By the first half of the 12th century, apparently, the appearance of the work of Theophilus "De Diversis Artibus", who described in detail most of the techniques and methods of work of the painter, stained glass artist and gold and silversmith. Theophilus' work is a precious testimony to the state of artistic practice of the 12th century, the artist's awareness of his own.

The personality of Twophilus, who is sometimes identified with Rogier Helmarshausen, is of great interest (Theophilus De Diversis Artubus. Ed. by Dodwell C. B. London, 1961. See: Introduction by Dodwell, pp. XXIII-XLIV.). An educated monk who combined artistic practice with knowledge of the liberal arts is not a rare phenomenon in the Romanesque era. Remarkable breadth practical knowledge Theophilus during his acquaintance with the latest trends in theological and philosophical thought, which he applies to his art. The skill of the artist, of course, is perceived by Theophilus as a gift from God. If giftedness - ingenium - with the thought of the early Middle Ages was often associated with divine inspiration and was regarded as a direct dependence of the artist's creativity on God, then in the 12th century the divine participation in the artist's work is understood indirectly, by analogy of human creativity with the divine. In the preface to his work, Theophilus writes that a person "created in the image and likeness of God, animated by divine breath, endowed with reason, deserved participation in the wisdom and talent of the divine mind".

But although man, through self-will and disobedience, has lost the privilege of immortality, "He, however, passed on to subsequent generations reverence for the sciences and knowledge, so that those who make diligence in all arts can acquire talent and abilities, as it were, by hereditary right". All seven benefits poured out by the holy spirit on a person - wisdom, understanding, susceptibility to advice, spiritual strength, knowledge, piety, fear of God - he refers to the artist.

• Monk artist painting a statue. Miniature from the manuscript of the Apocalypse. Last quarter of the 13th c.
• An artist painting a statue. Miniature from the manuscript of the "Decretal of Gregory the 9th". Mid 14th century Painter at work. Sheet from the book of samples of the early 13th century.

The question of the correlation of holy gifts with human virtues was the subject of discussion in the first half of the 12th century in the writings of Anselm of Canterbury, Yves of Chartres, Honorius of Autun, Rupert Dvitsky, Abelard, Bernard of Nlervos and other philosophers and theologians of the 12th century. The artist is understood as the heir of divine wisdom. Through constant work, improvement of knowledge and skill, the artist is able to approach the highest wisdom and skill that man possessed before the fall. A genuine passion for one's art obscures from Theophilus all other ways of knowing God. He sees a direct connection between the artist's work and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and he practically understands the problem of holy gifts. "Therefore, trembling son,- the author writes, addressing the future reader-student, - when you have decorated the house of the Lord with such beauty and such a variety of products, do not doubt, but full of faith, know that it is the spirit of the Lord that has made your heart drink".

The Legend of the Artist. Miniature of the manuscript "Songs of Alphonse the 10th". Second half of the 13th century

Theophilus' writings show how much the artist himself highly valued his own skill, considering it a direct manifestation of divine grace. Philosophers, like Hugh of Saint Victor, could classify knowledge and establish its hierarchical order. But for the artist, art was the only possible way to the knowledge of God and was highly valued.

Theophilus assigns an important role to art in the implementation by man of his main purpose - the praise of God and the desire to know him. The artist, according to Theophilus, presented to the worshipers with his work on decorating the temple "The paradise of the Lord, blooming with various colors, green with foliage, and crowning the souls of the saints with crowns of various merits", and gave them the opportunity to "praise the Creator in his creation, sing of the amazingness of what he created".

Theophilus' work shows how highly the artist's work was valued in the 12th century. He repeatedly repeats that he wrote his essay to praise God, and not for the sake of earthly pride and vanity. His work gives us the opportunity to get closer to understanding the spiritual atmosphere that the artist lived in the first half of the 12th century. Deep humility towards the creator of all things, intertwined with a clear idea of ​​the importance and value of creative work, characterizes the attitude of the artist of that time to the world, in the orderly order of which he feels himself to be a necessary link and takes his rightful place.

Theophilus's book reveals to us the system of thoughts and feelings that the artist lived on the eve of the appearance of Gothic. It is noteworthy that the ideas that concern Theophilus about decorating a temple as a deed pleasing to God, praising the creator and allowing believers to ascend to his soul, will be developed on a different philosophical level by Suger, the inspirer of the Gothic style and the builder of the first Gothic temple in the 40s of the 12th century - the basilica Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris.

• Sheet from an Alsatian manuscript. Last quarter of the 12th century
• Leaf from a French manuscript of the early 10th century.
• Sheet from the manuscript of Ademar of Chabannes. OK. 1025

The next surviving work on the technique of fine art is the famous album of the French architect Villard de Honnecourt, dating back to the 30s of the 13th century and stored in the National Library of Paris. The album is an invaluable source for the study of Gothic craftsmanship. It is an extremely curious collection of specimens for the painter and sculptor, sketches from life, representations of mechanisms, drawings of architectural details, plans, and a schematic depiction of the "secrets" of Gothic art.

Although the book of Theophilus and the album of Villard de Honnecourt are completely different in tradition, character and level of education of the authors, there is an irresistible temptation to compare the writings with each other. Since the manuscripts were created by professional artists, practitioners of the fine arts, this parallel would not be too artificial. They have a lot in common with each other, each is quite typical for its time. Theophilus's book is the work of an educated monk of the 12th century, who was at the same time an artist and a craftsman. The manuscript is written simply, clearly, in good Latin, and Theophilus's detailed discussions about the purpose and purpose of the arts reveal an acquaintance with the main directions of the philosophical thought of the era. The purpose of art, as the purpose of his composition, the monk sees in the service and praise of God. At the beginning of each section of the book, the author addresses the students with a long speech, where he reveals the piety of the artist's work, calls for service, patience and awareness that the knowledge and abilities granted to them come from God's mercy. Villard's album, in contrast to the work of Theophilus, is not an essay, but an album of working sketches, Notebook Gothic professional architect, not belonging to the monastic environment, accompanied by brief explanations in Old French.

Theophilus's long and detailed, tastefully written introduction to the first book ends with an address to his disciples: “If you often reread this and keep it firmly in your memory, you will reward me, for how many times you will benefit for yourself from my work, so many times you will pray for me to the merciful almighty God, who knows that I wrote my work not out of love for human praise, not greed for a reward in this world, which is transient, and did not hide anything valuable or rare out of envy, did not save anything for himself personally, but helped the needs of many and assisted with advice to increase the honor and glory of God's name ".

Album of Villard de Honnecourt: sheets 14, 27; sheet 15 - plan of the ideal choir of a Gothic church (plan of the cathedral in Meaux); sheet 17 - plan of the choir of the church in Vossel and figure.

Villard's introduction is more like a concise and brief transcript of Theophilus' concluding thought in his introduction, presented moreover by the latter in an elegant literary form: “Villars de Honnecourt greets you and asks all who will work with the means indicated in this book to pray for his soul and remember him. For in this book you can find excellent advice on the great skill of stone building and carpentry. You will find here the art of drawing, as well as the foundations required and taught by the science of geometry". Brief, business tone, nothing more, we are talking only about the most important thing, the content and purpose of the entire book are outlined in a few succinct phrases, the traditional appeal to students is extremely brief and limited to a greeting with a request to pray for the author of the album in gratitude for his work. What a contrast with Theophilus's positive instructive tone, the constant emphasis on the connection of art with God, detailed petty descriptions of recipes. Perhaps it would be a stretch to see in this difference not only a consequence of the difference between two certain types the technical manual of the Middle Ages - a treatise and an album of samples - is not only the result of the fact that the authors belonged to different strata of medieval society, but, nevertheless, it seems that this contrast is due to the century that lay between the creation of the two analyzed works.

Just as Theophilus in his work expressed the attitude of the Romanesque artist and his idea of ​​his place in life and the purpose of his art, so Villard de Honnecourt in his album reflected the features typical of the Gothic architect with his ideas about the world. Firstly, professionalism, knowledge of artistic practice, including architecture, sculpture and engineering, which was common and traditional in the Middle Ages. Moreover, Villard's text says nothing about his acquaintance with the tendencies of theological or philosophical thought. Then - democracy, clarity of schemes, drawings and samples, accompanying text not in Latin, but in Old French.

The next feature is an extreme curiosity for everything unprecedented, funny, rare, interesting, forcing him to draw a lion along with other rare animals. Then - observation, preoccupation with visual impressions, perhaps replacing a solid education; acquaintance with different countries, the travels that Villars made, experience, deep knowledge practice your art. Not less than feature is the subjectivism of judgments about art, the choice for sketches of architectural details, scenes and figures in accordance with the personal taste of Villard, which the master did not fail to declare several times. The latter is of particular interest, expressing the growing self-awareness of the Gothic artist.

Villar's album, being an album of samples and a technical guide for other masters, remained a personal notebook, a travel album, where everything that seemed interesting was sketched. "Here is the plan of the choir of our church holy virgin Mary in Cambrai. "I drew these windows because I liked them more than others". Finally, his traditional, somewhat formal piety is characteristic, expressed in a patter in one phrase and sharply different from Theophilus' detailed, well-founded piety.

The notion of the protection of the artist by God, of God's help to a person whom "the divine right hand guides in his activity," indeed acquires a somewhat formal shade over time, although it retains its former meaning in the trans-Alpine countries incomparably longer than in Italy. It continues to make itself felt in the treatises of late Gothic masters, enthusiastically discussing the technical and artistic aspects of their craft, until the 16th century. He marked the treatises of Albert Dürer and Niklas Hilliard.

No less essential is a fast, impetuous and dynamic style. brief explanations Villara. I would like to see in it the manifestation of the spirit of the businesslike atmosphere that developed around the construction of the Gothic cathedral. It is extremely important for characterizing the medieval artist that Villard's notebook and album of travel sketches later became a model book for an entire workshop. Apparently, already after the death of Villar, the album was supplemented with drawings and recordings of two other masters who remained anonymous. They are commonly referred to as "Master 2" and "Master 3".

Although the process of separating the individual artist from the guild environment slowly but surely developed during the 13th-14th centuries, the Gothic artist perceived himself and his skill only in a corporate connection, as limited by those frameworks and norms that were presented to him by the very comprehensiveness of Gothic art and with which the Gothic world surrounded him.

So from the pages of technical manuals on art, collections of recipes, rules and albums of samples, figures rise before us. medieval artists- their authors, with their ideas about themselves and about the goals of their work, with their own sense of the world and their place in it.

Tag: Theory of art (philosophy)

Dedicated to all girls
girls, women and grandmothers!

Artists of the 15th century began to cover their canvases with a dense carpet of plants, imitating tapestries. In front of you you see a Burgundy tapestry depicting a captive unicorn.

The tradition of depicting various plants, endowing them with symbolic meaning, appeared in antiquity. Yes, leaves. acanthus considered a symbol of death.

On the tapestries, plants are depicted with surprisingly "botanical" accuracy, but it seems that so far they are only decoration.

In the unicorn hunting scene, the lower right corner shows Orange tree. It was an exotic plant, it was considered a symbol of paradise.

Travel to distant countries allowed Europeans to get acquainted with new plants - date palms, For example.

Quite often different types of plants adorned the marginalia of the manuscripts.

The legend about the magical properties of the root was very popular. mandrakes.

Palms looked like this.

Cone pines(pine) was a symbol of the tree of life.

Several flowers were considered symbols of the Virgin at once.

Some plants had symbolic meaning for different religions. The picture shows a sheet from an old Jewish book depicting a menorah and olive trees, symbol of peace. (Spain, 12th century)

In the initial letter of a medieval manuscript, we see Death admiring himself in the mirror, and around - periwinkles, a symbol of youth and beauty. Irony, apparently.

Ancient myths were popular during the Renaissance. In the painting, Cosimo Tura (1465) is the muse of Calliope, the patroness of poetry. Branch in her hand cherries- a symbol of fertility, here - creative, apparently.

Raphael Santi "Dream of a Knight" (1504).
It is clear that the hidden symbolism literally asked for allegory canvases. In this picture, the difficult choice between wisdom and bodily pleasures is "encrypted". On the left - the goddess Minerva, holding out a book to the sleeping knight, a symbol of knowledge, on the right - Venus, offering apple tree flowers- a symbol of sensual heritage.

There is a lot of symbolism in the Old Testament stories. In the painting Susanna and the Elders by Albrecht Altdorfer (1526), ​​the heroine goes to court (on the right), carrying lily- a symbol of innocence. If you remember, the lustful elders molested her, peeping at her bathing, and when the pious woman refused them, they falsely accused her of adultery. Wise King David righteous judgment, bringing the libertines to clean water. See Susanna walking past the tall stem mullein, also called the "royal scepter" - a symbol of power and justice.

Another beautiful South Flemish tapestry "The Killing of a Unicorn". Now with symbols.

A bush is visible in the lower left corner hazel It is a symbol of wealth and abundance. The squirrel is a symbol of diligence.

And, of course, there are a lot of secret symbols in religious painting 15-16 centuries. The grass cover at the feet of the saints, especially in the paintings of the Northern Renaissance, is a real botanical reference book. It seems that knowledge of btanica was an essential skill for artists of that time. Interestingly, almost every plant had its own meaning.

I once told you in great detail about Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece. Let me remind you that there are a lot of symbols here, including plant ones.

For example, Eve holds the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in her hand, but here it is not an apple, but an "Adam's apple" or not edible iberian citron.

apple, like lemon is a symbol of original sin.

On this wonderful canvas by Matthias Grunewald "The Stuppach Madonna" (1517), we see the symbols of Mary in a vase - a white lily- innocence and purity, rose- maternal sorrow and the wounds of Christ, marigold(or marigolds) - "Mary's gold", the gift of the consolation of the Mother of God to the poor and the poor. Mary gives the baby Walnut- a symbol of Christ (a nondescript shell is a human body, a tasty core is a divine essence).

On the same Ghent altar, you can also see the flowers of the Virgin: rose- sorrow, lily- purity, aquilegia and lily of the valley- tears.

Lily of the valley can also be seen at the feet of St. Veronica from a painting by Robert Camprein. And further dandelion: a cute flower - the baby Christ, peaked leaves - the spear of Longinus, the passion of Christ.

Jacques Dare, Madonna and Child with Saints in the Forbidden Garden (1425). At Mary's feet hellebore, symbol of Christ and eternal life. Left corner - iris, a symbol of maternal grief and torment.

Angels Presenting the Madonna and Child jasmine. Cosimo Rossini (1440-1507)
Jasmine is a symbol of purity.

"Christmas" by Hugo van der Goes - the progenitor of still lifes. Fragment:

In the foreground of the picture we see already familiar to us lilies, irises(white symbolizes purity, blue - maternal sorrow), aquilegia. And also cloves- the blood of Christ and maternal love, And violets- a symbol of humility. Spikelets wheat- bread, the flesh of the Lord.

Venetian copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Leda and the Swan. In the ancient mythological story, flowers have a completely different meaning: anemone- windiness, aquilegia- a symbol of fertility, periwinkle in the hands of Leda - natural strength, passion, youth, ranunculus caustic("night blindness") - carelessness. Oak above Leda's head is the symbol of Zeus.

Mary gives the baby cloves- a symbol of parental love. (Leonardo da Vinci "Madonna with a Carnation").

Gerard David "Christmas with Donors, Saints Jerome and Leonard" (1510-15).

Here is symbolic dandelion, you already know its meaning:

Gerolamo di Labri "Madonna and Child with Saints" (1520). laurel tree glory, immortality. The peacock is a symbol of eternal life (for some reason, its flesh was considered incorruptible)

Martin Schongauer "Madonna in the Rosewood"
Actually, rose- a symbol of the suffering and sacrifice of Christ and Mary, "God's wounds." It is interesting that not roses are depicted here, but tree-like peonies. It was believed that roses in paradise had no thorns, so the peon was quite suitable for this role.

And these are sketches by Schongauer (1495). Peon!


Stephan Lochner. Another rose bush. At the feet of the Mother of God violets, a symbol of humility.

Jos van Cleve (1513-15). Often the Madonna and Child were depicted with fruit. Christ holds in his hands orange(fruit of the tree of paradise) or peach- opposition to an apple, a fruit-symbol of original sin; peach is a symbol of the Trinity. Pomegranate on a tray - a symbol of the Universal Church, grape- wine - the blood of Christ, walnut - you already know cherry- the blood of Jesus pear- the sweetness of virtue.

Filippo Lippi (late 15th century). Same pomegranate.

Giovanni Bellini (1480), here we have pear.

Jos van Cleve (1525). Clearly in hand peach. Lemon lies demonstratively aside - it is a symbol of earthly passions: beautiful on the outside, impossibly sour inside. It is clearly opposed to the walnut, the symbol of Christ.

Carlo Crivelli (1480). baby holding in hand carduelis, a symbol of the passion of Christ. On the left sits a fly - the vigilant devil, a symbol of death, decay. Sometimes apple interpreted as a symbol of redemption, and cucumber- purity and resurrection.

Lucas Cranach. Grape- the Eucharistic symbol of Christ, the blood of Christ.

Martin Schongauer "The Holy Family" Grape, and in the basket - blackberry, a symbol of the purity of the Virgin Mary.

Isenheim altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald, 1510-15

Saints in sashes stand on pedestals entwined ivy- a symbol of resurrection, eternal life, devotion.
Now we have saints gone.

Adrian Isenbrandt "Mary Magdalene with a Landscape" Behind the saint snowdrop, a symbol of hope and purification.

Lucas Cranach. "Saint Dorothea". When the saint was being led to her execution, the guard, mockingly, offered her to perform a miracle - to get roses in the middle of winter. Immediately a boy with a basket of roses approached the saint. Now it is a symbol of Saint Dorothea.

Antonio Correggio "Saint Catherine". Branch palm trees- a symbol of martyrdom.

Albrecht Durer "Maximilian the First". Pomegranate- you already know.
All secular people went.

Hans Suess van Kullbach. The girl weaves a wreath forget-me-not- a symbol of devotion to a loved one. This is confirmed by the inscription on the tape.

"Young Knight in a Landscape" (Duke of Urbino?). Vittore Carpaccio. Apparently the portrait is posthumous. A hawk attacks a heron in the sky near the water, he already eats it up. The dog is fidelity, the lily is purity, the iris is sorrow, the ermine is a symbol of the order to which the knight belonged.

Portrait of a lady. In the basket are flowers that indicate that this is most likely a bride: violet - humility, jasmine - purity, carnation - love.

Andrea Solario "Portrait of a man with a carnation". Such ceremonial "groom's" portraits were very popular. They showed that the hero was in love and was going to get married. Or a young husband presented such a portrait to his wife as a sign of love.

Many more:

Unknown 1480.

1490

Lucas Cranach. Portrait of Dr. Johann Kuspinian and his fiancee (already wife?) Anna Kuspinian.

Hans Holbein. Portrait of Georg Gisse.

Hans Memling

Dirk Jacobs. Portrait of Pompeus Okko (1534)

Michael Wohlgemuth "Portrait of Ursula Tücher" (1478)

Workshop of Jan van Eyck

Pisanello, Portrait of Countess Guinevere d'Este (1447)
And this is a portrait of a girl who was already dead by the time it was created. She died at the age of 21, her husband was blamed for his death (his second wife also died strangely). In the picture there are symbolic flowers: aquilegia - tears, carnation - love (perhaps parental, we don't know who ordered the picture), butterflies and a sprig of pine needles - immortality in the memory of loved ones.

Domenico Gerlandaio "Portrait of a Lady". Apparently, she is a bride, another symbol of purity is an orange blossom.

Albrecht Dürer, self-portrait at 22.
The portrait was intended for a young wife, the holly in her hands is a symbol of marital fidelity. The painting inspired me to create this post.

Neuzv. A lady from the Hofer family. Forget-me-not - loyalty, devotion. Perhaps the lady's husband died - this may be indicated by a fly on a headdress, here it is a symbol of death, the frailty of being.

Lady Philippa Kingsby. Cherry - fertility, abundance

Portrait of a lady (1576). Here, a buttercup in the hands - wealth, primrose - marriage. It was lucky, you see, aunt!

Mirabello Cavalori "Boy with Hyacinth and Peach". Hyacinth symbolized courage, dexterity, playfulness. Sometimes - wisdom, but here - hardly. And hyacinths smell good - they gave me today.

And finally, a portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus by Tobias Steamer. Lily of the valley is a symbol of bitterness and tears. The scientist, as you know, had a lot of this stuff!

And I wish you not to experience bitterness, but to shed tears only from joy!

Painting of the Middle Ages

Culture of the Middle Ages

general characteristics culture

In the 4th century, the Great Migration of Nations began - the invasion of tribes from Northern Europe and Asia into the territory of the Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire fell; its other part - Byzantium - was to exist for some more time. The Middle Ages have arrived historical era, following the Ancient World and preceding the Renaissance.

origins medieval culture largely originate in the era of antiquity. In addition to Christianity, the Middle Ages adopted from antiquity some artistic forms, as well as handicraft skills.

Education and science

In the 7th-8th centuries there were schools at the monasteries, where the teachers were monks, and the students, who were very few, were the children of knights. Here they taught theology and "seven free arts”, as well as a letter and an invoice. Later, education was expanded (but not for everyone, but only for the nobility) - they studied Latin, law, medicine, Arabic.

Universities arose from these schools (from the word universum-"community"):

1) in Bologna (Italy, 1088);

2) Cordoba (Spain, IX);

3) Oxford (1209);

4) Sorbonne in Paris (1215);

5) Vienna (1348), etc.

Universities enjoyed internal self-government (they elected a rector, etc.). The general population studied here. Forms of training - a lecture (reading a specialized text and a commentary on it) or a dispute (an open dispute between the participants of the seminar), after graduation, a diploma was issued. There were also textbooks.

The science of the Middle Ages was discovered by theologians of the 4th-5th centuries. - the so-called "fathers of the church":

2) Ambrose;

3) the philosopher Boethius;

4) the historians Jordan and Bede the Venerable.

The center of the "Carolingian Renaissance" was the so-called academy - a scientific circle at the court of Charlemagne, created in 794 on the model ancient school. The theologian and poet Alcuin became the leader of the academy.

In the XII-XIII centuries. science continues to evolve. Scholasticism becomes its basis - a doctrine in which reality was comprehended with the help of the logic of reason. At the same time, the scholastics were often carried away by the verbal form, behind which the content was poorly guessed, that is, they wrote and spoke in a heavy, incomprehensible language.

An outstanding scientist of the Middle Ages was Thomas Aquinas(1225–1247), teacher, author of 18 works on theology and philosophy.

Another famous scientist was Roger Bacon(1214–1294) – naturalist, teacher of mathematics and philosophy.

Worldview. Literature. Theater

The barbarians worshiped the forces of nature; played an important role in their lives magical rites. With the emergence and development of states in Europe, the core of life and worldview of a person becomes christian religion. The whole life is considered only as a short segment, full of dangers for human soul. The ideal is life without frills and perverse joys, sincere faith in God, observance of rituals, as well as such qualities of nature as humility, patience, virtue, faith, hope, etc. Unlimited power, both spiritual and material and political , - acquire the church and the clergy.

If the treatises of the early Middle Ages were not addressed to specific segments of the population, then the literature of the Middle Ages was class-based. Researchers identify:

1) peasant;

2) urban;

3) chivalric literature.

Main genres:

1) novels;

4) epic (noble);

5) stories;

6) biographies;

7) stories;

9) educational essays, etc.

Outstanding Works:

1) the epic "Song of Roland";

2) "Song of the Nibelungs";

3) "Song of Side";

4) the novel "Tristan and Isolde";

5) a cycle of novels about King Arthur and the knight Lancelot;

6) a series of novels about Fox Renard;

8) novels.

The number of entertainment and educational activities has increased dramatically. Preachers spoke before the cathedrals, professors and students held discussions. Theatrical performances were also arranged religious performances. Cathedrals were built by urban masters (and not by monastic ones, as before). The townspeople themselves were often the customers or creators of works of art to decorate the cathedrals.

Painting of the Middle Ages

Since the barbarian tribes were constantly nomadic, their early art presented mainly:

1) weapons;

2) jewelry;

3) various utensils.

The barbarian masters preferred bright colors and expensive materials, while not the beauty of the product was valued more, but the material from which it was made.

Roman painting served as a model for miniaturists. The author of a medieval miniature is not just an illustrator; he is a talented storyteller who, in one scene, managed to convey both the legend and its symbolic meaning.

"Carolingian Renaissance" (French) Renaissance"Renaissance") - this is how the researchers called the art of this era. Many Frankish monasteries had scriptoria (book writing workshops), in which the monks rewrote ancient manuscripts and compiled new ones, both ecclesiastical and secular. Manuscripts were placed in frames made of ivory or precious metals with inserts of precious stones. In the design of books, in addition to complex ornamentation, motifs of Christian art were often used - wreaths, crosses, figurines of angels and birds.

Around the end of the III century. the papyrus scroll was replaced by parchment; instead of style (sticks for writing), they began to use bird feathers.

In the era of the Carolingians, the art of miniature reached an extraordinary flowering - book illustration. There were no miniature schools, but there were centers for the production of illustrated manuscripts at monasteries (for example, a book-writing workshop in Aachen).

Carolingian temples were decorated very modestly on the outside, but inside they shone with wall paintings - frescoes. Many researchers have noted the great importance of fine arts in a barbaric world where most people could not read. For example, in the church of St. John the Baptist (VIII century) in the city of Müster (modern Switzerland) are the oldest known frescoes. The art of the Otto Empire played a huge role in the development of the Romanesque style.

The murals of the Romanesque period have practically not been preserved. They were edifying; the movements, gestures and faces of the characters were expressive; images are planar. As a rule, biblical scenes were depicted on the vaults and walls of the temple. On the western wall were scenes of the Last Judgment.

In the XIII-XIV centuries. along with church books, richly illustrated with images of saints and scenes from the Holy History, have become widespread:

1) books of hours (collections of prayers);

2) novels;

3) historical chronicles.

Architecture

After the emergence in the V-VIII centuries. The states of the Germanic tribes were converted to Christianity. Stone Christian churches began to be erected. Temples were built from massive stones, wood was used for ceilings. Churches were built on the model of Roman basilicas. The columns in most cases were borrowed from ancient temples: the ruins served as a kind of quarry for the extraction of new building materials.

cultural centers starting from the 10th century, monasteries and churches remained. The temple, which had the shape of a cross in plan, symbolized the way of the cross of Christ - the path of suffering. In the X century. spread belief in the miraculous power of relics - objects associated with the life of Christ, the Mother of God, saints. More and more pilgrims sought to visit the holy places.

King of the Ostrogoths Theodoric was careful and smart politician, patronized the Roman nobility and the church, science and the arts. He wanted to be known as great, and therefore in his capital Ravenna they laid roads, built bridges, water pipes, military fortifications, palaces and temples, restored destroyed buildings. In addition, the wonderful tomb of Theodoric has survived to this day.

But Charlemagne made the capital of the small town of Aachen ( modern Germany). The royal palace and administrative buildings were built here. The Aachen chapel (chapel) and the gates of the monastery in Lorsch (modern Germany, c. 800) have survived to this day.

From the 10th century architects gradually changed the design of the temple - it had to meet the requirements of an increasingly complex cult. In the architecture of Germany at that time, a special type of church developed - majestic and massive. Such is the cathedral in Speyer (1030-1092/1106), one of the largest in Western Europe.

In Romanesque art, monastic architecture occupied a leading position. The size of churches increased, which led to the creation of new designs of vaults and supports. During the Romanesque period, secular architecture changed.

Typical examples of French Romanesque architecture:

1) Church of St. Peter;

2) Church of St. Paul in the monastery of Cluny (1088-1131).

Only small fragments of this building, its descriptions and drawings, have survived. In the XI-XII centuries. the construction of large cathedrals began in the cities on the Rhine - in Worms, Speyer, Mainz. Monuments preserved in Germany secular architecture of that time - feudal castles and fortresses.

The art of Italy was formed under the influence of centuries-old cultural traditions.

In Spain, there was a reconquista - a war for the liberation of the territory of the country, captured by the Arabs. Then in Spain the construction of castles-fortresses began. The kingdom of Castile became the land of castles. One of the earliest examples of Romanesque architecture is the Alcazar Royal Palace (9th century). It has survived to our time.

In the Middle Ages, painting became one of the most important forms of art. Changes in the life of society and new techniques gave artists the opportunity to create realistic works imbued with deep humanism, which were destined to make a real revolution in Western European art.

At the end of the Romanesque era, painting played a secondary role in painting. But with the advent of the XIII century, the rapid development of European civilization began, which opened up new perspectives for artists. The palaces and castles of the highest nobility were decorated with unprecedented splendor, Paris, Prague, London, the cities of Italy and Flanders flourished. All new paintings - at first only on religious subjects - were longed not only by aristocrats and ministers of the church, but also by wealthy citizens. With the spread of literacy, the demand for secular literature also increased. The best examples of book art, richly decorated with miniatures, were intended for kings and princes and were created not only in monasteries, but also professional artists who had their own workshops. Despite the rather low social status during his lifetime, the names of many artists and their biographies have become part of history.

New opportunities

A number of religious innovations also contributed to the new attitude towards painting. IN early XIII centuries, church altars were decorated with an altarpiece, against which divine services were conducted. It often consisted of two (diptych), three (triptych) or more wings, but described a single group of characters or a scene. Especially popular was the image of the donor (the person who paid for the production of the altarpiece and donated it to the church), whom his patron saint introduces to the Madonna. Putting difficult things in front of the artist creative tasks, the altar image at the same time opened up new opportunities for self-expression in the design of the altar space, which was to become the focus of attention and religious feelings of the flock.

The flourishing of wall painting also came - partly as a result of the strengthening of the founded St. Francis of Assisi of the Franciscan Order, for whom an increasing number of churches were built. Most in a suitable way their decoration turned out to be painting, since the creation of a mosaic either required a lot of time, or was considered an unaffordable luxury for an order that professed poverty and humility.

The life and work of St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226). The sincere love of the saint for the world of wildlife helped his contemporaries realize the beauty of earthly existence, and from the 13th century A New Look to the world. From now on, artists, without abandoning religious themes, depicted with obvious pleasure material world and created in a new realistic and humanistic manner.

Madonna in an Arbor of Roses. 1440 Stefan Lochner., Cologne, Wallraf Museum

Worship of the deeply human image of the Madonna also had a powerful humanistic influence on religion, and through it on art, where these subjects were constantly used.

Italian masters

Many of the trends originated much earlier in Italy than in other European countries. Two masters of the late 13th century - Cimabue and Duccio - are generally recognized as the founders of the tradition of visible realism in painting, which was destined to dominate European art until the 20th century. Both left to posterity the famous altar images, where the main characters are the Madonna and Child.

Both painters were soon overshadowed by their younger contemporary, Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267-1337). He was the first of the great Florentine masters to gain fame in his lifetime, achieving honor and wealth. However, he was so ahead of his time that many of his innovations were understood and accepted by fellow artists only after a good hundred years. His flesh-and-blood characters stand firmly on the ground, yet seem to be able to move and exist in their natural or architectural environment and space with some hint of depth. But first of all, we are living people with deep feelings and emotions. The amazing mastery of conveying all the shades of human experiences made Giotto a great dramatic artist.

frescoes

Creating his panels, Giotto applied the fresco painting technique invented by the Italians by that time. Today we call frescoes both paintings created in this technique, and generally any wall painting. But a true fresco is always a painting on top of fresh, still damp plaster, which serves as a primer for a layer of paint. The Italian word "fresco" itself means "fresh". In one session, only that section of the wall was painted with paints, which the master had time to fill in on the plaster that had not yet dried up. Here the time factor played a decisive role, because the pigments applied to the wet layer of plaster entered into a chemical reaction with it, forming stable compounds. The dried fresco did not peel or crumble, retaining its original beauty and brightness of colors for many centuries. Thanks to this colossal technical breakthrough, years later the greatest masterpieces of fresco painting were created, including the paintings of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican by Michelangelo.

Giving Depth

It was not easy for the masters who faced this task for the first time to create the illusion of the reality of the depicted scene. Here, not only the exact transfer of external outlines was required, but also giving the figures the volume of real bodies, and the flat surface of the picture - a sense of depth, so that the landscape seemed to be lost in the distance (we are talking about the art of perspective). More than one generation of Italian artists have perfected this technique, often distracted by tasks such as creating decorative ornaments. The same problem had to be solved by the masters of the rest of Europe, who at various times experienced the powerful influence of Italian art.

By the end of the 14th century, painters working at the courts of European rulers had created a more or less unified style of painting, which is often called International Gothic. Reflecting the refined, far from real life atmosphere of court life, their works were more distinguished by sophistication and sophistication than by inner strength. The characters were given graceful poses, and although the perspective was often indicated only by a hint, the smallest details of the entourage were written out with jewelry accuracy.

All these features were manifested with particular brightness in the manuscripts decorated with miniatures, made by order of the ruling families. The most famous masters of this genre were Paul Limburg and his two brothers, who, having worked for only 16 years (1400-16), suddenly disappeared from the historical scene. Their patron and customer was an outstanding collector and connoisseur of works of art of that era, Duke Jean of Berry, younger brother French King Charles V. His name was glorified by a book that went down in history under the name "The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry".

Limburgs, brothers (Paul, Ehrmann and Jeanneken). "The Luxurious Book of Hours of the Duke Jean of Berry. The month of January. Fragment"

The Book of Hours owes its fame to the excellent miniatures created for it by the Limburg brothers. This work, which became the true crown of their work, remained unfinished in 1416, but 12 famous miniatures on the theme of the seasons have come down to us. They depict scenes of sowing, harvesting or hunting, timed to coincide with a particular season.

The advent of oil paints

In the 1430s. in what was then Flanders, which belonged to the Duke of Burgundy (now Belgium and the Netherlands), a completely new style of painting began to develop. Like Italy, Flanders was the land of prosperous cities. It is to this fact that many attribute a realistic, devoid of emphasized aristocratic style of local art. And just as in Italy, the most important technical innovation contributed to the flowering of Flemish painting - oil paints. Pigments ground with vegetable oil were much brighter than the tempera prevailing in painting at that time, which was based on a quickly drying egg yolk. And if you had to write in tempera and create frescoes quickly, without going into small parts, then oil paints could be applied layer by layer, achieving amazing pictorial effects. Since then, any artist striving for perfection has consistently preferred oil painting.

Flemish school

The founder of the Flemish school of painting was Robert Campin, but its most famous representatives belong to the next generation. The first of the great masters of European oil painting was the unsurpassed portrait painter Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441). By using oil paints he achieved excellent transmission of the play of light and shadow on various objects.

Portrait of the Arnolfini couple, Jan van Eyck

An unusually gifted artist was also his younger contemporary Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1399-1464). Not as concerned with details as van Eyck, he preferred the rich bright colors, clear contours and subtle modeling of volumes by creating your own unique style, capable of conveying a wide range of emotions - from serene calm to boundless sorrow.

Isabella of Burgundy, Rogig van Der Weyden

The Flemish school gave art more than one generation of brilliant masters of painting, and throughout the 15th century, many of its inherent features were adopted by artists throughout Europe. Only since 1500 they were replaced by a new trend, gradually gaining strength behind the Alpine ridges - the Italian Renaissance.

Medieval art of Europe as the embodiment of the religious Christian mentality. Aesthetics of identities: canonicity, anti-novatism, anonymity, repetition of traditional plots and images. Aesthetic dominants of the early, mature and late Middle Ages. Styles of medieval architecture: Romanesque, Gothic.

medieval painting(book miniature, monumental painting, stained glass art). Medieval Literature: and Its Features. Main Literary Traditions: Latin Literature:, Epos, Courtly Literature:, Urban Literature:. Church mode and medieval musical genres.

Painting. The subjects for the picturesque and sculptural images were the themes of the greatness and power of God. The stylistic feature of these images was that the figure of Christ was much larger than other figures. In general, real proportions were not important to Romanesque artists: in the images, the heads are often enlarged, the bodies are schematic, sometimes elongated. In Germany in the XI century. more and more space in pic. Is-ve begins to occupy the theme of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ. In the future, this motive will become dominant in Catholicism and even supplant the image of Christ as the Almighty. Monumental early medieval painting. In it, along with the early Christian traditions, there are features of impulsiveness and expression. Monuments of the 9th century that have survived to our time. church painting in France make it possible to distinguish between schools of "light" and "blue" backgrounds. The first, widespread in the west and in the center of France, is characterized by a light background, sharp contours and a flat interpretation of forms (the frescoes “The Battle of the Archangel Michael with the Dragon” in the Saint-Savin church in Poitou). For the second (south and east of the country) are indicative blue backgrounds, rich coloring and a clear impact of Byzantine art. The “School of Blue Backgrounds” is especially well represented by the Berzet-la-Ville murals, created at the beginning of the 12th century. Thus, in the art of the 14th century, although it was still controlled by the church, secular and realistic features intensified. Stained glass. In the heyday of the Romanesque style, there were two stained glass painting techniques: grisaille(black and gray paint on colorless glass of a greenish smoky tone) and on type-setting colored glass(glass was brewed in special ovens, then cut in accordance with the prepared pattern and typed on special templates, after which it was painted on a colored background). However, stained-glass windows reached their greatest prosperity during the Gothic period. The main purpose of these "pictures in the windows" was to show people who could not read the Holy Scriptures what they should believe. According to the variety of subject matter, the stained-glass windows are Goth. Cathedral successfully competed with sculpture. In addition to compositions on biblical and gospel stories, individual figures of Christ, Mary, the apostles, episodes from the legends about the life of saints, images of historical events were also placed on them. Never before had color and light played such a symbolic role. It was believed that the natural color of Gothic was purple - the color of prayer and the mystical aspirations of the soul, as a combination of the red color of blood and the blue sky. Blue color It was also considered a symbol of fidelity. Therefore, stained glass windows were dominated by red, blue and purple colors. Along with them, orange, white, yellow, green colors were especially loved. The best goth. stained glass windows in the cathedrals of Chartres ("Our Lady and Child"), Paris (Saint-Chapelle).

Literature. All literature of the Middle Ages can be divided into heroic epic, knightly courtly poetry, knightly courtly romance and poetry and prose of the urban class. Heroic epic was a legend glorifying the exploits of heroes, the most important real events, legends based on folk legends. Early works of this kind were "songs about exploits." The performers of these songs-poems were jugglers, itinerant singers and musicians. In France, the greatest monument of that era is the "Song of Roland" (an ideal knight, patriot and truth lover, defender of Christians from infidels). Breton (Brittany - a region in France) and Celtic legends tell about King Arthur of the Britons and the Knights of the Round Table, as well as about the search for the Holy Grail, the cup into which, according to legend, the blood of the Savior was collected when his body was placed in the coffin. The most famous poem of this cycle sings of the exploits of the knight Parzival. In Germany - the epic "The Song of the Nibelungs" about the death of the Burgundian kingdom and the death of the Hun king Attila. The hero Siegfried appears in the country of the Nibelungs and falls in love with the sister of King Gunther. The king asks for help from Z. in order to perform heroic deeds and marries the Icelandic queen. Later, the deception is revealed. Knightly courtly (court) poetry. Courtly poetry began with the cult of the "lady of the heart." Knights-poets sang beauty and nobility beautiful lady, who was, as a rule, the wife of the overlord. Courtly love is secret, the poet avoided calling his lady by the name of thin, refined. She must look like tremulous adoration. It was sung by troubadours (South Fr.), trouvers (North Fr.), minnesingers (German) and minstrels (Eng.). In Provence (and it was there that the first love chivalric poems appeared) there were many forms of courtly poetry. canson The (“song” in narrative form presented a love theme. Alba(“morning dawn”) was dedicated to earthly, shared love. The lovers part at dawn, the approach of which is warned by a servant or friend on guard. Ballad- dance song Pastorela- a song about the meeting of a knight and a shepherdess. Cry- a song where the poet yearns or mourns his fate, mourns the death of a loved one. Tenson- poem. dispute, in a cat. either two poets take part, or a poet and P. D., a poet and Lyubov. Sirventes- song, in a cat. rising already social. questions: who is worthy of love - a courteous commoner or an inglorious baron? chivalric courtly romance. Authors - learned people. The first novels appeared in Fr. and were a fusion of Celtic epic. legends with late antique works of Homer, Ovid, Virgil, fascinating stories of crusaders about unknown countries. One of the creators of Chrétien de Trouy "Yvein, or the Knight with the Lion". The actions of the heroes of Chrétien de Troyes are aimed at accomplishing a feat, while it is not love that pushes the knight to adventure, but passion for these feats. More complex methods of revealing people. Har-ra were used by Chrétien de Troyes in The Tale of the Grail, where the feat of "increased difficulty" dooms the hero to asceticism.

A completely different tonality in another Cf. novel - "Tristan and Isolde", based on a cat. Irish tales of the unhappy love of two young hearts. There is no knightly adventure in the plot and an insoluble conflict between the individual motives of the characters and generally accepted norms is brought to the fore. The pernicious passion of the young man Tristan and Queen Isolde pushes them to trample on vassal and matrimonial duty, to a chain of pretense and deceit. Heroes do not die under the blows of strong opponents, they become victims of fate, fate. Poetry and prose of mountains. estates. A popular genre is fablio (in Fr.), schwank (German). Heroes - townspeople and peasants with their sharpness and common sense, cat. struggle with everyday adversity, while maintaining optimism. All situations are comical or adventurous, but do not go beyond the realistic everyday image. The most famous epic cycle is fr. "A novel about the fox", where the life of Srvek is depicted in an allegorical form. Europe. The main theme is the successful fight of the fox Renard, the faces. resourcefulness, dexterity and cunning, with a stupid, bloodthirsty wolf. A special phenomenon is the poetry of wandering scholars - vagants. They made sharp attacks against the princes of the church, which made the Vagantes militant heretics. The favorite themes of their songs are revels, light flirting, ironic lamentations about their hard lot (“In the French side ...”). Folk laughter to-ra was transformed into satire and gave rise to new genre- farce (gross comedy with its inherent mockery).

Music. Muses. to-ra of the early Middle Ages is represented mainly by court and folk songs and dances, playing music. instruments and religious music. All strata of society were passionate about music, song, dance. Church chant. Already at the end of the VI century. basis for music. Catholic worship became - a monophonic church hymn, performed by a male choir in unison or by soloists on Latin. This is the so-called. Gregorian chant (named after Pope Gregory I, who, according to legend, approved this singing genre). Uniform Christian singing was gradually introduced in all countries of W.E. КIX-X centuries - the first recordings of polyphonic works. Two-part organum pieces were created by the masters of French. Mr. Saint-Marcel, which they borrowed from improvisational singers. Distribution music Since the 13th century, the motet has become a genre. In order to write a motet, comp. took a well-known tune and added one, two or three voices to it. According to the same principle, music for the church was also composed. ritual. On this polyphon. Comp. late Middle Ages. Songs diff. genres and forms: rondo, ballads, madrigals. This period in the history of music is called Ars nova(lat. new art), because refined secular poetry was henceforth set to music of a new type, imbued with a special liveliness and richness of sound colors. Outstanding master it. Ars nova was Francesco Landino. Early blindness did not prevent him from becoming a virtuoso organist, the author of many lyrical songs. Fr. Ars nova headed the computer. and the poet Guillaume de Machaux, cat. contemporaries nicknamed "the earthly god of harmony." The ballad in his work has become a model of refined lyrics. It was performed by one singer with polyphonic instrumental accompaniment. The creativity of both opened a trail. stage - music. renaissance