was in the literature of the Renaissance that the humanistic ideals of the era, the glorification of a harmonious, free, creative, comprehensively developed personality, were most fully expressed.

It is customary to distinguish the Renaissance period in the Netherlands, Germany and France as a separate stylistic trend, which has some differences from the Renaissance in Italy, and call it the "Northern Renaissance".

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

Revival in Russia[ | ]

The Renaissance trends that existed in Italy and Central Europe influenced Russia in many ways, although this influence was quite limited due to the large distances between Russia and the main European cultural centers on the one hand, and the strong attachment of Russian culture to its Orthodox traditions and the Byzantine heritage on the other hand.

The science [ | ]

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

Philosophy [ | ]

Renaissance philosophers

Literature [ | ]

The true founder of the Renaissance in literature is considered to be the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), who truly revealed the essence of the people of that time in his work called "Comedy", which would later be called "The Divine Comedy". With this name, the descendants showed their admiration for the grandiose creation of Dante. In the literature of the Renaissance, the humanistic ideals of the era, the glorification of a harmonious, free, creative, comprehensively developed personality, were most fully expressed. The love sonnets of Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) opened the depth inner peace a person, the wealth of his emotional life. In the XIV-XVI centuries, Italian literature flourished - the lyrics of Petrarch, the novellas by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the political treatises of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), the poems of Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) and Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) put it forward among the "classical" (along with ancient Greek and ancient Roman) literature for other countries.

The literature of the Renaissance was based on two traditions: folk poetry and "book" antique literature, therefore, it often combined the rational principle with poetic fiction, and comic genres gained great popularity. This was manifested in the most significant literary monuments of the era: "Decameron" by Boccaccio, "Don Quixote" by Cervantes, and "Gargantua and Pantagruel" by François Rabelais. The Renaissance is associated with the appearance national literatures- in contrast to the literature of the Middle Ages, which was created mainly in Latin. Theater and drama became widespread. The most famous playwrights of this time were William Shakespeare (1564-1616, England) and Lope de Vega (1562-1635, Spain)

art[ | ]

Renaissance painting is characterized by the artist's professional view of nature, the laws of anatomy, life perspective, the action of light and other identical natural phenomena.

Renaissance artists, working on paintings of traditional religious themes, began to use new artistic techniques: build volumetric composition, using the landscape as a background plot element. This allowed them to make the images more realistic, vivid, which showed a sharp difference between their work from the previous iconographic tradition, replete with conventions in the image.

Architecture [ | ]

The main thing that characterizes this era is the return in architecture to the principles and forms of ancient, mainly Roman art. Particular importance in this direction is given to symmetry, proportion, geometry and order. component parts, which is clearly evidenced by the surviving examples of Roman architecture. The complex proportion of medieval buildings is replaced by an orderly arrangement of columns, pilasters and lintels; asymmetrical outlines are replaced by a semicircle of an arch, a hemisphere of a dome, a niche, and aedicula. The greatest contribution to the development of Renaissance architecture was made by five masters:

• Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) - the founder of Renaissance architecture, developed the theory of perspective and the order system, brought many elements of ancient architecture back into construction practice, created for the first time in many centuries the dome (of the Florentine Cathedral), which still dominates the panorama of Florence.
• Leon Battista Alberti (1402-1472) - the largest theorist of Renaissance architecture, the creator of its holistic concept, rethought the motives of the early Christian basilicas of the time of Constantine, in the Rucellai palazzo he created a new type of urban residence with a facade processed with rustic stone and dissected by several tiers of pilasters.
• Donato Bramante (1444-1514) - pioneer of architecture High Renaissance, master of centric compositions with perfectly balanced proportions; the graphic restraint of the architects of the Quattrocento was replaced by tectonic logic, plasticity of details, integrity and clarity of design (Tempietto).
• Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) - the chief architect of the Late Renaissance, who led the grandiose construction work in the papal capital; in his buildings, the plastic principle is expressed in dynamic contrasts, as it were, flowing masses, in the majestic tectonicity that foreshadows art

A message on the topic: "The Renaissance", summarized in this article, will tell you about this amazing era in the history of culture.

Renaissance report

The culture of the Renaissance swept Italy, and its center was Florence. For the first time the term "revival" was used famous architect, art historian and painter Giorgio Vasari in his work "Biography of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects." But why is the era called the Renaissance? The fact is that it relied on Antiquity, and the Renaissance at the initial stage was meant as the revival of Antiquity. Later it meant the revival of man, humanism. It is unique and unique culture, which left behind many masterpieces. There are two types of Renaissance - Northern Renaissance and Italian Renaissance.

The features of the Renaissance are expressed in its features:

• Humanism
• Anthropocentrism
• A new attitude towards the world
• Revival of ancient philosophy and ancient monuments of art
• Modification of the Christian medieval tradition

The essence of the Renaissance

During the Renaissance, they adhered to medieval views - the hierarchy of worlds, the divine origin of the world, symbolic analogies of the divine and earthly worlds. But, nevertheless, there is also a slight difference in ideas about the world order: the essence of this era is in the doctrine of double truth. That is, in substantiating the distinction between the power of the state and the power of the church.

Figures of the Renaissance or Renaissance era contributed to the scientific - rationalist worldview, thanks to discoveries in astronomy. Their ideas of a heliocentric model and the infinity of the Universe, a plurality of worlds became the basis of a new worldview.

During the Renaissance, a new type of personality behavior was formed: the awareness of one's own originality and uniqueness, thanks to which a person is able to do a lot. A model emerged in culture cultured person- "homo universalis". She characterized a creative and efficient personality.

During this period, the influence of the church on society began to weaken. And the development of printing contributed to an increase in the level of literacy, education, the development of the arts, sciences, fiction... Representatives of the bourgeoisie created a secular science, which was based on the study of the heritage of ancient writers and nature.

Apart from the bourgeoisie, artists and writers dared to oppose the church. They brought to the masses the idea that it is not God who is the greatest value, but man. In his earthly life, he must realize his personal interests in order to live it meaningfully, fully and happily. Such cultural figures were called humanists.

The Renaissance was characterized by a cycle of changes in literature. A new genre of Renaissance realism appeared, which was looking for an answer to the question of the importance and complexity of establishing a person as a person, the formation of his effective and creative principle.

Renaissance representatives rejected the slavish obedience preached by the church. In their understanding, man was presented as the highest creation of nature, filled with the beauty of the physical appearance, the wealth of the mind and soul.

The world of the Renaissance is most expressively and vividly expressed in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, the author of which was Michelangelo. The vault of the chapel is decorated biblical stories... Their main motive is the creation of the world and the creation of man. Fresco " The last judgment"Is a work that ended the Renaissance in art.

A few words should also be said about the Northern Renaissance. It played more of an economic role, penetrating into commodity-money relations, market-wide European processes. They changed the consciousness of people. The influence of Antiquity is little felt here, it is more like a reformation movement.

Notable representatives of the Renaissance: ,