The revival arose in Italy - its first signs appeared in the XIII-XIV centuries. But it was firmly established from the 20s of the 15th century, and by the end of the 15th century. reached its highest peak.
In other countries, the Renaissance began much later. In the XVI century. the crisis of the ideas of the Renaissance begins, the consequence of this crisis is the emergence of mannerism and baroque.
Renaissance periods
Periods of the history of Italian culture are usually denoted by the names of centuries:
- Proto-Renaissance (ducento)- 2nd half of the XIII century - XIV century.
- Early Renaissance (trecento) - beginning of the XV-end of the XV century.
- High Renaissance (quattrocento) - late 15th-first 20 years of the 16th century
- Late Renaissance (cinquecento) - mid-16th-90s of the 16th century
For history Italian Renaissance of decisive importance was the deepest change in consciousness, views on the world and man, which dates back to the era of communal revolutions of the 2nd half of XIII century.
It is this fracture that opens new stage in western history European culture. Fundamentally new trends associated with it have found their most radical expression in the Italian culture and art of the so-called The Ages of Dante and Giotto - the last third of the 13th century and the first two decades of the 14th century.
The fall played a role in the formation of the Renaissance Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines who moved to Europe brought with them their libraries and works of art, unknown to medieval Europe. In Byzantium, they never broke with ancient culture either.
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, and bankers. All of them were alien to the hierarchical system of values created by medieval, in many respects church culture, and its ascetic, humble spirit. This led to the emergence of humanism - social-philosophical movement, which 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. In the middle of the XV century. typography was invented, which played important role in the dissemination of new views throughout Europe.
renaissance man
Renaissance man is very different from medieval man. It is characterized by faith in the power and strength of the mind, admiration for the inexplicable gift of creativity.
Humanism puts in the center of attention the wisdom of man and its achievements, as the highest good for a rational being. Actually, this leads to the rapid flowering of science.
Humanists consider it their duty to actively disseminate the literature of ancient times, because it is in knowledge that they see true happiness.
In a word, the Renaissance man tries to develop and improve the "quality" of the individual by studying the ancient heritage as the only basis.
And intelligence in this transformation takes key place. Hence the emergence of various anti-clerical ideas, often acting unreasonably hostile to religion and the church.
Proto-Renaissance
Proto-Renaissance is the forerunner of the Renaissance. It is still closely connected with the Middle Ages, with Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic traditions.
It is divided into two sub-periods: before the death of Giotto di Bondone and after (1337). The most important discoveries, the brightest masters live and work in the first period. The second segment is connected with the plague epidemic that hit Italy.
The art of the proto-Renaissance is characterized by the emergence of tendencies towards a sensual, visual reflection of reality, secularism (in contrast to the art of the Middle Ages), the emergence of interest in the ancient heritage (characteristic of the art of the Renaissance).
At the origins of the Italian Proto-Renaissance is the master Niccolo, who worked in Pisa in the second half of the 13th century. He became the founder of a school of sculpture that lasted until the middle of the 14th century and spread its attention throughout Italy.
Of course, much in the sculpture of the Pisan school still gravitates towards the past. It preserves old allegories and symbols. There is no space in the reliefs, the figures closely fill the surface of the background. And yet Niccolo's reforms are significant.
The use of the classical tradition, the emphasis on the volume, materiality and weight of the figure and objects, the desire to introduce elements of a real earthly event into the image of a religious scene created the basis for a wide renewal of art.
In the years 1260-1270, the workshop of Niccolo Pisano carried out numerous orders in the cities of central Italy.
New trends penetrate into the painting of Italy.
Just as Niccolò Pisano reformed Italian sculpture, Cavallini laid the foundation for a new direction in painting. In his work, he relied on late antique and early Christian monuments, with which Rome was still rich in his time.
The merit of Cavallini lies in the fact that he sought to overcome the flatness of forms and compositional construction, which were inherent in the “Byzantine” or “Greek” manner that dominated in his time in Italian painting.
He introduced light and shade modeling borrowed from ancient artists, achieving roundness and plasticity of forms.
However, from the second decade of the XIV century, artistic life in Rome froze. The leading role in Italian painting passed to the Florentine school.
Florence for two centuries was something of a capital artistic life Italy and determined the main direction of development of its art.
But the most radical reformer of painting was Giotto di Bondone (1266/67–1337).
In his works, Giotto sometimes achieves such strength in the clash of contrasts and the transfer human feelings, which allows you to see it as a predecessor the greatest masters Renaissance.
Interpreting the gospel episodes as events human life, Giotto places it in a real setting, while refusing to combine moments at different times in one composition. Giotto's compositions are always spatial, although the stage on which the action is played is usually not deep. Architecture and landscape in Giotto's frescoes are always subject to action. Every detail in his compositions directs the viewer's attention to the semantic center.
Another important center of Italian art at the end of the 13th century - the first half of the 14th century was Siena.
Art of Siena marked by features of refined sophistication and decorativism. French illustrated manuscripts and handicrafts were valued in Siena.
In the XIII-XIV centuries, one of the most elegant Italian Gothic cathedrals was erected here, the facade of which was worked on by Giovanni Pisano in 1284-1297.
For architecture Proto-Renaissance is characterized by poise and calmness.
Representative: Arnolfo di Cambio.
For sculpture this period is characterized by plastic power and the presence of the influence of late antique art.
Representative: Niccolo Pisano, Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio.
for painting the appearance of tangibility and material persuasiveness of forms is characteristic.
Representatives: Giotto, Pietro Cavallini, Pietro Lorenzetti, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Cimabue.
Early Renaissance
In the first decades of the 15th century, a decisive turning point took place in the art of Italy. The emergence of a powerful center of the Renaissance in Florence led to the renewal of the entire Italian artistic culture.
The work of Donatello, Masaccio and their associates marks the victory of Renaissance realism, which differed significantly from that “realism of details” that was characteristic of the gothic art of the late trecento.
The works of these masters are imbued with the ideals of humanism. They glorify and glorify a person, raise him above the level of everyday life.
In their struggle with the Gothic tradition, the artists of the early Renaissance sought support in antiquity and the art of the Proto-Renaissance.
What the masters of the Proto-Renaissance searched for only intuitively, by touch, is now based on accurate knowledge.
Italian art of the 15th century is distinguished by great diversity. The difference in the conditions in which local schools are formed gives rise to a variety of artistic movements.
The new art, which won at the beginning of the 15th century in advanced Florence, did not immediately receive recognition and distribution in other areas of the country. While Bruneleschi, Masaccio, Donatello worked in Florence, the traditions of Byzantine and Gothic art were still alive in northern Italy, only gradually being replaced by the Renaissance.
Florence was the main center of the early Renaissance. The Florentine culture of the first half and the middle of the 15th century is varied and rich.
For architecture the early Renaissance is characterized by the logic of proportions, the shape and sequence of parts are subject to geometry, and not intuition, which was a characteristic feature of medieval buildings
Representative: Palazzo Rucellai, Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti.
For sculpture this period is characterized by the development of free standing statue, picturesque relief, portrait bust, equestrian monument.
Representative: L. Ghiberti, Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, the della Robbia family, A. Rossellino, Desiderio da Settignano, B. da Maiano, A. Verrocchio.
for painting a sense of the harmonious orderliness of the world, an appeal to the ethical and civic ideals of humanism, a joyful perception of the beauty and diversity of the real world are characteristic.
Representatives: Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, A. del Castagno, P. Uccello, Fra Angelico, D. Ghirlandaio, A. Pollaiolo, Verrocchio, Piero della Francesca, A. Mantegna, P. Perugino.
High Renaissance
The culmination of art (the end of the 15th and the first decades of the 16th century), which brought to the world such great masters as Raphael, Titian, Giorgione and Leonardo da Vinci, is called the stage High Renaissance.
The focus of the artistic life of Italy at the beginning of the 16th century moved to Rome.
The popes sought to unite all of Italy under the rule of Rome, making attempts to turn it into a cultural and leading political center. But, without becoming a political starting point, Rome is transformed for some time into the citadel of the spiritual culture and art of Italy. The reason for this was also the philanthropic tactics of the popes, who attracted best artists to Rome.
The Florentine school and many others (old local ones) lost their former significance.
The only exception was the wealthy and independent Venice, which showed a vivid originality of culture throughout the 16th century.
Due to the constant connection with the great works of the archaic, art was freed from verbosity, often so characteristic creativity virtuoso quattrocento.
The artists of the High Renaissance gained the ability to omit small details that did not affect the overall meaning and strive to achieve harmony and combination in their creations. best sides reality.
Creativity is characterized by faith in the limitlessness of human capabilities, in its individuality and in a rational world apparatus.
The main motive of the art of the High Renaissance is the image of a harmoniously developed and strong person both in body and spirit, who is above everyday life.
Since sculpture and painting get rid of the unquestioning slavery of architecture, which gives life to the formation of new genres of art such as: landscape, history painting, portrait.
During this period architecture high renaissance gaining the most momentum. Now, without exception, the customers did not want to see even a drop of the Middle Ages in their homes. The streets of Italy began to be full of not just luxurious mansions, but palaces with extensive plantings. It should be noted that the Renaissance gardens known in history appeared just in this period.
Religious and public buildings also ceased to give the spirit of the past. Temples of new buildings, as if they had risen from the time of Roman paganism. Among the architectural monuments of this period can be found monumental buildings with the obligatory presence of a dome.
grandiosity this art was also revered by his contemporaries, - so Vasari spoke of him as: "the highest stage of perfection, which has now reached the most appreciated and most celebrated creations of the new art."
For architecture the high Renaissance is characterized by monumentality, representative grandeur, grandiosity of designs (coming from ancient rome), intensively manifested in the Bramantine projects of St. Peter's Basilica and the restructuring of the Vatican.
Representative: Donato Bramante, Antonio da Sangallo, Jacopo Sansovino
For sculpture This period is characterized by heroic pathos and, at the same time, a tragic sense of the crisis of humanism. The strength and power of a person, the beauty of his body are glorified, while at the same time emphasizing his loneliness in the world.
Representative: Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Luca della Robbia, Michelozzo, Agostino di Duccio, Pisanello.
for painting the transfer of facial expressions of the face and body of a person is characteristic, new ways of transferring space, building a composition appear. At the same time, the works create a harmonious image of a person that meets humanistic ideals.
Representatives: Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael Santi, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Titian, Jacopo Sansovino.
Late Renaissance
At this time, there is an eclipse and the emergence of a new artistic culture. It does not cause shocks and the fact that the creativity of this time is extremely complex and is characterized by the predominance of confrontation between different directions. Although if you do not consider the very end of the 16th century - the time of the entry into the arena of the brothers Carracci and Caravaggio, then you can narrow the whole variety of art to two main trends.
Feudal-Catholic reaction caused death blow High Renaissance, but failed to kill the powerful artistic tradition that had been formed over two and a half centuries in Italy.
only rich Republic of Venice, free both from the power of the Pope and from the domination of the interventionists, ensured the development of art in this region. The Renaissance in Venice had its own peculiarities.
If we talk about the creations of famous artists of the second half of the 16th century, then they still have a Renaissance foundation, but with some changes.
The fate of a person was no longer portrayed as selfless, although echoes of the theme of a heroic personality who is ready to fight evil and a sense of reality are still present.
Basics art XVII centuries were laid in the creative search of these masters, thanks to which new means of expression were created.
Few artists belong to this trend, but eminent masters of the older generation, caught by the crisis at the culmination of their work, such as Titian and Michelangelo. In Venice, which occupied a unique position in artistic culture Italy XVI century, this focus is also inherent in the artists of the younger generation - Tintoretto, Bassano, Veronese.
Representatives of the second direction are completely different masters. They are united only by subjectivity in the perception of the world.
This direction gets its distribution in the second half of the 16th century and, not limited to Italy, flows into most European countries. In the art criticism literature of the end of the last century, being called " mannerism».
Predilection for luxury, decorativeness and dislike for scientific research delayed the penetration of artistic ideas and practices of the Florentine Renaissance into Venice.
The Renaissance or Renaissance gave us many great works of art. It was a favorable period for the development of creativity. The names of many great artists are associated with the Renaissance. Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci, Giotto, Titian, Correggio - this is only a small part of the names of the creators of that time.
This period is associated with the emergence of new styles and painting. Image Approach human body became practically scientific. Artists strive for reality - they work out every detail. People and events in the paintings of that time look extremely realistic.
Historians distinguish several periods in the development of painting during the Renaissance.
Gothic - 1200s. popular style at the yard. He was distinguished by pomposity, pretentiousness, excessive colorfulness. Used as paints. The paintings were the subjects of which were altar plots. Most famous representatives this direction - Italian artists Vittore Carpaccio, Sandro Botticelli.
Sandro Botticelli
Proto-Renaissance - 1300s. At this time, there is a restructuring of morals in painting. Religious themes fade into the background, and secular is gaining more and more popularity. The painting takes the place of the icon. People are depicted more realistically, facial expressions and gestures become important for artists. Appears new genre visual arts - . Representatives of this time are Giotto, Pietro Lorenzetti, Pietro Cavallini.
Early Renaissance - 1400s. The rise of non-religious painting. Even the faces on the icons become more alive - they acquire human features. Artists of earlier periods tried to paint landscapes, but they served only as an addition, as a background to the main image. During the Early Renaissance becomes an independent genre. The portrait continues to develop. Scientists discover the law linear perspective, on this basis build their paintings and artists. On their canvases you can see the correct three-dimensional space. The prominent representatives of this period are Masaccio, Piero Della Francesco, Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Mantegna.
High Renaissance - Golden Age. The horizons of artists are becoming even wider - their interests extend into the space of the Cosmos, they consider man as the center of the universe.
At this time, the "titans" of the Renaissance appear - Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael Santi and others. These are people whose interests were not limited to painting. Their knowledge extended much further. The most prominent representative was Leonardo Da Vinci, who was not only a great painter, but also a scientist, sculptor, playwright. He created fantastic techniques in painting, such as "smuffato" - the illusion of haze, which was used to create the famous "La Gioconda".
Leonardo Da Vinci
Late Renaissance- the fading of the Renaissance (mid-1500s - late 1600s). This time is associated with changes, a religious crisis. The heyday ends, the lines on the canvases become more nervous, individualism leaves. The image of the paintings is increasingly becoming a crowd. Talented works of that time belong to the pen of Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Tinoretto.
Paolo Veronese
Italy has given the world the most talented artists of the Renaissance, they are most mentioned in the history of painting. Meanwhile, in other countries during this period, painting also developed, and influenced the development of this art. The painting of other countries during this period is called the Northern Renaissance.
The first forerunners of Renaissance art appeared in Italy in the 14th century. Artists of this time, Pietro Cavallini (1259-1344), Simone Martini (1284-1344) and (primarily) Giotto
(1267-1337) when creating paintings of traditional religious subjects, they began to use new artistic techniques: building a three-dimensional composition, using the landscape in the background, which allowed them to make the images more realistic, lively. This sharply distinguished their work from the previous iconographic tradition, replete with conventions in the image.
The term is used to refer to their work. Proto-Renaissance (1300s - "Trecento")
.
Giotto di Bondone
(c. 1267-1337) - Italian painter and architect of the Proto-Renaissance era. One of the key figures in history Western art. Having overcome the Byzantine icon-painting tradition, he became the true founder Italian school painting, developed a completely new approach to the image of space. Giotto's works were inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo.
Early Renaissance (1400s - "Quattrocento").
At the beginning of the 15th century Filippo Brunelleschi
(1377-1446), Florentine scholar and architect.
Brunelleschi wanted to make the perception of the terms and theaters reconstructed by him more visual and tried to create geometrically perspective pictures from his plans for a certain point of view. In these searches, direct perspective.
This allowed the artists to get perfect images of three-dimensional space on a flat canvas of the picture.
_________Other important step on the way to the Renaissance was the emergence of non-religious, secular art. Portrait and landscape established themselves as independent genres. Even religious subjects acquired a different interpretation - Renaissance artists began to consider their characters as heroes with pronounced individual traits and human motivation for actions.
Most famous artists this period - Masaccio (1401-1428), Masolino (1383-1440), Benozzo Gozzoli (1420-1497), Piero Della Francesco (1420-1492), Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516), Antonello da Messina (1430-1479), Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), Sandro Botticelli (1447-1515).
Masaccio
(1401-1428) - the famous Italian painter, the largest master of the Florentine school, the reformer of painting of the Quattrocento era.
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| Fresco. Miracle with the stater. |
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| Painting. crucifixion. |
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| Fresco. History of the Queen of Sheba. Church of San Francesco in Arezzo |
Sandro Botticelli(1445-1510) - great Italian painter, representative of the Florentine school of painting.
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| Spring. |
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| Birth of Venus. |
High Renaissance ("Cinquecento").
The highest flowering of Renaissance art came for the first quarter of the 16th century.
Works Sansovino (1486-1570), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Rafael Santi (1483-1520), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Giorgione (1476-1510), Titian (1477-1576), Antonio Correggio (1489-1534) constitute the golden fund of European art.
Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci (Florence) (1452-1519) - Italian artist (painter, sculptor, architect) and scientist (anatomist, naturalist), inventor, writer.
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| self-portrait |
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| Lady with an ermine. 1490. Czartoryski Museum, Krakow |
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| Mona Lisa (1503-1505/1506) |
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| Madonna Litta. 1490-1491. Hermitage Museum. |
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| Madonna Benois (Madonna with a flower). 1478-1480 |
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| Madonna with a Carnation. 1478 |
During his life, Leonardo da Vinci made thousands of notes and drawings on anatomy, but did not publish his work. Making an autopsy of the bodies of people and animals, he accurately conveyed the structure of the skeleton and internal organs, including small parts. According to professor of clinical anatomy Peter Abrams, scientific work da Vinci was 300 years ahead of her time and in many ways surpassed the famous Grey's Anatomy.
List of inventions, both real and attributed to him:
parachute, toolescovo castle,bicycle, tankh, llight portable bridges for the army, pprojector, toatapult, robot, dvohlenz telescope.
Later, these innovations were developed Rafael Santi (1483-1520) - a great painter, graphic artist and architect, a representative of the Umbrian school.
| Self-portrait. 1483 |
Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni(1475-1564) - Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, thinker.
Paintings and sculptures by Michelangelo Buonarotti are full of heroic pathos and, at the same time, a tragic sense of the crisis of humanism. His paintings glorify the strength and power of man, the beauty of his body, while emphasizing his loneliness in the world.
The genius of Michelangelo left an imprint not only on the art of the Renaissance, but also on all further world culture. His activities are mainly associated with two Italian cities - Florence and Rome.
However, the artist was able to realize his most grandiose plans precisely in painting, where he acted as a true innovator of color and form.
By order of Pope Julius II, he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-1512), representing biblical history from the creation of the world to the flood and includes more than 300 figures. In 1534-1541, in the same Sistine Chapel for Pope Paul III, he performed the grandiose, dramatic fresco The Last Judgment.
Sistine Chapel 3D.
The work of Giorgione and Titian is distinguished by an interest in the landscape, the poeticization of the plot. Both artists achieved great skill in the art of portraiture, with which they conveyed character and richness. inner world their characters.
Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco ( Giorgione) (1476 / 147-1510) - Italian artist, representative of the Venetian school of painting.
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| Sleeping Venus. 1510 |
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| Judith. 1504 |
Titian painted pictures in biblical and mythological subjects He became famous as a portrait painter. He was commissioned by kings and popes, cardinals, dukes and princes. Titian was not even thirty years old when he was recognized as the best painter in Venice.
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| Self-portrait. 1567 |
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| Venus Urbinskaya. 1538 |
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| Portrait of Tommaso Mosti. 1520 |
Late Renaissance.
After the sack of Rome by imperial troops in 1527, the Italian Renaissance entered a period of crisis. Already in the work of the late Raphael, a new art line, named mannerism.
This era is characterized by overstretched and broken lines, elongated or even deformed figures, often naked, tension and unnatural poses, unusual or bizarre effects associated with size, lighting or perspective, the use of caustic chromatic scale, overloaded composition, etc. The first masters of mannerism Parmigianino
, Pontormo
, Bronzino-
lived and worked at the court of the dukes of the Medici house in Florence. Later, Mannerist fashion spread throughout Italy and beyond.
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola
(Parmigianino
- "inhabitant of Parma") (1503-1540,) Italian artist and engraver, representative of mannerism.
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| Self-portrait. 1540 |
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| Portrait of a woman. 1530. |
Pontormo (1494-1557) - Italian painter, representative of the Florentine school, one of the founders of mannerism.
Mannerism was replaced by art in the 1590s baroque (transitional figures - Tintoretto And El Greco ).
Jacopo Robusti, better known as Tintoretto (1518 or 1519-1594) - painter of the Venetian school of the late Renaissance.
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| The Last Supper. 1592-1594. Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice. |
El Greco ("Greek" Domenikos Theotokopoulos ) (1541-1614) - Spanish artist. By origin - a Greek, a native of the island of Crete.
El Greco had no contemporary followers, and his genius was rediscovered almost 300 years after his death.
El Greco studied in the workshop of Titian, but, however, his painting technique differs significantly from that of his teacher. The works of El Greco are characterized by speed and expressiveness of execution, which bring them closer to modern painting.
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| Christ on the cross. OK. 1577. Private collection. |
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| Trinity. 1579 Prado. |
1. INTRODUCTION
"Renaissance" (Renaissance) - a term introduced by the architect, painter and historian Giorgio Vasari to define the era in which the cultural movement was called upon to revive antiquity and open up prospects for development Western culture. The era of the Middle Ages was seen as a break in the development of cultures, was a period of barbarism and ignorance. The revival originated in Italy, and was associated primarily with the emergence of bourgeois relations in feudal society, and as a result, the emergence of a new worldview. A return to the forgotten achievements of ancient culture began. All changes were most evident in the work of people of art.
The growth of cities and the development of crafts, the rise of world trade, the great geographical discoveries the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, changed the life medieval Europe. urban culture created new people and formed a new attitude to life. Printing appeared, which opened up opportunities for the dissemination of literary and scientific works.
At this time, Italian society begins to take an active interest in culture. Ancient Greece and Rome, manuscripts of ancient writers are being sought. Various spheres of social life - art, philosophy, literature, education, science - are becoming more and more independent and independent from the church. The center of attention in the Renaissance was a person, so the worldview of the bearers of this culture is denoted by the term “humanistic” (from Latin humanitas - humanity). For the Italian humanists, the main thing was the focus of man on himself. His fate lies to a large extent in his own hands He is endowed by God with free will.
Renaissance humanists believed that what matters in a person is not his origin or social status, A personal qualities. A strong, talented and comprehensively developed personality was recognized as an “ideal person”. Civil virtues began to be considered the main dignity of the individual. “You must judge a person by his qualities, and not by his clothes,” as one ancient author wittily says, “do you know why he seems so tall to you? You are deceived by the height of his heels: the plinth is not yet a statue. Measure a person without stilts. Let him put aside his riches and rank and stand before you in one shirt.”
Humanists were inspired by antiquity, which served for them as a source of knowledge and a model artistic creativity. The art of the Renaissance laid the foundations of the European culture of modern times. All the main types of art - painting, graphics, sculpture, architecture - have changed a lot.
In the era of the Italian Renaissance, it is customary to distinguish several periods: the Proto-Renaissance (the second half of the XIII-XIV century), the early Renaissance (XV century), the High Renaissance (the end of the XV - the first decades of the XVI century), later Renaissance(the last two thirds of the 16th century).
2. VALUE FOUNDATIONS OF RENAISSANCE ART
The Renaissance is characterized by the cult of beauty, especially the beauty of man. Italian painting depicts beautiful, perfect people.
Artists and sculptors strove in their work for naturalness, for a realistic recreation of the world and man. The planar image was no longer used, painting was enriched with linear and aerial perspective, knowledge of the anatomy and proportions of the human body, solved the problems of accurate drawing, natural movement.
The objects of art are the human body, modern and religious subjects. Attention, the interest of artists focused more and more on the person and everything that surrounds him. However, the art of the Early Renaissance was complex, contradictory, and this contradiction led him forward. In the art of the Early Renaissance, along with petty detail, there is a consciousness of a generalized, monumental and heroic image of a perfect person.
Man in the Renaissance again becomes main theme art, and the human body is considered the most perfect form in nature. humanistic culture Renaissance is permeated with the dream of a new man and his new spiritual development. Civil virtues began to be considered the main dignity of the individual. Theocentric consciousness began to be supplanted by anthropocentric. The ideas of humanism were most vividly and fully embodied in art, the main theme of which was a beautiful, harmoniously developed person with unlimited spiritual and creative possibilities. The art of the Renaissance is permeated with humanism, faith in the creative powers of man, in the unlimitedness of his possibilities, in the triumph of progress. The figures in painting acquire volume and a noticeable desire, it is true, to convey the anatomy of the human body.
Signs of bourgeois culture and the emergence of a new worldview were especially pronounced in the 15th century. But, precisely because the formation of a new culture and a new worldview was not completed, the 15th century is full of creative freedom, bold daring, admiration for human individuality. This is the age of humanism, faith in the limitless power of the mind, the era of intellectualism. The perception of reality is tested by experience, controlled by the mind. Therefore, the spirit of order is so characteristic of the art of the Renaissance. Anatomy, the doctrine of the proportions of the human body are of great importance to artists.
Antiquity acquires the value of an independent value and plays big role in the formation of secular culture. For art, features of ancient simplicity and harmony become characteristic in architecture. The libraries contain a rich collection of ancient manuscripts. Museums appear filled with statues, debris ancient architecture. Ancient Rome is being restored. But the influence of antiquity is superimposed on the traditions of the Middle Ages and Christian art, which gives a complex character to the culture of the revival.
In art, the problems of civic duty, high moral qualities, feat, the image of a harmoniously developed, strong in spirit and body hero man who managed to rise above the level of everyday life, came to the fore. The art of the High Renaissance renounces minor details in the name of general image, striving for harmony of the beautiful aspects of life. Developing portrait painting and becomes one of important achievements Renaissance. Sculpture was the most prestigious art form, and it flourished with the establishment of the Baroque. In the late Renaissance, there were fewer illusions and more realism in understanding reality. The ideals of beauty and harmony were comprehensively comprehended and even became the norm, which influenced various types of creative activity.
3. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
By the abundance of talented craftsmen, the scope of artistic creativity, Italy was ahead of all other European countries in the 15th century. Changes in art, first of all, affected sculpture. In the works of the master Niccolo Pisano, a clear influence of antiquity can be traced. But the beginning of a new era is associated with the name of the painter Giotto di Bondone (1266?-1337). Of his works, the frescoes of the Chapel del Arena in Padua on gospel scenes are best preserved, where a desire to faithfully convey the anatomy of the human body can already be traced. Giotto's man resists the blows of fate. He is ready to endure adversity without losing heart, without becoming hardened against people. Such an understanding did not contradict medieval church morality, but it lifted a person, asserted himself, gave him vigor.
IN fine arts several schools with their own unique stylistic features were formed.
3.1. FLORENTINE SCHOOL XV century
It was only in the 15th century that the features of the new style began to appear in the architecture of Italy. Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) completed in 1434 the Florence Cathedral with a gigantic dome, a Gothic building begun in 1295. IN secular architecture the palazzo is characterized by a combination of external fortress impregnability with an internal atmosphere of comfort.
In church architecture, the facing of the facades of churches with multi-colored marble appears, which is why the facade becomes "striped" - characteristic Italian Renaissance.
The new sculpture was born in 1401, when a competition was organized to decorate the doors of the baptismal doors of Florence Cathedral. The sculptor who had to solve the problems of European plasticity - round sculpture, monument - was Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (1386?-1466). Gothic reminiscences are also observed in his art. Donatello solves the problem of raising a human figure in accordance with the laws of plasticity, developed in ancient times, but forgotten in the Middle Ages. The statue of St. George, executed by Donatello, embodies the ideal of the early Renaissance: a sense of self-awareness and confidence in this image is emphasized by the free, calm pose of a figure resembling a column. This is “not a humanized god of antiquity, but a deified man of a new era” (N. Punin).
Donatello also has the honor of creating the first equestrian monument in the Renaissance. This is an equestrian statue of the condottiere Erasmo di Narni in Padua.
Using the best traditions of the art of the Middle Ages, having studied ancient plastic art, Donatello came to his own decisions, to images of deep humanity and genuine realism, which explains his great influence on all subsequent European sculpture.
The leading role in the painting of the Florentine early Renaissance fell to Tommaso di Giovanni di Simone Cassan Guidi, known as Masaccio (1401-1428). He solved those problems pictorial art that Giotto set before. Masaccio showed himself to be an artist for whom it was clear how to place figures in space, how to connect them with each other and with the landscape, what are the laws of the anatomy of the human body. He solved the main problems of the Renaissance - linear and aerial perspective.
Renaissance painting is the golden fund of not only European, but also world art. The Renaissance period replaced the dark Middle Ages, subordinated to the marrow of the bones to church canons, and preceded the subsequent Enlightenment and the New Age.
Calculate the duration of the period is depending on the country. The era of cultural flourishing, as it is commonly called, began in Italy in the 14th century, and only then spread throughout Europe and reached its climax by the end of the 15th century. Historians divide this period in art into four stages: Proto-Renaissance, early, high and late Renaissance. special value and, of course, Italian Renaissance painting is of interest, but French, German, and Dutch masters should not be overlooked. It is about them in the context of the time periods of the Renaissance that the article will discuss further.
Proto-Renaissance
The Proto-Renaissance period lasted from the second half of the 13th century. by the 14th century It is closely connected with the Middle Ages, in the late stage of which it originated. The Proto-Renaissance is the forerunner of the Renaissance and combines Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic traditions. First of all, the trends of the new era appeared in sculpture, and only then in painting. The latter was represented by two schools of Siena and Florence.
The main figure of the period was the painter and architect Giotto di Bondone. The representative of the Florentine school of painting became a reformer. He outlined the path along which it further developed. Features of Renaissance painting originate precisely in this period. It is generally accepted that Giotto succeeded in overcoming in his works the style of icon painting common to Byzantium and Italy. He made space not two-dimensional, but three-dimensional, using chiaroscuro to create the illusion of depth. In the photo is the painting "Kiss of Judas".
Representatives of the Florentine school stood at the origins of the Renaissance and did everything to bring painting out of the long medieval stagnation.
The Proto-Renaissance period was divided into two parts: before and after his death. Until 1337, the brightest masters work and major discoveries. After Italy covers the plague epidemic.
Renaissance Painting: Briefly About the Early Period
The Early Renaissance covers a period of 80 years: from 1420 to 1500. At this time, it has not completely departed from past traditions and is still associated with the art of the Middle Ages. However, the breath of new trends is already felt, the masters are starting to turn to the elements of classical antiquity more often. Ultimately, artists completely abandon the medieval style and begin to boldly use the best examples of ancient culture. Note that the process was rather slow, step by step.
Outstanding representatives of the early Renaissance
The work of the Italian artist Piero dela Francesca belongs entirely to the period of the early Renaissance. His works are distinguished by nobility, majestic beauty and harmony, accuracy of perspective, soft colors filled with light. IN last years life, in addition to painting, he studied mathematics in depth and even wrote two of his own treatises. Another student was famous painter, Luca Signorelli, and the style was reflected in the work of many Umbrian masters. In the photo above, a fragment of a fresco in the church of San Francesco in Arezzo "The History of the Queen of Sheba."
Domenico Ghirlandaio is another prominent representative of the Florentine school of Renaissance painting. early period. He was the founder of a famous artistic dynasty and the head of the workshop where the young Michelangelo started. Ghirlandaio was a famous and successful master, who was engaged not only in fresco paintings (Tornabuoni Chapel, Sistine), but also in easel painting (“Adoration of the Magi”, “Nativity”, “Old Man with his Grandson”, “Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni” - in the photo below).
High Renaissance
This period, in which there was a magnificent development of style, falls on the years 1500-1527. At this time, the center of Italian art moved to Rome from Florence. This is due to the ascension to the papal throne of the ambitious, enterprising Julius II, who attracted the best artists of Italy to his court. Rome became something like Athens in the time of Pericles and experienced an incredible rise and building boom. At the same time, there is harmony between the branches of art: sculpture, architecture and painting. The Renaissance brought them together. They seem to go hand in hand, complementing each other and interacting.
Antiquity is studied more thoroughly during the High Renaissance and reproduced with maximum accuracy, rigor and consistency. Dignity and tranquility replace coquettish beauty, and medieval traditions are completely forgotten. The pinnacle of the Renaissance marks the work of the three greatest Italian masters: Raphael Santi (painting "Donna Velata" in the image above), Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci ("Mona Lisa" - in the first photo).
Late Renaissance
The Late Renaissance covers the period in Italy from the 1530s to the 1590s-1620s. Art critics and historians reduce the works of this time to a common denominator with a high degree of conventionality. Southern Europe was under the influence of the Counter-Reformation that triumphed in it, which perceived with great apprehension any free-thinking, including the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity.
Florence saw the dominance of Mannerism, characterized by contrived colors and broken lines. However, in Parma, where Correggio worked, he got only after the death of the master. had its own path of development Venetian painting renaissance late period. Palladio and Titian, who worked there until the 1570s, are its brightest representatives. Their work had nothing to do with the new trends in Rome and Florence.
Northern Renaissance
This term is used to characterize the Renaissance throughout Europe, which was outside of Italy in general and in particular in the Germanic countries. It has a number of features. The Northern Renaissance was not homogeneous and in each country was characterized specific features. Art critics divide it into several areas: French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, English, etc.
The awakening of Europe went in two ways: the development and spread of a humanistic secular worldview, and the development of the ideas of renewal religious traditions. Both of them touched, sometimes merged, but at the same time were antagonists. Italy chose the first path, and Northern Europe the second.
The art of the north, including painting, was practically not influenced by the Renaissance until 1450. From 1500 it spread throughout the continent, but in some places the influence of the late Gothic was preserved until the onset of the Baroque.
The Northern Renaissance is characterized by a significant influence of the Gothic style, less close attention to the study of antiquity and human anatomy, and a detailed and meticulous writing technique. The Reformation had an important ideological influence on him.
French Northern Renaissance
The closest to Italian is French painting. The Renaissance for the culture of France became milestone. At this time, the monarchy and bourgeois relations are actively strengthening, religious ideas The Middle Ages fade into the background, giving way to humanistic tendencies. Representatives: Francois Quesnel, Jean Fouquet (pictured is a fragment of the master's Melun diptych), Jean Cluz, Jean Goujon, Marc Duval, Francois Clouet.
German and Dutch Northern Renaissance
Outstanding works of the Northern Renaissance were created by German and Flemish-Dutch masters. Religion still played a significant role in these countries, and it strongly influenced painting. The Renaissance took a different course in the Netherlands and Germany. Unlike the work of the Italian masters, the artists of these countries did not put man at the center of the universe. Throughout almost the entire XV century. they portrayed him in the Gothic style: light and ethereal. The most prominent representatives of the Dutch Renaissance are Hubert van Eyck, Jan van Eyck, Robert Kampen, Hugo van der Hus, German - Albert Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Holbein, Matthias Grunewald.
In the photo, A. Dürer's self-portrait, 1498
Despite the fact that the works of the northern masters differ significantly from the works of Italian painters, they are in any case recognized as priceless exhibits of fine art.
Renaissance painting, like all culture in general, is characterized by a secular character, humanism and so-called anthropocentrism, or, in other words, a paramount interest in man and his activities. During this period, there was a real flowering of interest in ancient art, and there was a revival of it. The era gave the world a whole galaxy of brilliant sculptors, architects, writers, poets and artists. Never before or since has cultural flourishing been so widespread.
