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 great attention devoted 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.
The early 15th century saw huge changes in life and culture in Italy. Since the 12th century, the townspeople, merchants and artisans of Italy have waged a heroic struggle against feudal dependence. By developing trade and production, the townspeople gradually became richer, overthrew the power of the feudal lords and organized free city-states. These are 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. Italian Renaissance 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.
Throughout Italy there were archaeological excavations, looked 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 founder of all European painting after the Middle Ages. Giotto breathed life into the Gospel scenes, created images real people, spiritual, 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 disconnected individual figures, as in medieval painting, Giotto managed to create coherent story, a whole story about the complex inner lives of the characters. 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)
In formation secular culture Antiquity played a huge role in 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 slenderness 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 into fashion again 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 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, firm 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 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. You can feel it in his pose great will, the 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 lifetime short life 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 easel works 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 with frescoes Sistine Chapel in Rome. Gained experience in in the most complex form 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 significance 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 important names in Italian painting 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 oil painting, in the technique of which his later works would be written.
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 creation of an ideal city tormented scientists and architects from various countries and eras, but the first attempts to design something like this arose during the Renaissance. Although, at the court of the pharaohs and Roman emperors, scientists worked, whose works were aimed at creating some kind of ideal settlement, in which not only everything would clearly obey the hierarchy, but also in which it would be comfortable to live for both the ruler and a simple artisan. Just remember Akhetaten, Mohenjodaro, or the fantastic project proposed by Stasicrates to Alexander the Great, according to which he proposed to carve a statue of a commander with a city located on his arm from Mount Athos. The only problem was that these settlements either remained on paper or were destroyed. Not only architects, but also many artists came to the idea of designing an ideal city. There are references to the fact that Piero della Francesca, Giorgio Vasari, Luciano Laurana and many others were involved in this.
Piero della Francesco was known to his contemporaries primarily as the author of treatises on art. Only three of them have reached us: “Treatise on the Abacus”, “Perspective in Painting”, “Five Regular Bodies”. It was he who first raised the question of creating an ideal city, in which everything would be subordinated to mathematical calculations and promising constructions of clear symmetry. For this reason, many scholars attribute to Pierrot the image "View of an Ideal City", which fits perfectly into the principles of the Renaissance.
Leon Battista Alberti came closest to implementing such a large-scale project. True, he was not able to realize his entire idea, but he left behind a large number of drawings and notes, from which other artists were later able to achieve what Leon could not. In particular, Bernardo Rossellino performed many of his projects. But Leon implemented his principles not only in writing, but also through the example of many of the buildings he built. Basically, these are numerous palazzos designed for noble families. The architect reveals his own example of an ideal city in his treatise “On Architecture”. The scientist wrote this work until the end of his life. It was published posthumously and became the first printed book revealing the problems of architecture. According to Leon's teachings, the ideal city should reflect all human needs and answer all his humanistic needs. And this is no coincidence, because the leading philosophical thought during the Renaissance there was anthropocentric humanism. The city should be divided into quarters, which would be divided according to a hierarchical principle or by type of employment. In the center, on main square, there is a building where city power would be concentrated, as well as main cathedral and the houses of noble families and city managers. Closer to the outskirts were the houses of traders and artisans, and the poor lived on the border itself. This arrangement of buildings, according to the architect, became an obstacle to the emergence of various social unrest, since the houses of the rich would be separated from the homes of poor citizens. Another important planning principle is that it had to meet the needs of any category of citizens, so that both the ruler and the clergy would feel comfortable living in this city. It was supposed to contain all the buildings, from schools and libraries to markets and baths. The public accessibility of such buildings is also important. Even if we ignore all the ethical and social principles of an ideal city, then the external ones remain, artistic values. The layout had to be regular, according to which the city was divided into clear blocks by straight streets. In general, all architectural structures should be subordinated to geometric shapes and drawn along a ruler. The squares were either circular or rectangular in shape. According to these principles, old cities, such as Rome, Genoa, Naples, were subject to partial demolition of old medieval streets and the creation of new spacious quarters.
In some treatises a similar remark was found about the leisure of people. It concerned mainly boys. It was proposed to build playgrounds and intersections of such a type in cities that young people playing would be under the constant supervision of adults who could watch them without hindrance. These precautions were aimed at instilling prudence in young people.
The culture of the Renaissance in many ways provided food for further reflection on the structure of an ideal city. This was especially true for humanists. According to their worldview, everything should be created for a person, for his comfortable existence. When all these conditions are fulfilled, a person will receive social peace and mental happiness. Therefore, in this
In a society, wars or riots simply cannot arise a priori. Humanity has been moving toward this result throughout its entire existence. Just remember the famous “Utopia” by Thomas More or “1984” by George Orwell. Works of this kind touched not only on functional features, but also thought about the relationships, order and structure of the community that lived in this locality, not necessarily a city, maybe even the world. But these foundations were laid back in the 15th century, so we can safely say that the scientists of the Renaissance were comprehensively educated people of their time.
Classicism in the architecture of Western Europe
Let's leave it to the Italians
Empty tinsel with its false gloss.
The most important thing is the meaning, but in order to get to it,
We'll have to overcome obstacles and paths,
Follow the designated path strictly:
Sometimes the mind has only one path...
You need to think about the meaning and only then write!
N. Boileau. "Poetic Art".
Translation by V. Lipetskaya
This is how one of the main ideologists of classicism, the poet Nicolas Boileau (1636-1711), taught his contemporaries. The strict rules of classicism were embodied in the tragedies of Corneille and Racine, the comedies of Moliere and the satires of La Fontaine, the music of Lully and the painting of Poussin, the architecture and decoration of the palaces and ensembles of Paris...
Classicism was most clearly manifested in works of architecture focused on the best achievements ancient culture- an order system, strict symmetry, clear proportionality of the parts of the composition and their subordination to the general plan. The “strict style” of classicism architecture, it seemed, was intended to visually embody its ideal formula of “noble simplicity and calm grandeur.” In the architectural structures of classicism, simple and clear forms and calm harmony of proportions dominated. Preference was given to straight lines and unobtrusive decor that followed the contours of the object. Simplicity and nobility of decoration, practicality and expediency were evident in everything.
Based on the ideas of Renaissance architects about “ ideal city", the architects of classicism created new type a grandiose palace and park ensemble, strictly subordinated to a single geometric plan. One of the outstanding architectural structures of this time was the residence of the French kings on the outskirts of Paris - the Palace of Versailles.
"Fairytale Dream" of Versailles
Mark Twain, who visited Versailles in the mid-19th century.
"I scolded Louis XIV, who spent 200 million dollars on Versailles when people did not have enough for bread, but now I have forgiven him. It's incredibly beautiful! You look, stare and try to understand that you are on earth, and not in the Gardens of Eden. And you are almost ready to believe that this is a hoax, just a fairy-tale dream.”
Indeed, the “fairy-tale dream” of Versailles still amazes today with the scale of its regular layout, the magnificent splendor of its facades and the brilliance of its decorative interiors. Versailles became the visible embodiment of the ceremonial official architecture of classicism, expressing the idea of a rationally organized model of the world.
One hundred hectares of land in extremely a short time(1666-1680) were turned into paradise, intended for the French aristocracy. The architects Louis Levo (1612-1670), Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646-1708) and Andre Le Nôtre(1613-1700). Over the course of a number of years, they rebuilt and changed a lot in its architecture, so that currently it is a complex fusion of several architectural layers, incorporating character traits classicism.
The center of Versailles is the Grand Palace, to which three converging access avenues lead. Situated on a certain hill, the palace occupies a dominant position over the area. Its creators divided the almost half-kilometer length of the facade into a central part and two side wings - risalit, which give it a special solemnity. The facade is represented by three floors. The first, serving as a massive base, is decorated with rustication following the example of Italian palaces-palazzos of the Renaissance. On the second, front, there are high arched windows, between which there are Ionic columns and pilasters. The tier crowning the building imparts a monumental appearance to the palace: it is shortened and ends with sculptural groups, giving the building a special elegance and lightness. The rhythm of windows, pilasters and columns on the facade emphasizes its classical severity and splendor. It is no coincidence that Moliere said about the Grand Palace of Versailles:
“The artistic decoration of the palace is so in harmony with the perfection that nature gives it that it can well be called a magic castle.”
The interiors of the Grand Palace are decorated in Baroque style: they are replete with sculptural decorations, rich decor in the form of gilded stucco moldings and carvings, many mirrors and exquisite furniture. The walls and ceilings are covered with colored marble slabs with clear geometric patterns: squares, rectangles and circles. Picturesque panels and tapestries on mythological themes glorify King Louis XIV. Massive bronze chandeliers with gilding complete the impression of wealth and luxury.
The halls of the palace (there are about 700 of them) form endless enfilades and are intended for ceremonial processions, magnificent celebrations and masquerade balls. In the largest formal hall of the palace, the Mirror Gallery (length 73 m), the search for new spatial and lighting effects was clearly demonstrated. The windows on one side of the hall corresponded with mirrors on the other. In sunlight or artificial lighting, four hundred mirrors created an exceptional spatial effect, conveying a magical play of reflections.
The decorative compositions of Charles Lebrun (1619-1690) in Versailles and the Louvre were striking in their ceremonial pomp. The “method of depicting passions” he proclaimed, which involved pompous praise of high-ranking persons, brought the artist dizzying success. In 1662, he became the king's first painter, and then the director of the royal tapestry manufactory (hand-woven carpet-pictures, or tapestries) and the head of all decorative work at the Palace of Versailles. In the Mirror Gallery of the palace, Lebrun painted
a gilded lampshade with many allegorical compositions on mythological themes, glorifying the reign of the “Sun King” Louis XIV. Pile up pictorial allegories and attributes, bright colors and the decorative effects of the Baroque clearly contrasted with the architecture of Classicism.
The king's bedroom is located in the central part of the palace and faces towards rising sun. It was from here that a view of three highways opened up, diverging from one point, which symbolically reminded of the main focus state power. From the balcony, the king could see all the beauty of Versailles Park. Its main creator, Andre Le Nôtre, managed to combine elements of architecture and landscape art. Unlike landscape (English) parks, which expressed the idea of unity with nature, regular (French) parks subordinated nature to the will and plans of the artist. The Versailles Park amazes with its clarity and rational organization of space; its drawing was precisely verified by the architect using compasses and a ruler.
The alleys of the park are perceived as a continuation of the halls of the palace, each of them ends with a reservoir. Many pools have a regular geometric shape. In the pre-sunset hours, the smooth water mirrors reflect the rays of the sun and the bizarre shadows cast by bushes and trees trimmed in the shape of a cube, cone, cylinder or ball. The greenery forms either solid, impenetrable walls, or wide galleries, in artificial niches of which sculptural compositions, herms (tetrahedral pillars topped with a head or bust) and numerous vases with cascades of thin streams of water are placed. Allegorical plasticity of fountains made famous masters, is intended to glorify the reign of an absolute monarch. The “Sun King” appeared in them either in the guise of the god Apollo or Neptune, riding out of the water in a chariot or resting among the nymphs in a cool grotto.
The smooth carpets of lawns amaze with their bright and variegated colors with intricate patterns of flowers. The vases (there were about 150 thousand of them) contained fresh flowers, which were changed in such a way that Versailles was in constant bloom at any time of the year. The paths of the park are sprinkled with colored sand. Some of them were lined with porcelain chips sparkling in the sun. All this splendor and lushness of nature was complemented by the smells of almond, jasmine, pomegranate and lemon, spreading from the greenhouses.
There was nature in this park
As if lifeless;
As if with a pompous sonnet,
We were fiddling with the grass there.
No dancing, no sweet raspberries,
Le Nôtre and Jean Lully
In the gardens and dances of disorder
They couldn't stand it.
The yew trees froze, as if in a trance,
The bushes leveled the line,
And they curtsied
Memorized flowers.
V. Hugo Translation by E. L. Lipetskaya
N. M. Karamzin (1766-1826), who visited Versailles in 1790, spoke about his impressions in “Letters of a Russian Traveler”:
“Enormousness, perfect harmony of parts, the action of the whole: this is what a painter cannot depict with a brush!
Let's go to the gardens, the creation of Le Nôtre, whom the brave genius everywhere placed on the throne of proud Art, and threw humble Nature, like a poor slave, at his feet...
So, do not look for Nature in the gardens of Versailles; but here at every step Art captivates the eyes...”
Architectural ensembles of Paris. Empire style
After the completion of the main construction work in Versailles, at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, Andre Le Nôtre began active work on the redevelopment of Paris. He carried out the layout of the Tuileries Park, clearly fixing the central axis on the continuation of the longitudinal axis of the Louvre ensemble. After Le Nôtre, the Louvre was finally rebuilt and the Place de la Concorde was created. The major axis of Paris gave a completely different interpretation of the city, meeting the requirements of greatness, grandeur and pomp. The composition of open urban spaces, the system of architecturally designed streets and squares became the determining factor in the planning of Paris. The clarity of the geometric pattern of streets and squares linked into a single whole long years will become a criterion for assessing the perfection of the urban plan and the skill of the urban planner. Many cities around the world will subsequently experience the influence of the classic Parisian model.
A new understanding of the city as an object of architectural influence on humans finds clear expression in the work on urban ensembles. In the process of their construction, the main and fundamental principles of urban planning of classicism were outlined - free development in space and organic connection with environment. Overcoming the chaos of urban development, architects sought to create ensembles designed for free and unobstructed views.
Renaissance dreams of creating an “ideal city” were embodied in the formation of a new type of square, the boundaries of which were no longer the facades of certain buildings, but the space of adjacent streets and neighborhoods, parks or gardens, and the river embankment. Architecture strives to connect in a certain ensemble unity not only buildings directly adjacent to each other, but also very distant points of the city.
Second half of the 18th century. and the first third XIX V. in France they celebrate new stage development of classicism and its spread in European countries - neoclassicism. After the Great french revolution And Patriotic War In 1812, new priorities appeared in urban planning, in tune with the spirit of their time. They found their most vivid expression in the Empire style. It was typical for him the following features: ceremonial pathos of imperial grandeur, monumentality, appeal to the art of imperial Rome and Ancient Egypt, the use of attributes of Roman military history as the main decorative motifs.
The essence of the new artistic style was very accurately conveyed in the significant words of Napoleon Bonaparte:
“I love power, but as an artist... I love it in order to extract sounds, chords, harmony from it.”
Empire style became the personification of the political power and military glory of Napoleon, and served as a unique manifestation of his cult. The new ideology fully corresponded to political interests and artistic tastes new time. Large architectural ensembles of open spaces were created everywhere, wide streets and avenues, bridges, monuments and public buildings, demonstrating imperial greatness and power.
For example, the Austerlitz Bridge commemorated Napoleon's great battle and was built from Bastille stones. At Place Carrousel was built triumphal arch in honor of the victory at Austerlitz. Two squares (Concord and Stars), located at a considerable distance from each other, were connected by architectural perspectives.
Church of Saint Genevieve, erected by J. J. Soufflot, became the Pantheon - the resting place of the great people of France. One of the most spectacular monuments of that time was the column of the Grand Army on Place Vendôme. Likened to the ancient Roman column of Trajan, it was supposed, according to the plans of the architects J. Gondoin and J. B. Leper, to express the spirit of the New Empire and the thirst for greatness of Napoleon.
In the bright interior decoration of palaces and public buildings, solemnity and stately pomp were especially highly valued; their decor was often overloaded with military paraphernalia. The dominant motifs were contrasting combinations of colors, elements of Roman and Egyptian ornaments: eagles, griffins, urns, wreaths, torches, grotesques. The Empire style manifested itself most clearly in the interiors of the imperial residences of the Louvre and Malmaison.
The era of Napoleon Bonaparte ended by 1815, and very soon they began to actively eradicate its ideology and tastes. From the “disappeared like a dream” Empire, all that remained were works of art in the Empire style, clearly demonstrating its former greatness.
Questions and tasks
1.Why can Versailles be considered an outstanding work?
How the urban planning ideas of 18th century classicism found their practical implementation in architectural ensembles Paris, for example Place de la Concorde? What distinguishes it from the Italian baroque squares of Rome in the 17th century, such as Piazza del Popolo (see p. 74)?
2. What is the expression of the connection between Baroque and classicism architecture? What ideas did classicism inherit from Baroque?
3. What are the historical background for the emergence of the Empire style? What new ideas of his time did he strive to express in works of art? Which artistic principles is he leaning?
Creative workshop
1. Give your classmates a correspondence tour of Versailles. To prepare it, you can use video materials from the Internet. The parks of Versailles and Peterhof are often compared. What do you think are the grounds for such comparisons?
2. Try to compare the image of the “ideal city” of the Renaissance with the classicist ensembles of Paris (St. Petersburg or its suburbs).
3. Compare the design interior decoration(interiors) of the Francis I galleries at Fontainebleau and the Gallery of Mirrors at Versailles.
4. Get acquainted with the paintings of the Russian artist A. N. Benois (1870-1960) from the series “Versailles. The King's Walk" (see p. 74). How do they convey the general atmosphere of the court life of the French king Louis XIV? Why can they be considered as a kind of symbolic paintings?
Topics of projects, abstracts or messages
"The formation of classicism in French architecture XVII- XVIII centuries"; “Versailles as a model of harmony and beauty of the world”; “A walk through Versailles: the connection between the composition of the palace and the layout of the park”; "Masterpieces of architecture Western European classicism"; “Napoleonic Empire style in French architecture”; "Versailles and Peterhof: experience comparative characteristics"; “Artistic discoveries in the architectural ensembles of Paris”; “The squares of Paris and the development of the principles of regular city planning”; “Clarity of composition and balance of volumes of the Cathedral of the Invalides in Paris”; “Place de la Concorde is a new stage in the development of urban planning ideas of classicism”; “The harsh expressiveness of the volumes and the sparse decor of the Church of Saint Genevieve (Pantheon) by J. Soufflot”; “Features of classicism in the architecture of Western European countries”; "Outstanding architects of Western European classicism."
Books for further reading
Arkin D. E. Images of architecture and images of sculpture. M., 1990. Kantor A.M. et al. Art of the 18th century. M., 1977. (Small history of arts).
Classicism and Romanticism: Architecture. Sculpture. Painting. Drawing / ed. R. Toman. M., 2000.
Kozhina E. F. Art of France in the 18th century. L., 1971.
LenotreJ. Everyday life Versailles under the kings. M., 2003.
Miretskaya N.V., Miretskaya E.V., Shakirova I.P. Culture of the Enlightenment. M., 1996.
Watkin D. History of Western European architecture. M., 1999. Fedotova E.D. Napoleonic Empire style. M., 2008.
When preparing the material, the text of the textbook “World Artistic Culture. From the 18th century to the present” (Author G. I. Danilova).