The early 15th century saw huge changes in life and culture in Italy. The townspeople, merchants and artisans of Italy have waged a heroic struggle against feudal dependence since the 12th century. By developing trade and production, the townspeople gradually became richer, overthrew the power of the feudal lords and organized free city-states. These free Italian cities became very powerful. Their citizens were proud of their conquests. The enormous wealth of independent Italian cities was the reason for their vibrant prosperity. The Italian bourgeoisie looked at the world with different eyes, they firmly believed in themselves, in their strength. They were alien to the desire for suffering, humility, and the renunciation of all earthly joys that had been preached to them until now. Respect for earthly man who enjoys the joys of life grew. People began to take an active approach to life, eagerly study the world, and admire its beauty. During this period, various sciences were born and art developed.

In Italy, many monuments of the art of Ancient Rome have been preserved, so the ancient era again began to be revered as a model, ancient art became an object of worship. Imitation of antiquity gave rise to calling this period in art - Renaissance, which means in French "Renaissance". Of course, this was not a blind, exact repetition of ancient art, it was already new art, but based on ancient examples. The Italian Renaissance is divided into 3 stages: VIII - XIV centuries - Pre-Renaissance (Proto-Renaissance or Trecento)-s it.); XV century - early Renaissance (Quattrocento); end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century - High Renaissance.

Archaeological excavations were carried out throughout Italy, looking for ancient monuments. Newly discovered statues, coins, dishes, and weapons were carefully preserved and collected in museums specially created for this purpose. Artists learned from these examples of antiquity and painted them from life.

Trecento (Pre-Renaissance)

The true beginning of the Renaissance is associated with the name Giotto di Bondone (1266? - 1337). He is considered the founder of Renaissance painting. The Florentine Giotto has great services to the history of art. He was a renovator, the ancestor of all European painting after the Middle Ages. Giotto breathed life into the gospel scenes, created images of real people, spiritualized but earthly.

Giotto first creates volumes using chiaroscuro. He loves clean, light colors in cool shades: pink, pearl gray, pale purple and light lilac. The people in Giotto's frescoes are stocky and walk heavily. They have large facial features, wide cheekbones, narrow eyes. His person is kind, attentive, and serious.

Of Giotto's works, the frescoes in the temples of Padua are the best preserved. He presented the Gospel stories here as existing, earthly, real. In these works, he talks about problems that concern people at all times: about kindness and mutual understanding, deceit and betrayal, about depth, sorrow, meekness, humility and the eternal all-consuming maternal love.

Instead of disparate individual figures, as in medieval painting, Giotto was able to create a coherent story, a whole narrative about the complex inner life of the heroes. Instead of the conventional golden background of Byzantine mosaics, Giotto introduces a landscape background. And if in Byzantine painting the figures seemed to float and hang in space, then the heroes of Giotto’s frescoes found solid ground under their feet. Giotto's quest to convey space, the plasticity of figures, and the expressiveness of movement made his art a whole stage in the Renaissance.

One of the famous masters of the Pre-Renaissance -

Simone Martini (1284 - 1344).

His paintings retained the features of Northern Gothic: Martini's figures are elongated, and, as a rule, on a golden background. But Martini creates images using chiaroscuro, gives them natural movement, and tries to convey a certain psychological state.

Quattrocento (early Renaissance)

Antiquity played a huge role in the formation of the secular culture of the early Renaissance. The Platonic Academy opens in Florence, the Laurentian Library contains a rich collection of ancient manuscripts. The first art museums appeared, filled with statues, fragments of ancient architecture, marbles, coins, and ceramics. During the Renaissance, the main centers of artistic life in Italy emerged - Florence, Rome, Venice.

Florence was one of the largest centers, the birthplace of new, realistic art. In the 15th century, many famous Renaissance masters lived, studied and worked there.

Early Renaissance architecture

Residents of Florence had a high artistic culture, they actively participated in the creation of city monuments, and discussed options for the construction of beautiful buildings. Architects abandoned everything that resembled Gothic. Under the influence of antiquity, buildings topped with a dome began to be considered the most perfect. The model here was the Roman Pantheon.

Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, a city-museum. It has preserved its architecture from antiquity almost intact, its most beautiful buildings being mainly built during the Renaissance. Rising above the red brick roofs of the ancient buildings of Florence is the huge building of the city cathedral. Santa Maria del Fiore, which is often called simply the Florence Cathedral. Its height reaches 107 meters. A magnificent dome, the harmony of which is emphasized by white stone ribs, crowns the cathedral. The dome is amazing in size (its diameter is 43 m), it crowns the entire panorama of the city. The cathedral is visible from almost every street in Florence, clearly silhouetted against the sky. This magnificent structure was built by an architect

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446).

The most magnificent and famous domed building of the Renaissance was St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It took more than 100 years to build. The creators of the original project were architects Bramante and Michelangelo.

Renaissance buildings are decorated with columns, pilasters, lion heads and "putti"(naked babies), plaster wreaths of flowers and fruits, leaves and many details, examples of which were found in the ruins of ancient Roman buildings. Came back into fashion semicircular arch. Wealthy people began to build more beautiful and more comfortable houses. Instead of houses closely pressed together, luxurious ones appeared palaces - palazzos.

Early Renaissance sculpture

In the 15th century, two famous sculptors worked in Florence - Donatello and Verrocchio.Donatello (1386? - 1466)- one of the first sculptors in Italy who used the experience of ancient art. He created one of the beautiful works of the early Renaissance - the statue of David.

According to the biblical legend, a simple shepherd, the young man David defeated the giant Goliath, and thereby saved the inhabitants of Judea from enslavement and later became king. David was one of the favorite images of the Renaissance. He is depicted by the sculptor not as a humble saint from the Bible, but as a young hero, winner, defender of his hometown. In his sculpture, Donatello glorifies man as the ideal of a beautiful heroic personality that arose during the Renaissance. David is crowned with the laurel wreath of the winner. Donatello was not afraid to introduce such a detail as a shepherd's hat - a sign of his simple origin. In the Middle Ages, the church forbade depicting the naked body, considering it a vessel of evil. Donatello was the first master to bravely violate this prohibition. He asserts by this that the human body is beautiful. The statue of David is the first round sculpture of that era.

Another beautiful sculpture of Donatello is also known - the statue of a warrior , general of Gattamelata. It was the first equestrian monument of the Renaissance. Created 500 years ago, this monument still stands on a high pedestal, decorating a square in the city of Padua. For the first time, not a god, not a saint, not a noble and rich person was immortalized in sculpture, but a noble, brave and formidable warrior with a great soul, who earned fame through great deeds. Dressed in antique armor, Gattemelata (this is his nickname, meaning “spotted cat”) sits on a powerful horse in a calm, majestic pose. The warrior’s facial features emphasize a decisive, strong character.

Andrea Verrocchio (1436 -1488)

The most famous student of Donatello, who created the famous equestrian monument to the condottiere Colleoni, which was erected in Venice in the square near the Church of San Giovanni. The main thing that is striking about the monument is the joint energetic movement of horse and rider. The horse seems to rush beyond the marble pedestal on which the monument is installed. Colleoni, standing up in his stirrups, stretched out, holding his head high, peers into the distance. A grimace of anger and tension was frozen on his face. There is a sense of great will in his posture, his face resembles a bird of prey. The image is filled with indestructible strength, energy, and stern authority.

Early Renaissance painting

The Renaissance also renewed the art of painting. Painters have learned to accurately convey space, light and shadow, natural poses, and various human feelings. It was the early Renaissance that was the time of accumulation of this knowledge and skills. The paintings of that time are imbued with a bright and upbeat mood. The background is often painted in light colors, and buildings and natural motifs are outlined with sharp lines, pure colors predominate. All the details of the event are depicted with naive diligence; the characters are most often lined up and separated from the background by clear contours.

The painting of the early Renaissance only strived for perfection, however, thanks to its sincerity, it touches the soul of the viewer.

Tommaso di Giovanni di Simone Cassai Guidi, known as Masaccio (1401 - 1428)

He is considered a follower of Giotto and the first master of painting of the early Renaissance. Masaccio lived only 28 years, but during his short life he left a mark on art that is difficult to overestimate. He managed to complete the revolutionary transformations begun by Giotto in painting. His paintings are distinguished by dark and deep colors. The people in Masaccio's frescoes are much denser and more powerful than in the paintings of the Gothic era.

Masaccio was the first to correctly arrange objects in space, taking into account the perspective; He began to depict people according to the laws of anatomy.

He knew how to connect figures and landscape into a single action, dramatically and at the same time quite naturally conveying the life of nature and people - and this is the great merit of the painter.

This is one of the few easel works by Masaccio, commissioned from him in 1426 for the chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Pisa.

The Madonna sits on a throne built strictly according to Giotto's laws of perspective. Her figure is painted with confident and clear strokes, which creates the impression of sculptural volume. Her face is calm and sad, her detached gaze is directed into nowhere. Wrapped in a dark blue cloak, the Virgin Mary holds in her arms the Child, whose golden figure stands out sharply against a dark background. The deep folds of the cloak allow the artist to play with chiaroscuro, which also creates a special visual effect. The baby eats black grapes - a symbol of communion. Flawlessly drawn angels (the artist knew human anatomy very well) surrounding the Madonna give the picture an additional emotional resonance.

The only panel painted by Masaccio for a double-sided triptych. After the early death of the painter, the rest of the work, commissioned by Pope Martin V for the Church of Santa Maria in Rome, was completed by the artist Masolino. Here are depicted two austere, monumentally executed figures of saints, dressed all in red. Jerome holds an open book and a model of the basilica, with a lion lying at his feet. John the Baptist is depicted in his usual form: he is barefoot and holds a cross in his hand. Both figures amaze with their anatomical precision and almost sculptural sense of volume.

Interest in man and admiration for his beauty were so great during the Renaissance that this led to the emergence of a new genre in painting - the portrait genre.

Pinturicchio (version of Pinturicchio) (1454 - 1513) (Bernardino di Betto di Biagio)

Native of Perugia in Italy. For some time he painted miniatures and helped Pietro Perugino decorate the Sistine Chapel in Rome with frescoes. Gained experience in the most complex form of decorative and monumental wall painting. Within a few years, Pinturicchio became an independent muralist. He worked on frescoes in the Borgia apartments in the Vatican. He did wall paintings in the library of the Cathedral in Siena.

The artist not only conveys portrait likeness, but strives to reveal the inner state of a person. Before us is a teenage boy, dressed in a formal pink city dweller’s dress, with a small blue cap on his head. Brown hair goes down to the shoulders, framing a gentle face, the attentive gaze of brown eyes is thoughtful, a little anxious. Behind the boy is an Umbrian landscape with thin trees, a silvery river, and a pinkish sky on the horizon. The spring tenderness of nature, as an echo of the character of the hero, is in harmony with the poetry and charm of the hero.

The image of the boy is given in the foreground, large and occupies almost the entire plane of the picture, and the landscape is painted in the background and very small. This creates the impression of the importance of man, his dominance over the surrounding nature, and affirms that man is the most beautiful creation on earth.

Here is the solemn departure of Cardinal Capranica for the Council of Basel, which lasted almost 18 years, from 1431 to 1449, first in Basel and then in Lausanne. The young Piccolomini was also in the cardinal's retinue. A group of horsemen accompanied by pages and servants is presented in an elegant frame of a semicircular arch. The event is not so real and reliable as it is chivalrously refined, almost fantastic. In the foreground, a handsome rider on a white horse, in a luxurious dress and hat, turns his head and looks at the viewer - this is Aeneas Silvio. The artist takes pleasure in painting rich clothes and beautiful horses in velvet blankets. The elongated proportions of the figures, slightly mannered movements, slight tilts of the head are close to the court ideal. The life of Pope Pius II was full of bright events, and Pinturicchio spoke about the meetings of the pope with the King of Scotland, with Emperor Frederick III.

Filippo Lippi (1406 - 1469)

Legends arose about Lippi's life. He himself was a monk, but left the monastery, became a wandering artist, kidnapped a nun from the monastery and died, poisoned by the relatives of a young woman with whom he fell in love in old age.

He painted images of the Madonna and Child, filled with living human feelings and experiences. In his paintings he depicted many details: everyday objects, surroundings, so his religious subjects were similar to secular paintings.

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 - 1494)

He painted not only religious subjects, but also scenes from the life of the Florentine nobility, their wealth and luxury, and portraits of noble people.

Before us is the wife of a rich Florentine, a friend of the artist. In this not very beautiful, luxuriously dressed young woman, the artist expressed calm, a moment of stillness and silence. The expression on the woman’s face is cold, indifferent to everything, it seems that she foresees her imminent death: soon after painting the portrait she will die. The woman is depicted in profile, which is typical for many portraits of that time.

Piero della Francesca (1415/1416 - 1492)

One of the most significant names in Italian painting of the 15th century. He completed numerous transformations in the methods of constructing the perspective of pictorial space.

The painting was painted on a poplar board with egg tempera - obviously, by this time the artist had not yet mastered the secrets of oil painting, the technique in which his later works would be painted.

The artist captured the appearance of the mystery of the Holy Trinity at the moment of the Baptism of Christ. The white dove spreading its wings over the head of Christ symbolizes the descent of the Holy Spirit onto the Savior. The figures of Christ, John the Baptist and the angels standing next to them are painted in restrained colors.
His frescoes are solemn, sublime and majestic. Francesca believed in the high destiny of man and in his works people always do wonderful things. He used subtle, gentle transitions of colors. Francesca was the first to paint en plein air (in the open air).

The appearance of the term “Renaissance” (Renaissance) dates back to the 16th century. Wrote about " renaissance"Arts of Italy - the first historiographer of Italian art, a great painter, author of the famous "Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors and Architects" (1550) - Giorgio Vasari.

This concept originates from the historical concept widespread at that time, according to which the Middle Ages were characterized by constant barbarism and ignorance that followed the fall of the great civilization of the classical archaic.

If we talk about the medieval period as something simple in the development of culture, then it is necessary to take into account the assumptions of historians of that time about art. It was believed that art, which in ancient times flourished in the ancient world, found its first revival to a new existence precisely in their time.

Spring/ Sandro Botticelli

In the initial understanding, the term “renaissance” was interpreted not so much as the name of an entire era, but rather the exact time (usually the beginning of the 14th century) of the appearance of a new art. Only after a certain period did this concept acquire a broader interpretation and began to designate in Italy and other countries the era of formation and flowering of a culture in opposition to feudalism.

Now the Middle Ages are not considered a break in the history of European artistic culture. In the last century, a thorough study of the art of the Middle Ages began, which has greatly intensified in the last half century. It led to its revaluation and even showed that renaissance art owes a lot to the medieval era.

But one should not talk about the Renaissance as a trivial continuation of the Middle Ages. Some modern Western European historians have made attempts to blur the line between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, but have never found confirmation in historical facts. In fact, an analysis of the cultural monuments of the Renaissance indicates a rejection of most of the basic beliefs of the feudal worldview.

Allegory of love and time/ Agnola Bronzino

Medieval asceticism and insight into everything worldly is being replaced by an insatiable interest in the real world with the grandeur and beauty of nature and, of course, in man. Belief in the superpowers of the human mind as the highest criterion of truth led to the precarious position of the untouchable primacy of theology over science, so characteristic of the Middle Ages. The subordination of the human personality to church and feudal authorities is replaced by the principle of the free development of individuality.

Members of the newly minted secular intelligentsia paid all attention to human aspects as opposed to the divine and called themselves humanists (from the concept of the times of Cicero “studia hmnanitatis”, meaning the study of everything connected with the nature of man and his spiritual world). This term is a reflection of a new attitude to reality, the anthropocentrism of Renaissance culture.

A wide range of creative impulses was opened during the period of the first heroic onslaught on the feudal world. People of this era have already abandoned the networks of the past, but have not yet found new ones. They believed that their possibilities were limitless. It was from this that the birth of optimism, which is so characteristic of Renaissance culture.

Sleeping Venus/ Giorgione

A cheerful character and endless faith in life gave rise to a belief in the infinite possibilities for the mind and the possibility of personality development harmoniously and without barriers.
Fine art of the Renaissance in many respects it contrasts with the medieval one. European artistic culture developed in the development of realism. This leaves an imprint both on the spread of images of a secular nature, the development of landscape and portraiture, close to the genre interpretation of sometimes religious subjects, and on the radical renewal of the entire artistic organization.

Medieval art was based on the idea of ​​the hierarchical structure of the universe, the culmination of which was outside the circle of earthly existence, which occupied one of the last places in this hierarchy. There was a devaluation of earthly real connections and phenomena in time with space, since the main task of art was to visually personify the scale of values ​​​​created by theology.

During the Renaissance, the speculative artistic system fades away, and in its place comes a system that is based on knowledge and an objective image of the world that appears to man. That is why one of the main tasks of Renaissance artists was the issue of reflecting space.

In the 15th century, this issue was comprehended everywhere, with the only difference that the north of Europe (the Netherlands) moved towards the objective construction of space in stages through empirical observations, and the foundation of Italy already in the first half of the century was based on geometry and optics.

David/ Donatello

This assumption, which gives the possibility of constructing a three-dimensional image on a plane that would be oriented towards the viewer, taking into account his point of view, served as a victory over the concept of the Middle Ages. A visual depiction of a person reveals the anthropocentric orientation of the new artistic culture.

The culture of the Renaissance clearly demonstrates the characteristic connection between science and art. A special role was assigned to the cognitive principle in order to depict the world and people fairly truthfully. Of course, the search for support for artists in science led to the stimulation of the development of science itself. During the Renaissance, many artist-scientists appeared, led by Leonardo da Vinci.

New approaches to art also dictated a new manner of depicting the human figure and conveying actions. The former idea of ​​the Middle Ages about the canonicity of gestures, facial expressions and permissible arbitrariness in proportions did not correspond to an objective view of the world around us.

For the works of the Renaissance, the behavior of a person is inherent, subject not to rituals or canons, but to psychological conditioning and the development of actions. Artists are trying to bring the proportions of figures closer to reality. They go to this in different ways, so in the northern countries of Europe this happens empirically, and in Italy the study of real forms occurs in conjunction with the knowledge of the monuments of classical antiquity (the north of Europe is introduced only later).

The ideals of humanism permeate Renaissance art, creating the image of a beautiful, harmoniously developed person. Renaissance art is characterized by titanism of passions, characters and heroism.

Renaissance masters create images that embody a proud awareness of one's own powers, the limitlessness of human possibilities in the field of creativity and true faith in the freedom of one's will. Many works of Renaissance art are consonant with this expression of the famous Italian humanism Pico della Mirandola: “Oh, the wondrous and sublime purpose of a person who is given the opportunity to achieve what he strives for and to be what he wants.”

Leda and the Swan/ Leonardo da Vinci

If the character of fine art was largely determined by the desire to display reality truthfully, then an appeal to the classical tradition played an important role in the formation of new architectural forms. This consisted not only in the recreation of the ancient order system and in the renunciation of Gothic configurations, but also in classical proportionality, the anthropocentric nature of the new architecture and in the design of centric buildings in temple architecture, where the interior space was easily visible.

In the field of civil architecture, many new creations were created. Thus, during the Renaissance, multi-story city public buildings: town halls, universities, houses of merchant guilds, educational institutions, warehouses, markets, warehouses received more elegant decoration. A type of city palace, or otherwise a palazzo, appears - the house of a wealthy burgher, as well as a type of country villa. New systems of facade decoration are being formed, a new structural system of a brick building is being developed (preserved in European construction until the 20th century), combining brick and wooden floors. City planning problems are being resolved in a new way, and city centers are being reconstructed.

The new architectural style came to life with the help of developed craft construction techniques prepared by the Middle Ages. Basically, Renaissance architects were directly involved in the design of a building, directing its implementation in reality. As a rule, they also had a number of other specialties related to architecture, such as: sculptor, painter, and sometimes decorator. The combination of skills contributed to the growth of the artistic quality of the structures.

If we compare it with the Middle Ages, when the main customers of works were large feudal lords and the church, now the circle of customers is expanding with a change in the social composition. Guild associations of artisans, merchant guilds and even private individuals (nobles, burghers), along with the church, quite often give orders to artists.

The social status of the artist also changes. Despite the fact that artists are in search and enter the workshops, they often receive awards and high honors, take places in city councils and carry out diplomatic assignments.
There is an evolution in man's attitude towards fine art. If earlier it was on the level of craft, now it is on a par with the sciences, and works of art for the first time begin to be considered as the result of spiritual creative activity.

Last Judgment/ Michelangelo

The emergence of new techniques and art forms was provoked by expanding demand and an increase in the number of secular customers. Monumental forms are accompanied by easel forms: painting on canvas or wood, sculpture made of wood, majolica, bronze, terracotta. The ever-growing demand for works of art led to the emergence of wood and metal engravings - the most inexpensive and most popular form of art. This technique made it possible for the first time to reproduce images in large numbers.
One of the main features of the Italian Renaissance is the widespread use of the traditions of ancient heritage that do not die in the Mediterranean region. Here, interest in classical antiquity appeared very early - even in the works of artists of the Italian Proto-Renaissance from Piccolo and Giovanni Pisano to Ambrogio Lorszetti.

The study of antiquity in the 15th century became one of the key tasks of humanistic studies. There is a significant expansion of information about the culture of the ancient world. Many manuscripts of previously unknown works by ancient authors were found in the libraries of old monasteries. The search for works of art made it possible to discover many ancient statues, reliefs, and, over time, fresco paintings of Ancient Rome. They were constantly studied by artists. Examples include the surviving news of Donatello and Brunelleschi’s trip to Rome to measure and sketch monuments of ancient Roman architecture and sculpture, the works of Leon Battista Alberti, Raphael’s study of newly discovered reliefs and painting, and how the young Michelangelo copied ancient sculpture. The art of Italy was enriched (due to the constant appeal to antiquity) with a mass of new techniques, motifs, and forms for that time, at the same time giving a touch of heroic idealization, which was completely absent in the works of artists of Northern Europe.

There was another main feature of the Italian Renaissance - its rationalism. Many Italian artists worked on the formation of the scientific foundations of art. Thus, in the circle of Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Donatello, the theory of linear perspective was formed, which was then outlined in the 1436 treatise by Leon Battista Alberti, “The Book of Painting.” A large number of artists participated in the development of the theory of perspective, in particular Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca, who wrote the treatise “On Pictorial Perspective” in 1484-1487. It is in it that, finally, one can see attempts to apply mathematical theory to the construction of the human figure.

It is also worth noting other cities and regions of Italy that played a prominent role in the development of art: in the 14th century - Siena, in the 15th century - Umbria, Padua, Venice, Ferrara. In the 16th century, the diversity of local schools faded (the only exception being the original Venice) and for some period the leading artistic forces of the country concentrated in Rome.

Differences in the formation and development of art in individual regions of Italy do not interfere with the creation and subordination of a general pattern, which allows us to outline the main stages of development Italian Renaissance. Modern art history divides the history of the Italian Renaissance into four stages: Proto-Renaissance (late 13th - first half of the 14th century), Early Renaissance (15th century), High Renaissance (late 15th - first three decades of the 16th century) and Late Renaissance (mid and second half of the 16th century) .

Italian Renaissance (25:24)

A wonderful film by Vladimir Ptashchenko, released as part of the Masterpieces of the Hermitage series

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Federal Agency for Railway Transport

Siberian State Transport University

Department of Philosophy

ARTISTIC IMAGES OF THE RENAISSANCE ERA

Essay

In the discipline "Culturology"

Head Developed

Professor student gr. D-111

Bystrova A.N. ___________ Kamyshova E.V.

(signature) (signature)

08.12.2012

(date of inspection) (date of submission for inspection)

year 2012

Introduction

The Renaissance is considered one of the brightest periods in the history of the development of European culture. We can say that the Renaissance is an entire cultural era in the process of transition from the Middle Ages to modern times, during which a cultural revolution (turn, shift) took place. Fundamental changes are associated with the elimination of mythology.

Despite the origin of the term Renaissance (French Renaissance, “renaissance”), there was not and could not be a revival of antiquity. A person cannot return to his past. The Renaissance, using the lessons of antiquity, introduced innovations. He did not bring back to life all ancient genres, but only those that were characteristic of the aspirations of his time and culture. The Renaissance combined a new reading of antiquity with a new reading of Christianity.

The relevance of the chosen topic is due to the connection between the modern era and the Renaissance - this is a revolution, first of all, in the value system, in the assessment of all things and the attitude towards it.

The main goal of the work is to show the fundamental changes that have occurred in the worldview of the greatest figures of the era in question.

1. Renaissance culture

XIII - XVI The centuries were a time of great change in economics, politics and culture. The rapid growth of cities and the development of crafts, and later the transition to manufacturing, transformed the appearance of medieval Europe.

Cities began to come to the fore. Not long before this, the most powerful forces of the medieval world - the empire and the papacy - were experiencing a deep crisis. IN XVI century, the disintegrating Holy Roman Empire of the German nation became the scene of the first two anti-feudal revolutions - the Great Peasant War in Germany and the Dutch Uprising.

The transitional nature of the era, the process of liberation from medieval ways taking place in all areas of life, at the same time, the still underdevelopment of emerging capitalist relations could not but affect the characteristics of artistic culture and aesthetic thought of that time.

According to A.V. Stepanov, all changes in the life of society were accompanied by a broad renewal of culture - the flourishing of natural and exact sciences, literature in national languages, and fine arts. Originating in the cities of Italy, this renewal then spread to other European countries. The author believes that after the advent of printing, unprecedented opportunities opened up for the dissemination of literary and scientific works, and more regular and closer communication between countries contributed to the penetration of new artistic movements.

This did not mean that the Middle Ages retreated to new trends: traditional ideas were preserved in the mass consciousness. The church resisted new ideas using a medieval means - the Inquisition. The idea of ​​human freedom continued to exist in a society divided into classes. The feudal form of peasant dependence did not completely disappear, and in some countries (Germany, Central Europe) there was a return to serfdom. The feudal system showed quite great resilience. Each European country lived it in its own way and within its own chronological framework. Capitalism existed as a way of life for a long time, covering only part of production in both the city and the countryside. However, patriarchal medieval slowness began to recede into the past.

The Great Geographical Discoveries played a huge role in this breakthrough. For example, in 1492 H. Columbus, in search of a route to India, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed at the Bahamas, discovering a new continent - America. In 1498 The Spanish explorer Vasco da Gama, having circumnavigated Africa, successfully brought his ships to the shores of India. WITH XVI V. Europeans penetrate into China and Japan, about which they previously had only the vaguest idea. In 1510 the conquest of America began. IN XVII V. Australia was discovered. The idea of ​​the shape of the earth has changed: F. Magellan's trip around the world confirmed the guess that it has the shape of a ball.

Contempt for everything earthly is now replaced by a greedy interest in the real world, in man, in the consciousness of the beauty and greatness of nature, which could be proven by analyzing the cultural monuments of the Renaissance. The primacy of theology over science, unquestioned in the Middle Ages, is shaken by faith in the unlimited possibilities of the human mind, which becomes the highest standard of truth. Emphasizing an interest in the human as opposed to the divine, representatives of the new secular intelligentsia called themselves humanists, deriving this word from the concept “ studio humanitanis ", which meant the study of everything related to human nature and his spiritual world.

The works and art of the Renaissance became characterized by the idea of ​​a free being with unlimited creative possibilities. It is associated with anthropocentrism in the aesthetics of the Renaissance and the understanding of the beautiful, sublime, and heroic. The principle of a beautiful, artistically creative human personality was combined among the theoreticians of the Renaissance with an attempt to mathematically calculate all kinds of proportions, symmetry, and perspective.

Aesthetic and artistic thinking of this era is for the first time based on human perception as such and on a sensually real picture of the world. What is also striking here is the subjectivist-individualistic thirst for life sensations, regardless of their religious and moral interpretation, although the latter, in principle, is not denied. The aesthetics of the Renaissance orients art towards imitation of nature. However, in the first place here is not so much nature as the artist, who in his creative activity becomes like God.

E. Chamberlin considers pleasure to be one of the most important principles of perception of works of art, because this indicates a significant democratic tendency as opposed to the scholastic “scholarship” of previous aesthetic theories.

The aesthetic thought of the Renaissance contains not only the idea of ​​the absolutization of the human individual as opposed to the divine personality in the Middle Ages, but also a certain awareness of the limitations of such individualism, based on the absolute self-affirmation of the individual. Hence the motives of tragedy found in the works of W. Shakespeare, M. Cervantes, Michelangelo and others. This is the inconsistency of a culture that has moved away from ancient-medieval absolutes, but due to historical circumstances has not yet found new reliable foundations.

The connection between art and science is one of the characteristic features of culture. Artists sought support in the sciences, often stimulating their development. The Renaissance was marked by the emergence of scientific artists, among whom the first place belongs to Leonardo da Vinci.

Thus, one of the tasks of the Renaissance is for man to comprehend a world filled with divine beauty. The world attracts man because it is spiritualized by God. But during the Renaissance, there was another tendency - a person’s feeling of the tragedy of his existence.

2. Image of the world and man in the works of great masters Renaissance

The term "Renaissance" (translation of the French term "Renaissance") indicates the connection of the new culture with antiquity. As a result of their acquaintance with the East, in particular with Byzantium, during the era of the Crusades, Europeans became acquainted with ancient humanistic manuscripts and various monuments of ancient fine art and architecture. All these antiquities began to be partially transported to Italy, where they were collected and studied. But in Italy itself there were many ancient Roman monuments, which also began to be carefully studied by representatives of the Italian urban intelligentsia. Italian society developed a deep interest in classical ancient languages, ancient philosophy, history and literature. The city of Florence played a particularly large role in this movement. A number of outstanding figures of the new culture emerged from Florence.

Using ancient ideology, once created in the most economically vibrant cities of antiquity, the new bourgeoisie processed it in its own way, formulating its own new worldview, sharply opposed to the previously dominant worldview of feudalism. The second name of the new Italian culture - humanism - just proves this.

Humanistic culture placed the person himself (humanus - human) at the center of its attention, and not the divine, otherworldly, as was the case in medieval ideology. There was no longer any place for asceticism in the humanistic worldview. The human body, its passions and needs were viewed not as something “sinful” that had to be suppressed or tortured, but as an end in itself, as the most important thing in life. Earthly existence was recognized as the only real one. Knowledge of nature and man was declared the essence of science. In contrast to the pessimistic motives that dominated the worldview of medieval scholastics and mystics, optimistic motives prevailed in the worldview and mood of the people of the Renaissance; They were characterized by faith in man, in the future of humanity, in the triumph of human reason and enlightenment. A galaxy of outstanding poets and writers, scientists and artists of various types participated in this new great intellectual movement. Such wonderful artists brought glory to Italy: Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgione, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian.

An undoubted achievement of the Renaissance was the geometrically correct design of the painting. The artist built the image using the techniques he developed. The main thing for painters of that time was to maintain the proportions of objects. Even nature fell under mathematical techniques.

In other words, artists during the Renaissance sought to convey an accurate image of, for example, a person against a background of nature. If we compare it with modern techniques of recreating a seen image on some canvas, then, most likely, photography with subsequent adjustments will help to understand what the Renaissance artists were striving for.

Renaissance painters believed that they had the right to correct the shortcomings of nature, that is, if a person had ugly facial features, the artists corrected them in such a way that the face became sweet and attractive.

By depicting biblical stories, Renaissance artists tried to make it clear that the earthly manifestations of man can be depicted more clearly if biblical stories are used. You can understand what the Fall, temptation, hell or heaven is if you start getting acquainted with the work of artists of that time. The same image of the Madonna conveys to us the beauty of a woman, and also carries within itself an understanding of earthly human love.

Thus, in the art of the Renaissance, the paths of scientific and artistic comprehension of the world and man were closely intertwined. Its cognitive meaning was inextricably linked with sublime poetic beauty; in its desire for naturalness, it did not stoop to petty everyday life. Art has become a universal spiritual need.

Conclusion

So, the Renaissance, or Renaissance, is an era in the life of mankind, marked by a colossal rise in art and science. The Renaissance proclaimed man as the highest value of life.

In art, the main theme was a person with unlimited spiritual and creative potential.The art of the Renaissance laid the foundations of European culture of the New Age and radically changed all major types of art.

New types of public buildings have emerged in architecture.Painting was enriched by linear and aerial perspective, knowledge of the anatomy and proportions of the human body.Earthly content penetrated into the traditional religious themes of works of art. Interest in ancient mythology, history, everyday scenes, landscapes, and portraits increased. A picture appeared, oil painting appeared. The creative individuality of the artist came first in art.

In the art of the Renaissance, the paths of scientific and artistic comprehension of the world and man were closely intertwined.Art has become a universal spiritual need.

Of course, the Renaissance is one of the most beautiful eras in human history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. KUSTODIEVA T.K. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART OF THE XIII-XVI CENTURIES (ESSAY-GUIDE) / T.K. KUSTODIEVA, ART, 1985. 318 P.
2. IMAGES OF LOVE AND BEAUTY IN THE RENAISSANCE CULTURE / L.M. BRAGINA, M., 2008. 309 P.
3. STEPANOV A.V. RENAISSANCE ART. ITALY XIV-XV CENTURIES / A.V. STEPANOV, M., 2007. 610 P.
4. STEPANOV A.V. RENAISSANCE ART. NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, FRANCE, SPAIN, ENGLAND / A.V. STEPANOV, ABC-CLASSICS, 2009. 640 P.
5. CHAMBERLIN E. RENAISSANCE. LIFE, RELIGION, CULTURE / E. CHAMBERLIN, CENTERPOLYGRAPH, 2006. 240 P.

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 a bang and spread in 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. A characteristic element of the landscapes was varied and lush vegetation. The blue-hued skies, pierced by 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.