Characteristics of the early revival. Definition of the term "Renaissance". What does the term "Renaissance" mean?

27.07.2020

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International Banking Institute

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Abstract on cultural studies

Topic: “The Renaissance and the reasons for its appearance”

Completed by: Sinyakova E.P..

Checked:Bydanov V.E..

Saint Petersburg - 2015

Introduction

1. General characteristics of the Renaissance

2. Reasons for the emergence of the Renaissance

3. Revival in Russia

4. Renaissance periods

5. Renaissance culture

Conclusion

References

Introduction

The Renaissance (Renaissance) is a period of cultural and ideological development of European countries. All European countries went through this period, but for each country, due to uneven socio-economic development, there is its own historical framework for the Renaissance.

The Renaissance arose in Italy, where its first signs were noticeable back in the 13th and 14th centuries (in the activities of the Pisano, Giotto, Orcagni families, etc.), but it was firmly established only in the 20s of the 15th century. In France, Germany and other countries this movement began much later. By the end of the 15th century it reached its peak. In the 16th century, a crisis of Renaissance ideas was brewing, resulting in the emergence of Mannerism and Baroque.

The term “Renaissance” began to be used back in the 16th century. in relation to fine arts. The author of “The Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors and Architects” (1550), the Italian artist D. Vasari, wrote about the “revival” of art in Italy after many years of decline during the Middle Ages. Later, the concept of “Renaissance” acquired a broader meaning.

1. Total xCharacteristics of the Renaissance

The Renaissance is the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of a new era, the beginning of the transition from a feudal medieval society to a bourgeois one, when the foundations of the feudal social way of life were shaken, and bourgeois-capitalist relations had not yet developed with all their merchant morality and soulless hypocrisy. Already in the depths of feudalism, large craft guilds existed in free cities, which became the basis of manufacturing production of the New Age, and a bourgeois class began to take shape here. It manifested itself with particular consistency and force in Italian cities, which already at the turn of the XIV - XV centuries. embarked on the path of capitalist development in Dutch cities, as well as in some Rhine and southern German cities of the 15th century. Here, in conditions of not fully established capitalist relations, a strong and free urban society developed. Its development took place in a constant struggle, which was partly trade competition and partly a struggle for political power. However, the circle of dissemination of Renaissance culture was much wider and covered the territories of France, Spain, England, the Czech Republic, and Poland, where new trends appeared with varying strength and in specific forms.

This is also the period of formation of nations, since it was at this time that the royal power, relying on the townspeople, broke the power of the feudal nobility. From associations that were states only in geographical terms, large monarchies are formed, based on a common historical destiny, on nationalities.

It was a time of unprecedented development of trade between countries, a time of great geographical discoveries, at which time the foundations of modern science were laid, in particular natural science with its fundamental discoveries and inventions. The turning point for this process was the invention of printing. in various forms it permeated and perpetuated the Renaissance. Literature reached a high level and, with the invention of printing, received unprecedented distribution opportunities. Revived ancient manuscripts, newly published or translated, could cross the boundaries of space and time like never before. It became possible to reproduce on paper any type of knowledge and any achievements of science, which greatly facilitated learning. Without printing, classical education would have been available only to a narrow circle of scientists, and scientific discoveries would have been known to a small number of people.

The founders of humanism in Italy are considered to be Petrarch and Boccaccio - poets, scientists and experts on antiquity. The central place that logic and the philosophy of Aristotle occupied in the system of medieval scholastic education is now beginning to be occupied by rhetoric and Cicero. The study of rhetoric was, according to humanists, to provide the key to the spiritual makeup of antiquity; mastery of the language and style of the ancients was considered as mastery of their thinking and worldview and the most important stage in the liberation of the individual. The Latin language, which had previously been the language of science and literature, was cleansed during the Renaissance from medieval corruption and restored to its classical purity. Greek, the knowledge of which had been lost in medieval Europe, becomes the subject of zealous study. The works of the ancients are sought out, copied, and published. In the 15th century The composition of the monuments of ancient literature that has reached us has been almost completely collected

The study of Antiquity left its mark on religious views and morals. Although many humanists were pious, blind dogmatism died. The Chancellor of the Florentine Republic, Caluccio Salutatti, declared that Holy Scripture is nothing more than poetry. However, there have always been fears that the study of ancient authors conflicts with the service of Christ, and a deep immersion in ancient philosophy could undermine faith in Christ altogether. It is no coincidence that the Holy Inquisition developed its activities on the most scale during the Renaissance.

The nobility's love for wealth and splendor, the pomp of the cardinal's palaces and the Vatican itself were provocative. Church positions were seen by many prelates as a convenient feeding ground and access to political power. Rome itself, in the eyes of some, turned into a real biblical Babylon, where corruption, unbelief and licentiousness reigned. This led to a split within the church and to the emergence of reformist movements.

However, the era of free urban communes was short-lived; they were replaced by tyrannies. The trade rivalry between the cities eventually turned into a bloody rivalry. Already in the second half of the 16th century, a feudal-Catholic reaction began. The humanistic bright ideals of the Renaissance are replaced by moods of pessimism and anxiety, intensified by individualistic tendencies. A number of Italian states are experiencing political and economic decline, they are losing their independence, social enslavement and impoverishment of the masses are occurring, and class contradictions are intensifying.

The perception of the world becomes more complex, a person’s dependence on the environment is more realized, ideas about the variability of life develop, and the ideals of harmony and integrity of the universe are lost. In such a complex world, the artists of the Renaissance worked, embodying in art the ideal they dreamed of and believed in the triumph of, completing in art what remained unrealizable in life.

2. Causes of the Renaissance

In different countries, the Renaissance arose and reached its peak at different times. It began first in Italy - the 14th century, and in the 16th century. Renaissance culture became a pan-European phenomenon: Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, England - a cultural revolution took place in all these countries. The colossal achievements of spiritual culture in this era are widely known; they have long been the subject of the closest attention, admiration, study and comprehension.

The emergence of Renaissance culture was prepared by a number of pan-European and local historical conditions. In its essence, the culture of revival was the culture of a transitional era from the feudal system to the capitalist one. At this time, national states and absolute monarchies emerged, the bourgeoisie rose in the fight against feudal reaction, deep social conflicts occurred - the Peasants' War in Germany, religious wars in France, the Dutch bourgeois revolution.

The creators of Renaissance culture came from a variety of social strata, and its achievements in the humanities, art, and architecture became the property of the entire society, although to a greater extent - the educated and wealthy part of it. Representatives of large merchants, feudal nobility, rulers of European states and the papal court showed interest in the new culture and financially stimulated its development. However, not in all cases the upper strata were attracted by the ideological side of the Renaissance; the high level of education, the artistic merits of literature and art, new forms of architecture, and fashion were incomparably more important to them.

The ideological basis of the Renaissance was humanism, a secular - rationalistic worldview. Italian humanists borrowed the word “humanitas” (humanity) from Cicero (1st century BC), who at one time wanted to emphasize to them that the concept of “humanity”, as the most important result of the culture developed in the ancient Greek city-states, was instilled in the Roman soil. Therefore, already in Cicero’s understanding, humanism meant a kind of rebirth of man. The ancient heritage played a decisive role in the formation of Renaissance culture. The achievements of the ancients were the starting point for the revivalists. Italian humanists, and after them the humanists of other countries, found in classical antiquity an independent philosophy and science independent of religion, wonderful secular poetry and art that had reached unprecedented artistic heights and perfection, and public institutions built on democratic principles. At the same time, it was always about not only the assimilation, but also the original processing of the ancient tradition. There is an assimilation of ancient and medieval cultures.

The formation of a new culture was prepared by public consciousness. The role of mental labor is greatly increasing, which is reflected in the large increase in the number of people in liberal professions. This is due to the collapse of corporate-guild ties in cities and the strengthening of the role of the individual in them. These processes were naturally accompanied by the fact that the most capable sons of merchants, traders, teachers, notaries, representatives of the nobility, and less often, the sons of artisans and peasants, in accordance with their inclinations, became artists, architects, sculptors, doctors, and writers. The most outstanding humanists became scientists and philosophers.

Ties with the church are weakening, since many humanists lived on income received from their professional activities, and hostility to official scholarship, imbued with the church-scholastic spirit, is increasing. At the same time, there is a decline in the moral and political authority of the papacy, associated with the events of its “captivity at Avignon” (1309-1375), and frequent schisms in the Catholic Church.

3. Revival in Russia.

The Renaissance trends that existed in Italy and Central Europe influenced Russia in many ways, although this influence was very 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 Byzantine heritage on the other hand.

Tsar Ivan III can be considered the founder of the Renaissance in Russia, since it was under him that a number of architects from Italy began working in Russia, who brought new construction technologies and some elements of the Renaissance, without generally moving away from the traditional design of Russian architecture. In 1475, the architect from Bologna, Aristotle Fioravanti, was invited to restore the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, damaged during an earthquake. The architect used the 12th century Vladimir Cathedral as a model, and developed a design that combines traditional Russian style with the Renaissance sense of spaciousness, proportion and symmetry.

In 1485, Ivan III entrusted the construction of the Terem Palace in the Kremlin to Aleviz Fryazin the Old. He is the architect of the first three floors. In addition, Aleviz Fryazin the Old, along with other Italian architects, made a great contribution to the construction of the Kremlin walls and towers. The Faceted Chamber, which served as the venue for receptions and feasts of the Russian Tsars, is the work of two other Italians, Marco Ruffo and Pietro Solari, and is even more strongly marked by the Italian style. In 1505, an Italian architect, known in Russia as Aleviz the New or Aleviz Fryazin, arrived in Moscow. Perhaps it was the Venetian sculptor Aleviz Lamberti da Montagne. He built 12 churches for Ivan III, including the Archangel Cathedral, also noted for its successful blending of Russian tradition, Orthodox canons and Renaissance style. It is believed that the Cathedral of Metropolitan Peter in the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery, another work of Aleviz Novy, served as a model for the so-called “octagon on quadrangle” architectural form.

However, from the beginning of the 16th to the end of the 17th century, original traditions of building stone tented temples were developed in Russia. It was a completely unique phenomenon, different from Renaissance architecture in other European countries, although some researchers call it "Russian Gothic", comparing this style with European architecture of the early Gothic period. The Italians, with their advanced technologies, could influence the appearance of stone hipped roofs (wooden hipped roofs were known in Russia and Europe long before that). According to one hypothesis, the Italian architect Petrok Maly may have been the author of the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye, one of the first and most famous tent churches.

By the 17th century, as a result of the influence of Renaissance painting, Russian icons became a little more realistic, while at the same time following the oldest canons of icon painting, such as in the works of Bogdan Saltanov, Simon Ushakov, Gury Nikitin, Karp Zolotarev and other Russian artists. Gradually, a new type of secular portrait appeared - the parsun, which was an intermediate stage between abstract iconography and paintings reflecting the real features of the person being portrayed.

In the middle of the 16th century, books began to be printed in Rus', and Ivan Fedorov was the first famous Russian printer. In the 17th century, printing became widespread and woodcuts became especially popular. This led to the development of a special form of folk art known as lubok, which persisted in Russia into the 19th century. A number of Renaissance technologies were adopted by the Russians from Europe quite early, and, refined, they subsequently became part of a strong domestic tradition. These were mainly military technologies, such as cannon casting, dating back to the 15th century. The Tsar Cannon, which is the largest cannon in the world by caliber, was cast in 1586 by a craftsman named Andrei Chokhov, and is also notable for its rich decoration. Another technology, which, according to one hypothesis, was originally brought from Europe by the Italians, led to the creation of vodka. Back in 1386, Genoese ambassadors first brought “living water” to Moscow and presented it to Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy. The Genoese probably obtained this drink with the help of the alchemists of Provence, who used a distillation apparatus developed by the Arabs to convert grape must into alcohol. The Moscow monk Isidore used this technology to produce the first original Russian vodka in 1430.

4 . Renaissance periods

The revival is divided into 4 stages:

· Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the 13th century - 14th century)

· Early Renaissance (beginning of the 15th - end of the 15th century)

· High Renaissance (late 15th - first 20 years of the 16th century)

· Late Renaissance (mid-16th - 90s of the 16th century)

Proto-Renaissance

The Proto-Renaissance is closely connected with the Middle Ages, with Romanesque and Gothic traditions; this period was the preparation for 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 struck Italy. At the end of the 13th century, the main temple building was erected in Florence - the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the author was Arnolfo di Cambio, then the work was continued by Giotto, who designed the campanile of the Florence Cathedral.

The earliest art of the proto-Renaissance appeared in sculpture (Niccolò 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 of painting. Renaissance artists considered him a reformer of painting. Giotto outlined the path along which its development took place: filling religious forms with secular content, a gradual transition from flat images to three-dimensional and relief ones, an increase in realism, introduced the plastic volume of figures into painting, and depicted the interior in painting.

Early Renaissance

The period of the so-called “Early Renaissance” covers the period from 1420 to 1500 in Italy. During these eighty years, art is not yet completely different from the legends of the recent past, but at the same time it does not “realize” the new axioms of human life, the very elements borrowed from classical antiquity. Only later, and only little by little, under the influence of increasingly changing conditions of life and culture, do 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 for a long time adhered to the traditions of the Gothic style. North of the Alps, and also in Spain, the Renaissance does not begin until the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts until approximately 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 extends in Italy from approximately 1500 to 1527. At this time, the center of influence of Italian art from Florence moved to Rome, thanks to the accession to the papal throne of Julius II - an ambitious, courageous, enterprising man who attracted the best artists of Italy to his court, occupied them with numerous and important works and gave others an example of love for art. Under this Pope and under his immediate successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the time of Pericles: many monumental buildings are built there, magnificent sculptural works are created, frescoes and paintings are painted, which are still considered the pearls of painting; at the same time, all three branches of art harmoniously go hand in hand, helping one another and mutually influencing each other. Antiquity is now studied more thoroughly, reproduced with greater rigor and consistency; calm and dignity replace the playful beauty that was the aspiration of the previous period; memories of the medieval completely disappear, and a completely classical imprint falls on all creations of art. But imitation of the ancients does not drown out their independence in artists, and they, with great resourcefulness and vividness of imagination, freely rework and apply to their work what they consider appropriate to borrow for themselves from ancient Greco-Roman art.

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

Late Renaissance

The late Renaissance in Italy covers the period from the 1530s to the 1590s-1620s. Some researchers also consider the 1630s to be part of the Late Renaissance, but this position is controversial among art critics and historians. The art and culture of this time are so diverse in their manifestations that it is possible to reduce them to one denominator only with a large degree of convention. For example, the Encyclopedia Britannica writes that "The Renaissance as a coherent historical period ended with the fall of Rome in 1527." In Southern Europe, the Counter-Reformation triumphed, which looked warily at any free thought, including the glorification of the human body and the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity as the cornerstones of Renaissance ideology. Worldview contradictions and a general feeling of crisis resulted in Florence 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 in the art of Florence and Rome.

Northern Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance had little influence on other countries until 1450. After 1500 the style spread across the continent, but many late Gothic influences persisted even into the Baroque era.

The Renaissance period in the Netherlands, Germany and France is usually identified as a separate style movement, which has some differences with the Renaissance in Italy, and is called the “Northern Renaissance”.

“Love Struggle in the Dream of Poliphilus” (1499) is one of the highest achievements of Renaissance printing

The most noticeable stylistic differences are in painting: 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 ancient heritage and knowledge of human anatomy.

Outstanding representatives - Albrecht Durer, Hans Holbein the Younger, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Some works of late Gothic masters, such as Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling, are also imbued with the pre-Renaissance spirit.

5 . Renaissance culture

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

A newly understood ancient heritage played an important role in the development of Renaissance art. The influence of antiquity had the greatest impact on the formation of the Renaissance culture in Italy, where many monuments of ancient Roman art were preserved. “In the manuscripts saved during the fall of Byzantium,” wrote F. Engels, “in the ancient statues dug out of the ruins of Rome, a new world appeared before the astonished West - Greek antiquity; the ghosts of the Middle Ages disappeared before her bright images; in Italy there came an unprecedented flowering of art, which was, as it were, a reflection of classical antiquity and which could never be achieved again.”

The victory of the secular principle in the culture of the Renaissance was a consequence of the social affirmation of the growing strength of the bourgeoisie. However, the humanistic orientation of Renaissance art, its optimism, the heroic and social character of its images objectively expressed the interests of not only the young bourgeoisie, but also all progressive strata of society as a whole. The art of the Renaissance was formed in conditions when the consequences of the capitalist division of labor, detrimental to the development of the individual, had not yet had time to manifest themselves; courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, and strength of character had not yet lost their significance. This created the illusion of infinity in the further progressive development of human abilities. The ideal of a titanic personality was affirmed in art. The comprehensive brightness of the characters of the people of the Renaissance, which was reflected in art, is largely explained by the fact that “the heroes of that time had not yet become slaves to the division of labor, limiting, creating one-sidedness, the influence of which we so often observe in their successors.”

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

New demands facing art have led to the enrichment of its types and genres. Fresco is becoming widespread in monumental Italian painting. Since the 15th century Easel painting occupies an increasingly important place, in the development of which Dutch masters played a special role. Along with the previously existing genres of religious and mythological painting, which were filled with new meaning, the portrait emerged, and historical and landscape painting emerged. In Germany and the Netherlands, where the popular movement created a need for art that quickly and actively responded to current events, engraving became widespread and was often used in the decoration of books. The process of isolation of sculpture, which began in the Middle Ages, is being completed; Along with the decorative plastic arts that adorn the buildings, independent round sculpture appears - easel and monumental. The decorative relief takes on the character of a perspectively constructed multi-figure composition.

Turning to the ancient heritage in search of an ideal, inquisitive minds discovered the world of classical antiquity, searched for the works of ancient authors in monastic repositories, dug up fragments of columns and statues, bas-reliefs and precious utensils. The process of assimilation and processing of the ancient heritage was accelerated by the resettlement of Greek scientists and artists from Byzantium, which was captured by the Turks in 1453, to Italy. In the saved manuscripts, in the dug up statues and bas-reliefs, a new world, hitherto unknown, opened up to amazed Europe - ancient culture with its ideal of earthly beauty, deeply human and tangible. This world gave birth in people to a great love for the beauty of the world and a persistent will to understand this world.

renaissance cultural proto-renaissance philosophy

Conclusion

Philosophers of the Renaissance paid the bulk of their attention to understanding the essence of the human and the divine, their connection with each other. Basically, they argued that a person must make himself, in one way or another, know his soul, which is his connection with God, the peak that he needs to conquer. All of them distinguished man from the rest of the world, from all things. Basically, all directions of philosophy of that time supported the humanistic theory of man as a “microcosm”, a separate world with its own laws and rules. Only the ways of knowing and improving this world differed. But everywhere this path led to the search for the divine within oneself. Moreover, M. Montaigne expressed the idea of the difference between people and the finding of their own, individual path by each person separately.

The philosophical thinking of this time is characterized by duality and inconsistency, but this does not detract from its significance for the subsequent development of philosophy and does not call into question the merits of Renaissance thinkers in overcoming medieval scholasticism and the creation of knowledge of the foundations of the philosophy of the New Age.

References

1. Avsrintsev S.S. The fate of the European cultural tradition in the era of transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages // From the history of culture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. M., 1976.

2. Batkin L.M. Italian Renaissance in search of individuality. M., 1989

3. Losev A.F. Renaissance aesthetics. M., 1978

4. http://renessans.jimdo.com

5. http://crossmoda.narod.ru

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Renaissance periods

The Renaissance is divided into 4 periods:

1. Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the 13th century - 14th century)
2. Early Renaissance (beginning of the 15th - end of the 15th century)
3. High Renaissance (end of the 15th - first 20 years of the 16th century)
4. Late Renaissance (mid-16th-90s of the 16th century)

The fall of the Byzantine Empire played a role in the formation of the Renaissance. The Byzantines who moved to Europe brought with them their libraries and works of art, unknown to medieval Europe. Byzantium never broke with ancient culture.
Appearance humanism(a socio-philosophical movement that considered man as the highest value) was associated with the absence of feudal relations in the Italian city-republics.
Secular centers of science and art began to emerge in cities, which were not controlled by the church. whose activities were outside the control of the church. In the middle of the 15th century. Printing was invented, which played an important role in the spread of new views throughout Europe.

Brief characteristics of the Renaissance periods

Proto-Renaissance

The Proto-Renaissance is the forerunner of the Renaissance. It is also closely connected with the Middle Ages, with Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic traditions. He is associated with the names of Giotto, Arnolfo di Cambio, the Pisano brothers, Andrea Pisano.

Andrea Pisano. Bas-relief "Creation of Adam". Opera del Duomo (Florence)

Proto-Renaissance painting is represented by two art schools: Florence (Cimabue, Giotto) and Siena (Duccio, Simone Martini). The central figure of painting was Giotto. He was considered a reformer of painting: he filled religious forms with secular content, made a gradual transition from flat images to three-dimensional and relief ones, turned to realism, introduced plastic volume of figures into painting, and depicted interiors in painting.

Early Renaissance

This is the period from 1420 to 1500. Artists of the Early Renaissance of Italy drew motifs from life and filled traditional religious subjects with earthly content. In sculpture these were L. Ghiberti, Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, the della Robbia family, A. Rossellino, Desiderio da Settignano, B. da Maiano, A. Verrocchio. In their work, a free-standing statue, a picturesque relief, a portrait bust, and an equestrian monument began to develop.
In Italian painting of the 15th century. (Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, A. del Castagno, P. Uccello, Fra Angelico, D. Ghirlandaio, A. Pollaiolo, Verrocchio, Piero della Francesca, A. Mantegna, P. Perugino, etc.) are characterized by a sense of harmonious order of the world, appeal to the ethical and civic ideals of humanism, a joyful perception of the beauty and diversity of the real world.
The founder of Renaissance architecture in Italy was Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), an architect, sculptor and scientist, one of the creators of the scientific theory of perspective.

A special place in the history of Italian architecture occupies Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472). This Italian scientist, architect, writer and musician of the Early Renaissance was educated in Padua, studied law in Bologna, and later lived in Florence and Rome. He created theoretical treatises “On the Statue” (1435), “On Painting” (1435–1436), “On Architecture” (published in 1485). He defended the “folk” (Italian) language as a literary language, and in his ethical treatise “On the Family” (1737-1441) he developed the ideal of a harmoniously developed personality. In his architectural work, Alberti gravitated towards bold experimental solutions. He was one of the founders of new European architecture.

Palazzo Rucellai

Leon Battista Alberti developed a new type of palazzo with a facade, rusticated to its entire height and divided by three tiers of pilasters, which look like the structural basis of the building (Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, built by B. Rossellino according to Alberti’s plans).
Opposite the Palazzo is the Loggia Rucellai, where receptions and banquets for trading partners were held, and weddings were celebrated.

Loggia Rucellai

High Renaissance

This is the time of the most magnificent development of the Renaissance style. In Italy it lasted from approximately 1500 to 1527. Now the center of Italian art from Florence moves to Rome, thanks to the accession to the papal throne Julia II, an ambitious, courageous, enterprising man who attracted the best artists of Italy to his court.

Rafael Santi "Portrait of Pope Julius II"

In Rome, many monumental buildings are built, magnificent sculptures are created, frescoes and paintings are painted, which are still considered masterpieces of painting. Antiquity is still highly valued and carefully studied. But imitation of the ancients does not drown out the independence of artists.
The pinnacle of the Renaissance is the work of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) and Raphael Santi (1483-1520).

Late Renaissance

In Italy this is the period from the 1530s to the 1590s-1620s. The art and culture of this time are very diverse. Some believe (for example, British scholars) that "The Renaissance as an integral historical period ended with the fall of Rome in 1527." The art of the late Renaissance presents a very complex picture of the struggle between various movements. Many artists did not strive to study nature and its laws, but only outwardly tried to assimilate the “manner” of the great masters: Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo. On this occasion, the elderly Michelangelo once said, watching how artists copied his “Last Judgment”: “This art of mine will make fools of many.”
In Southern Europe, the Counter-Reformation triumphed, which did not welcome any free thought, including the glorification of the human body and the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity.
Famous artists of this period were Giorgione (1477/1478-1510), Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), Caravaggio (1571-1610) and others. Caravaggio considered the founder of the Baroque style.

Renaissance or Renaissance (Rinascimento),- one of the brightest eras in the development of European culture from the middle of the 14th to the first decade of the 17th century. This is an era of major changes in the history of the peoples of Europe. It is characterized:

The crisis of feudalism;

The birth of capitalism;

The formation of new classes: the bourgeoisie and hired workers;

The creation of large national states and the formation of nations.

The era of great geographical discoveries, when the borders of the world expanded. The spiritual appearance of a person changed, a person acquired traits that helped him get used to the new world. The invention of printing helped the spiritual revolution. Science and technology are developing.

This era is divided into four periods:

1. Proto-Renaissance (second half of the 13th-14th centuries) - is of a transitional nature from the culture of the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, when the latter matures within the framework of the first.

2. Early Renaissance (early Renaissance) - XV century. - represents the culture of the Renaissance in its purest form with all its characteristic features.

3. High Renaissance - 70s. XV century - 1530 – the highest flowering of Renaissance culture.

4. Late Renaissance (1530-1590) - a decline in the development of Italian culture, associated primarily with the loss of independence, with the wars that swept through its territory and with the strengthening of the power of the church (late 15th-17th centuries - northern Renaissance - European culture countries north of Italy).

A feature of early bourgeois culture was an appeal to the ancient heritage (not a return to the past, but an appeal). The main feature of the ideology of the Renaissance is humanism (from the Latin homo - man) - an ideological movement that affirms the value of man and human life). In the Renaissance, humanism manifested itself in a worldview that placed the focus of world existence no longer on God, but on man. A unique manifestation of humanism was the assertion of the primacy of reason over faith. A person can independently explore the mysteries of existence by studying the foundations of the existence of nature. During the Renaissance, speculative principles of knowledge were rejected, and experimental, natural scientific knowledge was resumed.

Fundamentally new, anti-scholastic pictures of the world were created: the heliocentric picture of Nicolaus Copernicus and the picture of the infinite Universe of Giordano Bruno. The most significant thing was that religion was separated from science, politics and morality. The era of the formation of experimental sciences began, their role as providing true knowledge about nature was recognized. During the Renaissance, a new worldview was developed thanks to the work of a whole galaxy of outstanding thinkers - Nicholas of Cusa, Galileo Galilei, Tommaso Campanella, Thomas More, Niccolò Machiavelli and others.

Two trends in the culture of the Renaissance determined its inconsistency - this:

Rethinking Antiquity;

Combination with the cultural values of the Christian (Catholic) tradition.

The features of the Renaissance were most clearly manifested in Italy. When characterizing the culture of the Italian Renaissance, we must not forget that humanistic education was accessible to a small layer belonging to high society and acquired an aristocratic character. The Italian Renaissance had an influence on broad sections of the people, which was felt much later.

The features of the Renaissance were most fully manifested in Florence, and a little later - in Rome. Milan, Naples and Venice did not experience this era as intensely as Florence.

The aesthetic theory of the Renaissance dictated the characteristic features of the art of this period:

Secular character and content.

Cognitive orientation of art.

The rationality of Renaissance art.

Anthropocentrism.

The social character of Renaissance art and all artistic life.

There is a liberation of the human mind as the ability to comprehend the highest truths of existence from the shackles of dogmatism and all kinds of restrictions.

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)) - famous poets of the Renaissance, were the creators of the Italian literary language. Their works, already during their lifetime, became widely known not only in Italy, but also far beyond its borders, and entered the treasury of world literature. Petrarch's sonnets on the life and death of Madonna Laura gained worldwide fame.

The Renaissance is characterized by the cult of beauty, especially human beauty. Italian painting, which for a time became the leading form of art, depicts beautiful, perfect people. The first was Giotto (1266-1337), freed Italian fresco painting from the influence of the Byzantines. The realistic style of depiction characteristic of Giotto at the beginning of the 15th century. continued and developed Masaccio (1401-1428). Using the laws of perspective, he managed to make images of figures three-dimensional.

One of the most famous sculptors of that time was Donatello (1386-1466), author of a number of realistic works of portrait type, representing the naked body in sculpture for the first time since antiquity.

The era of the early Renaissance was replaced by high Renaissance- the time of the highest flowering of the humanistic culture of Italy. It was then that ideas about the honor and dignity of man, his high purpose on Earth were expressed with the greatest completeness and force. Titan high Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci (1456-1519), one of the most remarkable people in the history of mankind. Possessing versatile abilities and talents, Leonardo was at the same time an artist, art theorist, sculptor, architect, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, physiologist, anatomist, and this is not a complete list of the main areas of his activity; He enriched almost all areas of science with brilliant guesses. His most important artistic works are “The Last Supper” – fresco in the Milan monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie, which depicts the moment of the supper after Christ’s words: “One of you will betray me,” as well as the world-famous portrait of a young Florentine woman Mona Lisa, which has another name - “La Gioconda.

The great painter was also a titan of the high Renaissance Raphael Santi (1483-1520), creator of the Sistine Madonna, the greatest work of world painting: the young Madonna, lightly stepping barefoot on the clouds, carries her tiny son, the Infant Christ, to people, anticipating his death, grieving about it and understanding the need to make this sacrifice in the name of atonement for the sins of mankind.

The last great representative of the high Renaissance culture was Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564) - sculptor, painter, architect and poet, creator of the famous statue of David, sculptural figures “Morning”, “Evening”, “Day”, “Night”, made for tombs in Medici Chapel. Michelangelo painted the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace; One of the most impressive frescoes is the Last Judgment scene. In the works of Michelangelo, more clearly than in the works of his predecessors - Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael Santi, tragic notes are heard, caused by the awareness of the limit that is set for man, the understanding of the limitations of human capabilities, the impossibility of “surpassing nature”.

The next stage in Renaissance culture is later Renaissance, which, as is commonly believed, lasted from the 40s. XVI century to the end of the 16th - the first years of the 17th century.

Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance, was also the first country where the Catholic reaction began. In the 40s XVI century here the Inquisition, persecuting the leaders of the humanist movement, was reorganized and strengthened. In the middle of the 16th century. Pope IV compiled the “Index of Forbidden Books,” which was subsequently replenished many times with new editions. The Index also includes works by some Italian humanists, in particular Giovanni Boccaccio. Banned books were burned; the same fate could well have befallen their authors and all dissidents who actively defended their views and did not want to compromise with the Catholic Church. Many leading thinkers and scientists died at the stake. So, in 1600 in Rome, in the Square of Flowers, the great Giordano Bruno (1504-1600), author of the famous essay “On Infinity, the Universe and Worlds.”

Many painters, poets, sculptors, and architects abandoned the ideas of humanism, striving to adopt only the “manner” of the great figures of the Renaissance. The humanist movement was a pan-European phenomenon: in the 15th century Humanism goes beyond the borders of Italy and quickly spreads throughout Western European countries. Each country had its own characteristics in the development of the Renaissance culture, its own national achievements, and its own leaders.

IN Germany the ideas of humanism became known in the middle of the 15th century, exerting a strong influence on university circles and the progressive intelligentsia

The revival in Germany is inextricably linked with the Reformation - the movement for reform (from the Latin reformat "- transformation) of the Catholic Church, for the creation of a "cheap church" - without extortion and payment for rituals, for the purification of Christian teaching from all incorrect positions that are inevitable with a long history Christianity. Led the Reformation movement in Germany Martin Luther (1483-1546), Doctor of Theology and monk of the Augustinian monastery. He believed that faith is the inner state of a person, that salvation is granted to a person directly from God, and that one can come to God without the mediation of the Catholic clergy. Luther and his supporters refused to return to the Catholic Church and protested in response to the demand to renounce their views, marking the beginning of the Protestant movement in Christianity.

Victory of the Reformation in the middle of the 16th century. caused a social upsurge and the growth of national culture. Fine art reached a remarkable blossoming. Main genres: landscape, portrait, everyday painting. The famous painter and engraver worked in this area Albrecht Durer (1471-1526), artists Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543), Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). German literature achieved a noticeable rise. An outstanding representative of German humanistic literature was Johann Reuchlin (1455-1522), who sought to show the divine in man himself. The greatest German poets of the Reformation era were Hans Sachs (1494-1576), wrote many edifying fables, songs, schwanks, dramatic works, and Johann Fischart (1546-1590)- author of sharply satirical works.

IN England The center of humanistic ideas was the University of Oxford, where the leading scientists of that time worked. The development of humanistic views - in the field of social philosophy is associated with the name Thomas More (1478-1535), author of Utopia, presenting to the reader an ideal, “in his opinion, human society: in it everyone is equal, there is no private property, and gold is not valuable - it is used to make chains for criminals.” The greatest figure of the English Renaissance was William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the creator of the world-famous tragedies Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, historical plays Henry II, Richard III, and sonnets. The rise of theatrical art, its public and democratic character, contributed to the development of democratic structures in English society.

Renaissance in Spain was more controversial than in other European countries: many humanists here did not oppose Catholicism and the Catholic Church. Knightly and picaresque novels became widespread (Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), author of the immortal Don Quixote, satirical writer Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645), author of the famous novel "The Life Story of a Rogue"). The founder of Spanish national drama is the great Lope de Vega (1562-1635), author of such literary works as “Dog in the manger”, “Dance teacher”. Spanish painting achieved significant success. A special place in it is occupied by El Greco (1541-1614) and Diego Velazquez (1599-1660).

In France The humanistic movement began to spread only at the beginning of the 16th century. An outstanding representative of French humanism was François Rabelais (1494-1553), who wrote the satirical novel Gargantua and Pantagruel. In the 40s of the 16th century. In France, a literary movement emerged that went down in history under the name “Pleiades.” This trend was led by the famous poets Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585) and Joaquin Du Bellay (1522-1566). Other famous poets of the French Renaissance were Agrippa d'Aubigné (1552-1630) and Louise Labé (1525-1565).

The largest representative of the culture of France in the 16th century. was Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). His main work is "Experiments" was a reflection on philosophical, historical, ethical topics. Montaigne proved the importance of experimental knowledge and glorified nature as a teacher of man. Montaigne's “Experiences” were directed against scholasticism and dogmatism, affirming the ideas of rationalism; this work had a significant impact on the subsequent development of Western European thought.

The Renaissance is over. Western Europe has entered a new period in its history. However, the ideas and view of the world characteristic of it did not lose their significance and attractiveness in the 17th century. In line with its inherent ideals, two great representatives of the once unified art school of the Netherlands created their marvelous works - Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), who represented the art of Flanders, and Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), the main painter of the Dutch school.

The significance of the Renaissance culture is as follows:

The term "Renaissance" refers to the desire of society to understand and rethink its past, to revive its former glory.

The Renaissance revealed the individuality of man to the world and showed the path to personal growth. Until this time, an individual person was perceived as a biological individual. And only in the Renaissance does a person appear in his uniqueness and ability for creative activity, which is one of the main features of the Renaissance - humanism.

The humanism of the Renaissance gives rise to the desire for rebellion. This period of culture is characterized by a break with the old world and the establishment of new forms. The desire for rebellion does not result in a break with religion and the church, but creates a secular culture.

If humanism can be considered the main foundation of Renaissance culture, then all its other aspects are built around it. New political ideas are associated with humanism, for example, problems of statehood and economics. In political culture, great importance is attached to the personality of the ruler; he devoted his work to this issue "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli. It is no coincidence that almost all rulers in the 16th century. had strong characters with pronounced individual traits. This led to a polarization of morality and immorality. The political goals of the ruler lost religious restrictions, and therefore, with the scope, brightness and severity characteristic of the era, the worst traits of those in power appeared. Political calculation and the treachery and treason associated with it openly took center stage. The embodiment of political and moral shamelessness was not only Caesar Borgia, but also Henry VIII, Francis I, Catherine de Medici and others. And yet, the humanism of the Renaissance is realized with particular force in the intellectual, spiritual sphere, and especially in art.

Mariupol State University

Abstract

On the topic: The personality of the new Renaissance man

Completed: 2nd year student

Part-time study

Specialties

« Language and Literature (English)

Shchukina Anna

Plan

Introduction

1 Background of the Renaissance. Three stages of cultural development in the era

Renaissance…………………………………………………………………………………………

2 Features of the Renaissance……………………………………………

2.1 Renaissance periods………………………………………………………

2.2 The dawn of literature……………………………………………………….

2.3 General features of the Renaissance in Europe……………………………

3.Renaissance architecture…………………………………………………

3.1 Music………………………………………………………………………………..

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………

References…………………………………………………………..

Introduction

Renaissance, or Renaissance (French Renaissance, Italian Rinascimento; from “ri” - “again” or “born again”) is an era in the cultural history of Europe, which replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of modern times. The approximate chronological framework of the era is the beginning of the 14th - the last quarter of the 16th centuries and in some cases - the first decades of the 17th century (for example, in England and, especially, in Spain). A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in man and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its “revival,” as it were, occurs - and this is how the term appeared.

The term Renaissance is already found among Italian humanists, for example, Giorgio Vasari. In its modern meaning, the term was introduced into use by the 19th century French historian Jules Michelet. Nowadays, the term Renaissance has become a metaphor for cultural flourishing: for example, the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century. Contents [remove]

General characteristics

"Vitruvian Man" by Leonardo da Vinci

A new cultural paradigm arose as a result of fundamental changes in social relations in Europe.

The growth of city-republics led to an increase in the influence of classes that did not participate in feudal relations: artisans and craftsmen, merchants, bankers.

The hierarchical system of values created by the medieval, largely church culture, and its ascetic, humble spirit were alien to all of them. This led to the emergence of humanism - a socio-philosophical movement that considered a person, his personality, his freedom, his active, creative activity as the highest value and criterion for evaluating public institutions.

Secular centers of science and art began to emerge in cities, 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 mid-15th century played a huge role in the spread of ancient heritage and new views throughout Europe.

The Renaissance arose in Italy, where its first signs were noticeable back in the 13th and 14th centuries (in the activities of the Pisano, Giotto, Orcagna families, etc.), but it was firmly established only in the 20s of the 15th century. In France, Germany and other countries this movement began much later. By the end of the 15th century it reached its peak. In the 16th century, a crisis of Renaissance ideas was brewing, resulting in the emergence of Mannerism and Baroque.

Background of the Renaissance. Three stages of cultural development during the Renaissance

1. XIV - beginning XV centuries characterized by the stratification and collapse of the medieval common cultural zone: this means that, for example, in Spain and France the iron regime of a powerful feudal state is created, and in Italy capital is rapidly growing. In Italy itself, along with Petrarch and Boccaccio, coexists the most archaic, as if he came out of some tenth century, Franco Sacchetti. Yes, the same Petrarch, the creator of new poetry, bows to the obsolete pillars of scholasticism at the University of Paris.

Moreover, if we take Europe as a whole, we can see how economic relations are reviving, while cultural relations, on the contrary, are freezing. Outside of Italy, there is still no awareness of one’s time as a turning point in history, and the very idea of reviving the ancient classics is also absent, although interest in antiquity is increasing. Interest in one's own creativity and national traditions, folklore, and finally language is also increasing.

Stage 2 begins in the mid-15th century. Three important events take place here: the fall of Byzantium with all the ensuing consequences for Europe; the end of the Hundred Years' War with a complete reorientation of European politics and the invention of printing.

With the latest development, the authority of Italian culture is rapidly becoming universal. The ideas of humanism and renaissance, created by the titanic efforts of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, are picked up by representatives of other European countries. Latin penetrates into the darkest corners of the Old World, for example, Scandinavia. The old impregnable fortress of feudal-church ideology is being destroyed, giving way to the ideology of humanism, confirmed not only by literature and art, but also by the abundance of all kinds of scientific discoveries and the expansion of geographical horizons. And not just a man, but a free man forever is glorified by the humanistic harmony of Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Dürer, Ariosto, Early Michelangelo, Rabelais, and the Pleiades poets. T. More creates his famous humanistic “utopia”. Political writers Machiavelli and Guicciardini reveal to the era the laws of historical development. Philosophers Ficino, Mirandolla, la Rama are returning interest in Plato. Lorenzo Valla, Deperrier, Luther reconsider religious dogmas. Finally, Europe is shaken by the peasant war in Germany and the Dutch revolution. Here we begin the construction of the state by annexing Novgorod (1478) and Tver (1485) to Moscow, the famous “Domostroy” is being created, Joseph Volotsky, Maxim Grek, Skaryna are working.

During this period, a new system of literary genres emerged, developing to the exemplary ones that appeared at the turn of the 13th century. In Sicily, the sonnet is transformed and takes on its final form, the ancient odes, elegies, and epigrams.

As for completely new, original genres, this is, first of all, dramaturgy, in which, apparently, except for the stage area and the idea itself, nothing remains from antiquity (yet!!), then journalism is a completely new genre, if, of course, do not take into account the publicists and conversationalists of antiquity: Socrates and subsequent sophists. Journalism, by the way, was mastered primarily by the Frenchman Montaigne and called by him “essay,” which means “experience,” as little else will have to do with the court in Russia, in Russian literature: from Radishchev to Solzhenitsyn.

During this period, prose came to the fore in literature, the real birth of the novel, relatively speaking, realistic: Rabelais, Nash, Cervantes, Aleman, the short story reached its peak: Boccaccio, Masuccio, Margarita of Navarre, and finally memoirs appeared. Not a confession, but the everyday notes of a private person about himself, devoid of any ecstatic confession: Cellini, Brant.

It was during this period that qualitative features inherent only to them were consolidated in national literatures: for example, a certain rationalism and sense of proportion combined with subtle humor, typical of French literature.

The writer begins to realize himself not only as a person, but also as a creator. He places a high purpose on his mission. It was during this period that the pan-European authority of an individual became possible, as enjoyed, for example, by Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Stage 3 takes place in an aggravated and complicated political and ideological situation: from the middle of the 16th century. A wave of Counter-Reformation is sweeping across Europe. Spain becomes a stronghold of Catholicism and feudalism, in Italy free cities turn into small monarchies, the power of princes in Germany is strengthened, the “Index of Forbidden Books” is introduced, the Jesuits expand their activities, the Inquisition is established, France is torn apart by the struggle of rival feudal groups during the period of religious wars.

Skepticism and even stoicism are returning from the depths of centuries to replace the opened horizons and prospects, hopes and dreams. The works of Montaigne, Camões, Tasso, the late Michelangelo, Cervantes, and Shakespeare are colored with deep tragic tones.

Writers, artists and philosophers synthesize what they have experienced, not only personally, but throughout the era as a whole, summarize the results, and describe the decline. The classical Renaissance is being replaced by a bizarre, minor, broken mannerism.

Renaissance is... Renaissance

Dramaturgy is receiving great development. The most prominent playwrights of the Renaissance are Lope de Vega in Spain and Shakespeare in England.

Journalism and philosophical prose are widespread. In Italy, Giordano Bruno denounces the church in his works and creates his own new philosophical concepts. In England, Thomas More expresses the ideas of utopian communism in his book Utopia. Such authors as Michel de Montaigne ("Experiments") and Erasmus of Rotterdam ("In Praise of Stupidity") are also widely known.

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

In the fine arts of the Renaissance, man appeared as the most beautiful creation of nature, strong and perfect, angry and gentle, thoughtful and cheerful.

The world of Renaissance man is most vividly represented in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo. Biblical scenes form the vault of the chapel. Their main motive is the creation of the world and man. These frescoes are full of grandeur and tenderness. On the altar wall there is a fresco “The Last Judgment”, which was created in 1537–1541. Here Michelangelo sees in man not the “crown of creation,” but Christ is presented as angry and punishing. The ceiling and altar wall of the Sistine Chapel represent a clash of possibility and reality, the sublimity of the plan and the tragedy of its implementation. “The Last Judgment” is considered the work that completed the Renaissance era in art.

Features of Renaissance culture

The Renaissance is a transitional era from the Middle Ages to the New Age from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The Renaissance, or Renaissance, got its name because of the revival of the most important principles of the spiritual culture of antiquity that began during this period.

Renaissance, or Renaissance (from the French. renaissance - Renaissance) is a cultural and historical era that marks the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age.

This period in the history of Western European civilization is exceptional in terms of the unprecedented rise and scale of cultural phenomena in the life of all European countries. Along with a truly cultural revolution, and often on the basis of the cultural achievements of the Renaissance, deep socio-economic processes took place that determined the forms of new economic and social relations within the framework of the emerging market system. The philosophy of humanism, opposed to the scholastic worldview of the Middle Ages, the cult of freedom of mind, egocentrism - as opposed to the feudal class order, a largely secular, materialistic understanding of the surrounding reality - these and other most important achievements of the culture of the Renaissance formed the foundation of the culture of modern Western civilization.

It was full of extraordinary events and presented by brilliant creators. The term “Renaissance” was introduced by G. Vasari, a famous painter, architect and art historian, to designate the period of Italian art as a time of revival of antiquity. The culture of the Renaissance had a distinctly artistic character and was generally oriented towards art, where the cult of the artist-creator occupied a central place. The artist imitates not just God’s creations, but divine creativity itself. A person begins to look for a fulcrum in himself - in his soul, body, physicality (cult of beauty - Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael). In this era, the versatility of development and talent was especially revered, and the special significance of man and his creative activity was revealed.

New economic relations contributed to the emergence of spiritual opposition to feudalism as a way of life and the dominant way of thinking.

Renaissance

Technical inventions and scientific discoveries enriched labor with new, more effective methods of action (the spinning wheel appeared, the weaving machine was improved, blast furnace metallurgy was invented, etc.). The use of gunpowder and the creation of firearms revolutionized military affairs, which negated the importance of knighthood as a branch of the military and as a feudal class. The birth of printing contributed to the development of humanitarian culture in Europe. The use of a compass significantly increased the possibilities of navigation, and the network of water trade connections rapidly expanded. They were especially intense in the Mediterranean - it is not surprising that it was in Italian cities that the first manufactories arose as a step in the transition from craft to the capitalist mode of production. Thus, the main prerequisites for cultural development during the Renaissance were the crisis of feudalism, the improvement of tools and production relations, the development of crafts and trade, an increase in the level of education, the crisis of the church, geographical and scientific and technical discoveries.

New worldview

A powerful surge in the cultural life of many European countries, which occurred mainly in the 14th - 16th centuries, and in Italy began in the 13th century, is commonly called the era of the Renaissance (Renaissance). Initially, a new phenomenon in European cultural life looked like a return to the forgotten achievements of ancient culture in the field of science, philosophy, literature, art, a return to classical “golden Latin”. Thus, in Italy, manuscripts of ancient writers were sought, works of ancient sculpture and architecture were retrieved from oblivion .

But it would be wrong to interpret the Renaissance as a simple return to antiquity, because its representatives did not at all reject the achievements of medieval culture and were critical of the ancient heritage. The phenomenon of the Renaissance is a very multifaceted phenomenon in the cultural development of Europe, the core of which was a new worldview, a new self-awareness of man. In contrast to the ancient view of the world around us, in which man is called upon to learn from nature, Renaissance thinkers believed that man, endowed by God with free will, is the creator of himself and thereby stands out from nature. This understanding of the essence of man not only differs from the ancient one, but also conflicts with the postulates of medieval theology. The focus of Renaissance thinkers was on man, and not on God, as the highest measure of all things, which is why this system of views is called "humanism"(from Latin humanus - humane).

Humanism (from Latin homo - man) - an ideological movement that affirms the value of man and human life.

In the Renaissance, humanism manifested itself in a worldview that placed the focus of world existence no longer on God, but on man. A unique manifestation of humanism was the assertion of the primacy of reason over faith. A person can independently explore the mysteries of existence by studying the foundations of the existence of nature. During the Renaissance, speculative principles of knowledge were rejected, and experimental, natural scientific knowledge was resumed. Fundamentally new, anti-scholastic pictures of the world were created: the heliocentric picture Nicolaus Copernicus and a picture of an infinite universe Giordano Bruno. The most significant thing was that religion was separated from science, politics and morality. The era of the formation of experimental sciences began, their role as providing true knowledge about nature was recognized.

What was the basis of the new worldview? This question cannot be answered unambiguously. The Renaissance phenomenon was caused by a number of factors, among which are the most common for most countries of Western Europe. During the period under review, the process of formation of new (bourgeois or market) relations was quite clearly observed, which required the destruction of the system of medieval regulation of economic life that was restraining their development. New forms of management assumed the liberation and separation of the economic entity into an independent free unit. This process was accompanied by corresponding changes in the spiritual life of society and, above all, those layers of it that were at the epicenter of the changes.

An indispensable condition for personal success is knowledge knowledge and skill, great energy and persistence in achieving goals. Awareness of this truth forced many contemporaries of the Renaissance to turn their attention to science and art, caused an increase in the need for knowledge in society, and raised the social prestige of educated people.

This is how the famous French philosopher and art critic, a deep expert on the Renaissance, spoke about it Hippolyte Taine(1828-1893):

... the art of the Renaissance cannot be looked at as the result of a happy accident; here there can be no question of a successful play of fate, which brought several more talented heads onto the world stage, accidentally producing some extraordinary crop of geniuses...; It can hardly be denied that the reason for such a wonderful prosperity of art lay in the general disposition of minds towards it, in the amazing ability for it located in all parts of the people. This ability was instantaneous, and the art itself was the same.

The ideas of humanism that what is important in a person are his personal qualities, such as intelligence, creative energy, enterprise, self-esteem, will and education, and not his social status and origin, lay on fertile soil. As a result of more than two centuries of the Renaissance, world culture has been enriched with spiritual treasures, the value of which is eternal.

Two trends in the culture of the Renaissance determined its inconsistency - these are:

Rethinking Antiquity;

Combination with the cultural values of the Christian (Catholic) tradition.

On the one hand, the Renaissance can be safely characterized as an era of joyful self-affirmation of man, and on the other hand, as an era of man’s comprehension of the whole tragedy of his existence. The Russian philosopher N. Berdyaev considered this era to be a time of collision between ancient and Christian principles, which caused a deep division of man. The great artists of the Renaissance, he believed, were obsessed with a breakthrough into another transcendental world, the dream of which was given to them by Christ. They were focused on with building of a different existence, felt in themselves forces similar to the forces of the creator. However, these tasks were obviously impossible to accomplish in earthly life. This leads to a tragic worldview, to “revival melancholy.”

Thus, with all the diversity of contradictions, with all the cruelty and rudeness of morals, the Renaissance raised society to a qualitatively new level of awareness of itself, its activities and its goals.

You should also pay attention to the inconsistency of the concept of unlimited will and human ability for self-improvement. Its humanistic orientation did not guarantee the replacement of the concept of individual freedom with the concept of permissiveness - in fact, the antipodes of humanism. An example of this can be the views of the Italian thinker Niccolo Machiavelli(1469-1527), who justified any means to achieve power, as well as the English humanist Thomas More(1478-1535) and Italian philosopher Tommaso Campanella(1568-1639), who saw the ideal of social harmony in a society built according to a rigid hierarchical system regulating all spheres of life. Subsequently, this model would be called “barracks communism.” This metamorphosis is based on a fairly deep feeling among Renaissance thinkers of the dual nature of freedom. The point of view of the largest Western psychologist and sociologist seems very appropriate in this regard Erich Fromm(1900-1980):

“The individual is freed from economic and political fetters. He also gains positive freedom - along with the active and independent role that he has to play in the new system - but at the same time he is freed from the ties that gave him a sense of confidence and belonging to some community. He can no longer live his life in a small world, the center of which was himself; the world has become limitless and threatening. Having lost his specific place in this world, a person also lost the answer to the question about the meaning of life, and doubts fell upon him: who is he, why does he live? Paradise is lost forever; the individual stands alone, face to face with his world, limitless and threatening.”

The end of the Renaissance

In the 40s of the 16th century. The church in Italy began to widely repress dissidents. In 1542, the Inquisition was reorganized and its tribunal was created in Rome.

Many advanced scientists and thinkers who continued to adhere to the traditions of the Renaissance were repressed and died at the stake of the Inquisition (among them the great Italian astronomer Giordano Bruno, 1548-1600). In 1540 it was approved Jesuit order, which essentially turned into a repressive organ of the Vatican. In 1559, Pope Paul IV first published "List of Banned Books"(Index librorum prohibitorum), subsequently supplemented several times. The works of literature named in the “List” were forbidden to be read by believers under pain of excommunication. Among the books to be destroyed were many works of humanistic literature of the Renaissance (for example, the works of Boccaccio). Thus, the Renaissance by the early 40s of the 17th century. ended in Italy.

Features of the culture of Iran, Greece, America, Babylon, Western Europe
Ancient Greek culture and art
Mass culture as a social phenomenon, democratization
Mass social movement in Western countries
Features of primitive culture
Periods of cultural development of China, Dr. Greece
Approaches to the study and methods of cultural research
Concepts of culture and cultural studies
The formation of scientific knowledge, forms of culture
Legacy of Ancient Egypt

Italy is a country with an interesting and rich history. On its territory it was formed from the most powerful military empires in the world - Ancient Rome. There were also cities of ancient Greeks and Etruscans here. It is not for nothing that they say that Italy is the birthplace of the Renaissance, since it ranks first in Europe only in terms of the number of architectural monuments. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael, Petrarch, Dante - this is only the tiniest and far from complete list of all the names of people who worked and lived in this beautiful country.

General prerequisites

The features of the ideas of humanism in Italian culture are already evident in Dante Alighieri, the predecessor of the Renaissance, who lived at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. The new movement manifested itself most fully in the middle of the 14th century. Italy is the birthplace of the entire European Renaissance, since the socio-economic prerequisites for this were ripe here first of all. In Italy, capitalist relations began to form early, and people who were interested in their development had to leave the yoke of feudalism and the tutelage of the church. These were bourgeois, but they were not bourgeois-limited people, as in subsequent centuries. These were broad-minded people who traveled, spoke several languages and were active participants in any political events.

Aurora (1614) - Renaissance painting

Cultural figures of that time fought against scholasticism, asceticism, mysticism, and the subordination of literature and art to religion; they called themselves humanists. Writers of the Middle Ages took the “letter” from ancient authors, that is, individual information, passages, maxims taken out of context.

Renaissance

Renaissance writers read and studied entire works, paying attention to the essence of the works. They also turned to folklore, folk art, and folk wisdom. The first humanists are considered to be Francesco Petrarca, the author of a series of sonnets in honor of Laura, and Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of The Decameron, a collection of short stories.

Flying machine - Leonardo da Vinci

The characteristic features of the culture of that new time are as follows:

The main subject of depiction in literature is a person.
He is endowed with a strong character.
Renaissance realism broadly shows life with a full reproduction of its contradictions.
Authors begin to perceive nature differently. If for Dante it still symbolizes the psychological range of moods, then for later authors nature brings joy with its real charm.

3 reasons why Italy became the birthplace of the Renaissance?

Italy by the time of the Renaissance turned out to be one of the most fragmented countries in Europe; a single political and national center never emerged here. The formation of a single state was hampered by the struggle between popes and emperors for their dominance throughout the Middle Ages. Therefore, the economic and political development of different regions of Italy was uneven. The areas of the central and northern parts of the peninsula were part of the papal possessions; in the south was the Kingdom of Naples; middle Italy (Tuscany), which included cities such as Florence, Pisa, Siena, and individual cities of the north (Genoa, Milan, Venice) were independent and wealthy centers of the country. In fact, Italy was a conglomerate of disunited, constantly competing and warring territories.
It was in Italy that truly unique conditions arose to support the sprouts of a new culture. The absence of centralized power, as well as an advantageous geographical position on the routes of European trade with the East, contributed to the further development of independent cities, the development of a capitalist and new political structure in them. In the leading cities of Tuscany and Lombardy already in the 12th – 13th centuries. Communal revolutions took place, and a republican system emerged, within which a fierce party struggle was constantly taking place. The main political forces here were financiers, wealthy merchants and artisans.

Under these conditions, the public activity of citizens who sought to support politicians who contributed to the enrichment and prosperity of the city was very high. Thus, public support in various city republics contributed to the promotion and strengthening of power of several wealthy families: the Visconti and Sforza in Milan and all of Lombardy, the Medici bankers in Florence and all of Tuscany, the Great Council of the Doges in Venice. And although republics gradually turned into tyrannies with obvious features of a monarchy, they still relied heavily on popularity and authority. Therefore, the new Italian rulers sought to secure the consent of public opinion and in every possible way demonstrated their commitment to the growing social movement - humanism. They attracted the most outstanding people of the time - scientists, writers, artists - and they themselves tried to develop their education and taste.

In the conditions of the emergence and growth of national self-awareness, it was the Italians who felt themselves to be direct descendants of the great ancient Rome. Interest in the ancient past, which did not fade throughout the Middle Ages, now simultaneously meant interest in one’s national past, or more precisely, the past of one’s people, the traditions of their native antiquity. In no other country in Europe have so many traces of the great ancient civilization remained as in Italy. And although these were most often just ruins (for example, the Colosseum was used as a quarry during almost the entire Middle Ages), now it was they who gave the impression of greatness and glory. Thus, ancient antiquity was interpreted as the great national past of the native country.

Renaissance (Renaissance)

Renaissance, or Renaissance (French Renaissance, Italian Rinascimento) is an era in the history of European culture that replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of modern times. The approximate chronological framework of the era is XIV-XVI centuries.

A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in man and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its “revival,” as it were, occurs - and this is how the term appeared.

General characteristics of the Renaissance

A new cultural paradigm arose as a result of fundamental changes in social relations in Europe.

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

The Renaissance arose in Italy, where its first signs were noticeable back in the 13th and 14th centuries (in the activities of the Pisano, Giotto, Orcagni families, etc.), but where it was firmly established only in the 20s of the 15th century. In France, Germany and other countries this movement began much later. By the end of the 15th century it reached its peak. In the 16th century, a crisis of Renaissance ideas was brewing, resulting in the emergence of Mannerism and Baroque.

Renaissance art.

With the theocentrism and asceticism of the medieval picture of the world, art in the Middle Ages served primarily religion, conveying the world and man in their relationship to God, in conventional forms, and was concentrated in the space of the temple. Neither the visible world nor man could be valuable objects of art in their own right. In the 13th century New trends are observed in medieval culture (the cheerful teaching of St. Francis, the work of Dante, the forerunners of humanism). In the second half of the 13th century. marks the beginning of a transitional era in the development of Italian art - the Proto-Renaissance (lasted until the beginning of the 15th century), which prepared the way for the Renaissance. The work of some artists of this time (G. Fabriano, Cimabue, S. Martini, etc.), quite medieval in iconography, is imbued with a more cheerful and secular beginning, the figures acquire relative volume. In sculpture, the Gothic etherealness of figures is overcome, Gothic emotionality is reduced (N. Pisano). For the first time, a clear break with medieval traditions appeared at the end of the 13th - first third of the 14th century. in the frescoes of Giotto di Bondone, who introduced a sense of three-dimensional space into painting, painted figures with more volume, paid more attention to the situation and, most importantly, showed a special realism, alien to the exalted Gothic, in depicting human experiences.

On the soil cultivated by the masters of the Proto-Renaissance, the Italian Renaissance arose, which passed through several phases in its evolution (Early, High, Late). Associated with a new, essentially secular worldview expressed by humanists, it loses its inextricable connection with religion; painting and statue spread beyond the temple. With the help of painting, the artist mastered the world and man as they appeared to the eye, using a new artistic method (transferring three-dimensional space using perspective (linear, aerial, color), creating the illusion of plastic volume, maintaining the proportionality of figures). Interest in personality and its individual traits was combined with the idealization of a person, the search for “perfect beauty.” The subjects of sacred history did not leave art, but from now on their depiction was inextricably linked with the task of mastering the world and embodying the earthly ideal (hence the similarities between Bacchus and John the Baptist by Leonardo, Venus and the Mother of God by Botticelli). Renaissance architecture loses its Gothic aspiration to the sky and gains “classical” balance and proportionality, proportionality to the human body. The ancient order system is being revived, but the elements of the order were not parts of the structure, but decoration that adorned both traditional (temple, palace of authorities) and new types of buildings (city palace, country villa).

The founder of the Early Renaissance is considered to be the Florentine painter Masaccio, who picked up the tradition of Giotto, achieved an almost sculptural tangibility of figures, used the principles of linear perspective, and moved away from the conventions of depicting the situation. Further development of painting in the 15th century. went to schools in Florence, Umbria, Padua, Venice (F. Lippi, D. Veneziano, P. della Francesco, A. Palaiuolo, A. Mantegna, C. Crivelli, S. Botticelli and many others). In the 15th century Renaissance sculpture is born and develops (L. Ghiberti, Donatello, J. della Quercia, L. della Robbia, Verrocchio and others, Donatello was the first to create a self-standing round statue not related to architecture, the first to depict a naked body with an expression of sensuality) and architecture (F. Brunelleschi, L.B. Alberti, etc.). Masters of the 15th century (primarily L.B. Alberti, P. della Francesco) created the theory of fine arts and architecture.

Around 1500, in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giorgione, and Titian, Italian painting and sculpture reached their highest point, entering the High Renaissance. The images they created completely embodied human dignity, strength, wisdom, and beauty. Unprecedented plasticity and spatiality were achieved in painting. Architecture reached its peak in the works of D. Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo. Already in the 1520s, changes took place in the art of Central Italy, in the art of Venice in the 1530s, which meant the onset of the Late Renaissance. The classical ideal of the High Renaissance, associated with the humanism of the 15th century, quickly lost its meaning, not responding to the new historical situation (Italy lost its independence) and spiritual climate (Italian humanism became more sober, even tragic). The work of Michelangelo and Titian acquires dramatic tension, tragedy, sometimes reaching the point of despair, and complexity of formal expression. The Late Renaissance includes P. Veronese, A. Palladio, J. Tintoretto and others. The reaction to the crisis of the High Renaissance was the emergence of a new artistic movement - mannerism, with its heightened subjectivity, mannerism (often reaching pretentiousness and affectation), impetuous religious spirituality and cold allegorism (Pontormo, Bronzino, Cellini, Parmigianino, etc.).

The Northern Renaissance was prepared by the emergence in the 1420s - 1430s, based on late Gothic (not without the indirect influence of the Giottian tradition), of a new style in painting, the so-called “ars nova” - “new art” (E. Panofsky’s term). Its spiritual basis, according to researchers, was, first of all, the so-called “New Piety” of the northern mystics of the 15th century, which presupposed specific individualism and pantheistic acceptance of the world. The origins of the new style were the Dutch painters Jan van Eyck, who also improved oil paints, and the Master from Flemalle, followed by G. van der Goes, R. van der Weyden, D. Bouts, G. tot Sint Jans, I. Bosch and others (middle - second half of the 15th century). New Netherlandish painting received a wide response in Europe: already in the 1430–1450s, the first examples of new painting appeared in Germany (L. Moser, G. Mulcher, especially K. Witz), in France (Master of the Annunciation from Aix and, of course, J .Fouquet). The new style was characterized by a special realism: the transfer of three-dimensional space through perspective (although, as a rule, approximately), the desire for volume. The “new art,” deeply religious, was interested in individual experiences, the character of a person, valuing in him, first of all, humility and piety. His aesthetics are alien to the Italian pathos of the perfect in man, the passion for classical forms (the faces of the characters are not perfectly proportional, they are gothically angular). Nature and everyday life were depicted with special love and detail; carefully painted things had, as a rule, a religious and symbolic meaning.

Actually, the art of the Northern Renaissance was born at the turn of the 15th–16th centuries. as a result of the interaction of the national artistic and spiritual traditions of the Trans-Alpine countries with the Renaissance art and humanism of Italy, with the development of northern humanism. The first artist of the Renaissance type can be considered the outstanding German master A. Durer, who involuntarily, however, retained Gothic spirituality. A complete break with the Gothic was achieved by G. Holbein the Younger with his “objectivity” of painting style. M. Grunewald's painting, on the contrary, was imbued with religious exaltation. The German Renaissance was the work of one generation of artists and fizzled out in the 1540s. In the Netherlands in the first third of the 16th century. Currents oriented towards the High Renaissance and Mannerism of Italy began to spread (J. Gossaert, J. Scorel, B. van Orley, etc.). The most interesting thing in Dutch painting of the 16th century. - this is the development of genres of easel painting, everyday and landscape (K. Masseys, Patinir, Luke Leydensky). The most nationally original artist of the 1550s–1560s was P. Bruegel the Elder, who owned paintings of everyday life and landscape genres, as well as parable paintings, usually associated with folklore and a bitterly ironic view of the life of the artist himself. The Renaissance in the Netherlands ends in the 1560s. The French Renaissance, which was entirely courtly in nature (in the Netherlands and Germany, art was more associated with the burghers), was perhaps the most classical in the Northern Renaissance. The new Renaissance art, gradually gaining strength under the influence of Italy, reached maturity in the middle - second half of the century in the work of architects P. Lescot, the creator of the Louvre, F. Delorme, sculptors J. Goujon and J. Pilon, painters F. Clouet, J. Cousin Senior. The “Fontainebleau school”, founded in France by the Italian artists Rosso and Primaticcio, who worked in the mannerist style, had a great influence on the above-mentioned painters and sculptors, but the French masters did not become mannerists, having accepted the classical ideal hidden under the mannerist guise. The Renaissance in French art ends in the 1580s. In the second half of the 16th century. the art of the Renaissance of Italy and other European countries gradually gives way to mannerism and early baroque.

Characteristics of the early revival. Definition of the term "Renaissance". What does the term "Renaissance" mean?

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