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

Term rebirth found already among the Italian humanists, for example, in Giorgio Vasari. In its modern meaning, the term was coined by the 19th-century French historian Jules Michelet. Currently the term rebirth has become a metaphor for cultural flourishing: for example, the 9th-century Carolingian Renaissance.

general characteristics

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

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

Secular centers of science and art began to appear in the 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 middle of the century played a huge role in spreading the ancient heritage and new views throughout Europe.

Epoch periods

Early Renaissance

The period of the so-called "Early Renaissance" in Italy covers the time from to the year. During these eighty years, art has not yet completely renounced the traditions of the recent past, but is trying to mix into them elements borrowed from classical antiquity. Only later, and only little by little, under the influence of more and more changing conditions of life and culture, 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.

Whereas art in Italy was already resolutely following the path of imitation of classical antiquity, in other countries it long held on to the traditions of the Gothic style. North of the Alps, and also in Spain, the Renaissance does not come until the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts until about the middle of the next century, without, however, producing anything particularly remarkable.

High Renaissance

The second period of the Renaissance - the time of the most magnificent development of his style - is commonly called the "High Renaissance", it extends in Italy from about 1580 to 1580. At this time, the center of gravity 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 Italy, which occupied them with numerous and important works and gave others an example of love for the arts. With this pope and his closest successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the time of Pericles: a multitude of monumental buildings, magnificent sculptural works, 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 acting on each other. The antique is now being studied more thoroughly, reproduced with greater rigor and consistency; tranquility and dignity are established instead of the playful beauty that was the aspiration of the previous period; reminiscences of the medieval completely disappear, and a completely classical imprint falls on all works of art. But imitation of the ancients does not stifle their independence in the artists, and they, with great resourcefulness and liveliness of imagination, freely process and apply to the case what they consider appropriate to borrow for it from Greco-Roman art.

Northern Renaissance

The Renaissance period in the Netherlands, Germany and France is usually singled out as a separate style direction, which has some differences with the Renaissance in Italy, and called the "Northern Renaissance".

The most noticeable stylistic differences 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 the ancient heritage and the knowledge of human anatomy.

renaissance man

The science

In general, the pantheistic mysticism of the Renaissance, which prevailed in this era, created an unfavorable ideological background for the development of scientific knowledge. Final formation scientific method followed by the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. associated with the Reformation movement, which was opposed to the Renaissance.

Philosophy

Philosophers of the Renaissance

Literature

The literature of the Renaissance most fully expressed the humanistic ideals of the era, the glorification of a harmonious, free, creative, comprehensively developed personality. The love sonnets of Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) opened the depth inner world man, the richness of his emotional life. In the XIV-XVI century Italian literature flourished - the lyrics of Petrarch, the short stories by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the political treatises of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), the poems of Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) and Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) put it among the "classical" (along with from ancient Greek and ancient Roman) literature for other countries.

Renaissance literature drew on two traditions: folk poetry and "book" ancient literature, therefore, the rational principle was often combined in it with poetic fiction, and comic genres gained great popularity. This manifested itself in the most significant literary monuments of the era: Boccaccio's Decameron, Cervantes' Don Quixote, and François Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel.

The Renaissance is associated with the emergence national literatures- in contrast to the literature of the Middle Ages, which was created mainly in Latin.

Theater and drama became widespread. The most famous playwrights of this time were William Shakespeare (1564-1616, England) and Lope de Vega (1562-1635, Spain)

art

The painting and sculpture of the Renaissance is characterized by the rapprochement of artists with nature, their closest penetration into the laws of anatomy, perspective, the action of light and other natural phenomena.

Renaissance artists, painting pictures of traditional religious themes, began to use new artistic techniques: building a three-dimensional composition, using a landscape in the background. This allowed them to make the images more realistic, lively, which showed a sharp difference between their work and the previous iconographic tradition, replete with conventions in the image.

Architecture

The main thing that characterizes this era is the return to cui

To the principles and forms of ancient, mainly Roman art. Of particular importance in this direction is given to symmetry, proportion, geometry and the order of the components, as evidenced by the surviving examples of Roman architecture. The complex proportion of medieval buildings is replaced by an orderly arrangement of columns, pilasters and lintels, asymmetrical outlines are replaced by a semicircle of an arch, a hemisphere of a dome, a niche, an aedicule.

greatest bloom Renaissance architecture survived in Italy, leaving behind two monument cities: Florence and Venice. Great architects worked on the creation of buildings there - Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Donato Bramante, Giorgio Vasari and many others.

Music

In the Renaissance (Renaissance), professional music loses its purely church art and is influenced folk music, imbued with a new humanistic worldview. The art of vocal and vocal-instrumental polyphony reaches a high level in the works of the representatives of "Ars nova" ("New Art") in Italy and France of the XIV century, in new polyphonic schools - English (XV century), Dutch (XV-XVI centuries. ), Roman, Venetian, French, German, Polish, Czech, etc. (XVI century).

Various genres of secular musical art- frottola and villanella in Italy, villancico in Spain, ballad in England, madrigal, which originated in Italy (L. Marenzio, J. Arcadelt, Gesualdo da Venosa), but became widespread, French polyphonic song (C. Janequin, C. Lejeune ). Secular humanistic aspirations also penetrate cult music - among the Franco-Flemish masters (Josquin Despres, Orlando di Lasso), in the art of composers of the Venetian school (A. and J. Gabrieli). During the period of the Counter-Reformation, the question was raised about the expulsion of polyphony from a religious cult, and only the reform of the head of the Roman school of Palestrina preserves polyphony for catholic church- in a "purified", "clarified" form. At the same time, the art of Palestrina also reflected some of the valuable achievements of the secular music of the Renaissance. New genres of instrumental music are taking shape, and national schools of performance on the lute, organ, and virginal are emerging. The art of craftsmanship flourishes in Italy bowed instruments who have rich expressive possibilities. The clash of various aesthetic attitudes is manifested in the "struggle" of two types of bowed instruments - the viola, which existed in an aristocratic environment, and

Renaissance(Renaissance)

Renaissance (Renaissance) (Renaissance), the era of intellectual and artistic heyday, which began in Italy in the 14th century, peaked in the 16th century and had a significant impact on European culture. The term "Renaissance", meaning a return to values ancient world(although interest in the Roman classics arose as early as the 12th century), appeared in the 15th century and received a theoretical justification in the 16th century in the works of Vasari, dedicated to the work of famous artists, sculptors and architects. At this time, an idea was formed about the harmony reigning in nature and about man as the crown of her creation. Prominent representatives of this era include the painter Alberti; architect, artist, scientist, poet and mathematician Leonardo da Vinci.

The architect Brunelleschi, innovatively using Hellenistic (ancient) traditions, created several buildings that were not inferior in beauty to the best ancient examples. Very interesting are the works of Bramante, whom contemporaries considered the most talented architect of the High Renaissance, and Palladio, who created large architectural ensembles, distinguished by their integrity. artistic intent and a variety of compositional solutions. Theater buildings and scenery were built on the basis of the architectural work of Vitruvius (about 15 BC) in accordance with the principles of the Roman theater. The playwrights followed strict classical canons. The auditorium, as a rule, resembled a horseshoe in shape, in front of it there was an elevation with a proscenium, separated from the main space by an arch. This was taken as a model theater building for the entire Western world for the next five centuries.

Renaissance painters created an integral concept of the world with internal unity, filled traditional religious subjects with earthly content (Nicola Pisano, late 14th century; Donatello, early 15th century). realistic image man became the main goal of the artists of the Early Renaissance, as evidenced by the works of Giotto and Masaccio. The invention of a way to convey perspective contributed to a more truthful display of reality. One of the main themes of the paintings of the Renaissance (Gilbert, Michelangelo) was the tragic intransigence of conflicts, the struggle and death of the hero.

Around 1425, Florence became the center of the Renaissance (Florentine art), but by the beginning of the 16th century (High Renaissance), Venice (Venetian art) and Rome took the lead. Cultural centers were the courts of the Dukes of Mantua, Urbino and Ferrada. The main patrons were the Medici and the popes, especially Julius II and Leo X. The largest representatives"Northern Renaissance" were Dürer, Cranach the Elder, Holbein. northern artists they mostly imitated the best Italian examples, and only a few, such as Jan van Scorel, managed to create their own style, which was distinguished by a special elegance and grace, later called mannerism.

Renaissance artists:

Famous paintings by artists of the Renaissance (Renaissance)

Mona Lisa

The Renaissance (Renaissance) is a period in the history of Europe, starting around the 14th century after the end of the Middle Ages.

"Renaissance" is a French word meaning "rebirth". This period is called by this name because at that time people began to be interested in the study of ancient times, in particular, the study of the heritage of ancient Greece and Rome. The Renaissance was seen as a "revival" of this learning. The Renaissance is often referred to as the beginning of the "modern age".

During the Renaissance, there were many famous artists, delightful writers and brilliant philosophers. Many people began to study thoroughly mathematics and different sciences. A man erudite and possessing profound knowledge V different areas, sometimes referred to as the "Renaissance Man". Leonardo da Vinci, who was an artist, a scientist, a musician, and a philosopher, is the most famous person the Renaissance.

The Renaissance began in Italy but soon spread throughout Europe. In Italy, this time is divided into three periods:

• early renaissance.
• high renaissance
• Late Renaissance, also called the Mannerist period.

After the Mannerist period, the Baroque period came to art. Baroque began to spread throughout Europe from about 1600. Outside of Italy, it is very difficult to determine when the Renaissance in art ends and the Baroque begins.

Many scholars believe that the following factors served as the reasons for the birth and such a rapid spread of the Renaissance:

1. Development of reading and printing.

There were very few books in the Middle Ages. Books, which almost all existed, were owned by churches, universities, or the upper class. They were hand-painted and often featured beautiful hand-painted paintings. They were so expensive that most people couldn't afford them.

Most of the books at that time were written in Latin, the language of the ancient Romans, which was used in the Catholic Church and understood only by priests and educated nobles. People were prohibited by law from translating the Bible into Italian, English, German, French, or other "local" languages.

In 1423 the first printed books appeared in Europe. The method of printing improved rapidly, so that more books could be made quickly and sold cheaply. It took 300 calf skins or 100 pig skins to print one Bible. Then the printers began to print anything they thought was interesting: - Ancient Greek and Roman writings, poetry, plays, lives of saints, math textbooks, medical textbooks, Christian stories, books about animals, advice to princes on how to manage their people and maps of the world.

Until 1423, all this knowledge belonged to priests, monasteries and universities. All of a sudden, this whole avalanche of information was available to thousands of people.

2. Ancient Roman cultural heritage.

The time of Ancient Greece and Rome, when there were many famous philosophers, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and mathematicians, was perceived by people as a golden age in the history of world civilization. Therefore, the Renaissance is named after the study of this significant heritage of the ancients.

3. Money and politics.

In connection with the appearance of a lot of money from trade in Italian cities, the local nobility wanted to weaken the influence of the Pope. And study new information and dogmas, which are denied by the church, weakened in the eyes of people the strength and power of the Catholic Church. Most of all, the rich Florentine Medici family provided assistance in the development of the Renaissance in Italy.

4. Medici.

The Medici were bankers, but very strongly supported the development of art and science. Thanks to their banking capital, the Medici became the most politically powerful family of all the families from Florence. The Medici family can be safely considered the first patrons and patrons of the Renaissance, as the heads of this family supported writers, artists, architects and students for centuries. Cosimo de Medici founded the "Platonic Academy" in Florence, where students could study the works of ancient Greek writers and talk about politics, religion and new ideas. Cosimo also urged architects to design buildings in the style ancient rome. He collected a huge library of books and gave them to the monastery of San Lorenzo for the use of his students. His grandson, Lorenzo continued the business and was nicknamed "The Magnificent". During the time of Lorenzo, such great artists of world history as Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci lived and worked in Florence.

Option 2

The period of the Middle Ages conventionally occupies the period between the 4th-5th and 13th-14th-15th centuries AD. Actually, the term Middle Ages appeared precisely in the Renaissance or Renaissance and became the designation of the intermediate period between antiquity and the Renaissance itself (begins in the 14th century).

The people of the Renaissance wanted to return antiquity and various ancient ideals to own world. These ideals seemed higher and purer, worthy of emulation. At the same time, both Christian and more ancient pagan antiquity could be considered, one way or another, these periods were perceived as more sublime.

In addition, some transformations in society, the gradual decline in the role of religion also led to changes. If earlier iconographic images often became the subject of images, and the icon was something like a window into another world, then in the Renaissance, artists more often turn to more everyday subjects. Of course, religious themes remain prevalent, but people are also depicted against the background of nature, that is, fine art becomes, as it were, a mirror that reflects not the higher, but the earthly world.

Quite interesting here is the concept of man as the crown of creation, who became the best creation of the Lord and, accordingly, such a creation is full of beauty and meaning. Therefore, Renaissance people praise nature and man. These motifs are combined with ancient ones, for example, the cult human body and enjoying its athletic beauty.

The Renaissance, as mentioned earlier, does not have clear boundaries and is a little blurred, and it is not homogeneous itself. Conventionally, there are lower, middle and high Renaissance, which is located chronologically closer to the 16th century. These sub-periods are different, and the differences are largely due to historical factors, for example, in the paintings of the high Renaissance, more space appears, the space becomes open, and many associate this fact with the period of great geographical discoveries and, accordingly, people's understanding of the impressive size of the world and its development.

The whole Renaissance is based on the idea of ​​high ideals and the glorification of beauty. People of this era sang the independence of man, his uniqueness. Examples of such works are many great creations, and the Gioconda should, of course, be attributed to the most significant.

Renaissance, or Renaissance - an era in the history of European culture, which replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of modern times. The approximate chronological framework of the era is the beginning of the XIV - the last quarter of the XVI centuries and in some cases - the first decades of the XVII century. A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (interest, first of all, in a person and his activities). There is an interest in ancient culture, its “revival” is taking place - and this is how the term appeared.
The term Renaissance is already found among Italian humanists, for example, in Giorgio Vasari. In its modern meaning, the term was coined 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.

Birth of the Italian Renaissance
Into history artistic culture Renaissance Italy made a contribution of exceptional importance. The very scale of the greatest flourishing that marked Italian Renaissance, seem especially striking in contrast with the small territorial dimensions of those urban republics where the culture of this era was born and experienced its high rise. Art in these centuries occupied a previously unprecedented position in public life. Artistic creation became an insatiable need of the people of the Renaissance, an expression of their inexhaustible energy. In the advanced centers of Italy, a passion for art captured the widest sections of society - from the ruling circles to the common people. The construction of public buildings, the installation of monuments, the decoration of the main buildings of the city were a matter of national importance and the subject of attention of senior officials. Emergence of prominent works of art turned into a major public event. The general admiration for outstanding masters may be evidenced by the fact that greatest geniuses epochs - Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo - received from contemporaries the name divino - divine. In terms of its productivity, the Renaissance, covering about three centuries in Italy, is quite comparable to the whole millennium during which the art of the Middle Ages developed. The very physical scales of everything that was created by the masters are astonishing. Italian Renaissance, majestic municipal buildings and huge cathedrals, magnificent patrician palaces and villas, works of sculpture in all its forms, countless monuments of painting - fresco cycles, monumental altar compositions and easel paintings. Drawing and engraving, handwritten miniatures and newly emerged printed graphics, decorative and applied art in all its forms - there was, in fact, no area artistic life, which would not experience a rapid rise. But perhaps even more striking is the unusually high artistic level of the art of the Italian Renaissance, its genuine global importance as one of the peaks human culture.
The culture of the Renaissance was not the property of Italy alone: ​​its scope covered many of the countries of Europe. At the same time, in one country or another, individual stages in the evolution of Renaissance art found their predominant expression. But in Italy, the new culture not only originated earlier than in other countries, the very path of its development was distinguished by an exceptional sequence of all stages, from the Proto-Renaissance to the late Renaissance, and in each of these stages Italian art gave high results, surpassing in most cases the achievements of art schools in other countries. In art history, by tradition, the Italian names of those centuries, which fall on the birth and development of Renaissance art, are widely used. Italy. The fruitful development of Renaissance art in Italy was facilitated not only by social, but also by historical and artistic factors. Italian Renaissance art owes its origin not to any one, but to several sources. In the pre-Renaissance period, Italy was a crossroads for several medieval cultures. In contrast to other countries, both main lines of medieval European art, Byzantine and Romano-Gothic, found equally significant expression here, complicated in certain areas of Italy by the influence of the art of the East. Both lines contributed to the development of Renaissance art. From Byzantine painting the Italian Proto-Renaissance adopted an ideally beautiful structure of images and forms of monumental pictorial cycles; the Gothic figurative system contributed to the penetration into the art of the 14th century of emotional excitement and a more specific perception of reality. But even more important was the fact that Italy was the custodian artistic heritage ancient world. In Italy, unlike other European countries, the aesthetic ideal of the Renaissance man was formed very early, dating back to the teaching of the humanists about homo universale, about the perfect man, in which bodily beauty and fortitude are harmoniously combined. As the leading feature of this image, the concept of virtu (valor) is put forward, which has a very broad meaning and expresses the active principle in a person, the purposefulness of his will, the ability to implement his lofty plans in spite of all obstacles. This specific quality Renaissance figurative ideal is not expressed by all Italian artists in such an open form, as, for example, by Masaccio, Andrea del Castagno, Mantegna and Michalangelo - masters whose work is dominated by images heroic character. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, this aesthetic ideal did not remain unchanged: depending on the individual stages in the evolution of Renaissance art, its various aspects were outlined in it. In images early renaissance, for example, the features of unshakable inner integrity are more pronounced. Harder and richer spiritual world heroes of the High Renaissance, giving the most a prime example harmonious worldview, characteristic of the art of this period.

Story
The Renaissance (Renaissance) is a period of cultural and ideological development of European countries. All European countries have gone through this period, but each country has its own historical framework Renaissance. The revival arose in Italy, where its first signs were noticeable as early as the 13th and 14th centuries (in the activities of the Pisano family, Giotto, Orcagni, etc.), but it was firmly established only from the 20s of the 15th century. In France, Germany and other countries, this movement began much later. By the end of the 15th century, it reached its peak. In the 16th century, a crisis of Renaissance ideas was brewing, resulting in the emergence of Mannerism and Baroque. The term "Renaissance" began to be used in the XVI century. in relation to fine arts. Author of "Lives of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects" (1550) italian artist D. Vasari wrote about the "revival" of art in Italy after for long years decline during the Middle Ages. Later, the concept of "Renaissance" acquired a broader meaning. Renaissance- this is the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of a new era, the beginning of the transition from a feudal medieval society to a bourgeois one, when the foundations of the feudal social way of life were shaken, and bourgeois-capitalist relations had not yet developed with all their commercial morality and soulless hypocrisy. Already in the depths of feudalism in the free cities there were large craft workshops, which became the basis of the manufacturing industry of the New Age, here the bourgeois class began to take shape. With particular consistency and strength, it manifested itself in Italian cities, which were already at the turn of the XIV - XV centuries. embarked on the path of capitalist development in the Dutch cities, as well as in some Rhenish and South German cities of the 15th century. Here, in conditions of incompletely formed capitalist relations, a strong and free urban society developed. Its development proceeded in a constant struggle, which was partly commercial competition and partly a struggle for political power. However, the circle of distribution of the Renaissance culture was much wider and covered the territories of France, Spain, England, the Czech Republic, Poland, where new trends manifested themselves with different strengths and in specific forms. This is the period of the formation of nations, since it was at this time that the royal power, relying on the townspeople, broke the power of the feudal nobility. From associations that were states only in a geographical sense, large monarchies are formed, based on a common historical destiny, on nationalities. Literature reached a high level, having received, with the invention of printing, previously unprecedented opportunities for distribution. It became possible to reproduce on paper any kind of knowledge and any achievements of science, which greatly facilitated learning.
The founders of humanism in Italy are Petrarch and Boccaccio - poets, scientists and experts in antiquity. The central place that the logic and philosophy of Aristotle occupied in the system of medieval scholastic education is now beginning to be occupied by rhetoric and Cicero. The study of rhetoric, according to the humanists, was supposed to give the key to the spiritual warehouse of antiquity; mastering the language and style of the ancients was considered as mastering their thinking and worldview and the most important stage in the liberation of the individual. The study of the works of ancient authors by humanists brought up the habit of thinking, of research, observation, studying the work of the mind. And new scientific works grew out of a better understanding of the values ​​of antiquity and at the same time surpassed them. The study of Antiquity left its mark on religious beliefs and customs. Although many humanists were devout, blind dogmatism died. The Chancellor of the Florentine Republic, Caluccio Salutatti, declared that the Holy Scripture is nothing but poetry. The love of the nobility for wealth and splendor, the splendor of the cardinal palaces and the Vatican itself were defiant. Ecclesiastical offices were seen by many prelates as a convenient feeder and access to political power. Rome itself, in the eyes of some, turned into a real biblical Babylon, where corruption, unbelief and licentiousness reigned. This led to a split in the bosom of the church, to the emergence of reformist movements. The era of free urban communes was short-lived, they were replaced by tyrannies. The trade rivalry of the cities eventually turned into a bloody rivalry. Already in the second half of the 16th century, feudal-Catholic reaction began.

The humanistic light ideals of the Renaissance are replaced by moods of pessimism and anxiety, intensified by individualistic tendencies. A number of Italian states are experiencing political and economic decline, they are losing their independence, social enslavement and impoverishment of the masses are taking place, and class contradictions are aggravating. The perception of the world becomes more complex, the dependence of a person on environment, ideas about the variability of life develop, the ideals of harmony and integrity of the universe are lost.

Renaissance culture or Renaissance
The culture of the Renaissance is based on the principle of humanism, the affirmation of the dignity and beauty of a real person, his mind and will, his creative forces. Unlike the culture of the Middle Ages, the humanistic life-affirming culture of the Renaissance was secular. The liberation from church scholasticism and dogma contributed to the rise of science. Passionate thirst for knowledge real world and admiration for him led to the display in art of the most diverse aspects of reality and gave majestic pathos to the most significant creations of artists. An important role for the formation of the art of the Renaissance was played by a new understanding of the ancient heritage. The impact of antiquity had the strongest effect on the formation of the Renaissance culture in Italy, where many monuments of ancient Roman art have been preserved. The victory of the secular principle in the culture of the Renaissance was a consequence of the social assertion of the growing bourgeoisie. However, the humanistic orientation of the art of the Renaissance, its optimism, the heroic and social nature of its images objectively expressed the interests not only of the young bourgeoisie, but of all progressive strata of society as a whole. Art The revival was formed in conditions when the consequences of the capitalist division of labor, which were detrimental to the development of the individual, had not yet had time to manifest themselves, courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, strength of character had not yet lost their significance. This created the illusion of the infinity of the further progressive development of human abilities. The ideal of a titanic personality was affirmed in art. The all-round brightness of the characters of the people of the Renaissance, which is also reflected in art, is largely due precisely to the fact that “the heroes of that time have not yet become slaves to the division of labor, which limits, creates one-sidedness, the influence of which we so often observe in their successors.”
The new requirements facing art led to the enrichment of its types and genres. in the monumental Italian painting fresco is widely used. From the 15th century an increasing place is occupied by the easel painting, in the development of which the Dutch masters played a special role. Along with the previously existing genres of religious and mythological painting, filled with new meaning, a portrait is being put forward, historical and landscape painting is being born. In Germany and the Netherlands, where the popular movement aroused the need for art that quickly and actively responded to ongoing events, engraving was widely used, which was often used in decoration books. The process of isolation of sculpture, begun in the Middle Ages, is being completed; along with the decorative plastic that adorns buildings, an independent round sculpture appears - easel and monumental. The decorative relief acquires the character of a perspectively constructed multi-figured composition. Turning to the ancient heritage in search of an ideal, inquisitive minds discovered the world of classical antiquity, searched for the creations of ancient authors in the monastic vaults, dug up fragments of columns and statues, bas-reliefs and precious utensils. The process of assimilation and processing of the ancient heritage was accelerated by the resettlement of Greek scientists and artists from Byzantium, captured by the Turks in 1453, to Italy. In the saved manuscripts, in the dug out statues and bas-reliefs, the amazed Europe opened new world, hitherto unknown - ancient culture with its ideal of earthly beauty, deeply human and tangible. This world gave birth in people great love to the beauty of the world and a stubborn will to know this world.

Periodization of Renaissance art
The periodization of the Renaissance is determined by the supreme role of art in its culture. Stages in the history of art in Italy - the birthplace of the Renaissance - for a long time served as the main reference point.
Specially distinguished:
introductory period, Proto-Renaissance (“the era of Dante and Giotto”, ca. 1260-1320), partially coinciding with the Ducento period (XIII century)
Quattrocento (XV century)
and Cinquecento (XVI century)

The chronological framework of the century does not quite coincide with certain periods cultural development: thus, the Proto-Renaissance dates back to the end of the 13th century, Early Renaissance ends in the 90s. XV century, and high renaissance outlives itself by the 30s. 16th century It continues until late XVI V. only in Venice; the term "late Renaissance" is more often used to this period. The era of the ducento, i.e. The 13th century was the beginning of the Renaissance culture of Italy - the Proto-Renaissance.
The more common periods are:
Early Renaissance, when new trends actively interact with Gothic, creatively transforming it;
Middle (or High) Renaissance;
Late Renaissance, of which Mannerism became a special phase.
The new culture of the countries located to the north and west of the Alps (France, the Netherlands, the Germanic-speaking lands) is collectively referred to as the Northern Renaissance; here the role of late Gothic was especially significant. The characteristic features of the Renaissance were also clearly manifested in the countries of Eastern Europe(Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, etc.), affected Scandinavia. An original Renaissance culture developed in Spain, Portugal and England.

Characteristics of the Renaissance style
This style of interior, which was called by the contemporaries of the Renaissance style, brought to culture and art medieval Europe a free new spirit and faith in the limitless possibilities of mankind. Characteristic features of the interior in the Renaissance style were large rooms with rounded arches, carved wood trim, intrinsic value and relative independence of each individual detail, from which the whole is typed. Strict organization, logic, clarity, rationality of building a form. Clarity, balance, symmetry of parts relative to the whole. The ornament imitates antique patterns. Renaissance style elements were borrowed from the arsenal of Greco-Roman orders. Thus, windows began to be made with semicircular, and later with rectangular endings. The interiors of the palaces began to be distinguished by their monumentality, the splendor of marble stairs, as well as the richness of decorative decoration. Deep perspective, proportionality, harmony of forms are the mandatory requirements of Renaissance aesthetics. The character of the interior space is largely determined by vaulted ceilings, smooth lines which are repeated in numerous semicircular niches. The color scheme of the Renaissance is soft, the halftones pass into each other, there are no contrasts, complete harmony. Nothing catches the eye.

The main elements of the Renaissance style:
semicircular lines, geometric pattern(circle, square, cross, octagon) predominantly horizontal division of the interior;
steep or sloping roof with tower superstructures, arched galleries, colonnades, round ribbed domes, high and spacious halls, bay windows;
coffered ceiling; antique sculptures; leaf ornament; wall and ceiling painting;
massive and visually stable structures; diamond rust on the facade;
the form of furniture is simple, geometric, solid, richly decorated;
colors: purple, blue, yellow, brown.

Renaissance periods
Revival is divided into 4 stages:
Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the XIII century - XIV century)
Early Renaissance (early 15th century - late 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, 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 connected with the plague epidemic that hit Italy. All discoveries were made on an intuitive level. At the end of the 13th century, the main temple building, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, was erected in Florence, the author was Arnolfo di Cambio, then the work was continued by Giotto, who designed the campanile of the Florence Cathedral. The art of the proto-Renaissance manifested itself in sculpture. Painting is represented by two art schools: Florence (Cimabue, Giotto) and Siena (Duccio, Simone Martini). central figure painting became Giotto. Renaissance artists considered him a reformer of painting.
Early Renaissance
The period covers in Italy the time from 1420 to 1500. During these eighty years, art has not yet completely renounced the traditions of the recent past, but is trying to mix into them elements borrowed from classical antiquity. Only later, and only little by little, under the influence of more and more changing conditions of life and culture, 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.
Art in Italy has already resolutely followed the path of imitation of classical antiquity, in other countries it has long adhered to the traditions of the Gothic style. North of the Alps, as well as in Spain, the Renaissance does not come until the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts until about the middle of the next century.
High Renaissance
The third period of the Renaissance - the time of the most magnificent development of his style - is commonly called the "High Renaissance". It extends into 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 best artists Italy, which occupied them with numerous and important works and gave others an example of love for art. Under this Pope and under his immediate successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the time of Pericles: many monumental buildings are built in it, magnificent sculptures 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 acting on each other. The antique is now being studied more thoroughly, reproduced with greater rigor and consistency; tranquility and dignity replace the playful beauty that was the aspiration of the preceding period; reminiscences of the medieval completely disappear, and a completely classical imprint falls on all works of art.
Late Renaissance
The late Renaissance in Italy covers the period from the 1530s to the 1590s-1620s. Some researchers rank the 1630s as 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 great deal of conventionality. In Southern Europe, the Counter-Reformation triumphed, which looked with caution at any free thought, including the chanting of the human body and the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity, as the cornerstones of the Renaissance ideology. Worldview contradictions and a general feeling of crisis resulted in Florence in the "nervous" art of far-fetched colors and broken lines - mannerism.

Renaissance art

Renaissance- this is the heyday of all the arts, including the theater, and literature, and music, but, undoubtedly, the main among them, which most fully expressed the spirit of its time, was the fine arts.

It is no coincidence that there is a theory that the Renaissance began with the fact that the artists were no longer satisfied with the framework of the dominant "Byzantine" style and, in search of models for their work, were the first to turn to to antiquity. The term "Renissance" (Renaissance) was introduced by the thinker and artist of the era itself, Giorgio Vasari ("Biography of famous painters, sculptors and architects"). So he called the time from 1250 to 1550. From his point of view, this was the time of the revival of antiquity. For Vasari, antiquity appears in an ideal way.

In the future, the content of the term has evolved. The revival began to mean the emancipation of science and art from theology, a cooling towards Christian ethics, the birth of national literatures, the desire of man for freedom from the restrictions of the Catholic Church. That is, the Renaissance, in essence, began to mean humanism.

REVIVAL, RENAISSANCE(French renais sance - rebirth) - one of the greatest eras, a turning point in the development of world art between the Middle Ages and the new time. The Renaissance covers the XIV-XVI centuries. in Italy, XV-XVI centuries. in other European countries. Its name - Renaissance (or Renaissance) - this period in the development of culture received in connection with the revival of interest in ancient art. However, the artists of that time not only copied old patterns, but also put a qualitatively new content into them. The Renaissance should not be considered an artistic style or direction, since in this era there were various artistic styles, trends, currents. The aesthetic ideal of the Renaissance was formed on the basis of a new progressive worldview - humanism. The real world and man were proclaimed the highest value: Man is the measure of all things. The role of the creative person has especially increased.

Humanistic pathos of the era the best way embodied in art, which, as in previous centuries, aimed to give a picture of the universe. What was new was that they tried to unite the material and the spiritual into one whole. It was difficult to find a person indifferent to art, but preference was given to fine arts and architecture.

Italian painting of the 15th century mostly monumental (frescoes). Painting occupies a leading place among the types of fine arts. It most fully corresponds to the Renaissance principle of "imitating nature." A new visual system is formed on the basis of the study of nature. The artist Masaccio made a worthy contribution to the development of an understanding of volume, its transmission with the help of chiaroscuro. Discovery and scientific substantiation of the laws of linear and aerial perspective significantly influenced the further fate of European painting. A new plastic language of sculpture is being formed, its founder was Donatello. He revived the free-standing round statue. His best work is the sculpture of David (Florence).

In architecture, the principles of the ancient order system are resurrected, the importance of proportions is raised, new types of buildings are being formed (city palace, country villa, etc.), the theory of architecture and the concept of an ideal city are being developed. The architect Brunelleschi built buildings in which he combined the ancient understanding of architecture and the traditions of the late Gothic, achieving a new figurative spirituality of architecture, unknown to the ancients. During the high Renaissance, the new worldview was best embodied in the work of artists who are rightfully called geniuses: Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giorgione and Titian. The last two thirds of the 16th century called the late Renaissance. At this time, the crisis covers art. It becomes regulated, courtly, loses its warmth and naturalness. However, individual great artists - Titian, Tintoretto continue to create masterpieces during this period.

The Italian Renaissance had a huge impact on the art of France, Spain, Germany, England, and Russia.

The rise in the development of the art of the Netherlands, France and Germany (XV-XVI centuries) is called the Northern Renaissance. The work of the painters Jan van Eyck, P. Brueghel the Elder is the pinnacle of this period in the development of art. In Germany, A. Dürer was the greatest artist of the German Renaissance.

The discoveries made during the Renaissance in the field of spiritual culture and art were of great historical significance for the development of European art in subsequent centuries. Interest in them continues to this day.

The Renaissance in Italy went through several stages: early Renaissance, high Renaissance, late Renaissance. Florence became the birthplace of the Renaissance. The foundations of the new art were developed by the painter Masaccio, the sculptor Donatello, and the architect F. Brunelleschi.

The first to create paintings instead of icons was the largest master of the Proto-Renaissance Giotto. He was the first to strive to convey Christian ethical ideas through the depiction of real human feelings and experiences, replacing symbolism with the depiction of real space and specific objects. On the famous frescoes of Giotto in Arena Chapel in Padua you can see quite unusual characters next to the saints: shepherds or a spinner. Each individual person in Giotto expresses quite definite experiences, a definite character.

In the era of the early Renaissance in art, the development of the ancient artistic heritage takes place, new ethical ideals are formed, artists turn to the achievements of science (mathematics, geometry, optics, anatomy). The leading role in the formation of the ideological and stylistic principles of the art of the early Renaissance is played by Florence. In the images created by such masters as Donatello, Verrocchio, the equestrian statue of the condottiere Gattamelata David by Donatello dominates the heroic and patriotic principles (“St. George” and “David” by Donatello and “David” by Verrocchio).

Masaccio was the founder of Renaissance painting.(murals in the Brancacci Chapel, "Trinity"), Masaccio was able to convey the depth of space, connected the figure and the landscape with a single compositional idea, and gave individuals portrait expressiveness.

But the formation and evolution of the pictorial portrait, which reflected the interest of the Renaissance culture in man, are associated with the names of the artists of the Umrbi school: Piero della Francesca, Pinturicchio.

The work of the artist stands apart in the early Renaissance Sandro Botticelli. The images he created are spiritualized and poetic. Researchers note the abstraction and refined intellectualism in the artist’s works, his desire to create mythological compositions with complicated and encrypted content (“Spring”, “The Birth of Venus”). One of Botticelli’s biographers said that his Madonnas and Venuses give the impression of loss, causing us a feeling of indelible sadness... Some of them lost the sky, others - the earth.

"Spring" "Birth of Venus"

The culmination in the development of the ideological and artistic principles of the Italian Renaissance is High Renaissance. The founder of the art of the High Renaissance is Leonardo da Vinci, a great artist and scientist.

He created a number of masterpieces: “Mona Lisa” (“La Gioconda”) Strictly speaking, the very face of the Gioconda is distinguished by restraint and calmness, the smile that created her world fame and which later became an indispensable part of the works of the Leonardo school is barely noticeable in it. But in the softly melting haze that envelops the face and figure, Leonardo managed to make feel the boundless variability of human facial expressions. Although the eyes of Gioconda look attentively and calmly at the viewer, due to the shading of her eye sockets, one might think that they are slightly frowning; her lips are compressed, but barely perceptible shadows are outlined near their corners, which make you believe that every minute they will open, smile, speak. The very contrast between her gaze and the half-smile on her lips gives an idea of ​​the contradictory nature of her experiences. It was not in vain that Leonardo tortured his model with long sessions. Like no one else, he managed to convey shadows, shades and halftones in this picture, and they give rise to a feeling of quivering life. No wonder Vasari thought that on the neck of the Mona Lisa you can see how a vein is beating.

In the portrait of Gioconda, Leonardo not only perfectly conveyed the body and the enveloping air environment. He also put into it an understanding of what the eye needs in order for a picture to produce a harmonious impression, which is why everything looks as if the forms are naturally born one from the other, as happens in music when a tense dissonance is resolved by a harmonious chord. Gioconda is perfectly inscribed in a strictly proportional rectangle, her half-figure forms something whole, folded hands give her image completeness. Now, of course, there could be no question of the bizarre curls of the early Annunciation. However, no matter how softened all the contours, the wavy lock of the Gioconda's hair is in tune with the transparent veil, and the hanging fabric thrown over the shoulder finds an echo in the smooth windings of the distant road. In all this, Leonardo shows his ability to create according to the laws of rhythm and harmony. “In terms of technique, Mona Lisa has always been considered something inexplicable. Now I think I can answer this riddle,” says Frank. According to him, Leonardo used the technique he developed "sfumato" (Italian "sfumato", literally - "disappeared like smoke"). The trick is that objects in the paintings should not have clear boundaries, everything should be smoothly transitioning from one to another, the outlines of objects are softened with the help of the light-air haze surrounding them. The main difficulty of this technique lies in the smallest strokes (about a quarter of a millimeter) that are not accessible for recognition either under a microscope or using X-rays. Thus, it took several hundred sessions to paint a da Vinci painting. The image of the Mona Lisa consists of about 30 layers of liquid, almost transparent oil paint. For such jewelry work, the artist apparently had to use a magnifying glass. Perhaps the use of such a laborious technique explains the long time spent working on the portrait - almost 4 years.

, "The Last Supper" makes a lasting impression. On the wall, as if overcoming it and taking the viewer into the world of harmony and majestic visions, the ancient gospel drama of deceived trust unfolds. And this drama finds its resolution in a general impulse directed towards the main character - a husband with a mournful face, who accepts what is happening as inevitable. Christ had just said to his disciples, "One of you will betray me." The traitor sits with the others; the old masters depicted Judas seated separately, but Leonardo brought out his gloomy isolation much more convincingly, shrouding his features with a shadow. Christ is submissive to his fate, full of consciousness of the sacrifice of his feat. His tilted head with lowered eyes, the gesture of his hands are infinitely beautiful and majestic. A charming landscape opens through the window behind his figure. Christ is the center of the whole composition, of all that whirlpool of passions that rage around. His sadness and calmness are, as it were, eternal, natural - and this is the deep meaning of the drama shown. He was looking for the sources of perfect forms of art in nature, but N. Berdyaev considers him responsible for the coming process of mechanization and mechanization of human life, which tore a person from nature.

Painting achieves classical harmony in creativity Raphael. His art evolves from the early chilly Umbrian images of Madonnas (Madonna Conestabile) to the world of "happy Christianity" of Florentine and Roman works. "Madonna with a Goldfinch" and "Madonna in an Armchair" are soft, humane and even ordinary in their humanity.

But the image of the "Sistine Madonna" is majestic, symbolically connecting the heavenly and earthly worlds. Most of all, Raphael is known as the creator of gentle images of Madonnas. But in painting, he embodied both the ideal of the Renaissance universal man (portrait of Castiglione), and the drama of historical events. The Sistine Madonna (c. 1513, Dresden, Art Gallery) is one of the artist's most inspired works. Written as an altarpiece for the church of the monastery of St. Sixtus in Piacenza, this painting, in terms of design, composition and interpretation of the image, differs significantly from the Madonnas of the Florentine period. Instead of an intimate and earthly image of a beautiful young maiden condescendingly following the amusements of two babies, here we have a wonderful vision that suddenly appeared in the sky because of a curtain pulled back by someone. Surrounded by a golden radiance, solemn and majestic, Mary walks through the clouds, holding the Christ child in front of her. Left and right kneel before her St. Sixtus and St. Barbara. The symmetrical, strictly balanced composition, the clarity of the silhouette and the monumental generalization of the forms give the Sistine Madonna a special grandeur.

In this picture, Raphael, perhaps to a greater extent than anywhere else, managed to combine the life-like truthfulness of the image with the features of ideal perfection. The image of the Madonna is complex. The touching purity and naivety of a very young woman are combined in him with firm determination and heroic readiness for sacrifice. This heroism makes the image of the Madonna related to the best traditions of Italian humanism. The combination of the ideal and the real in this picture makes you remember famous words Rafael from a letter to his friend B. Castiglione. “And I will tell you,” wrote Raphael, “that in order to write a beauty, I need to see many beauties ... but due to the lack ... in beautiful women, I use some idea that comes to my mind. Whether it has any perfection, I do not know, but I try very hard to achieve it. These words shed light on the creative method of the artist. Proceeding from reality and relying on it, at the same time he strives to raise the image above everything accidental and transient.

Michelangelo(1475-1564) - undoubtedly one of the most inspired artists in the history of art and, along with Leonardo da Vinci, the most powerful figure of the Italian high renaissance. As a sculptor, architect, painter and poet, Michelangelo had an enormous influence on his contemporaries and on subsequent Western art in general.

He considered himself a Florentine - although he was born on March 6, 1475 in the small village of Caprese near the city of Arezzo. Michelangelo deeply loved his city, its art, culture and carried this love to the end of his days. He spent most of his mature years in Rome, working for the popes; however, he left a will, in accordance with which his body was buried in Florence, in a beautiful tomb in the church of Santa Croce.

Michelangelo completed the marble sculpture Pieta(Lamentation of Christ) (1498-1500), which is still in its original location - in St. Peter's Cathedral. This is one of the most famous works in the history of world art. The pieta was probably completed by Michelangelo before he was 25 years old. This is the only work he has signed. The young Mary is depicted with the dead Christ on her knees, an image borrowed from northern European art. Mary's look is not so sad as solemn. This is the highest point of creativity of the young Michelangelo.

No less significant work of the young Michelangelo was a giant (4.34 m) marble image David(Academy, Florence), executed between 1501 and 1504, after returning to Florence. The hero of the Old Testament is depicted by Michelangelo in the form of a handsome, muscular, naked young man who looks anxiously into the distance, as if assessing his enemy - Goliath, with whom he has to fight. The lively, tense expression of David's face is characteristic of many of Michelangelo's works - this is a sign of his individual sculptural manner. The David, Michelangelo's most famous sculpture, has become a symbol of Florence and was originally placed in the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, the Florentine town hall. With this statue, Michelangelo proved to his contemporaries that he not only surpassed all contemporary artists, but also the masters of antiquity.

Painting on the vault of the Sistine Chapel In 1505, Michelangelo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II to fulfill two orders. The most important was the fresco painting of the vault of the Sistine Chapel. Working lying on high scaffolding right under the ceiling, Michelangelo created the most beautiful illustrations for some biblical stories between 1508 and 1512. On the vault of the papal chapel, he depicted nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, beginning with the Separation of Light from Darkness and including the Creation of Adam, the Creation of Eve, the Temptation and Fall of Adam and Eve, and the Flood. Around the main paintings alternate images of prophets and sibyls on marble thrones, other Old Testament characters and the forefathers of Christ.

To prepare for this great work, Michelangelo made a huge number of sketches and cardboards, on which he depicted the figures of the sitters in a variety of poses. These regal, powerful images prove the artist's masterful understanding of human anatomy and movement, which gave impetus to a new direction in Western European art.

Two other excellent statues, Bound Prisoner and Death of a Slave(both c. 1510-13) are in the Louvre, Paris. They demonstrate Michelangelo's approach to sculpture. In his opinion, the figures are simply enclosed within the marble block, and it is the artist's job to free them by removing the excess stone. Often Michelangelo left the sculptures unfinished, either because they were no longer needed or simply because they lost their interest for the artist.

Library San Lorenzo The project of the tomb of Julius II required architectural study, but Michelangelo's serious work in the architectural field began only in 1519, when he was ordered to facade the Library of St. Lawrence in Florence, where the artist returned again (this project was never implemented). In the 1520s he also designed the elegant entrance hall of the Library adjoining the church of San Lorenzo. These structures were completed only a few decades after the death of the author.

Michelangelo, an adherent of the republican faction, participated in the years 1527-29 in the war against the Medici. His responsibilities included the construction and reconstruction of the fortifications of Florence.

Medici Chapels. After living in Florence for a rather long period, Michelangelo completed between 1519 and 1534 the order of the Medici family for the construction of two tombs in the new sacristy of the church of San Lorenzo. In a hall with a high domed vault, the artist erected two magnificent tombs against the walls, intended for Lorenzo De Medici, Duke of Urbino and for Giuliano De Medici, Duke of Nemours. Two complex graves were conceived as representations of opposite types: Lorenzo - a person enclosed in himself, a thoughtful, withdrawn person; Giuliano, on the contrary, is active, open. Above the grave of Lorenzo, the sculptor placed allegorical sculptures of Morning and Evening, and above the grave of Giuliano - allegories of Day and Night. Work on the Medici tombs continued after Michelangelo returned to Rome in 1534. He never visited his beloved city again.

Last Judgment

From 1536 to 1541, Michelangelo worked in Rome on painting the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The largest fresco of the Renaissance depicts the day of the Last Judgment. Christ, with a fiery lightning in his hand, inexorably divides all the inhabitants of the earth into the saved righteous, depicted on the left side of the composition, and sinners descending into Dante's hell (left side of the fresco). Strictly following his own tradition, Michelangelo originally painted all the figures nude, but a decade later some Puritan artist "dressed" them as the cultural climate became more conservative. Michelangelo left his own self-portrait on the fresco - his face is easily guessed on the skin torn from the Holy Martyr Apostle Bartholomew.

Although during this period Michelangelo had other pictorial commissions, such as painting the chapel of St. Paul the Apostle (1940), first of all he tried to devote all his strength to architecture.

Dome of St. Peter's Cathedral. In 1546, Michelangelo was appointed chief architect of St. Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican, which was under construction. The building was built according to the plan of Donato Bramante, but Michelangelo ultimately became responsible for the construction of the altar apse and for the development of the engineering and artistic solution for the dome of the cathedral. The completion of the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral was the highest achievement of the Florentine master in the field of architecture. During his long life, Michelangelo was a close friend of princes and popes, from Lorenzo de Medici to Leo X, Clement VIII, and Pius III, as well as many cardinals, painters and poets. The character of the artist, his position in life is difficult to unambiguously understand through his works - they are so diverse. Except perhaps in poetry, in his own poems, Michelangelo more often and more deeply turned to questions of creativity and his place in art. A large place in his poems is given to the problems and difficulties that he had to face in his work, and personal relationships with the most prominent representatives of that era. One of the most famous poets of the Renaissance, Lodovico Ariosto wrote an epitaph for this famous artist: "Michele is more than a mortal, he is a divine angel."