Renaissance in Europe.

Periodization and characteristic features of the Renaissance.

Revival (Renaissance) - an era in the history of European culture of the 13th-16th centuries, which marked the onset of the New Age.

As an epoch of European history, it was marked by many significant milestones - including the strengthening of the economic and social liberties of cities, spiritual fermentation, which eventually led to the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the Peasant War in Germany, the formation of an absolutist monarchy (the largest in France), the beginning of the era of the Great Geographic discoveries, the invention of European printing, the discovery of the heliocentric system in cosmology, etc. However, its first sign, as it seemed to contemporaries, was the “flourishing of the arts” after long centuries of medieval “decline”, the flourishing, which “revived” ancient artistic wisdom, precisely in this sense for the first time in the 16th century. uses the word rinascita (from which the French Renaissance and all its European counterparts come) the Italian artist and art critic Giorgio Vasari.

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 starting point. Specially distinguished:

1. Proto-Renaissance, (“the era of Dante and Giotto”, c.1260-1320) - (from the proto ... and the Renaissance), a period in the history of Italian art (13th - early 14th centuries), marked by the growth of secular realistic tendencies, an appeal to the ancient tradition . The earliest stage in the development of Renaissance art. Previously, the art of the Proto-Renaissance manifested itself in sculpture, and then in painting. It has a particularly tangible secular beginning, attention to historical themes, portrait, domestic and landscape genres. The work of the poet Dante, the architect Arnolfo di Cambio, the sculptor Niccolò Pisano, the painters Pietro Cavallini and especially Giotto in many respects paved the way for the art of the Renaissance. Within the framework of the proto-Renaissance, there are:

ducento(Italian ducento, lit. - two hundred, - Italian name of the 13th century) characterized by the growth of realistic trends in medieval art, the awakening of interest in the real world and the ancient heritage.

trecento(Italian trecento, lit. - three hundred - Italian name of the 14th century) - a period of intensive development of humanism in Italian culture; the art of the trecento, along with the growth of gothic features, is marked by the development of realistic quests

2. Early Renaissance or quattrocento(Italian quattrocento, lit. - four hundred - Italian name 15 c). became a time of experimental research, when new trends actively interact with the Gothic, overcoming and creatively transforming it. If in the era of the Proto-Renaissance the artist worked based on intuition, then the time of the Early Renaissance brought to the fore exact scientific knowledge. Art began to fulfill the role of universal knowledge of the surrounding world. In the 15th century a number of scientific treatises on art appeared. The first theorist in the field of painting and architecture was Leon Battista Alberti. He developed the theory of linear perspective, a truthful depiction of the depth of space in a picture. In the practical use of linear perspective, the work of the artist Paolo Uccello is of great interest.

3. Cinquecento(Italian cinquecento, lit. - five hundred - Italian name of the 16th century) - the heyday of the culture of the High and Late Renaissance and the spread of mannerism.

High (Medium) Revival- the period of the history of Italian art (late 15th - 1st quarter of the 16th centuries) - the classical phase of the artistic culture of the Renaissance. In the architecture, painting and sculpture of the High Renaissance (Bramante, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giorgione, Titian), Renaissance realism and humanism, heroic ideals received a generalized expression full of titanic power; the art of the High Renaissance is characterized by monumental grandeur, a combination of sublime ideality, harmony with the depth and vitality of images.

Late Renaissance(until the end of the 16th century), the continuation of the traditions of the High Renaissance, a special phase of which was Mannerism.

The main features of the Renaissance culture:

Anthropocentrism is a view according to which man is the center of the universe and the ultimate goal of the entire universe, i.e. the existing world was created for man.

Humanism is the recognition of the value of a person as a person.

Reformation of the medieval Christian tradition.

Revival of ancient monuments of art and ancient philosophy

Formation of a new attitude to the world.

The task of educating the "new man" is recognized as the main task of the era. The Greek word ("education") is the clearest analogue of the Latin humanitas (where "humanism" originates).

Humanitas in the Renaissance conception implies not only the mastery of ancient wisdom, which was of great importance, but also self-knowledge and self-improvement. Humanitarian and scientific and human, scholarship and worldly experience must be combined in a state of ideal virtu (in Italian, both “virtue” and “valor” - due to which the word carries a medieval chivalrous connotation). Reflecting these ideals in a nature-like way, the art of the Renaissance gives the educational aspirations of the era a convincingly sensual clarity. Antiquity (that is, the ancient heritage), the Middle Ages (with their religiosity, as well as the secular code of honor) and the New Age (which put the human mind, its creative energy at the center of its interests) are here in a state of sensitive and continuous dialogue.

It is natural that the time, which attached central importance to the "divine" human creativity, put forward in the art of personalities who - with all the abundance of talents of that time - became the personification of entire eras of national culture (personalities - "titans", as they were romantically called later). Giotto became the personification of the Proto-Renaissance, the opposite aspects of the Quattrocento - constructive rigor and sincere lyricism - were respectively expressed by Masaccio and Angelico with Botticelli. The "Titans" of the Middle (or "High") Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo are artists - symbols of the great milestone of the New Age as such. The most important stages of Italian Renaissance architecture - early, middle and late - are monumentally embodied in the works of F. Brunelleschi, D. Bramante and A. Palladio.

Italian Renaissance

Early Renaissance in Italy.

14-15th century for Italy - a time of rapid economic development. The Italian cities had a fairly developed industry in the form of manufactories, they were large trading centers connecting Italy with the countries of Europe and the East. In the cities there were banks that conducted operations of international importance. With the advent of a new attitude to trade and the emergence of banking houses, the cities revive and flourish: Pisa, Milan, Genoa, Venice, Naples, Florence.

The industrial, commercial and usurious bourgeoisie of the Italian cities needed the development of the exact sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics for their economic activity. At the same time, making huge fortunes, she sought to create comfortable living conditions for herself and decorate her palaces with works of art. The bourgeoisie and rulers (kings, popes, republican lords) needed educated officials, notaries, doctors, teachers - and in general, people of intellectual labor who could conduct trade and credit affairs at home and abroad.

Thus, along with the emerging bourgeoisie, intelligentsia appeared in Italian cities: writers, philosophers, historians, poets, musicians, architects, artists, engineers, doctors, etc., who had a decisive influence on the formation of a new ideology.

One of the most important features of the new ideology was individualism. The emerging bourgeoisie, strong and rich, now claimed that it was not the nobility and generosity, but the personal qualities of an individual Man: his mind, dexterity, courage, enterprise and energy ensure success in life. The worldview of the leaders of the new culture, which was expressed in their philosophical, political, scientific and literary views, is usually referred to as "humanism". Because a person was now considered as the blacksmith of his own happiness, the creator of all values, moving forward in defiance of fate and achieving success with the strength of his mind, firmness of spirit, activity, optimism. Man should enjoy nature, love, art, science. The representatives of the new ideology were alien to the idea of ​​the sinfulness of man, in particular his body; on the contrary, the harmony of the human soul and body becomes recognized.

In Italian society, a deep interest in ancient civilization and culture arose, where even the gods were endowed with a human appearance and human character. Hence the attempt to resurrect a bygone culture and put it on a pedestal.

Cultural figures tried in their writings to imitate the style of the Latin writers of the "golden age" of Roman literature, especially Cicero. There was an interest in Greek literature and the Greek language. Florence and Venice became the spiritual center of the Italian Renaissance.

The early Renaissance is inextricably linked with the names of Francesco Petrarca and Giovanni Boccaccio.

The founder of humanism in Italy is considered to be Francesco Petrarch(1304-1374). He was a collector of ancient manuscripts and monuments, a historian, a propagandist of ancient Roman culture (he tried to write the history of Rome in biographies (“On famous men” contains 21 biographies of the great Romans from Romulus to Caesar)). All the works of Petrarch can be divided into two unequal parts: Italian poetry ("Canzoniere") and various works written in Latin. "Canzonere" ("Book of Songs") includes sonnets, canzones, ballads, madrigals dedicated to Petrarch's love for Laura during her lifetime and after her death; several poems of political and religious content; and an allegorical picture of the poet's love - Triumphs, which depict the victory of love over man, chastity over love, death over chastity, glory over death, time over glory and eternity over time. "Canzoniere", which survived until the beginning of the 17th century. OK. 200 editions and commented by a whole host of scholars and poets determines the significance of Petrarch in the history of Italian and general literature. He created a truly artistic form for Italian lyric poetry: for the first time, poetry is for him the inner history of individual feeling. This interest in the inner life of a person runs like a red thread through the Latin works of Petrarch, which determine his significance as a humanist.

A contemporary of Petrarch, Gianvanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), became famous thanks to the Decameron, written in Italian, a collection of short stories on themes of Florentine urban life, which emphasizes the human right to happiness, to sensual joys, to love that knows no social partitions. The collection contains folk humor and freethinking, criticism of the ignorance and hypocrisy of the Catholic clergy. Boccaccio's "Decameron" has become a model of the perfection of language and style for Italian authors, classics of world literature. The Decameron is a hundred stories told on behalf of noble Florentine ladies and young men; The story takes place against the backdrop of a plague epidemic (“black death”), from which a noble society is hiding in a country estate, and is full of subtle psychologism and unexpected collisions.

Together with Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio are the creators of the literary Italian language. Their works in the 15th century. were translated into many languages ​​​​of Europe and took pride of place in world literature.

The art of the early Renaissance was represented by new painting, sculpture and architecture.

An outstanding master of the early Renaissance, who continued the realistic tradition of Giotto, was a Florentine artist Masaccio(real name Tommaso di Giovanni di Simone Cassai) (1401-1428). He painted on church-religious subjects (mostly wall paintings inside temples), but he gave them realistic features with the help of chiaroscuro, plastic physicality, three-dimensionality, compositional linkage with the landscape, he transferred the action of religious subjects to the streets of Florence. For the first time in wall painting (the fresco "Trinity" in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence), he creates a central-perspective building that gives the composition majesty and at the same time proportionality to human scales. His work became a model for the work of subsequent generations of artists.

Artist Sandro Botticelli was close to the Medici court and humanist circles in Florence. He wrote works on religious and mythological themes (“Spring”, “The Birth of Venus”, around 1483-1484), although his images are flat, they are marked by spiritualized poetry, the play of linear rhythms, subtle coloring, and a mood of sadness. But the sadness of Venus and the condescending smile of Spring are addressed to the audience, to his world, and not to the heavenly transparency as on the icons.

The largest sculptor of the early Renaissance - Florentine Donatello- comprehending the experience of ancient art, for the first time created classical forms and types of Renaissance sculpture: a new type of round statue and sculptural group (“St. George”, “David”, “Judith and Holofernes”), a monumental equestrian monument (statue of the condottiere Gattamelata in Padua - the first equestrian monument of the Renaissance), a picturesque relief (the altar of the church of Sant'Antonio in Padua), a sculptural portrait, a majestic tombstone (the tomb of Antipope John XXIII in the Florentine baptistery is a classic example for all later tombs of the Renaissance). His sculpture "David" is the first completely nude figure created during the Renaissance. The forms of Donatello's sculptures acquire plastic clarity, the volumes become solid, the typical expression of faces is replaced by portraiture, the folds of the robes naturally envelop the body and echo its curves and movement. He strove to give the features of real people to his sculptures: Christ looks like a peasant, Florentine citizens are depicted as evangelists and prophets. In creating sculptures, Donatello aims to reproduce the new ideal of the era - an individual heroic personality.

Architecture achieved great success in the early Renaissance. If the beginning of the Renaissance was marked by the erection of the symbol of the urban community - the cathedral, then by the end of the 15th century. The ruler's palace becomes the center of the city. The square from the place of the people's assembly turned into a front yard.

A type of secular palace (palazzo) is formed: quadrangular in plan, closed around the courtyard, which then becomes open on one side or is separated only by a portico. The memory of medieval fortress architecture was preserved in the use of masonry of rough stone blocks, which later became a common decorative element (“rust”), mainly in the laying of the basement lower floors.

Free development is being replaced by planned development. The new architecture of the Renaissance - huge buildings, high domes, a grandiose colonnade - required strict mathematical calculations. Thanks to the improvement of building technology, the construction of large buildings, cathedrals and palaces began to be carried out in shorter terms than in the Middle Ages, sometimes in a few years.

Major architects who created the Renaissance style of architecture were Filippo Brunulleschi and Leon Battista Alberti.

Three cities became the main centers of the new art of Northern Italy: Padua, Ferrara, Venice.

Padua was one of the oldest university cities in Europe. The University of Padua, founded in 1222, attracted many students from different countries. Here the heritage of antiquity was intensively studied. A circle of humanists, connoisseurs and lovers of antiquity was created at the university. Manuscripts of ancient authors were collected here, works of art were collected. Dante and Petrarch visited Padua. Giotto and Donatello came here to work and had a strong influence on local artists.

In Ferrara, the court of local rulers, the Dukes d'Este, became the center of humanistic culture.

Venice is a republic of merchants who trade with the whole world and who have concentrated in their hands most of the trade between East and West. The Venetians borrow everything beautiful from the Muslim East, decrepit Byzantium, "barbarian" Germany, and try to turn their city into the most brilliant and magnificent in the world. And financial well-being allows them not to skimp in the implementation of their plans.

High Renaissance.

At the turn of the 15th - 16th century. The Italian Renaissance entered a new phase of development. At the end of the 15th - the first decade of the 16th century. the highest rise of art. This stage was called the High Renaissance.

In the first decade of the 16th century the center of artistic life in Italy moves to Rome. Even at the end of the 15th century. The Papal States began to play an important role among the largest Italian states. Less developed economically than Florence or Venice, it had a high international importance (as the center of Catholicism). Dreaming of uniting all of Italy under the rule of Rome, the popes tried to turn it into a leading political and cultural center. This was facilitated by the philanthropic policy of the popes, which attracted the best artists to Rome. And the historical past of the "eternal city" perfectly matched its new role. The memory of the greatness of the Roman Empire, which did not die throughout the Middle Ages, has now acquired special significance. In this regard, at the beginning of the 16th century. revived interest in ancient history and culture. It was in Rome, with its numerous monuments that have always attracted artists, that the classical heritage was fully and deeply perceived.

The art of the High Renaissance absorbed the ideas of humanism, it is imbued with faith in the creative powers of man, in the unlimitedness of his possibilities, in the rational structure of the world. At the same time, the problem of civic duty and heroic feat is replacing the naive narrative and everydayism common in Quattrocento art. The leitmotif of culture is the image of a beautiful, harmoniously developed, strong in body and spirit of a person who rises below the level of everyday routine.

At the beginning of the 16th century a new type of synthesis of arts achieves harmonious unity, which, unlike the medieval one (when all types of art are subordinated to architecture), assumes the equality of painting and sculpture in relation to architecture. The liberation of painting and sculpture from strict subordination to architecture leads to the isolation and development of new genres of art: portraiture, landscape and historical painting.

The formation of the art of the High Renaissance began at the end of the 15th century. - Florence was its cradle, from where such major masters as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo came out. The traditions of the Florentine school and the early Quattrocento were the basis of the art of the 16th century.

At the beginning of 16 in the leading position in the development of architecture, painting and sculpture passes to Rome. The architecture of gardens, parks and country residences of the nobility is being developed. There are utopian city projects. The distinctive qualities of the architecture of the High Renaissance are: monumentality, inspired by ancient Rome, the impressive grandeur and grandeur of designs. This was most clearly manifested in the restructuring of the Vatican and the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral, the architect of which was Donato d'Angelo Bramante(1444-1514), who determined with his work the path of development of architecture of the 16th century. The small Temppietto chapel built by Bramante is one of the best works of architecture of the mature Renaissance, it is distinguished by the integrity of the composition, the refinement of proportions, and the drawing of details. The main cathedral of Rome (the Cathedral of St. Peter) Bramante also planned to make according to a centric plan, while he was guided not by practical considerations (convenience during worship), but by the concept of a centric composition that was beloved during this period, striving for balance, stability and completeness. But the construction of the cathedral began in 1506, so Bramante did not have time to complete the cathedral and the construction was successively involved: Raphael, Peruzzi, Antonio da Sangalo the Younger, Michelangelo.

Many cultural figures were the embodiment of "homo universal" - a universal person, gifted in all areas of creative and scientific activity, creating masterpieces of painting, sculpture, architecture, writing treatises on various scientific topics.

Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519) - the greatest painter, sculptor, architect, scientist and engineer. Leonardo left few paintings, as scientific interests absorbed a lot of time and effort.

Already in his first paintings, the main features of Leonardo's art are present: interest in psychological solutions, conciseness, emphasis on spatial arrangement and volume of forms.

Combining the development of new means of artistic language with theoretical communication, Leonardo created a harmonious image of a person that meets humanistic ideals; thus he summed up the experience of the Quattrocento and laid the foundations for the art of the High Renaissance.

In the service of the ruler of Milan, Lodovico Moro, Leonardo da Vinci acts as a military engineer, hydraulic engineer, and organizer of court extravaganzas. The creative flowering of Leonardo the painter falls on the same period. In the Madonna in the Rocks, the finest chiaroscuro (“sfumato”), beloved by the master, appears as a new halo that replaces the medieval halos: it is both a divine-human and natural sacrament in equal measure, where a rocky grotto, reflecting Leonardo’s geological observations, plays not less dramatic role than the figures of saints in the foreground. In addition, Leonardo introduces a new motif into Italian painting - the image of the Virgin Mary with children in a landscape.

In the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Leonardo creates the painting "The Last Supper". In The Last Supper, psychological conflict and mathematical calculation are introduced into art in the construction of a composition. The high religious and ethical content of the image, which represents the stormy, contradictory reaction of Christ's disciples to his words about the coming betrayal, is expressed in clear mathematical patterns of the composition, imperiously subjugating not only the painted, but also the real architectural space. The clear stage logic of facial expressions and gestures, the combination of strict rationality with an inexplicable mystery made The Last Supper one of the most significant works in the history of world art. Being also engaged in architecture, Leonardo develops various versions of the "ideal city" and the central-domed temple.

In the portrait of Mona Lisa ("Gioconda"), the image of a wealthy city dweller appears as the embodiment of the lofty ideal of femininity, without losing its intimate human charm; an important element of the composition becomes a cosmically vast landscape, melting in a cold haze. "La Gioconda" forms the basis of all subsequent Italian portraiture.

The late works of Leonardo da Vinci include St. Anne with Mary and the Christ Child, which completes the search for a master in the field of light-air perspective and harmonic pyramidal composition. The last picture of Leonardo, "St. John the Baptist" is full of erotic ambiguity: the young Forerunner here does not look like a holy ascetic, but like a tempter full of sensual charm.

The most important source for studying the views of Leonardo da Vinci are his notebooks and manuscripts (about 7 thousand sheets). These notes were systematized after the death of the artist by his student F. Melzi in the Treatise on Painting. This work had a huge impact on European artistic practice and theoretical thought.

A tireless scientist-experimenter and a brilliant artist, Leonardo da Vinci remained in the tradition of a person-symbol of the era.

Rafael Santi(1483-1520) - artist of synthesis and harmony. His art is distinguished by the balance of mind and feelings, reality and ideals, impeccable clarity of composition and forms; he is a classic incarnation of the High Renaissance. Already in the early paintings (“Madonna Conestabile”, “Dream of a Knight”, “Three Graces”, “Betrothal of Mary”), the harmonious warehouse of talent inherent in Raphael, his ability to find the perfect harmony of forms, rhythms, colors, movements, gestures, affected.

He glorified the earthly existence of man, the harmony of spiritual and physical forces in the paintings of the stanzas (ceremonial chambers) of the Vatican, achieving an impeccable sense of proportion, rhythm, proportions, harmony of color, unity of figures and majestic architectural backgrounds. In the majestic multi-figure compositions on the walls (combining from 40 to 60 characters) "Disputation" ("Dispute about the sacrament"), "Athenian school", "Parnassus", without repeating a single figure and pose, not a single movement, Raphael weaves them together flexible, free, natural rhythm, flowing from figure to figure, from one group to another. In The Miraculous Exposition of the Apostle Peter from the Dungeon, Raphael, with an unusual for the artist of Central Italy, painterly subtlety conveys the complex effects of night lighting - a dazzling radiance surrounding an angel, the cold light of the moon, the reddish flame of torches and their reflections on the armor of the guards.

Among the best works of Raphael the muralist are also the murals of the arches of the Chigi chapel in Rome and the fresco “Triumph of Galatea” full of pagan cheerfulness (Villa Farnesina, Rome).

One of the main themes of Raphael's painting was the Madonna and Child. In the works “Madonna with a Goldfinch”, “Madonna in the Green”, “Beautiful Gardener”, he uses the same motive in them - he depicts a young mother against the backdrop of an idyllic landscape and little children playing at her feet - Christ and John the Baptist, he unites figures with a stable, harmoniously balanced rhythm of the compositional pyramid, beloved by the masters of the Renaissance. A new, polyphonically complex interpretation of the image of the Madonna found its fullest expression in one of the most perfect creations of Raphael - the Sistine Madonna altarpiece.

Raphael left a noticeable mark on Italian architecture. He participated in the construction of the St. Peter in Rome. Among his buildings are the small church of San Eligio degli Orefici with its austere interior, the Chigi chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, the interior of which is an example of a rare even for the Renaissance unity of architectural design and decor developed by Raphael - murals, mosaics, sculptures.

Michelangelo Buonarotti(1475-1564) - sculptor, painter, architect, poet. Michelangelo far outlived his illustrious contemporaries (Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael) and witnessed the humiliation of Italy and the collapse of all ideals and hopes. Therefore, with the greatest force, he expressed the deeply human ideals of the High Renaissance, full of heroic pathos, as well as the tragic sense of the crisis of the humanistic worldview during the Late Renaissance.

History of Italy.

Renaissance.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Italy, despite its political fragmentation, underwent profound, albeit gradual, transformations. Political turmoil, the accumulation of wealth in this center of world trade and, finally, the rich history of Italy contributed to the Renaissance - the revival of the traditions of the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome.

The growth of prosperity was accompanied by the formation of a society that was urban, secular and deeply individualistic. The cities, which had already arisen in the Roman era and never completely disappeared, were revived thanks to a huge upsurge in trade and industry. Moreover, the feuds between emperors and popes allowed the cities, by maneuvering between both sides, to free themselves from external control. Everywhere, with the exception of the south of the Apennine Peninsula, cities began to extend their power to the surrounding countryside. The feudal nobility had to abandon their habitual way of life and participate in intellectual and spiritual activities in the cities.

Politically, feudal anarchy gave way to complete chaos. With the exception of the Kingdom of Naples located in the south, the Apennine Peninsula was divided into many small city-states, almost completely independent of both the emperor and the pope. Of course, various kinds of seizures and mergers took place, but many cities could successfully stand up for themselves, and no agreements or forces could force them to unite. At the same time, sharp social contradictions in the cities themselves and the need to form a united front against external enemies contributed to the fall of many republican regimes, which made it easier for despots to seize power. People, tired of instability, themselves sought or approved the emergence of such tyrants who ruled with the help of mercenaries (condottieri), but at the same time sought to gain respect and support from the townspeople. During this period, there was a significant expansion of larger states at the expense of small ones, and by 1494 only five large states and even fewer city-states remained.

The Duchy of Milan, the Florentine and Venetian Republics, the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples were the most significant political formations of the Apennine Peninsula. Milan, under the rule of the Sforza family, became one of the richest states and a center of arts and education.

Just as Milan dominated the Lombard plain and controlled the Alpine passes leading to Northern Europe, Venice, built on the islands of the lagoon, dominated the Adriatic Sea. Keeping aloof from the complex vicissitudes of Italian politics, Venice, due to its geographical position, played the role of an intermediary in trade between Western and Eastern Europe. Venice was ruled by wealthy families who elected from their midst the doge, the head of the city for life, who ruled with the help of the Senate and the Council of Ten. Under the treaty of 1454 concluded between Venice and Milan, the latter recognized Venice as a mainland state in eastern Lombardy and on the northern shores of the Adriatic Sea.

Florence retained the appearance of a republican form of government, but frequent coups, strife between parties and the domination of the oligarchy, which consisted of a narrow circle of wealthy families, led to the recognition by the inhabitants of the city in 1434 of the power of the Medici family. Formally, the republican form of government was preserved, but in reality, Cosimo Medici and his successors behaved like real despots. The heyday of the dynasty was achieved under Lorenzo the Magnificent (r. 1469–1492), a poet, patron of the arts and sciences, statesman and diplomat.

The Papal States occupied a significant part of central Italy, including the Romagna, and in the east almost reached the borders of Venice. Nominally, this territory was ruled by the pope, but in fact it was fragmented into numerous fiefs, where the rulers established their own rules. Many Renaissance popes were as secular as the Italian sovereigns, and kept luxurious courts. Popes Nicholas V (1447–1455), who founded the Vatican Library, and Pius II (1458–1464) did much to revive education in the spirit of antiquity. The heyday of the Renaissance fell on the reigns of Popes Julius II (1503-1513) and Leo X (1513-1521). The Kingdom of Naples included the territory of Italy south of the borders of the Papal States. True, until 1435 Sicily was a separate kingdom, which was ruled by the Angevin dynasty of France until the transfer of power to King Alfonso I of the Aragonese dynasty. Under the reign of Alfonso, Naples experienced a period of economic upsurge and flourishing of the arts, although this kingdom was politically different from the city-states of northern Italy. In 1504 Naples was conquered by Spain and gradually lost its independence over the next two centuries.

During the Renaissance, Italy prospered due to the delicate balance of political and cultural factors that prevailed then in Europe and in the world as a whole. In the 14th - first half of the 15th century. The country was divided into many independent states. Dynastic, institutional and social factors prevented the transformation of the Italian cultural community into any real form of political unity. As Machiavelli and other Italian thinkers of this time argued, it is in the prevailing historical paradox that one should look for the roots of the brilliance and tragedy of the Italian Renaissance. The fall of the two universal power systems of the Middle Ages - the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy - repeatedly prompted attempts to unify Italy.

For more than a hundred years (1305-1414), energetic efforts were directed towards this, coming from the North, Center and South of Italy. Their goal was to achieve in one form or another the unity of the country, or at least to bring many states under a common political authority. The most significant of these efforts were successively supported by Roberto of Naples (1308–1343), Cola di Rienzo in Rome (1347–1354), Archbishop Giovanni Visconti of Milan (1349–1359), and Cardinal Egidio Albornoz (1352–1367) of Rome. The last two serious attempts in the North and South, respectively, were made under the leadership of Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan (1385–1402) and the Neapolitan king Vladislav (1402–1414). In all these cases, coalitions of other forces in Italy gathered under the banner of "freedom of Italy" and successfully resisted the desire to impose a single government on the country. After the defeat of Gian Galeazzo and Vladislav, a series of wars followed between the five largest Italian states.

In the middle of the 15th century Italy faced two new adverse factors in international life. In the West, beyond the Alps, the protracted struggle between the feudal dynasties of Europe, in particular the Anglo-French conflict, was coming to an end. Therefore, it was to be expected that large continental states - France, Spain and Austria - would soon intervene in Italian affairs. On the eastern - Mediterranean and Adriatic - flanks of Italy, there was a threat from the Ottomans.

Far-sighted statesmen in each of the five major Italian states soon realized that Italy's protracted "civil war" must be ended. Peace negotiations began. On the initiative of Cosimo de' Medici of Florence and Pope Nicholas V, Francesco Foscari, Doge of Venice, and Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, concluded the Peace of Lodia in April 1454. A federation was born, joined by the Neapolitan king Alfonso of Aragon and, eventually, the smaller Italian states under the rule of the pope. The Holy League of Italian States imposed a ban on conflicts within the Apennine Peninsula and created a new structure of peaceful coexistence.

For almost forty years, from 1454 to 1494, Italy enjoyed peace and the flowering of Renaissance culture, manifested in art, science and philosophy. Until 1492, Lorenzo Medici acted as an arbiter in politics and ruled Italy without involving it in alliances with foreign European powers. However, less than two years after the death of Lorenzo, fear, ambition and selfishness gave rise to an atmosphere of mutual distrust among the rulers of the Italian states.

The French King Charles VIII has taken it upon himself to rid Italy of the real and partly fictitious hardships provoked by the actions of selfish sovereigns. The Florentine religious leader Savonarola openly condemned these actions. In 1494 Charles VIII invaded Italy and on February 22, 1495 entered Rome; then other invasions followed. In 1527, Rome was sacked by the troops of Emperor Charles V of the Habsburg dynasty. Under the peace concluded at Cambrai in 1529, the French had to give up their claims in Italy, but later they made new, equally unsuccessful attempts to expel the Habsburgs from Italy. The Italian wars ended in 1559 with the Peace of Cato Cambresi, according to which most of Italy was included in the Habsburg Empire.

With the victory of Spain over France on the Apennine Peninsula, the independence of the Italian states was put to an end, many of which remained dependent on foreign powers for almost two centuries. The rapid development of Mediterranean trade, which nourished the cultural achievements of the Renaissance in Italy, slowed down in the 16th century, when, following the discovery of America, the main trade routes moved to the Atlantic. Genoa and Venice survived as independent republics, but their economies also declined. The most powerful of the Italian sovereigns was now the Pope, not only as the secular head of the Papal States, but also as the leader of the Counter-Reformation. The reform of the Catholic doctrine, adopted at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), influenced the political, cultural and religious life of Italy, and already under Pope Paul IV (1555-1559), the Catholic Church began to eradicate heresies. The activity of the Inquisition became more severe. Its victims included free-thinking Dominican priest Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake as a heretic, and Galileo Galilei, who was forced to abandon his pioneering scientific theories.

Spanish dominance in the Apennine Peninsula continued into the 17th century, although it was repeatedly challenged by France, especially under Louis XIV. However, when France was defeated in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), by the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 the Austrian Habsburgs became the main dominant force in Italy. The treaty concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession, finally brought the long-awaited peace to the Italian states. Since then, their borders have hardly changed for more than 100 years until the beginning of the unification of the country. The most important event was the granting of real autonomy to Piedmont and Naples (in the first, the Savoy dynasty ruled, and in the second, the Spanish Bourbons). In the middle of the 18th century all of Italy experienced a period of economic and cultural revival, and Milan, Florence and Naples became major centers of European enlightenment. Composition by Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794) Crimes and punishments laid the foundations of modern criminology and criminal law and was soon translated into many European languages. This work helped in many ways to draw up a new code of laws introduced by Duke Leopold of Tuscany, one of the most progressive Italian rulers of the 18th century. In Naples, where the ruling Bourbons were also active reformers, Antonio Genovesi (1712–1769) was appointed head of Europe's first chair of political economy.

Thanks to the participation of so many Italians in the public life of the Enlightenment, Italy again became the leading force in European history, while the need for reform increased. Important social transformations were carried out by the Austrian government in Lombardy, as well as in the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Duchy of Tuscany and in the South, but met with local resistance in other parts of the Apennine Peninsula (especially in the Papal States, the Venetian and Genoese Republics), where the reforms did not have much success.

The French Revolution of 1789 had a decisive influence on the Italian states and their development. The revolution confirmed the need for a radical transformation of society, and when French troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) invaded northern Italy in 1796, the supporters of the revolution were able to establish republican rule under the protection of French army. So, Genoa became the Ligurian Republic (June 1797), Milan became the center of the Cisalpine Republic (July 1797), the advance of the French army to the south led to the emergence of the Roman Republic (February 1798). Finally, the Parthenopian Republic was formed in Naples (January 1799).

This "republican" experiment, however, was short-lived. In April 1799, the combined Austro-Russian army under the command of General A.V. Suvorov defeated the French troops in Northern Italy. When the French retreated, the Italian republics fell, and those who supported the French suffered severe repression. However, the coup d'état in France by Napoleon in 1799 and his impressive victory over the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in 1800 set the stage for a longer French occupation and subsequent redrawing of the map of the Apennine Peninsula. Piedmont was transformed into a state dependent on France on the site of the former Cisalpine Republic. It was called the Italian Republic, and since 1804, when Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor and accepted the crown of the King of Italy in the Milan Cathedral, it was renamed the Italian Kingdom. The Kingdom of Italy included Lombardy, Venice (Napoleon abolished the republic that had existed for many centuries) and most of Emilia. General Eugene Beauharnais (son of Empress Josephine) became viceroy. In 1806 Napoleon invaded Naples. The king and his court fled to Sicily, where until 1814 they remained under the protection of the British fleet. Napoleon appointed his brother Joseph King of Naples. However, in 1808 he moved to Madrid and became king of Spain, and the throne of Naples was transferred to Napoleon's son-in-law, Joachim Murat. The Papal States remained independent until the quarrel between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII (1800–1823) and the annexation of Rome to France in 1809.

Until 1814, the Italian states remained part of Napoleon's empire. French rule helped the Italians modernize the polity. The financial and administrative bodies were reorganized and the codes of law changed in the spirit of the French civil code. When the empire began to disintegrate after the defeat of Napoleon's army at the Battle of Leipzig (1813), opposition raised its head in Italy, demanding the creation of a constitutional government. At the end of the empire, Joachim Murat in 1814 from Rimini urged the Italians to unite in order to create an independent state. The works of the Italian writer Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827) testify to the growth of national self-consciousness. After the fall of the Napoleonic Empire, the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), ignoring such appeals, restored the power of the former rulers of the Italian states. This suggested a return to the political situation that existed before the French Revolution, albeit with some changes. The Venetian Republic was not restored in its former form, and the lands once subject to Venice now formed part of the Lombard and Venetian Kingdom, which was ruled by an Austrian viceroy who settled in Milan. Although the Austrian domination and the aggressive policy of Metternich were the main target of the attacks of the Italian nationalists, at the beginning of the 19th century. it was Lombardy and Venice that favorably differed in the nature of government from other Italian lands.

In some places, the former rulers regained their thrones, but almost everywhere Austria stood behind them. Members of the Habsburg family ruled in Tuscany and the small duchies of Parma and Modena. The Pope restored his possessions in the Papal States and appointed his emissaries to the cities of Bologna and Ferrara. In the south, Naples and Sicily were united in a monarchy led by the Bourbons who returned to power, under the name of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Apart from Naples, only Piedmont (Kingdom of Sardinia) enjoyed some real autonomy, with the possessions of the Savoy dynasty expanding through the annexation of the former Republic of Genoa. However, the Piedmontese rulers were afraid of the revolution and considered Austria their main ally.

Introduction

Historiography

Main stages of the Renaissance

Early Renaissance

High Renaissance

Late Renaissance

Characteristics of Renaissance architecture

Fine arts of the renaissance

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

“I created you as a being not heavenly, but not only earthly, not mortal, but not immortal either, so that you, a stranger to constraint, become your own creator and forge your own image completely. You have been given the opportunity to fall to the level of an animal, but also the opportunity to rise to the level of a god-like being - solely due to your inner will ... "

This is what God says to Adam in the treatise of the Italian humanist Pico della Mirandola "On the Dignity of Man." In these words, the spiritual experience of the Renaissance is compressed, the shift in consciousness that she made is expressed.

Renaissance architecture - the period of development of architecture in European countries from the beginning of the 15th to the beginning of the 17th century, in the general course of the Renaissance and the development of the foundations of the spiritual and material culture of Ancient Greece and Rome. This period is a turning point in the History of Architecture, especially in relation to the preceding architectural style, the Gothic. Gothic, unlike Renaissance architecture, looked for inspiration in its own interpretation of Classical art.

Historiography

The word "Renaissance" (French renaissance) comes from the term "la rinascita", which was first used by Giorgio Vasari in the book "Lives of the most famous Italian painters, sculptors and architects" published in 1550-1568.

The term “Renaissance” was introduced by the French historian Jules Michelet to denote the corresponding period, but the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, in his book “The Culture of the Italian Renaissance”, revealed the definition more fully, its interpretation formed the basis of the modern understanding of the Italian Renaissance. The publication of an album of drawings, The Buildings of Modern Rome, or a Collection of Palaces, Houses, Churches, Monasteries, and Other Most Significant Public Buildings of Rome, published by Paul Le Tarouille in 1840, caused a general interest in the Renaissance period. Then the Renaissance was considered a style "imitating the antique."

The first representative of this trend can be called Filippo Brunelleschi, who worked in Florence, a city that, along with Venice, is considered a monument of the Renaissance. Then it spread to other Italian cities, to France, Germany, England, Russia and other countries.

Main stages of the Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance is usually divided into three periods. In the history of art, we can talk about the development of fine arts and sculpture within the framework of the early Renaissance in the XIV century. In the history of architecture, things are different. Due to the economic crisis of the XIV century, the Renaissance in architecture began only at the beginning of the XV century and lasted until the beginning of the XVII century in Italy and longer beyond its borders.

Three main periods can be distinguished:

· Early Renaissance or Quattrocento, roughly coincides with the 15th century.

· High Renaissance, first quarter of the 16th century.

· Mannerism or Late Renaissance (2nd half of the 16th century in the 17th century).

In other European countries, their own pre-Renaissance style developed, and the Renaissance itself did not begin earlier than the 16th century, the style was instilled into existing traditions, as a result of which Renaissance buildings in different regions may have slightly similar features.

In Italy itself, Renaissance architecture moved into Mannerist architecture, presented in rather different trends in the works of Michelangelo, Giulio Romano and Andrea Palladio, which then reborn into the Baroque, applying similar architectural techniques in a different general ideological context.

Early Renaissance

During the Quattrocento, the norms of classical architecture were rediscovered and formulated. The study of ancient samples led to the assimilation of classical elements of architecture and ornament.

The space, as an architectural component, is organized in a way different from medieval notions. It was based on the logic of proportions, the shape and sequence of parts are subject to geometry, and not to intuition, which was a characteristic feature of medieval buildings. The first example of the period can be called the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, built by Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446).

Filippo Brunelleschi

Filippo Brunelleschi (Italian: Filippo Brunelleschi (Brunellesco); 1377-1446) was a great Italian Renaissance architect.

Filippo Brunelleschi was born in Florence to the notary Brunelleschi di Lippo. As a child, Filippo, to whom his father's practice was supposed to pass, received a humanistic upbringing and the best education for that time: he studied Latin, studied ancient authors.

Abandoning the career of a notary, Filippo was apprenticed from 1392, probably with a goldsmith, and then practiced as an apprentice with a jeweler in Pistoia; he also studied drawing, sculpting, engraving, sculpture and painting, in Florence he studied industrial and military machines, acquired significant knowledge of mathematics for that time in the teachings of Paolo Toscanelli, who, according to Vasari, taught him mathematics. In 1398, Brunelleschi joined the Arte della Seta, which included goldsmiths. In Pistoia, the young Brunelleschi worked on the silver figures of the altar of St. James - his work is strongly influenced by the art of Giovanni Pisano. Donatello helped Brunelleschi to work on the sculptures (he was then 13 or 14 years old) - from that time the friendship connected the masters for life.

In 1401, Filippo Brunelleschi returned to Florence, took part in the competition announced by Arte di Calimala (fabric merchants' shop) to decorate the two bronze gates of the Florence Baptistery with reliefs. Jacopo della Quercia, Lorenzo Ghiberti and a number of other masters took part in the competition with him. The competition, presided over by 34 judges, for which each master had to submit a bronze relief “The Sacrifice of Isaac” executed by him, lasted a year. The competition was lost by Brunelleschi - Ghiberti's relief was superior artistically and technically (it was cast from one piece and was 7 kg lighter than Brunelleschi's relief).

Hurt by losing the competition, Brunelleschi left Florence and traveled to Rome, where he may have decided to study ancient sculpture to perfection. In Rome, the young Brunelleschi turned from plastic arts to building art, beginning to carefully measure the surviving ruins, sketch plans for entire buildings and plans for individual parts, capitals and cornices, projections, types of buildings and all their details. He had to dig out the parts and foundations that had been filled in, he had to make these plans into a single whole at home, to restore what was not completely intact. So he was imbued with the spirit of antiquity, working like a modern archaeologist with a tape measure, a shovel and a pencil, he learned to distinguish between the types and arrangement of ancient buildings and created the first history of Roman architecture in folders with his sketches.

Bruneleschi's work:

1401-1402 competition on the topic "Sacrifice of Abraham" from the Old Testament; project of bronze reliefs for the northern doors of the Florentine baptistery (28 reliefs enclosed in a quadrifolia measuring 53×43 cm). Brunelleschi lost. The competition was won by Lorenzo Ghiberti. "Stung by the decisions of the commission, Brunelleschi turned away from his native city and went to Rome ... to study true art there." The relief is in the National Museum of Bargello, Florence.

1412-1413 Crucifixion in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.

1417-1436 The dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, or simply the Duomo, is still the tallest building in Florence (114.5 m), designed in such a way that the entire population of the city could fit inside "a great ... building rising to the skies overshadows all Tuscan lands, ”Leon Battista Alberti wrote about him.

· 1419-1428 Old sacristy (Sagrestia Vecchia) of the church of San Lorenzo (San Lorenzo), Florence. In 1419, the customer Giovanni di Bicci, the founder of the Medici family, father Cosimo the Elder (Cosimo il Vecchio), planned to rebuild the cathedral, which was then a small parish church, but Brunelleschi managed to complete only the old sacristy, the New sacristy (Sagrestia Nuova ), designed by Michelangelo.

1429-1443 Chapel (chapel) Pazzi (Cappella de'Pazzi), located in the courtyard of the Franciscan church of Santa Croce (Santa Croce) in Florence. It is a small domed building with a portico.

· the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, begun in 1434, in Florence, remained unfinished.

· 1436-1487 Church of Santo Spirito (Santo Spirito), completed after the death of the architect. "The centric domed building of equal squares and side aisles with niche-chapels was then extended by adding a longitudinal building to a flat-roofed basilica column."

· Started in 1440, the Pitti Palace (Palazzo Pitti) was finally completed only in the 18th century. The work was interrupted in 1465 due to the fact that the customer of the palace, the merchant Luca Pitti, went bankrupt, and the residence was bought in 1549 by the Medici (Eleonora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I), whom Luca Pitti wanted to furnish, ordering windows of such the same size as the doors in the Palazzo Medici.

According to Brunelleschi, a real Renaissance palace should have looked like this: a three-story, square building volume, with laying of Florentine hewn stone (quarried directly on the site where the Boboli Gardens are now located, behind the palace), with 3 huge entrance doors on the first floor. The two upper floors are cut through by 7 windows located on each side and united by a line of balconies running along the entire length of the facade.

Only in 1972 did it become known that Brunelleschi was buried in the Cathedral of Santa Reparata (IV-V centuries, in Florence) in the previous temple, on the remains of which the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Santa Maria del Fiore) was erected ).

His home was Italy, which at the end of the Middle Ages gave rise to the most developed culture in Europe.

In its location, Italy was the direct heir to the ancient Roman culture, the impact of which was felt throughout its history. Since Antiquity, Greek culture has also influenced its spiritual life, especially after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, when a large number of Byzantine scientists moved to Italy.

However, the Renaissance did not come down to a simple copying of ancient traditions; it was a more complex and deeper phenomenon in world history, new in its scope and outlook. The refined and complex culture of the Middle Ages played no less a role in its origin than the culture of the ancient era, so in many respects the Renaissance was a direct continuation of the Middle Ages.

Italy remained politically fragmented into several competing states, but economically, many of them were the most developed countries in Europe. For a long time, the Italian states have occupied leading positions in trade between East and West. It was in the cities of Northern Italy that new forms of industrial production and banking, political activity and diplomatic art were born. The high level of economic development, on the one hand, and the rich intellectual life, on the other, turned these cities into centers for the formation of a new European culture. Italian urban culture has become the breeding ground in which the prerequisites of the Renaissance could come true.

The first capital of the Italian Renaissance was the main city of Tuscany Florence, where there was a unique combination of circumstances that contributed to the rapid rise of culture. At the time of the Renaissance, the center of Renaissance art moved to Rome. Popes Julius II and Leo X then made great efforts to revive the former glory of the Eternal City, thanks to which it really turned into a center of world art. The third largest center of the Italian Renaissance was Venice, where Renaissance art acquired a peculiar coloration, due to local characteristics.

art

One of the most prominent figures of the Italian Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519). He combined many talents in himself - a painter, a sculptor, an architect, an engineer, an original thinker. His painting is one of the pinnacles in the development of world art. With his experimental observations, the great Leonardo enriched almost all areas of science of his time.

No less great artist competed with the genius of Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo(1475-1564), who was also distinguished by a variety of talents. Michelangelo became famous as a sculptor and architect, painter and poet. Eternal glory was brought to him by the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where Michelangelo painted 600 square meters. m scenes from the Old Testament. According to his project, the grandiose dome of St. Peter's Cathedral was built, which to this day has not been surpassed either in size or in grandeur. The architectural appearance of the entire historical center of Rome is still inextricably linked with the name of Michelangelo.

A special role in the development of Renaissance painting belonged to Sandro Botticelli(1445-1510). He entered the history of world culture as the creator of subtle, spiritualized images, combining the sublimity of late medieval painting with close attention to the human personality, which characterized the new times.

The pinnacle of Italian art of that era is creativity Raphael(1483-1520). In his works, the picturesque canons of the High Renaissance reached their apogee.

An honorable place in the history of Renaissance art is also occupied by the Venetian school of painting, the most prominent representative of which is Titian(1470/80s - 1576). Everything that he learned from his predecessors, Titian brought to perfection, and the free manner of writing he created had a great influence on the subsequent development of world painting. material from the site

Architecture

Architecture also experienced a real revolution in the Renaissance. The improvement of building technology allowed the masters of the Renaissance to solve architectural problems that were inaccessible to architects of the previous time. The founders of the new architectural style were the outstanding masters of Florence, primarily F. Brunelleschi who created the monumental dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. But the main type of architectural structure in this period is no longer a church, but a secular building - palazzo(castle). The Renaissance style in architecture is characterized by monumentality and emphasized simplicity of facades, the convenience of spacious interiors.

Art of the Italian Renaissance

The heyday of the Renaissance begins in Italy. Therefore, it is not surprising that it was in Italy that Renaissance art reached its highest rise. It was here that dozens of great geniuses and powerful talents wrote, sculpted, created.

The beginning of the Renaissance was the Proto-Renaissance - a kind of preparation for a new worldview and preparation for its reflection in art. The Proto-Renaissance is still closely connected with the Middle Ages, with Romanesque and Gothic, as well as Byzantine traditions. And even in the work of innovative artists it is not easy to draw a clear line separating the old from the new. The beginning of the Proto-Renaissance in Italian art is associated with the name Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337). Giotto, in fact, outlined the path along which the development of painting went: he predetermined the growth of realistic moments, the filling of religious forms with secular content, the gradual transition from flat images to three-dimensional and relief ones. Giotto is the founder of modern European painting. Breaking with medieval canons, he introduced an earthly principle into religious scenes, depicting gospel legends. One of the most touching images created by Giotto is rightfully considered the image of Christ in the Kiss of Judas scene (murals of the Arena Chapel in Padua).

The greatest masters of the Early Renaissance are Brunelleschi (1377-1446),Donatello (1386-1466),Verrocchio (1436- 1488),Masaccio (1401-1428),Mantegna (1431-1506),Botticelli (1444-1510) and others. In their work, the principles of the Renaissance are widely implemented, associated primarily with the idea of ​​the limitless development of human abilities. This was facilitated by the new artistic techniques used by the masters - the conquest of three-dimensional space by painting, the creation of the type of a self-standing round statue, not related to architecture, the movement towards simple, harmonious, graceful proportions, when the feeling of the heaviness of the stone, the resistance of the material completely disappears.

Florence became the birthplace of the Early Renaissance, and the “fathers” of the Early Renaissance are considered painter Masaccio, sculptor Donatello and architect Brunelleschi. The main creation of Masaccio are the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria in Florence, but from the whole cycle, the fresco “Expulsion from Paradise” deserves special attention, where nude figures are depicted for the first time in Renaissance painting. Their movements, facial expressions express confusion, shame, remorse. The great authenticity and persuasiveness of Masaccio's images give special strength to the humanistic idea of ​​the dignity and significance of the human person.

A huge contribution to the development of architecture was made by the architect Philippe Brunelleschi (1377-1446). He laid the foundations of Renaissance architecture. One of his most famous creations is the Pazzi Chapel at the Church of Santa Croce.

The Florentine sculptor Donatello (1386-1466) revives the sculptural portrait and the image of the naked body, casts the first bronze monument to David. The images he created are the embodiment of the humanistic ideal of a harmoniously developed personality.

During the period of the High Renaissance, the geometrism inherent in the Early Renaissance does not disappear, but even deepens. But something new is added to it: spirituality, psychologism, the desire to convey the inner world of a person, his feelings, moods, states, character, temperament. An aerial perspective is being developed, the materiality of forms is achieved not only by volume and plasticity, but also by chiaroscuro. The art of the High Renaissance is most fully expressed by three artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo. They represent the main values ​​of the Italian Renaissance: Intelligence, Harmony and Power.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) – painter, sculptor, architect, writer, musician, art theorist, military engineer, inventor, mathematician, anatomist, botanist. Vasari wrote with admiration about Leonardo da Vinci: “... there was so much talent in him and this talent was such that no matter what difficulties his spirit turned to, he resolved them with ease ... His thoughts and daring were always regal and generous, and the glory of his name grew so much that he was appreciated not only in his time, but also after his death ».

Leonardo worked in different types and genres of art, but painting brought him the greatest fame. One of the peaks of creativity is the fresco "The Last Supper" in the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie. Leonardo not only conveys the psychological state of the apostles and Christ depicted in the fresco, but does so at the moment when it reaches a critical point, turns into a psychological explosion and conflict. This explosion is caused by the words of Christ: "One of you will betray me." In this work, the artist fully used the method of concrete juxtaposition of figures, thanks to which each character is presented as a unique individuality and personality. Everyone knows another famous work of Leonardo - the portrait of "Mona Lisa" or "Giaconda". When creating it, the master brilliantly used the entire arsenal of means of artistic expression: sharp contrasts and soft midtones, frozen immobility of the pose and the subtlest psychological nuances and transitions. The genius of Leonardo was expressed in the surprisingly lively look of Mona Lisa, her mysterious and enigmatic half-smile, mystical haze covering the landscape. This work marked the beginning of the psychological portrait genre in European art, and is also one of the rarest masterpieces of art. 

Leonardo also developed many theoretical problems of art - such as the theory of aerial perspective, questions of pictorial light and color, proportions, the display of emotions in painting, the construction of a scientific anatomy of animals and people. He considered the aesthetic problems of art in the work "The Book of Painting".

Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564), the great master of the Renaissance, a versatile, versatile person: sculptor, architect, artist, poet. He deeply feels the spirit of his era, subtly understanding the state of culture, creating a unique and therefore inimitable artistic style and spirit of works. His works solve eternal ontological problems, they are philosophical, in a figurative form they give a solution to the most acute problems of their time. The works of Michelangelo are full of deep symbolism and represent an amazing interweaving of the beautiful, the tragic and the sublime.

Among the most famous works of Michelangelo is the statue "David" (the height of the sculpture is 5.5 meters). This statue is filled with inner life, energy and strength. It is a hymn to human masculinity, beauty, grace and grace. Among the highest achievements of Michelangelo are also the works created for the tomb of Pope Julius II. The sculptor worked on this tomb with a break for about 40 years, but never brought it to completion. In addition to sculptures, Michelangelo created beautiful paintings. The most significant of these are the murals of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

Rafael Santi (1483-1520) not only a talented, but also a versatile artist: an architect and muralist, a master of portraiture and a decorator. His admirers called him "divine". Raphael had great success, great fame, wealth and honor, but in the prime of life and creativity, he died unexpectedly. Unlike Leonardo, whose works are mysterious, mysterious, in the works of Raphael everything is clear, transparent, beautiful and perfect. Among the outstanding creations of Raphael are the paintings of the private papal chambers in the Vatican, dedicated to biblical subjects, as well as art and philosophy. However, the main theme of his work was the theme of the Madonna. The peak was the "Sistine Madonna" - a real hymn to the physical and spiritual perfection of man.

The term late Renaissance is usually applied to the Venetian Renaissance. Only Venice during this period (second half of the 16th century) remained independent, the rest of the Italian principalities lost their political independence. The Renaissance in Venice had its own peculiarities. The Venetian masters had little interest in scientific research and excavations of ancient antiquities; they were rather attracted by Byzantine culture and the art of the Arab East. (Venice has long maintained close trade relations with Byzantium, the Arab East, traded with India). Having reworked both Gothic and oriental traditions, Venice developed its own special style, which is characterized by brilliance, romantic picturesqueness, pomp and decorativeness. For the Venetians, color problems come to the fore, the materiality of the image is achieved by color gradations. The largest Venetian masters of the High and late Renaissance - Giorgione (1477-1510), Titian (1477-1576), Veronese (1528-1588),Tintoretto (1518-1594).

The ancestor of the Venetian school is Giorgione, in whose works the secular principle finally wins. Instead of biblical subjects, the artist prefers to write on mythological and literary themes. Giorgione also opened a new era in painting by starting to paint from nature. His most famous work was "Sleeping Venus", which glorifies the beauty and charm of the naked female body.

The head of the Venetian school is Titian (1489-1576), in whose work the art of the Renaissance reaches its highest rise and flourishing. He glorifies the carefree joy of life, the enjoyment of earthly goods (“Boy with Dogs”), and also sings of the sensual beginning of human flesh full of health, the eternal beauty of the body, the physical perfection of man (“Love on Earth and Heaven”, “Feast of Venus”). In later works, the sensual principle is preserved, but it is complemented by the growing psychologism and drama of the picture (“Lamentation of Christ”, “Saint Sebastian”).