The Renaissance era covers the period. Years of the Renaissance. General characteristics of the Renaissance

11.05.2019

Mariupol State University

Essay

On the topic: The personality of the new Renaissance man

Performed: 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……………………………………………………………………

Bibliography…………………………………………………………..

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. Approximate chronological framework era - 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

New cultural paradigm arose as a result of dramatic changes public 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, traders, 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; ending 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 was shaken by the peasant war in Germany and the Dutch revolution. Here we begin the construction of the state by annexing Novgorod (1478), 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, Brantôme.

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 is widespread and philosophical prose. 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 " Last Judgment", which was created in 1537–1541. Here Michelangelo sees in man not the "crown of creation", but Christ is represented as angry and punishing. The ceiling and altar wall 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 - famous painter, architect and art historian - to designate the period of Italian art as a time of the 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 (the 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 loom was improved, blast furnace metallurgy was invented, etc.). The use of gunpowder and the creation firearms carried out a revolution in 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 forgotten achievements 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 restrained 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; there can be no question of a successful game of fate that led to world stage a few more talented heads, which accidentally produced some extraordinary crop of geniuses...; it can hardly be denied that the reason for such a wonderful prosperity of art lay in general location minds towards him, in an amazing ability for him, 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 ground. 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.

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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 only in terms of the number of architectural monuments it ranks first in Europe. 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 everything 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, 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; here a unified political and national center. 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. Lack of centralized power, as well as beneficial 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 power 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.

June 15, 1520. Rome, Piazza Navona. And at the beginning of the 16th century, the square could be easily recognized by its shape, even without the fountains and facades that give it its current, baroque appearance. However, in 1520, the Baroque era had not yet arrived, and the Renaissance had not yet ended - or so it seemed. The impending catastrophe hardly made itself felt, but people with increased sensitivity already felt its approach, especially after the event that happened in this square.

That day, a huge fire was burning in the center of the square. Around him, in their priestly vestments embroidered with gold, stood the highest ranks of the church. Without experiencing any remorse, they looked with a feeling of satisfaction at the flames that greedily devoured the creations of a man recognized as a most dangerous heretic. The pope's representative loudly read the bull, in which not only the blasphemer himself, but also all his books were cursed. This heretic's name was Martin Luther.

Under the bull was the signature of Pope Leo X of the Medici family, who finally deigned to break away from his overly protracted hunt. However, he was never able to grasp the extent of the crisis that engulfed the entire Western Christian world and to extinguish it in time. The very language of the papal decree, against his will, betrays Leo X’s complete absorption in worldly pursuits. It began with these words: “Arise, O Lord, and judge this matter. A wild boar burst into our vineyard.”

Luther, that wild boar, did exactly the same as the pope - he lit his own fire, in which not only the papal bull burned, but also the entire code of canonical laws. Luther initially rebelled against the sale of indulgences. Thanks to the trade in absolution, the popes annually collected huge sums of money, which were used to build luxurious Renaissance palaces. This time, money was needed to build a new St. Peter's Basilica, which thus became not only the largest Christian church in the world, but also required a huge number of human sacrifices. The sale of indulgences gave impetus to developments, as a result of which a fire of war broke out in Europe for more than a hundred years and which led to a split in the dominant church in the Western world.

Some scholars believe that the seeds of the schism sprouted wildly seven years after the burning of Luther’s books in Piazza Navona. On Sunday - it had to happen on Sunday! - On May 5, 1527, the troops of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V attacked the holy city of Rome with a fury such as the barbarians had never known. The destruction of the city carried out by Charles V in 1527 had no equal in the entire history of its existence. However, it would be unfair to say that it occurred because Protestants predominated in the troops of Charles V. The motives of the people who killed and robbed townspeople and raped women cannot be justified or explained by their religious beliefs. Nevertheless, churches and their decorations were destroyed throughout the city - it is quite possible that the fire in which Luther's works were burned ignited the hearts of the invaders and forced them to sack Rome.

In any case, the defeat was terrible. The imperial army numbered about 35 thousand soldiers, while the Romans - men, women and children - probably numbered no more than 54 thousand. Realizing that he was unable to save the city, the pope ran along the wall connecting the Vatican with the Castel Sant'Angelo and locked himself there. From the parapets, he watched the city perish, how the flames consumed everything that came in his way, and listened to the cries of his herd, which he did not have the strength to protect. The suffering of the inhabitants of Rome can only be compared with the suffering of the first martyrs for the faith, who died at the stake or on the rack.

The impetus for the development of art that the Florentine Renaissance gave Rome reached its greatest strength in the first quarter of the 16th century, when Michelangelo and Raphael worked in the Eternal City. The defeat of 1527 marked the end of the High Renaissance in Rome. Most of the artists who came here from other regions of Italy fled home. Michelangelo returned to the Eternal City some time after the tragedy, but many others did not. The city was in a terrible state, and the villages surrounding it were depopulated.

This time, however, the restoration of Rome, unlike the Middle Ages, began almost immediately after the departure of the imperial army, and the new Rome far surpassed all its predecessors. It rose from the ashes thanks to the efforts of the Council of Thirty (the Council of Trent, active from 1545 to 1564), which was organized and worked under the leadership of the then reigning popes: Paul III, Pius IV and Pius V. They set about reforming the Roman church. This was the first major renewal of the Catholic Church in modern times, the latter having recently been completed by Vatican Council II. The rule of the popes was reorganized, and the spirit of change prevailed everywhere. The Catholic Reformation was a response to the Reformation started by Luther, but it was not a simple response. Inspired by the ideas of the Trent Fathers (who were part of the Council of Trent) and generated by the high emotional mood that reigned in the order of Jesuit preachers that arose at the same time, the Counter-Reformation became the background for the development of Baroque art.

Rome became the center of spiritual revival, and the Baroque style became the elegant instrument with which the renewed church expressed itself in art. The Eternal City was destined to become the majestic capital of the Baroque...

The content of the article

RENAISSANCE, a period in the cultural history of Western and Central Europe of the 14th–16th centuries, the main content of which was the formation of a new, “earthly”, inherently secular picture of the world, radically different from the medieval one. New picture peace found expression in humanism, leading ideological current era, and natural philosophy, manifested itself in art and science, which underwent revolutionary changes. The building material for the original building of the new culture was antiquity, which was turned to through the head of the Middle Ages and which was, as it were, “reborn” to a new life - hence the name of the era - “Renaissance”, or “Renaissance” (in the French manner), given to it subsequently. Born in Italy, the new culture at the end of the 15th century. passes through the Alps, where, as a result of the synthesis of Italian and local national traditions, the culture of the Northern Renaissance is born. During the Renaissance, the new Renaissance culture coexisted with the culture of the late Middle Ages, which was especially typical for countries located north of Italy.

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 V medieval culture new trends are observed (the cheerful teaching of St. Francis, the work of Dante, the forerunner 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 ethereality 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 more voluminous figures, paid more attention to the setting 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. Palaiolo, 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.

The Northern Renaissance was prepared by the emergence in the 1420s - 1430s, on the basis of 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 Flemall, 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. The painting of M. Grunewald, 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 about Dutch painting 16th century - this is the development of genres easel painting, household and landscape (K. Masseys, Patinir, Luke of Leiden). 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. French Renaissance, which was entirely courtly in nature (in the Netherlands and Germany, art was more associated with the burghers) was perhaps the most classic 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.

The science.

The most important condition for the scale and revolutionary achievements of Renaissance science was a humanistic worldview, in which the activity of exploring the world was understood as a component of man’s earthly destiny. To this we must add the revival of ancient science. The needs of navigation, the use of artillery, the creation of hydraulic structures, etc. played a significant role in the development. Spreading scientific knowledge, the exchange of them between scientists would have been impossible without the invention of printing ca. 1445.

The first achievements in the field of mathematics and astronomy date back to the mid-15th century. and are largely associated with the names of G. Peyerbach (Purbach) and I. Muller (Regiomontanus). Muller created new, more advanced astronomical tables (replacing the Alfonsian tables of the 13th century) - “Ephemerides” (published in 1492), which were used by Columbus, Vasco da Gama and other navigators in their travels. A significant contribution to the development of algebra and geometry was made by the Italian mathematician of the turn of the century L. Pacioli. In the 16th century The Italians N. Tartaglia and G. Cardano discovered new ways to solve equations of the third and fourth degree.

The most important scientific event of the 16th century. was the Copernican revolution in astronomy. Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus in his treatise On the revolution of the celestial spheres(1543) rejected the dominant geocentric Ptolemaic-Aristotelian picture of the world and not only postulated rotation celestial bodies around the Sun, and the Earth around its axis, but also for the first time showed in detail (geocentrism as a guess was born in Ancient Greece) how, based on such a system, it is possible to explain - much better than before - all the data of astronomical observations. In the 16th century the new world system, in general, did not receive support in the scientific community. Only Galileo provided convincing evidence of the truth of Copernicus' theory.

Based on experience, some 16th century scientists (among them Leonardo, B. Varchi) expressed doubts about the laws of Aristotelian mechanics, which reigned supreme until that time, but did not offer their own solution to the problems (later Galileo would do this). The practice of using artillery contributed to the formulation and solution of new scientific problems: Tartaglia in his treatise New science considered issues of ballistics. The theory of levers and weights was studied by Cardano. Leonardo da Vinci became the founder of hydraulics. His theoretical research was related to his construction of hydraulic structures, land reclamation work, construction of canals, and improvement of locks. The English doctor W. Gilbert initiated the study of electromagnetic phenomena by publishing an essay About the magnet(1600), where he described its properties.

A critical attitude towards authorities and reliance on experience were clearly manifested in medicine and anatomy. Flemish A. Vesalius in his famous work About the structure of the human body(1543) described the human body in detail, relying on his numerous observations when dissecting corpses, criticizing Galen and other authorities. At the beginning of the 16th century. Along with alchemy, iatrochemistry emerged - medicinal chemistry, which developed new medicinal drugs. One of its founders was F. von Hohenheim (Paracelsus). Rejecting the achievements of his predecessors, he, in fact, did not go far from them in theory, but as a practitioner he introduced a number of new drugs.

In the 16th century Mineralogy, botany, and zoology developed (Georg Bauer Agricola, K. Gesner, Cesalpino, Rondelet, Belona), which in the Renaissance were at the stage of collecting facts. A major role in the development of these sciences was played by reports from researchers of new countries, containing descriptions of flora and fauna.

In the 15th century Cartography and geography were actively developing, Ptolemy's mistakes were corrected, based on medieval and modern data. In 1490 M. Beheim creates the first globe. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. Europeans' search for the sea route between India and China, advances in cartography and geography, astronomy and shipbuilding culminated in the discovery of the coast Central America Columbus, who believed that he had reached India (the continent called America first appeared on Waldseemüller's map in 1507). In 1498, the Portuguese Vasco da Gama reached India, circumnavigating Africa. The idea of reaching India and China by a western route was realized by the Spanish expedition of Magellan - El Cano (1519–1522), which circumnavigated South America and made the first trip around the world(in practice, the sphericity of the Earth was proven!). In the 16th century Europeans were confident that “the world today is completely open and the whole human race known." Great discoveries transformed geography and stimulated the development of cartography.

The science of the Renaissance had little impact on the productive forces that developed along the path of gradual improvement of tradition. At the same time, the successes of astronomy, geography, and cartography served as the most important prerequisite for the Great geographical discoveries, which led to fundamental changes in world trade, to colonial expansion and a price revolution in Europe. The achievements of science during the Renaissance became a necessary condition for the genesis of classical science in modern times.

Dmitry Samotovinsky

The revival is divided into 4 stages:

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

Early Renaissance (beginning of the 15th century - 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. This period 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. All discoveries were made on an intuitive level. 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.

Benozzo Gozzoli depicted the adoration of the Magi as a solemn procession of the Medici courtiers

The earliest art of the proto-Renaissance appeared in sculpture (Niccolò and Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Pisano). The 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 has not yet completely abandoned the traditions of the recent past, but has tried to mix into them 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 adhered to traditions for a long time gothic style. North of the Alps, as well as in Spain, the Renaissance came only at the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts approximately until the middle of the next century.

High Renaissance

The request for "High Renaissance" is redirected here. A separate article is needed on this topic.

“Vatican Pieta” by Michelangelo (1499): in the traditional religious plot, simple human feelings are brought to the fore - maternal love and sorrow

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 and 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 . With this Pope and with his closest successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the time of Pericles: many monumental buildings, 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.

Late Renaissance

Renaissance crisis: the Venetian Tintoretto in 1594 depicted the Last Supper as a clandestine gathering in disturbing twilight reflections

The late Renaissance in Italy spans the period from the 1530s to the 1590s to the 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. U artistic traditions Venice had its 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

Main article: 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 a Dream” (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 are 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.

Dawn of Literature

The intensive flowering of literature during this period is largely associated with a special attitude towards the ancient heritage. Hence the very name of the era, which sets itself the task of recreating, “reviving” cultural ideals and values supposedly lost in the Middle Ages. In fact, the rise of Western European culture does not arise against the background of a previous decline. But in the life of the culture of the late Middle Ages, so much changes that it feels like it belongs to another time and feels dissatisfied with the previous state of the arts and literature. The past seems to the Renaissance man to be an oblivion of the wonderful achievements of antiquity, and he sets about restoring them. This is expressed both in the work of the writers of this era and in their very way of life: some people of that time became famous not for creating any picturesque, literary masterpieces, but for the fact that they knew how to “live in an ancient manner,” imitating the ancient Greeks or Romans in everyday life. The ancient heritage is not just studied at this time, but “restored”, and therefore the Renaissance figures give great importance discovery, collection, preservation and publication of ancient manuscripts.. For lovers of ancient literary

We owe it to the monuments of the Renaissance that we have the opportunity today to read the letters of Cicero or the poem of Lucretius “On the Nature of Things,” the comedies of Plautus or the novel of Long “Daphnis and Chloe.” Renaissance scholars strive not just for knowledge, but for improving their command of Latin and then Greek. They found libraries, created museums, established schools for the study of classical antiquity, and undertook special trips.

What served as the basis for the cultural changes that arose in Western Europe in the second half of the 15th-16th centuries? (and in Italy - the birthplace of the Renaissance - a century earlier, in the 14th century)? Historians rightly associate these changes with the general evolution of economic, political life Western Europe, which has embarked on the path of bourgeois development. The Renaissance is a time of great geographical discoveries - primarily America, the time of the development of navigation, trade, and the emergence of large-scale industry. This is the period when, on the basis of the emerging European nations, national states are formed, no longer devoid of medieval isolation. At this time, there is a desire not only to strengthen the power of the monarch within each state, but also to develop relations between states, form political alliances, and conduct negotiations. This is how diplomacy arises - that type of political interstate activity, without which it is impossible to imagine modern international life.

Renaissance is a time when science is intensively developing and the secular worldview begins to, to a certain extent, crowd out the religious worldview, or significantly changes it, preparing the church reformation. But the most important thing is this period when a person begins to feel himself and the world around him in a new way, often to answer in a completely different way those questions that have always worried him, or to pose different ones, difficult questions. The Renaissance man feels himself living in a special time, close to the concept of the golden age thanks to his “golden talents,” as one of the Italian humanists of the 15th century writes. Man sees himself as the center of the universe, directed not upward, to the otherworldly, divine (as in the Middle Ages), but wide open to the diversity of earthly existence. People new era with greedy curiosity they peer into the reality around them, not as pale shadows and signs of the heavenly world, but as a full-blooded and colorful manifestation of existence, which has its own value and dignity. Medieval asceticism has no place in the new spiritual atmosphere, enjoying the freedom and power of man as an earthly, natural being. From an optimistic conviction in the power of man, his ability to improve, there arises a desire and even a need to correlate the behavior of an individual, his own behavior with a specific example of an “ideal personality”, and a thirst for self-improvement is born. This is how a very important, central movement of this culture was formed in the Western European culture of the Renaissance, which was called “humanism”.

One should not think that the meaning of this concept coincides with the commonly used words today “humanism”, “humane” (meaning “philanthropy”, “mercy”, etc.), although there is no doubt that their modern meaning ultimately goes back to Renaissance times . Humanism in the Renaissance was a special complex of moral and philosophical ideas. It was directly related to the upbringing and education of a person on the basis of primary attention not to previous, scholastic knowledge, or religious, “divine” knowledge, but to the humanities: philology, history, morality. It is especially important that the humanities at this time began to be valued as the most universal, that in the process of forming the spiritual image of a person, the main importance was attached to “literature”, and not to any other, perhaps more “practical”, branch of knowledge. As the wonderful Italian poet of the Renaissance Francesco Petrarch wrote, it is “through the word human face becomes beautiful." The prestige of humanistic knowledge was extremely high during the Renaissance.

In Western Europe at this time, a humanistic intelligentsia appeared - a circle of people whose communication with each other was based not on the commonality of their origin, property status or professional interests, but on the proximity of spiritual and moral quests. Sometimes such associations of like-minded humanists received the name Academies - in the spirit of the ancient tradition. Sometimes friendly communication between humanists was carried out in letters, a very important part of the literary heritage of the Renaissance. The Latin language, which in its updated form became the universal language of culture of various Western European countries, contributed to the fact that, despite certain historical, political, religious and other differences, the figures of the Renaissance of Italy and France, Germany and the Netherlands felt involved in a single spiritual world. The feeling of cultural unity was also enhanced due to the fact that during this period the intensive development of, on the one hand, humanistic education, and on the other, printing began: thanks to the invention of the German Gutenberg from the middle of the 15th century. Printing houses are spreading throughout Western Europe and a larger number of people than before have the opportunity to become familiar with books.

During the Renaissance, the very way of thinking of a person changes. Not a medieval scholastic dispute, but a humanistic dialogue, including different points vision, demonstrating unity and opposition, the complex diversity of truths about the world and man, becomes a way of thinking and a form of communication of people of this time. It is no coincidence that dialogue is one of the popular literary genres of the Renaissance. The flourishing of this genre, like the flourishing of tragedy and comedy, is one of the manifestations of the attention of Renaissance literature to the atypical genre tradition. But the Renaissance also knows new genre formations: the sonnet in poetry, the short story, the essay in prose. Writers of this era do not repeat ancient authors, but on the basis of their artistic experience create, in essence, a different and new world of literary images, plots, problems

The Renaissance is of global significance in the history of the formation and development of culture in Western and of Eastern Europe. The period of ideological and cultural development dates back to the 14th-16th centuries, when a secular culture emerged in place of religious domination and a system of vassalage. There is a renewed interest in, which is where the Renaissance period gets its name.

History of origin

The first signs of the beginning of the era appeared in the 13th-14th centuries. in Italy, but it came into its own only in the 20s of the 14th century. The unshakable feudal system of the Middle Ages begins to shake - trading cities begin to fight for the rights of self-government and their own independence.

It was at this time that a socio-philosophical movement called “humanism” appeared.

A person is now considered as an individual, the question of freedom and personal activity is raised. In large cities, secular centers of art and science are appearing, operating outside the total control of the church. There is an active revival of antiquity - it personifies a striking example of non-ascetic humanism. In the mid-15th century, printing was invented, thanks to which the new worldview and ancient heritage spread widely throughout Europe. The Renaissance peaked at the end of the 15th century, but less than a century later an ideological crisis was brewing. This laid the foundation for the emergence of two style trends: and.

Periods

Proto-Renaissance

The Proto-Renaissance began in the 2nd half of the 13th century and ended at the end of the 14th century.

It is the so-called first step in preparation for the emergence of the Renaissance. Until 1337, the famous architect and artist Giotto di Bondone was developing a new approach to depicting spatial figures. He filled religious compositions with secular content, outlined the transition from flat to relief images, and also depicted the interior in painting. At the end of the 13th century, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence) was built. The author of this main temple structure is Arnoldo di Cambio. Giotto designed the campanile of the Florence Cathedral, thereby continuing the work of Arnoldo.

After the death of Giotto di Bondone, a plague epidemic hits Italy and the active development of the period ends.

Early Renaissance

The duration of the Early Renaissance period was no more than 80 years (1420-1500). During this phase, there were no significant changes in the field of art, and only a few elements from classical antiquity complemented the work of artists of that time. But by the end of the 15th century, medieval foundations were completely replaced by examples of ancient culture, which is observed both in the concept of the paintings and in small details.

High Renaissance

The shortest, but at the same time most magnificent period of the Renaissance was the third stage, called the High Renaissance. It lasted only 27 years (1500-1527). After the accession of Julius II to the throne, the center of influence of Italian art moved to Rome. The new pope attracted the most talented Italian artists to the court, which led to the active development of culture and art:

Luxurious monumental buildings are being erected.
Paintings and frescoes are being painted.
Unique sculptural creations are created.

Each branch of art is closely intertwined with each other, harmonizing and developing in unison. A more thorough study of antiquity is underway.

Late Renaissance

The last period of the Renaissance covers approximately 1590-1620. Its distinctive feature is the diversity of culture and art. The Counter-Reformation was actively advancing in Southern Europe. This movement did not welcome free thought and protested against the revival of antiquity in culture and art, as well as the glorification of the human body.

The Counter-Reformation was a Catholic movement that aimed to restore the Christian and Roman Catholic faith. The beginning of development was observed after the expression of their ideas by Calvin, Zwingli, Luther and other European reformers.

In Florence, contradictions led to the emergence of a movement called mannerism.

Mannerism is a Western European artistic and literary style that emerged in the 16th century. Features of mannerism: loss of harmony between the spiritual and the physical, man and nature.

There are no exact dates for the Late Stage as such. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that the Renaissance ended after the fall of Rome (1527).

Buildings in the style of “Mannerism”

Interior

The new understanding of interior space was deeply influenced by the simple and clear interiors of Filippo Brunelleschi. This can be observed in the example of the Pazzi Chapel (Church of Santa Croce, France). The talented sculptor and architect used light colors to decorate the tinted plastered walls, adding architectural relief articulations of gray stone. In rich houses and palaces Special attention was given to the lobbies where guests were received. Huge rooms were allocated for libraries. The advent of printing immediately attracted the attention of the rich in Europe. There were no dining rooms as such, and dining tables were mostly folding ones. They played an important role in country and city houses. The images on the furniture were without shades, almost monochrome. The most common decorative compositions:

Acanthus leaf.
Still life.
City landscapes.
Curly stems.
Musical instruments.

On the doors of carved sideboards, cabinets and other furniture parts, a positive-negative pattern was used. The product technology looked like this:

Two sheets of plywood were painted different colors and were placed one on top of the other.
A fragment of a certain pattern was cut out.
The finished pattern was glued onto the base.
Fragments of different colors, but identical in design, swapped places.

Motives and techniques for decorating the surface of furniture changed and expanded: painted wood was used, figurative compositions and grotesque appeared, and the technique of tinting with hot sand was mastered.

Art

In 14th-century Italy, harbingers of Renaissance art began to appear. When creating canvases on religious themes, artists used international Gothic as a basis. International Gothic is one of the stylistic options that developed in Northern Italy, Burgundy and Bohemia (1380-1430). Distinctive features: sophistication of forms, colorfulness, sophistication, decorative character. There are also signs of mannerism: grotesque, sharpness and expressiveness of bright forms, graphics. They supplemented their paintings with new artistic techniques:

Use of volumetric compositions.
Image of landscapes in the background.

Thanks to the use of these techniques, artists were able to convey the realism of the image and its liveliness.

Active development visual arts begins at the first stage of the Renaissance - Proto-Renaissance. There are several periods in the history of visual arts in Italy:

13th century – duncento (two hundred). International Gothic.
14th century – trecento (three hundred). Proto-Renaissance.
15th century – quattrocento (four hundred). Early – High stage.
16th century – cinquecento (five hundred). High – Late Renaissance.

All the details of a bathroom renovation:

How eras were created: The world through the eyes of Leonardo da Vinci

One of the key figures in the formation of the Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci. This is a great creator, artist, creator and founder of the development of science in Florence. For more details on his work, watch this video. Enjoy watching!

conclusions

During the Renaissance, something unprecedented came into being, which arose in the form of a reflection of classical antiquity in the Empire style. Based on the culture of the Renaissance, many stylistic branches arose, thanks to which new works of art appeared in the fields of painting, architecture and sculpture. As an example, where the light tones of gloomy Scandinavia are taken as a basis. Or, widely used in America.