Renaissance(Renaissance)

Renaissance (Renaissance) (Renaissance), an era of intellectual and artistic flourishing that began in Italy in the 14th century, reaching a peak in the 16th century and having a significant impact on European culture. The term "Renaissance", which meant a return to the values ​​of the ancient world (although interest in the Roman classics arose as early as the 12th century), appeared in the 15th century and received 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 the integrity of the artistic conception and the 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). The realistic depiction of a person 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 of the "northern Renaissance" were Durer, 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

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. Distinctive feature Renaissance - 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
In the history of the artistic culture of the Renaissance, Italy made a contribution of exceptional importance. The very scale of the greatest flourishing that marked the Italian Renaissance seems especially striking in contrast to 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. The appearance of outstanding works of art turned into a major social event. The fact that the greatest geniuses of the era - Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo - received the name divino - divine from contemporaries - can testify to the general admiration for outstanding masters. 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 scale of everything that was created by the masters of the 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 are already amazing. . Drawing and engraving, handwritten miniatures and the newly emerging printed graphics, decorative and applied art in all its forms - there was, in essence, not a single area of ​​​​artistic life that would not experience a rapid upsurge. But perhaps even more striking is the unusually high artistic level of the art of the Italian Renaissance, its truly global significance as one of the pinnacles of 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 guardian of the artistic heritage of the ancient world. In Italy, unlike other European countries, the aesthetic ideal of the Renaissance man was formed very early, going 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 The 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 of a heroic nature. 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 the images of the early Renaissance, for example, the features of an unshakable inner integrity are more pronounced. Harder and richer spiritual world heroes of the High Renaissance, which gives the most striking example of the harmonious worldview inherent in 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 for the 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 many years of 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 Republic of Florence, Caluccio Salutatti, declared that Holy Bible 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 the decoration of 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 a great love for 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 of cultural development: for example, the Proto-Renaissance dates back to the end of the 13th century, the Early Renaissance ends in the 90s. XV century., And the High Renaissance is becoming obsolete 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.), and 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, whose smooth lines 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; ancient 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). Major 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). The central figure of painting was 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, and also in Spain, the Renaissance comes only at the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts approximately until 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 Italian art from Florence moves 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 being built in it, 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 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 glorification of the human body and the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity as cornerstones 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.

Test in the discipline: "Culturology"

on the topic: "Culture of the Renaissance (Renaissance)"

Completed:

Student

Saint Petersburg 2008

Introduction

Renaissance - very milestone development European culture. Chronologically included in medieval history European nations that arose in the depths of feudal culture, the Renaissance opens up a fundamentally new cultural era, marking the beginning of the struggle of the bourgeoisie for dominance in society.

At this early stage of development, bourgeois ideology was a progressive ideology and reflected the interests not only of the bourgeoisie itself, but also of all other classes and estates that were subordinate to the feudal structure of relations that was becoming obsolete.

The Renaissance is a period of rampant Inquisition, a split in the Catholic Church, brutal wars and popular uprisings that took place against the backdrop of the formation of bourgeois individualism.

The culture of the Renaissance originated in the second half of the 14th century. And it continued to develop throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, gradually covering all the countries of Europe one after another. The emergence of the Renaissance culture was prepared by a number of pan-European and local historical conditions.

In the XIV - XV centuries. early capitalist, commodity-money relations were born. Italy was one of the first to embark on this path, which was largely facilitated by: high level urbanization, the subordination of the village to the city, the wide scope of handicraft production, financial affairs, oriented not only to the domestic, but also to the foreign market.

The formation of a new culture was also prepared by public consciousness, by changes in the moods of various social strata of the early bourgeoisie. The asceticism of church morality in the era of active commercial, industrial and financial entrepreneurship was seriously at odds with the real life practice of these social strata with their desire for worldly goods, hoarding, craving for wealth. In the psychology of the merchants, the craft elite, the features of rationalism, prudence, courage in business endeavors, awareness of personal abilities and wide opportunities clearly appeared. There was a morality that justified "honest enrichment", the joys of worldly life, the crown of success of which was considered the prestige of the family, respect for fellow citizens, glory in the memory of descendants.

The term "Renaissance" (Renaissance) appeared in the 16th century. The term "Renaissance" originally meant not so much the name of the entire era, but the very moment of the emergence of new art, which was usually timed to coincide with the beginning of the 16th century. Only later did the concept acquire a broader meaning and began to designate the era when in Italy, and then in other countries, a culture opposed to feudalism was formed and flourished. Engels described the Renaissance as "the greatest progressive upheaval of all that mankind has experienced up to that time."

1. Culture of the Renaissance

XIII - XVI centuries were a time of great changes in the economy, political and cultural life European countries. The rapid growth of cities and the development of crafts, and later the emergence of manufactory production, the rise of world trade, which involved ever more remote areas in its orbit, the gradual deployment of the main trade routes from the Mediterranean to the north, which ended after the fall of Byzantium and the great geographical discoveries of the late 15th and early 16th centuries changed the face of medieval Europe. Almost everywhere cities are now coming to the fore. Once mightiest forces medieval world- the empire and the papacy - experienced a deep crisis. In the 16th century, the decaying Holy Roman Empire of the German nation became the scene of the first two anti-feudal revolutions - the Great Peasants' War in Germany and the Netherlands Uprising. The transitional nature of the era, the process of liberation from medieval fetters taking place in all areas of life, and at the same time the still underdevelopment of emerging capitalist relations could not but affect the characteristics of the artistic culture and aesthetic thought of that time.

All changes in the life of society were accompanied by a broad renewal of culture - the flourishing of natural and exact sciences, literature in national languages ​​and, in particular, fine arts. Originating in the cities of Italy, this renewal then captured other European countries. The advent of printing opened unprecedented opportunities for the dissemination of literary and scientific works, and more regular and closer communication between countries contributed to the widespread penetration of new artistic movements.

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

The great geographical discoveries played a huge role in this breakthrough. In 1456, Portuguese ships reached Cape Verde, and in 1486, the expedition of B. Diaz circled the African continent from the south, passing the Cape of Good Hope. Mastering the coast of Africa, the Portuguese simultaneously sent ships to the open ocean, to the west and southwest. As a result, previously unknown Azores and Madeira Islands appeared on the maps. In 1492, a great event happened - H. Columbus, an Italian who moved to Spain, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in search of a way to India and landed near the Bahamas, discovering a new continent - America. In 1498, the Spanish traveler Vasco da Gama, rounding Africa, successfully brought his ships to the shores of India. From the 16th century Europeans are penetrating into China and Japan, of which they previously had only the most vague idea. From 1510, the conquest of America begins. In the 17th century Australia was discovered. The idea of ​​the shape of the earth has changed: the round-the-world trip of the Portuguese F. Magellan (1519-1522) confirmed the conjecture that it has the shape of a ball.

2. The art of renaissance

The art of antiquity is one of the foundations of the artistic culture of the Renaissance. Representatives of the Renaissance find in ancient culture something that is consonant with their own aspirations - commitment to reality, cheerfulness, admiration for the beauty of the earthly world, before the greatness of a heroic deed. At the same time, having taken shape in different historical conditions, having absorbed the traditions of the Romanesque and Gothic styles, the art of the Renaissance bears the stamp of its time. Compared with the art of classical antiquity, the spiritual world of man is becoming more complex and multifaceted.

At this time, the Italian society begins to take an active interest in the culture of Ancient Greece and Rome, the manuscripts of ancient writers are being searched for, so the writings of Cicero and Titus Livius were found.

Drawing the ideal of the human personality, the figures of the Renaissance emphasized its kindness, strength, heroism, the ability to create and create a new world around itself. The high idea of ​​a person was inextricably linked with the idea of ​​his free will: a person chooses his own life path and is responsible for his own destiny. The value of a person began to be determined by his personal merits, and not by his position in society: "Nobility, like a kind of radiance emanating from virtue and illuminating its owners, no matter what origin they are." (From the Book of Nobility by Poggio Bracciolini, 15th-century Italian humanist).

The Renaissance is a time of great discoveries, great masters and their outstanding works. It is marked by the appearance of a whole galaxy of artists-scientists, among whom the first place belongs to Leonardo da Vinci. It was the time of titanism, which manifested itself both in art and in life. Suffice it to recall the heroic images created by Michelangelo and their creator (poet, artist, sculptor). People like Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci were real examples of the limitless possibilities of man.

Fine art in the Renaissance reaches an unprecedented flowering. This is due to the economic upsurge, with a huge shift that has taken place in the minds of people who have turned to the cult of earthly life and beauty. In the Renaissance, the objective image of the world was seen through the eyes of a person, so one of the important problems faced by artists was the problem of space.

Artists began to see the world differently: flat, as if incorporeal images of medieval art gave way to three-dimensional, relief, convex space. Rafael Santi (1483-1520), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) sang with their creativity the perfect personality, in which physical and spiritual beauty merge together in accordance with the requirements of ancient aesthetics. Renaissance artists rely on the principles of imitation of nature, use perspective, the rule of the "golden section" in the construction of the human body. Leonardo da Vinci characterizes painting as "the greatest of sciences". The principle of "conformity to nature", the desire to reproduce the depicted object as accurately as possible, as well as the interest in individuality inherent in this period impart a subtle psychologism to the works of the Renaissance masters.

Artists' works become signatures, i.e. underlined by the author. More and more self-portraits appear. An undoubted sign of a new self-awareness is the fact that artists are increasingly avoiding direct orders, giving themselves to work from an inner impulse. By the end of the 14th century, the external position of the artist in society also changed significantly. Artists are beginning to be honored with all sorts of public confessions, positions, honorary and monetary sinecures. And Michelangelo, for example, is elevated to such a height that, without fear of offending the crowned bearers, he refuses the high honors offered to him. The title "divine" is enough for him. He insists that all titles be omitted in letters to him, and they simply write "Michelangelo Buonarotti". The genius has a name. The title is a burden for him, because it is associated with inevitable circumstances and, therefore, at least with a partial loss of that very freedom from everything that hinders his creativity. But the logical limit to which the artist of the Renaissance gravitated was the acquisition of complete personal independence, assuming, of course, primarily creative freedom.

If Michelangelo can be called the most brilliant Renaissance artist, then Leonardo is the greatest idea of ​​​​the Renaissance artist. Michelangelo materialized the spirit, and Leonardo spiritualized nature. If Leonardo and Michelangelo can be imagined as 2 poles of the Renaissance, then Raphael can be called its middle. It was his work that most fully expressed all the principles of the Renaissance, it fit within the Renaissance. The art of Raphael for all time has become a symbol of harmony, embodied it in itself.

In the art of the Renaissance, man became a real and independent value. In architecture, this manifests itself not only in the humanization of the proportions of buildings, but also in the creation of floor ideas. In architecture especially big role played an appeal to the classical tradition. It manifested itself not only in the rejection of Gothic forms and the revival of the ancient order system, but also in the classical proportionality of proportions, in the development of a centric type of buildings in temple architecture with an easily visible interior space. Especially a lot of new things were created in the field of civil architecture. In the Renaissance, multi-storey city buildings (town halls, houses of merchant guilds, universities, warehouses, markets, etc.) get a more elegant look, a type of city palace (palazzo) appears - the dwelling of a wealthy burgher, as well as a type of country villa. Issues related to the planning of cities are being resolved in a new way, urban centers are being reconstructed. The attitude towards architecture as a manifestation of individual skill is being formed.

In music, the development of vocal and instrumental polyphony continues. Particularly noticeable is the Dutch polyphonic school that developed in the 15th century, which played a significant role in the professional European music for two centuries, until the advent of opera (composers J. Despres, O. Lasso). New genres appear in secular music: frottole - song folk origin in Italy; villanisco - a song on any topic, from lyrical and pastoral to historical and moralizing - in Spain; madrigal - a type of song lyrics performed in the native language. At the same time, some musical figures justify the advantages of monadic music, as opposed to the passion for polyphony. Genres appear that contribute to the establishment of homophony (monophony) - solo song, cantata, oratorio. Music theory is also developing.

3. Poetry of the Renaissance

Speaking about the Renaissance as a great historical upheaval, F. Engels in the preface to "The Dialectic of Nature" emphasized that during this upheaval nations were formed in Europe, national literatures were born, a new type of man was forged. This epoch "needed titans" - and "gave birth to titans in strength of thought, passion and character, but in versatility and learning."

Difficult to find major figure culture of the Renaissance, whoever wrote poetry. Talented poets were Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci; poems were written by Giordano Bruno, Thomas More, Ulrich von Hutten, Erasmus of Rotterdam. The art of writing poetry was taught by Ronsard to the princes of France. Poems were composed by popes and Italian princes. Even the extravagant adventuress Mary Stuart dropped graceful poetic lines, saying goodbye to France, where her cheerful youth flowed. Lyric poets were prominent prose writers and playwrights. Obviously, the great upheaval had its own rhythm, clearly talented people and their pulse beat. In the apparent chaos of historical events that befell Europe - in wars, uprisings, great campaigns to distant lands, in new and new discoveries - that "music of the spheres" sounded, that voice of history that is always intelligible in revolutionary eras to people who are able to hear it. . These new rhythms of life sounded with great force in the poetry that was born in the new European languages, which in many cases acquired their laws precisely in connection with the activities of poets.

An important and common point for all European poetry of the Renaissance was that it broke away from singing art, and soon from musical accompaniment, without which the folk lyrics of the Middle Ages were unthinkable, as well as the art of knightly poets - troubadours and minnesingers. At the cost of the efforts of bold reformers, poetry became an area of ​​strictly individual creativity, in which a new personality, born in the storms of the Renaissance, revealed its relationship with other people, with society, with nature. Collections of Italian poets of the XIV-XV centuries are still called in the old way: "Songbooks" - "Canzoniere", but poems are already being printed to be said aloud or read to oneself, for the sake of an increasing tribe of poetry lovers who forgot the whole world over a book of poems, like young heroes " Divine Comedy by Paolo and Francesca.

However, the poetry of modern times helped to completely break the connection with the song, especially folk. Moreover, it was precisely in the era of the early Renaissance that a mighty wave of folk poetry, mainly song poetry, swept through all the countries of Europe. It can be said that the flowering of lyric poetry at that time began precisely with the poetry of the masses of the people - peasant and urban, who everywhere in Europe felt how their strength was growing, their impact on the life of society. The Renaissance was the era of great popular movements that undermined the foundations of the Middle Ages, heralding the coming of a new time.

The deep connections between popular revolt and criticism of feudal ideology are revealed in The Vision of Peter the Plowman, a poem of the 1470s attributed to the obscure loser William Langland and replete with echoes of oral folk art. The bearer of moral truth here is a worker, a plowman. In the XIV century, obviously, the plot of the main backbone of ballads about a rebel and people's protector Robin Hood, who became beloved popular reading as soon as the printing presses began to work in England.

The ballad's original preserve, where it still exists as a living poetic genre, has become the numerous archipelagos of the North Atlantic with their mixed population of predominantly Danish origin. The Danish renaissance ballad, samples of which are included in this volume, has become a classic genre of northern European folk poetry.

Since the middle of the 15th century, printing presses have thrown out many publications designed for a wide range of readers, samples of folk poetry - songs, romances, riddles, as well as " folk books"(among them - a book about Til Ulenspiegel and a book about Dr. Faust). They are processed and used by humanist writers, even very far from the movement of the masses, but feeling drawn to folk sources. We look through the plays of Shakespeare, his contemporaries and predecessors. How many folk we will find ballads at the very heart of their plans; in Desdemona's song about the willow-willow, in Ophelia's song about Valentine's Day, in the atmosphere of the Ardennes forest ("Much Ado About Nothing"), where Jacques roams, so reminiscent of another forest - Sherwood, the haunt of the gunslinger Robin Hood and his merry green brethren.But before they got into the writers' inkwells, these motifs went around the squares of English cities, at country fairs and roadside taverns, were performed by wandering singers, frightened the devout Puritans.

The poet of that era had another source of inspiration: classical antiquity. Passionate love for knowledge drove the poet on long journeys to anatomical theaters, to forges and laboratories, but also to libraries. Until the 15th century, the educated European knew some works of Latin literature that had survived from ancient Rome, in turn, learned a lot from the culture of ancient Greece. But Greek culture itself became widely known later, especially after the 15th century, when Byzantium, the last pillar of medieval Greek civilization in the Middle East, collapsed in the struggle against the Turks. Thousands of Greek refugees who poured from the lands conquered by the Turks to the Christian countries of Europe carried with them the knowledge of their native language and art, many became translators at European courts, teachers of the Greek language at European universities, advisers at large printing houses that published ancient classics in original and translations.

Antiquity became, as it were, the second world in which the poets of the Renaissance lived. They rarely guessed that the culture of antiquity was built on the sweat and blood of slaves; they imagined the people of antiquity as an analogy to the people of their time, and so they portrayed them. An example of this is the rebellious mob in Shakespeare's tragedies, "ancient" peasants and artisans on the canvases of Renaissance artists, or shepherds and shepherdesses in their poems and poems.

Gradually, in the stream of literary development of that era, two currents emerged: one in the struggle for the formation of a new national literature focused on ancient samples, preferred their experience of folk tradition, taught young people to write "according to Horace" or "according to Aristotle". Sometimes, in their desire to be closer to antique models, these "learned" poets even discarded rhyme, which was an indisputable conquest of medieval European poetry. Representatives of another direction - among them Shakespeare and Lone de Vega - highly appreciating ancient literature and often extracting plots and images for their works from its treasuries, they nevertheless defended for the writer not only the right, but also the duty, first of all, to study and reproduce living life in poetry. Hamlet talks about this with actors, in relation to stage skills, and Lone de Vega repeats the same thing in his treatise "On the New Art of Writing Comedies." It is Lipe who directly expresses the idea of ​​the need to reckon with folk tradition in art. But Shakespeare, in his sonnets, talking about a certain fellow writer who challenged his poetic fame, opposes his "learned", "decorated" manner with his own "simple" and "modest" style. Both currents as a whole constituted a single stream humanistic poetry, and although there were internal contradictions in it, due to "different countries for different social reasons, the humanist poets opposed those writers of their time who tried to defend the old feudal world, outdated aesthetic norms and old poetic devices.

The fifteenth century brought a lot of new things to Italian poetry. By this time, patrician families began to gradually seize power in the cities, which from merchant states-communes were transformed into duchies and principalities. The sons of the Florentine rich, for example, the famous banking house of the Medici, flaunted humanistic education, patronized the arts and were themselves no strangers to them. Humanist poets wrote Latin verse with educated readers in mind. Under the pen of such talents as Angelo Poliziano, the cult of gallant knights and beautiful ladies was revived for the needs of the city's nobility. The city-commune, defending its rights from the heavy grip of the Medici house, responded to the emergence of a new aristocratic culture with the rapid development of folk satirical and everyday songs; Pulci sneered at the romantic passion for the feudal past in the heroic poem "Big Morgant". However, in Florence and, in particular, in Ferrara, the capital-fortress of the Dukes d "Este, the love-adventure knightly poem was revived in an updated version. Count Matteo Boiardo, and later, already in the 16th century, the Ferrara poet Ludovico Ariosto narrate in elegant octaves about the unheard-of exploits and adventures of the knight Roland (Orlando), who turned from a stern hero of a medieval epic into an ardent lover distraught with jealousy.Referring to the fantasy of different centuries and peoples, Ariosto created a work in which Don Quixote portends a lot.

The latest contribution to the European poetry of the Renaissance belongs to the poets of the Iberian Peninsula; a decisive turn towards a new worldview and a new culture took place here only at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, for which there were reasons. First of all, the protracted reconquista, which required the exertion of all the forces of the disunited and often hostile fraternal peoples inhabiting the peninsula. The historical development of Spain proceeded in a peculiar way. royalty did not have a strong foothold in the Spanish cities, and although it in turn broke the recalcitrant aristocracy and urban communes, no real state and national unification took place: the Spanish kings ruled, relying only on the power of arms and the church inquisition. The discovery of America at the end of the 15th century and the capture of its vast areas with gold and silver mines for a short time led to an unprecedented enrichment of Spain, and then to a fall in gold in price and a catastrophic impoverishment of the country, where the pursuit of easy money replaced the concern for the development of crafts and arable farming. The Spanish state began to lose its political power, at the end of the 16th century the Netherlands fell away from it, in 1588 the "Invincible Armada" - the Spanish fleet sent to conquer England - was defeated. There was a reaction. Crowds of beggars and vagabonds stretched along the sun-scorched fields and roads of the country, which, having become the kingdom of adventurers and marauders, remained largely a feudal country.

And yet, a brilliant Renaissance culture flourished in Spain. Already the literature of the late Middle Ages was rich and varied here. Aragonese, Castilian, Andalusian traditions merged into something new, absorbing the influences of Galicia with its school of troubadours, and Catalonia, and especially Portugal, which already in the 15th century began to fight for new sea routes and generally overtook Spain in the field of cultural development. Close cultural ties with Spain were strengthened by half a century (1580-1640) of Portugal's subjugation to the Spanish crown. Very important for the literatures of the Iberian Peninsula was their centuries-old proximity to the literatures of the Arab world. Through this neighborhood, Spanish poets received many motives and images, especially noticeable in the romances of the 15th-16th centuries. On the other hand, Spain at that time was closely connected with the Sicilian kingdom, with Venice, kept garrisons and fleets in many cities and harbors of Italy. During its formation, Spanish Renaissance poetry experienced the strongest and lasting influence of Italian poetry. (The same applies to the literature of Portugal)

Romantics in any literature of Western Europe were successors and students of the masters of the Renaissance. Her full-blooded, humane art served as a model for numerous progressive poets of the 20th century. The socialist realist artist, Johannes R. Becher found it necessary in his studies about contemporary literature include "Small Doctrine of the Sonnet" - a study containing a careful analysis of the six linguistic aspects of the sonnet: French, German, English, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Dante, Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Cervantes, published in many languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR, became not only our contemporaries, but also our comrades-in-arms. Like the paintings of the Renaissance artists, dramaturgy, songs and poems of the Renaissance poets entered the cultural life. Soviet man.

One of the titans of the Renaissance - Giordano Bruno - called his book: "Dialogue on Heroic Enthusiasm". This name very accurately defines the spiritual atmosphere of the Renaissance, captured in the poetry of the XIV - XVI centuries. This poetry revealed the beauty of man, the richness of his inner life and the innumerable variety of his sensations, showed the magnificence of the earthly world, proclaimed the human right to earthly happiness. The literature of the Renaissance raised the calling of the poet to the lofty mission of serving humanity.

4. Theater of the Renaissance

Theater is the art of presenting dramatic works on stage. Such a definition of this concept is given by Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary.

The Renaissance theater is one of the brightest and most significant phenomena in the history of the entire world culture; it is a powerful source of European theatrical art - for all time. The new theater was born from the need to pour young energy into action. And if you ask yourself the question, in what sphere of art this action should have poured out, this is a sea of ​​​​fun, then the answer is clear: of course, in the sphere of the theater. The carnival game could no longer remain at its former stage of spontaneous amateur performance and entered the shores of art, becoming creativity enriched with the experience of ancient and new literatures.

In Italy - for the first time in Europe - professional actors took the stage and amazed the world with a bright, strong game, born right there, in front of the viewer, and enchanting with their freedom, excitement, brilliance and wit.

This is how Italy started theatrical art new time. It happened in the middle of the XVI century.

The Renaissance theater reached its peak in England. Now he truly absorbed all spheres of life, penetrated into the depths of being. A mighty cohort of talents rose as if from the ground. And the main miracle of the century was a man from Stratford who came to London to write plays for the Globe Theatre. The loud name of the theater was justified - the world really opened up in Shakespeare's works: the historical distances of the past were visible, the main truths of the present century were clarified, and miraculously, through the veil of time, the contours of the future were visible.

In the majestic era of the Renaissance, in the era of Dante, Leonardo and Michelangelo, a small flag flying over the Globe heralded a grandiose accomplishment. The genius of Shakespeare brought together everything previously achieved in drama and on stage. Now, in two or three hours, one could see worlds and epochs on six or eight square meters.

A truly great theatre. The new theater was born in Italy. This birth cannot be attributed to a strictly defined date, name or work. There was a long, multilateral process - both in the "tops" and in the "bottoms" of society. It gave a historically complete result only after the necessary trinity of drama, stage and large audience.

About the first experiments of the Renaissance dramaturgy, it can be said with all certainty that they were creations of the pen, but by no means of the stage. Emerged from the maternal womb of literature, the humanistic drama, if it left the bookshelves, then only occasionally and without much hope of stage success. And uncomplicated common folk farces and improvisations of carnival masks attracted crowds of spectators, although they did not possess even a tenth of the literary merits of written plays. It was at the carnival that the source of commedia dell'arte - this true progenitor of the new European theater - scored. It must be said that on early stage the development of the new theater, the mutual alienation of the stage and the drama went to both. The drama turned out to be free from the primitives of the farcical stage, and the stage, that is, the performing arts, devoid of drama and left to itself, got the opportunity to intensively develop its own creative resources.

Pomponio's learned studio became the first gathering of amateurs who played the comedies of Plautus. Characters who have been in a position for many centuries literary heroes, again walked across the stage (although, probably, not very confidently yet).

The news of the discovery of the Roman scientist soon spread throughout Italy. Among other spectacles at the courts, it became fashionable to show the comedies of Plautus. The fashion was so great that Plautus Latin played in the Vatican. However, not everyone understood Latin, so in the late 70s, the humanist Batista Guarini translated the works of Plautus and Terence into Italian.

The successful development of comedy was determined by the fact that the traditional ancient scheme - the struggle of a young man for the possession of his beloved, guarded by strict parents, and the tricks of evasive and energetic servants - turned out to be convenient for lively sketches of modern life.

During the carnival of 1508 in the Ferrara Palace, the poet Ludovico Ariosto showed his Comedy of the Chest.

And it was as if the floodgates had broken through, holding back the life-giving stream for a long time. The following year, Ariosto's second comedy, The Changelings, appears, and in 1513 Cardinal Bibbiena demonstrates his Calandria in Urbino. In 1514 former secretary In the Florentine Republic, the most astute Niccolo Machiavelli wrote the best play of the era - Mandrake.

Italian comedyThe 16th century developed a certain standard for dynamic plots: the same situations were constantly repeated here with substitute children, with girls in disguise, the tricks of servants, the comic fiasco of old people in love.

Italian humanists were intensively studying the legacy of Seneca; then the Greek tragedians - Sophocles and Euripides - fell into the orbit of their interests. Under the influence of these ancient authors, the Italian tragedy of the Renaissance was born, the first example of which was Sofonisba by Giangiorgio Trissino (1515).

Trissino was a deep connoisseur of the ancient Greek theater. Composing his own tragedy, he was guided by the works of Sophocles and Euripides. In "Sofonisbe" all the components of the ancient tragedy were used - the choir, confidants, messengers, there was no division into acts, the laws of three unities and three actors were observed. But in the tragedy there was no main thing - a significant social theme, the dynamics of passions, a holistic action.

The modern audience was interested in the tragic genre either in terms of a purely academic, or with the expectation of finding food for "shocks" here.

Such food, the Italian tragedy gave in abundance.

New tragedy sought to "capture the spirit" of the audience. The father killed the children of his daughter, born of a secret marriage, and offered her their heads and hands on a platter, the shocked daughter killed her father and stabbed herself ("Orbecca" G. Cinthio, 1541). The wife, abandoned by her husband, forced her rival to kill the children he had adopted from him, after which she killed her and sent the dead heads to her husband; the husband, in turn, beheaded his wife's lover. By the end, the hard-hearted spouses were poisoning each other ("Dalida" L. Groto, 1572).

"Tragedies of Horrors" stunned with their bloody scenes, without awakening thoughts, without raising questions about the meaning of life and the duties of a person.

In an age when comedy was on the decline, and tragedy did not enter the main road of art, the winner pastoral appeared on the dramatic arena.

At first, the pastoral direction received the most vivid expression in poetry - in the works of Boccaccio ("Ameto", "Fiesolan Nymphs") and in the lyrics of the Petrarchists. But soon a new dramatic genre was born.

If fatal passion dominated in tragedy, and sensual attraction prevailed in comedy, then in the pastoral reigned " pure love", which appeared outside of specific life connections as a kind of poetic ideal.

The theater of the English Renaissance is Shakespeare and his brilliant entourage: Marlowe, Greene, Beaumont, Fletcher, Chapman, Nash, Ben Jonson. But all these last names belong to their age and their nation; Shakespeare, who most profoundly expressed the spirit of his time and the life of his people, belongs to all ages and all peoples.

Shakespeare Theater - it is a kind of synthesis of the culture of the Renaissance. Having identified the most mature stage of this culture, Shakespeare spoke with his age and with the coming centuries, as if on behalf of the entire era of "the greatest progressive upheaval."

Creativity of Shakespeare was the result of the development of the national English theater . At the same time, to a certain extent, it summarized the achievements of all previous poetic, dramatic and stage culture of ancient and modern times. Therefore, in Shakespeare's dramas, one can feel the epic scope of the Homeric plot, and the titanic modeling of the monotragedies of the ancient Greeks, and the whirlwind play of the plots of the Roman comedy. Shakespeare theater rich in high lyricism of the Petrarchist poets. In the works of Shakespeare, the voices of modern humanists are clearly audible, starting from Erasmus of Rotterdam and ending with Montaigne.

The in-depth development of the inherited - that was the most important prerequisite for the birth of a new and most perfect type of Renaissance drama, Shakespeare's drama.

Conclusion

The ideas of humanism are the spiritual basis for the flourishing of Renaissance art. The art of the Renaissance is imbued with the ideals of humanism; it created the image of a beautiful, harmoniously developed person. The Italian humanists demanded freedom for man. “But freedom in the understanding of the Italian Renaissance,” wrote its connoisseur A.K. to be willpower, preventing him from feeling and thinking as he wants. IN modern science there is no unambiguous understanding of the nature, structure and chronological framework Renaissance humanism. But, of course, humanism should be considered as the main ideological content of the culture of the Renaissance, inseparable from the whole course historical development Italy in the era of the beginning of the decomposition of feudal and the emergence of capitalist relations. Humanism was a progressive ideological movement that contributed to the establishment of a means of culture, relying primarily on the ancient heritage. Italian humanism went through a series of stages: formation in the 14th century, a bright heyday of the next century, internal restructuring and gradual declines in the 16th century. The evolution of the Italian Renaissance was closely connected with the development of philosophy, political ideology, science, and other forms of public consciousness and, in turn, had a powerful impact on the artistic culture of the Renaissance.

Revived on an ancient basis, humanitarian knowledge, including ethics, rhetoric, philology, history, turned out to be the main area in the formation and development of humanism, the ideological core of which was the doctrine of man, his place and role in nature and society. This doctrine developed mainly in ethics and was enriched in various areas of the Renaissance culture. Humanistic ethics brought to the fore the problem of man's earthly destiny, the achievement of happiness through his own efforts. Humanists approached the issues of social ethics in a new way, in the solution of which they relied on ideas about the power of man's creative abilities and will, about his wide possibilities for building happiness on earth. They considered the harmony of the interests of the individual and society to be an important prerequisite for success, they put forward the ideal of the free development of the individual and the improvement of the social organism and political orders, which is inextricably linked with it. This gave a pronounced character to many ethical ideas and teachings of the Italian humanists.

Many problems developed in humanistic ethics acquire a new meaning and special relevance in our era, when the moral stimuli of human activity perform an increasingly important social function.

The humanistic worldview became one of the largest progressive conquests of the Renaissance, which had a strong influence on the entire subsequent development of European culture.

The Reformation played an important role in the formation of world civilization. Without proclaiming any specific socio-political ideal, without requiring a reshaping of society in one direction or another, without making any scientific discoveries or achievements in the artistic and aesthetic field, the Reformation changed the consciousness of man, opened up new spiritual horizons for him. A person received the freedom to think independently, freed himself from the guardianship of the church, received the highest sanction for him - a religious sanction that only his own mind and conscience dictate to him how to live. The Reformation contributed to the emergence of a man of bourgeois society - an independent autonomous individual with freedom of moral choice, independent and responsible in his judgments and actions.

List of used literature

1. L.M. Bragina "Socio - ethical views of Italian humanists" (II half of the XV century) Publishing house of Moscow State University, 1983

2. From the history of culture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Publishing house "Science", M 1976

3. 5 0 biographies of masters of Western European art. Publishing house "Soviet artist", Leningrad 1965

4. Garay E. Problems of the Italian Renaissance. - M., 1996.

5. art history foreign countries. - M., 1998.

6. Culturology. History of world culture: Tutorial for universities / Ed. prof. A.N. Markova. - M, 1995.

7. Culturology. Theory and History of Culture: Textbook. - M.: society "Knowledge" of Russia, CINO, 1996.

8. Losev L.F. Aesthetics of the Renaissance. - M., 1993.

9. Polikarpov V.S. Lectures on cultural studies. - M.: "Gardarika", "Expert Bureau", 1997.

Why is the role of the Renaissance more noticeable than the importance of any other era? Because the concept of the Renaissance was quite life-affirming, radiating the belief that a person is capable of much. And the figures of that time proved the veracity of such thoughts with their works and ideas. The Renaissance did not remain in textbooks or museums, it inspired and continues to inspire many people. Ideas change, are supplemented or rethought, but it is not only pleasant for a person, but it is also important to think that his activity is not useless.

We can see Renaissance creations not only on the albums of famous artists (for example, Lady Gaga - "Artpop"), but also as a print. You can often see Botticelli's tender Venus on T-shirts, and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa has never been used anywhere. Therefore, the Renaissance is closer than you think, and knowing the important principles, main features and features of the works and figures of that time is simply necessary for those who consider themselves an educated person. And this article can help you, where everything is described briefly and easily.

The significance of the Renaissance for European culture is so enormous that it determined the further development of all areas: from science to poetry. It became a transition between the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment, but the creations made during this period make the Renaissance truly special. It all started in Italy, as such terms were also coined by the Italians, including the name "Renaissance", which means "born again". The rise of the Renaissance was indeed the birth of a new world. The growth of the influence of the estates creates people who were alien to the religious, ascetic culture created by the Middle Ages. Therefore, a new culture is being built, where the individual is proclaimed the center of the universe. The aesthetics and ideology of antiquity were taken as a model. Thanks to the invention of printing, it spread throughout Europe.

The Renaissance period lasted from the 14th century to the end of the 14th century. The stages of development are:

1. Proto-Renaissance(Early Renaissance) - from the XIV century to the beginning of the XV century;
2. High Renaissance(The highest flowering of the era, which stretched in time from the second half of the 15th century to the first half of the 16th century);
3. Late (Northern) Renaissance- from the end of the XVI, and in some countries early XVII century. When the Baroque era had already begun in Italy, other nations only comprehended its overripe fruit.

However, the Late Renaissance becomes darker. A crisis of ideas is inevitable, for troubles and battles continue, and the naive assertion that man is the center of something is questioned. Mysticism, a medieval worldview, returns, marking the Baroque era.

Main features

The general characteristic of the Renaissance is such that interest in a person is elevated to a cult of his capabilities, and in the field of aesthetics and philosophy there is a revival ancient culture. Antiquity is recognized as a classic, which is actively studied and reworked. A material image of the world appears, people praise the mind of the individual. Individuality and personal responsibility in the Renaissance give grounds to look differently at the church structure, religion as a whole. Free criticism creates an attack on religious life, on scriptural conformity. Thanks to this, the era of the Reformation arises, the reformation of the Catholic Church takes place. It is thanks to such sentiments and economic reasons that the Renaissance is born in Italy.

What are the main characteristics of the Renaissance?

1. As we said above, the grip of the church is loosening. Religious asceticism is criticized, theaters appear, carnivals, holidays, pleasures are allowed;
2. Attention from God is now redirected to his creation (anthropocentrism);
3. The status of the creator acquires authority. People are no longer ashamed to sign their works and do not consider that God leads their hand;
4. The philosophy of humanism is spreading - respect for a person as a large, strong, independent personality;
5. The idea of ​​the God-likeness of man arises.

The roots of European civilization go back to antiquity, not to the Middle Ages. Next, we will take a closer look at all aspects of the Renaissance and how exactly its achievements influenced further European culture.

Philosophy

The philosophy of the Renaissance is a set of philosophical schools united by common ideas. The rejection of theocentrism makes people concentrate on their own capabilities, thereby proclaiming a humanistic era.

The ideas of the Renaissance are addressed to ancient culture, from which thinkers not only mastered knowledge, but also processed it. From this the following principles and values ​​of the era were formed:

1. Anthropocentrism;
2. The human right to creative self-expression and freedom is recognized. Creator man;
3. Everything that exists in the world is understood through man;
4. Aesthetics is more important than science and morality, the cult of the body.

Let's consider some philosophical directions and ideas of the Renaissance in more detail.

Humanism

In European latitudes, humanism spread in the XIV - mid-XV centuries. This philosophical direction had an anti-clerical orientation. From now on, thinkers prove that the makings of a person are not given by God out of grace, but become the result of people's own efforts. A person has the right to active, creative activity, the realization of individuality and freedom.

The philosophy of humanism breaks through into literature, so the famous humanists of the Renaissance took up the pen. Even the great Dante Alighieri in "" is already ironic about the fanatical errors of Christianity and its semi-literate interpreters. Dante believes in the virtue of mankind, not as God's will, but as a conscious decision of the individual. However, the Italian poet is considered the first humanist. In his poems, he preached the ideals of love and earthly joy, which we can achieve without God's will. He doubts the afterlife rewards for piety, but he knows a way to achieve real immortality of the soul. How to do it? engage in creative vigorous activity, because being happens only here and now, there will be no other chance.

The thinkers of the Renaissance (Petrarch, Boccaccio, Lorenzo Valla and others) professed a passionate faith in the mental and physical potential of man, which has not yet been revealed. That is why the philosophy of humanism has a life-affirming character. It was during the Renaissance that humanism acquired an integral system of views, causing a real revolution in the culture and worldview of new people.

anthropocentrism

Anthropocentrism, as a philosophical thought, has become a characteristic feature of humanism. It comes from the Greek words "άνθροπος" - man and "centrum" - center, already by the etymology of the word one can guess its meaning. Literally, this is the placement of a person in the center of the Universe, the full concentration of attention on him. He is no longer seen as a sinful, imperfect being, as a bearer of a certain social group. He is an individual, unique, unique personality. Emphasis is placed on the god-likeness of a person, which is expressed in his ability to create, create.

From ancient culture, aesthetic attention to everything bodily and natural is adopted. Admire not only the spirit, but also human body exalt the unity of these principles.

The Italian philosopher Tommaso Campanella wrote in his treatises that bodily beauty is a gift from God, and bodily imperfection is a warning to others that they are facing an evil person. The personality of the Renaissance put the aesthetic principle above ethical considerations.

Man, as the center of the universe, is beautiful and created to enjoy the world. But he should spend his life not in idle pleasure, but in creative activity. Thus, anthropocentrism destroys the medieval ethics of asceticism, passivity and impotence of people before the almighty fate.

Natural philosophy

Renaissance thinkers again turn to the study of nature, revising its medieval understanding as a non-independent sphere.

The salient features of philosophy are:

1. Natural philosophers approached the study of nature not through experience, but through reflection;
2. The desire to separate philosophy from theology;
3. The world can be known by reason and feelings, and not by divine revelation;
4. The knowledge of nature is combined with mysticism.

Representatives of natural philosophy developed various concepts. For example, the philosopher Francesco Patrici developed the doctrine of the world as an animated infinity. And the mystic Yakbo Boehme developed a complex cosmogonic system, where nature is the mentor of man.

The legendary German physician Paracelsus, an outstanding researcher of the natural world, adjoined the natural philosophers.

Paracelsus considered man a small world, which contains all of nature. In his opinion, there are no prohibitions for human knowledge, we are able to study not only all entities and nature, but also what is outside the world. The unusualness of knowledge should not confuse, stop a person in the process of research.

Man and nature are still in harmony. But the expansion of human possibilities entails the study and subjugation of nature.

Pantheism

The philosophical doctrine of pantheism identifies the Divine forces with what they allegedly created. The Creator in pantheism did not waste a week in vain, he did not create our world, for he himself is a part of it, equivalent to all living things. Turning to the ancient heritage and natural philosophy, pantheists paid attention to natural sciences, recognizing the animation of the world and space. There are two completely different directions in this teaching:

1. idealistic (nature is a manifestation of divine power)

2. naturalistic (God is only a set of laws of nature).

That is, if in the first direction the Universe is in God, then in the second direction God is in the Universe.

The philosopher Nicholas of Cusa believed that God reveals the world from himself, and does not create it from nothing. And Giordano Bruno believed that God is in all things, but in the form of related laws.

Galileo Galilei continued to study nature (he studied ancient philosophy, which led him to the idea of ​​the unity of the world), Nikolai Copernicus (although he gave people the first positions in the ranking of all living things, but still in a global sense their place is peripheral, since the Earth is not a leader in the open solar system).

Pantheism was characteristic of many philosophical theories of the Renaissance, and it was he who became the unifying link between natural philosophy and theology.

Culture and art

The transition from medieval, dark thought to the freedom of the Renaissance was not forced. The primacy of the church was preserved in the minds of the people, and not immediately painting and poetry, creativity itself acquired a good reputation. In addition, illiteracy prevailed among the population. But the directions of the Renaissance gradually laid the foundation for a new culture, where education mattered, where creative individuals tried to win universal recognition with intelligence and talent.

For example, the Italian writer Boccaccio believed that a true poet must have extensive knowledge: grammar, history, geography, art, even archeology.

Apparently, the creators themselves tried to imitate the ideals that they nurtured. These features of the Renaissance gave rise to the image of a god-like Man, creating, universal, which was embodied in sculpture and paintings, received a voice in books. It was in art that the spirit of the Renaissance was best revealed.

Painting

The new picture of the world puts art first in Italy, as it was the only creative expression of oneself. Painting, sculpture, architecture - great masters and creations that everyone knows educated person. The art of the Renaissance is divided into several stages, and each of them has its own interesting features.

For example, the proto-Renaissance (XIV - early XV centuries) became a transitional period from the Middle Ages. The great painters Giotto, Mosaccio turn to religious themes, but the emphasis is on emotions, on the life experience of people. The heroes are humanized, and the halos of the saints become more transparent, less noticeable in the paintings, as happens in the picture of Botticelli's "Annunciation" or Raphael's "Sistine Madonna".

Artists of this era strove for a material image of the world. They were rational painters, Renaissance paintings are distinguished by the use of geometry, the golden section. A perspective was depicted, thanks to which the masters could expand the range of depicted things and phenomena. Painting became monumental, for example, such is the painting of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, created during the High Renaissance (second half of the 15th - first half of the 16th centuries). It's voluminous and extending beyond
fresco frame, which is a cycle, and created in three years. Among the plots, one can notice the image of the creation of Adam, important for the Renaissance, where God is about to touch Man and bring a soul into his body. Another significant creation of Michelangelo is the sculpture of David, which
proclaims the cult of man, the body. Proud, self-confident, physically developed - a clear nod to ancient sculpture. The essence of a person was grasped by the masters in a pose, gesture, posture. Portraits of this era were also distinguished by a special kind of face - proud, strong, understanding their capabilities.

For a long time, art developed on the basis of the principles created by the artists of the Renaissance. Today, the art of the Renaissance has not lost its appeal, many images created in this era can be found everywhere. For example, cosmetics firm Lime Crime dedicated eyeshadow palettes to Botticelli's Birth of Venus. The creators of cosmetics assigned thematic names to each color, for example, “shell”, “muse”. Of course, the popularity of such products speaks of the immortality of the masterpieces created in the Renaissance.

Literature

The humanistic worldview of the Renaissance also influenced literature. In the foreground is a man freed from the influence of the Middle Ages. An important role in the development of literature in Italy was played by the preservation of the heritage of ancient culture. From there is taken the concept of the ideal of man, an example of high humanity. The works of the Renaissance are character traits, for example, the main subject of the image is a strong personality, her life and contradictions. Attitude towards nature has also changed - they began to admire it.

The easiest way to show the literature of the Renaissance is on the example of Giovanni Boccaccio's collection of short stories "The Decameron". The first short story of the collection is the main connecting story. 7 girls and 3 boys are hiding from the plague in the castle. They sing, dance and tell each other different stories. These living, young people are the personification of the new man of the Renaissance, and the plague is the shackles of the Middle Ages. The main themes of the stories are different: love, anti-church, adventure, instructive. For the first time the reader can see the heroes of the people, namely students, grooms, carpenters and others. But at the same time, the author condemns the heroes who are ugly, laughs at the shortcomings of the body, which is quite within the framework of the era with its cult of a physically developed organism. Boccaccio shows life as it is, allowing some frivolity. Therefore, church ministers strongly disliked this book, and even publicly burned it in the square. But even such persecutions were not able to kill the popularity of Boccaccio's collection, because people's worldview changed, and their preferences followed.

Poets

“Through the word, the human face becomes beautiful,” writes the Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarca.

It was he who became the founder of the new European lyrics, creating in sonnets a harmonious combination of purity and love languor, passion and purity. Pushkin identified the "language of Petrarch" and the language of love itself, since the poet of the Renaissance masterfully, inspiredly, vividly wrote about feelings between a man and a woman. We wrote more about his work.

More talented poets appear in Italy, namely Ludovico Ariosto (author of the poem "Furious Roland"), Torquato Tasso, Jacopo Sannadzor. In France, the great poet of the era was Pierre de Ronsard, here. Then he was considered the "prince of poets", as he introduced into poetry a variety of poetic meters, the harmony of rhyme and syllable. In England, the most important representatives of poetry were Geoffrey Chaucer and Edmund Spenser. True, Geoffrey Chaucer anticipated the Renaissance, he became the "father of English poetry." And Edmund Spenser gave melody to English verse, was "the arch-poet of England." Renaissance poets were revered, considered great masters of the word, and they retain this title to this day.

Composers

In Italy, influential composer schools: Roman (Giovanni Palestrina) and Venetian (Andrea Gabrieli). Palestrina created an example of Catholic sacred music, while Gabrieli combined the choir with the sound of other instruments, approaching secular music.

Composers John Dubsteil and William Bird worked in England in different centuries. The masters preferred sacred music. William Byrd has been called the "father of music".

The talented composer Orlando Lasso showed musical abilities from childhood. His secular music contributed to the fact that Munich became the musical center of Europe, where other talented musicians came to study, namely Johann Eckard, Leonard Lechner and Gabrieli.

Of course, Renaissance composers developed not only traditional destinations, but also instrumental music, expanding the range of musical instruments used (stringed-bowed instruments, clavier, and so on). The activities of the musicians of the Renaissance created the possibility of the appearance of opera in the future, providing the art of sounds and melodies with a systematic and productive development.

Architects

Filippo Brunelleschi is called the "father of architecture" of the Renaissance. He created many works of art, one of which is the Church of San Lorenzo. Another representative of the early Renaissance, the architect Alberti, built the Rucellai Palace in Florence. Unlike Brunelleschi, he did not use lancet and used individual orders for different floors. During the High Renaissance, the main architect was Donato Angelo Bramante. He was the first architect of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, created his plan.

But what is remarkable about the masters of the Renaissance is that many finished, completed each other's projects. So, the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral was continued by Michelangelo, and after his death, another architect took over the project. It turned out that as many as 12 architects were involved in the construction of the main Catholic church at different times.

Or another example, the interior decoration of the church of San Lorenzo, which Brunelleschi built, was created by Michelangelo. In other countries, the Italian Renaissance style of architecture is spreading, but with the introduction of local architectural traditions. Further, experiments in architecture lead to styles such as baroque and rococo.

Conclusion

We hope that this article has helped you get acquainted with the Renaissance or encouraged you to study this or that area of ​​culture in more detail. Indeed, it was thanks to the strong desire of the geniuses of the Renaissance for knowledge that great discoveries were made and the rigid framework of prejudice was destroyed.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

What is the Renaissance?

Renaissance- This is an era of world significance in the history of European culture, which replaced the Middle Ages and preceded the Enlightenment. It falls - in Italy - at the beginning of the 14th century (everywhere in Europe - from the 15th-16th centuries) - the last quarter of the 16th centuries and in some cases - the first decades of the 17th century.

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.

The distinctive features of the Renaissance are anthropocentrism, that is, an extraordinary interest in man as an individual and his activities. This also includes the secular nature of culture. In society, there is an interest in the culture of antiquity, something like its “revival” is taking place. Hence, in fact, the name of such a important period time. The outstanding figures of the Renaissance can be called the immortal Michelangelo, Niccolò Machiavelli and the ever-living Leonardo da Vinci.

Renaissance literature is a major trend in literature, an integral part of the entire culture of the Renaissance. Occupies the period from the XIV to the XVI century. From medieval literature differs in that it is based on new, progressive ideas of humanism. Synonymous with the Renaissance is the term "Renaissance", of French origin.

The ideas of humanism originate for the first time in Italy, and then spread throughout Europe. Also, the literature of the Renaissance spread throughout Europe, but acquired in each individual country its own national character. The term Renaissance means renewal, the appeal of artists, writers, thinkers to the culture and art of antiquity, the imitation of its high ideals.

In addition to humanistic ideas, new genres are emerging in the literature of the Renaissance, and early realism is being formed, which is called "Renaissance realism". As can be seen in the works of Rabelais, Petrarch, Cervantes and Shakespeare, the literature of this time was filled with a new understanding of human life. It demonstrates a complete rejection of the slavish obedience that the church preached.

Writers present man as the highest creation of nature, revealing the richness of his soul, mind and the beauty of his physical appearance. The realism of the Renaissance is characterized by the grandiosity of images, the ability to sincere feeling, poetization of the image and passionate, most often high intensity of the tragic conflict, demonstrating the collision of a person with hostile forces.

The literature of the Renaissance is characterized by a variety of genres, but still some literary forms dominated. The most popular was the novella. In poetry, the sonnet is most clearly manifested. Dramaturgy is also gaining high popularity, in which the Spaniard Lope de Vega and Shakespeare in England are most famous. It is impossible not to note the high development and popularization of philosophical prose and journalism.