Classicism is a style trait in literature. Classicism in art (XVII-XIX centuries)

02.05.2019

Instruction

Classicism as a literary movement originated in the 16th century in Italy. First of all, theoretical developments touched on drama, a little less on poetry, and last of all, prose. The trend was most developed a hundred years later in France, and it is associated with such names as Corneille, Racine, La Fontaine, Molière and others. Classicism is characterized by an orientation towards antiquity. The authors of that time believed that the writer should be guided not by inspiration, but by rules, dogmas, proven models. The text should be coherent, logical, clear and precise. How to determine if the text in front of you belongs to the "classic" direction.

For classicism, the position of "trinity" is fundamentally important. There is only one action, and it takes place in one place and at one time. The only storyline unfolds in one place in - it came to classicism from antiquity.

Definition of conflict. The works of the era of classicism are characterized by the opposition of reason and feelings, duty and passions. At the same time, negative characters are guided by emotions, and positive ones live by reason, therefore they win. At the same time, the positions of the characters are very clear, only white and black. The main concept is the concept of duty, civil service.

When working with heroes, the presence of stable masks attracts attention. Mandatory presence: a girl, her girlfriend, father, several suitors (at least three), while one of the suitors is a positive, positive hero, reflecting morality. The images are devoid of individuality, because their purpose is to capture the main, generic features of the characters.

Composition definition. Classicism presupposes the presence of exposition, plot development, climax and denouement. At the same time, a certain one is necessarily woven into the plot, as a result of which the girl plays a wedding with a “positive” groom.

Evidence that the text belongs to classicism reinforces the methods of catharsis and unexpected denouement. In the first case, through to negative characters who find themselves in a difficult situation, the reader is spiritually cleansed. In the second, the conflict is resolved by outside intervention. For example, a command from above, a manifestation of the divine will.

Classicism depicts life in an idealized way. At the same time, the task of the work is to improve society and its mores. The texts were designed for the largest possible audience, which is why the authors paid special attention to the genres of dramaturgy.

One of the most important elements of the composition of any literary work is the climax. The climax, as a rule, is located just before the denouement in the work.

The term "climax" in literary criticism

This term comes from the Latin word "culminatio", which means the highest point of tension of any forces within the work. Most often, the word "culminatio" is translated as "top", "peak", "point". In a literary work, an emotional peak is most often implied.

In literary criticism, the word "culmination" is used to denote the moment of the highest tension within the development of the action in the work. This is the moment when there is an important clash (even decisive) between the characters in the most difficult circumstances. After this collision, the plot of the work is rapidly moving towards a denouement.

It is important to understand that through the characters the author usually collides ideas, which are carried by the characters of the works. Each of them appears in the work not by chance, but precisely for the purpose of promoting their own idea and resisting the main idea (it can often coincide with the author's idea).

Complex climax in the work

Depending on the complexity of the work, the number of characters, the ideas laid down, the conflicts created, the climax of the work can become more complicated. Some voluminous novels have multiple climaxes. As a rule, this applies to epic novels (those that describe the life of several generations). The brightest of such works are the novels "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy, "The Quiet Don" by Sholokhov.

Not only an epic novel can have a complex culmination, but also less voluminous works. Their compositional complexity can be explained by their ideological content, a large number of storylines and characters. In any case, the climax always plays a significant role in the reader's perception of the text. The climax can radically change the relationships within the text and the reader's attitude to the characters and the development of the story.

The climax is an integral part of the composition of any story.

The climax, as a rule, follows one or more text complications. The climax may be followed by a denouement, or the ending may coincide with the climax. Such an ending is often referred to as an "open" ending. The culmination reveals the essence of the problem of the whole work. This rule applies to all types of artistic text, ranging from fairy tales, fables and ending with major literary works.

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Advice 3: How to highlight the key features of the image of the hero in the novel

The ability to highlight the key features of the heroes of works helps when writing essays at school, serves as a good preparation for the exam in literature. To analyze an artistic image, it is important to follow a certain order of actions, to draw up a plan correctly. Careful observation of the means used by the author to create images, a competent generalization of the collected material will help to characterize the literary characters most fully and accurately.

Significant means of depicting an image

The artistic image is created by the author through a variety of means of depiction. Start highlighting key features by determining the place of the hero in the system of other characters in the novel: main, secondary or off-stage. Secondary characters provide an opportunity to reveal the main and are in the background. Off-stage perform service functions.

Literary images often have prototypes. It is known that the beloved brother L.N. became the prototype of the young charming Natasha Rostova. Tolstoy Tanechka Bers. Ostap Bender of Ilf and Petrov appeared thanks to Osip Shor, an Odessan prone to adventures. Establish the presence of a prototype character of the analyzed novel.

Observe the main means of portraying the hero, thanks to which you will get an idea of ​​the key features of the image. These include:


  1. Portrait characteristic - a description of appearance (face, figure, gait, etc.). Clothing, manner of speaking and bearing indicate social position. Changes in facial expressions, postures and gestures are evidence of emotional experiences. Through the portrait, the attitude of the writer to his hero is expressed.

  2. The main features are revealed in actions, attitudes towards the environment. The character can be simple: negative or positive hero. Complex is contradictory and paradoxical, it has various features. The owner of this character is constantly developing spiritually, is in search of his own life path. Behavior testifies to humanity or inhumanity, deserves condemnation or empathy. The conditions of life are directly related to the manifestation of various character traits.

  3. Speech in the classical versions of the works embodies the thoughts of the character and serves as a means of communication with others. It helps to establish social origin. Indicates mental abilities and inner qualities.

  4. Artistic detail is very accurate and vividly able to replace large descriptions. The artist of the word endows this detail with an emotional and semantic load. For example, M.A. Sholokhov, in order to reveal the state of mind of his hero Andrei Sokolov, pays main attention to "eyes, as if sprinkled with ashes."

  5. The choice of a writer's name and surname is usually not accidental. The name can indicate the human essence, predetermine actions and fate. Various options testify to personal qualities, contain a hint for understanding key character traits (Anna, Anka and Nyuska). The surname of the protagonist of the novel F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment" - Raskolnikov. The schismatics are people who have separated and rejected the mainstream. Initially, the theory of Rodion Raskolnikov contradicted the laws of life and morality, and therefore separated him from those around him.

  6. Direct and indirect author's characteristics of the hero of the novel also indicate the key features of the image he created.

Literary types

For a more complete understanding of the character's image, determine its relationship to a particular literary type. The classic ones are the most typical. Heroes are divided strictly into positive and negative. Such types are usually found in the tragedies and comedies of the Classical era. The ability for experiences, introspection and emotional contemplation is inherent in sentimental heroes. An example is the young Werther from Goethe's novel. The romantic image appeared as a result of the reflection of the rebellious human spirit in art. Romantic heroes do not live in reality, they are characterized by strong feelings and secret desires. Fiery passion is the main engine of action. The most striking realistic types should be considered "little man", "extra man". Circumstances and environments have a strong influence on the behavior of the characters in realistic novels.

Queen's House (Queen's House - Queen's House, 1616-1636) in Greenwich. Architect Inigo Jones (Inigo Jones)





























The time has come, and the high mysticism of Gothic, having gone through the trials of the Renaissance, gives way to new ideas based on the traditions of ancient democracies. The desire for imperial greatness and democratic ideals was transformed into a retrospection of imitation of the ancients - this is how classicism appeared in Europe.

At the beginning of the 17th century, many European countries become trading empires, a middle class appears, democratic transformations take place. Religion is increasingly subordinate to secular power. There were many gods again, and the ancient hierarchy of divine and worldly power came in handy. Undoubtedly, this could not but affect the trends in architecture.

In the 17th century, in France and England, a new style, classicism, was born almost independently. Just like the baroque contemporary to it, it became a natural result of the development of Renaissance architecture and its transformation in different cultural, historical and geographical conditions.

classicism(French classicisme, from Latin classicus - exemplary) - an artistic style and aesthetic trend in European art of the late 17th - early 19th centuries.

Classicism is based on ideas rationalism coming from philosophy Descartes. A work of art, from the point of view of classicism, should be built on the basis of strict canons, thereby revealing the harmony and logic of the universe itself. Interest for classicism is only eternal, unchanging - in each phenomenon, he seeks to recognize only essential, typological features, discarding random individual signs. The aesthetics of classicism attaches great importance to the social and educational function of art. Classicism takes many rules and canons from ancient art (Aristotle, Plato, Horace…).

Baroque was closely associated with the Catholic Church. Classicism, or restrained forms of the Baroque, proved to be more acceptable in Protestant countries such as England, the Netherlands, Northern Germany, and also in Catholic France, where the king meant much more than the Pope. The realm of an ideal king should have ideal architecture, emphasizing the true greatness of the monarch and his real power. “France is me,” proclaimed Louis XIV.

In architecture, classicism is understood as an architectural style common in Europe in the 18th - early 19th centuries, the main feature of which was the appeal to the forms of ancient architecture as a standard of harmony, simplicity, rigor, logical clarity, monumentality and validity of filling space. The architecture of classicism as a whole is characterized by the regularity of planning and the clarity of volumetric form. The basis of the architectural language of classicism was the order, in proportions and forms close to antiquity, symmetrical-axial compositions, restraint of decorative decoration, and a regular city planning system.

Usually shared two periods in the development of classicism. Classicism took shape in the 17th century in France, reflecting the rise of absolutism. The 18th century is considered a new stage in its development, since at that time it reflected other civic ideals based on the ideas of the philosophical rationalism of the Enlightenment. Both periods are united by the idea of ​​the rational laws of the world, of the beautiful, ennobled nature, the desire to express great social content, lofty heroic and moral ideals.

The architecture of classicism is characterized by strictness of form, clarity of spatial solutions, geometrism of interiors, softness of colors and laconicism of external and internal decoration of buildings. Unlike Baroque buildings, the masters of classicism never created spatial illusions that distorted the proportions of the building. And in the park architecture, the so-called regular style where all lawns and flower beds have the correct shape, and green spaces are placed strictly in a straight line and carefully trimmed. ( Garden and park ensemble of Versailles)

Classicism is typical in the 17th century. for countries in which there was an active process of the formation of national states, and the strength of capitalist development was growing (Holland, England, France). Classicism in these countries carried new features of the ideology of the rising bourgeoisie, leading the struggle for a stable market and the expansion of productive forces, interested in centralization and national unification of states. Being an opponent of class inequalities that infringed upon the interests of the bourgeoisie, its ideologists put forward the theory of a rationally organized state based on subordinating the interests of the estates to it. The recognition of reason as the basis for the organization of state and social life is supported by the arguments of scientific progress, which is promoted by all means by the bourgeoisie. This rationalistic approach to the assessment of reality was also transferred to the field of art, where the ideal of citizenship and the triumph of reason over elemental forces become an important topic. Religious ideology is increasingly subordinate to secular power, and in a number of countries it is being reformed. Adherents of classicism saw an example of a harmonious social structure in the ancient world, and therefore, in order to express their social, ethical and aesthetic ideals, they turned to examples of ancient classics (hence the term - classicism). Developing Traditions Renaissance, classicism took a lot from the heritage baroque.

The architectural classicism of the 17th century developed in two main directions:

  • the first was based on the development of the traditions of the late Renaissance classical school (England, Holland);
  • the second - reviving the classical traditions, to a greater extent developed the Roman traditions of the Baroque (France).


English classicism

The creative and theoretical heritage of Palladio, who revived the ancient heritage in all its breadth and tectonic integrity, especially appealed to the classicists. It had a great impact on the architecture of those countries that took the path earlier than others. architectural rationalism. Since the first half of the 17th century. in the architecture of England and Holland, which were relatively weakly influenced by the Baroque, new features were determined under the influence Palladian classicism. The English architect played a particularly important role in the development of the new style. Inigo Jones (Inigo Jones) (1573-1652) - the first bright creative personality and the first truly new phenomenon in English architecture of the 17th century. He owns the most outstanding works of English classicism of the 17th century.

In 1613 Jones traveled to Italy. Along the way, he traveled to France, where he managed to see many of the most important buildings. This trip, apparently, was the decisive impetus in the movement of the architect Jones in the direction indicated by Palladio. It was to this time that his notes on the margins of Palladio's treatise and in the album date back.

It is characteristic that the only general judgment among them about architecture is devoted to a reasoned criticism of certain trends in the late Renaissance architecture of Italy: Jones reproaches Michelangelo and his followers in that they laid the foundation for the excessive use of complex decor, and claims that monumental architecture, c. unlike scenography and short-lived light buildings, should be serious, free from affectation and based on rules.

In 1615, Jones returned to his homeland. He is appointed Inspector General of the Ministry of King's Works. The following year, he begins to build one of his finest works. Queen's House (Queen's House - The Queen's House, 1616-1636) in Greenwich.

In Queens House, the architect consistently develops the Palladian principles of clarity and classical clarity of order articulations, the visible constructiveness of forms, and the balance of the proportional system. General combinations and individual forms of the building are classically geometric and rational. The composition is dominated by a calm, metrically dissected wall, built in accordance with an order commensurate with the scale of a person. Everything is dominated by balance and harmony. In the plan, the same clarity of division of the interior into simple balanced spaces of the premises is observed.

This first structure of Jones, which has come down to us, had no precedents for its rigor and naked simplicity, and also contrasted sharply with the previous buildings. However, the building should not (as is often done) be judged by its current state. At the whim of the customer (Queen Anne, wife of James I Stuart), the house was built right on the old Dover road (its position is now marked by long colonnades adjacent to the building on both sides) and originally consisted of two buildings separated by a road, connected above it by a covered bridge. The complexity of the composition once gave the building a more picturesque, "English" character, emphasized by vertical stacks of chimneys assembled in traditional bundles. Already after the death of the master, in 1662, the gap between the buildings was built up. So it turned out to be square in plan, compact and dryish in architecture, with a loggia decorated with columns from the side of Greenwich Hill, with a terrace and a staircase leading to a double-height hall - from the side of the Thames.

All this hardly justifies the far-reaching comparison of the Queenshouse with the square, centric villa at Poggio a Caiano near Florence, built by Giuliano da Sangallo the Elder, although the similarity in the design of the final plan is undeniable. Jones himself mentions only the Villa Molini, built by Scamozzi near Padua, as the prototype of the facade from the side of the river. Proportions - the equality of the width of the risalits and the loggia, the high height of the second floor compared to the first, the rustication without breaking into separate stones, the balustrade over the cornice and the curved double staircase at the entrance - are not in the nature of Palladio, and slightly resemble Italian mannerism, and at the same time rationally ordered compositions of classicism.

Famous Banqueting House in London (Banqueting House - Banquet Hall, 1619-1622) in appearance much closer to the Palladian prototypes. In terms of noble solemnity and the order structure consistently carried out throughout the composition, he had no predecessors in England. At the same time, in terms of its social content, this is a primordial type of structure that has been passing through English architecture since the 11th century. Behind the two-tier order facade (below - ionic, above - composite) there is a single two-height hall, along the perimeter of which there is a balcony, which provides a logical connection between the exterior and the interior. Despite the proximity to the Palladian facades, there are significant differences here: both tiers are the same in height, which is never found in the Vicentine master, and the large glazing area with a small depth of windows (an echo of the local half-timbered construction) deprives the wall of the plasticity inherent in Italian prototypes, giving it clearly national English traits. Luxurious ceiling of the hall, with deep caissons ( later painted by Rubens), differs significantly from the flat ceilings of the English palaces of that time, decorated with light reliefs of decorative panels.

With name Inigo Jones, who has been a member of the Royal Building Commission since 1618, the most important urban planning event for the 17th century is connected - groundbreaking for the first London square created according to a regular plan. Already its common name - Piazza Covent Garden- talks about the Italian origins of the idea. Placed along the axis of the western side of the square, the church of St. Paul (1631), with its high pediment and two-column Tuscan portico in antah, is an obvious, naive in its literalness, imitation of the Etruscan temple in the image of Serlio. Open arcades in the first floors of three-story buildings that framed the square from the north and south, presumably - echoes of the square in Livorno. But at the same time, the uniform, classicistic layout of the urban space could also be inspired by the Place des Vosges in Paris, built just thirty years earlier.

St. Paul's Cathedral on the square covent garden (Covent Garden), the first line-by-line temple in London after the Reformation, reflects in its simplicity not only the desire of the customer, the Duke of Bedford, to fulfill cheap obligations to members of his parish, but also the essential requirements of the Protestant religion. Jones promised the customer to build "the most beautiful barn in England." Nevertheless, the façade of the church, rebuilt after the fire of 1795, is large-scale, majestic despite its small size, and its simplicity undoubtedly has a special charm. It is curious that the high doorway under the portico is false, as the altar is located on this side of the church.

The Jones Ensemble, unfortunately, is completely lost, the space of the square is built up, the buildings are destroyed, only erected later, in 1878, in the northwestern corner of the building, one can judge the scale and nature of the original plan.

If the first works of Jones sin with a rather dry rigorism, then his later, manor buildings are less constrained by the bonds of classical formalism. With their freedom and plasticity, they partly anticipate the English Palladianism of the 18th century. Such is, for example, wilton house (Wilton House, Wiltshire), burned down in 1647 and rebuilt John Webb, a longtime assistant to Jones.

The ideas of I. Jones were continued in subsequent projects, of which the architect's London reconstruction project should be highlighted. Christopher Wren (Christopher Wren) (1632-1723) being after Rome the first grandiose project for the reconstruction of a medieval city (1666), which was almost two centuries ahead of the grandiose reconstruction of Paris. The plan was not implemented, but the architect contributed to the overall process of the emergence and construction of individual nodes of the city, completing, in particular, the ensemble conceived by Inigo Jones hospital in Greenwich(1698-1729). Wren's other major building is cathedral of st. Paul in London- London Cathedral of the Anglican Church. Cathedral of St. Pavel is the main town-planning accent in the area of ​​the reconstructed City. Since the consecration of the first bishop of London, St. Augustine (604) on this site, according to sources, several Christian churches were erected. The immediate predecessor of the current cathedral, the old St. Paul, consecrated in 1240, was 175 m long, 7 m longer than Winchester Cathedral. In 1633–1642, Inigo Jones made extensive repairs to the old cathedral and added a classical Palladian western façade to it. However, this old cathedral was completely destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666. The present building was built by Christopher Wren in 1675–1710; The first service was held in the unfinished church in December 1697.

From an architectural point of view, St. Paul - one of the largest domed buildings of the Christian world, standing on a par with the Florentine Cathedral, the cathedrals of St. Sophia in Constantinople and St. Peter in Rome. The cathedral has the shape of a Latin cross, its length is 157 m, width is 31 m; transept length 75 m; total area 155,000 sq. m. In the crossroads at a height of 30 m, the foundation of a dome with a diameter of 34 m was laid, which rises to 111 m. When designing the dome, Ren applied a unique solution. Directly above the crossroads, he erected the first dome in brick with a round 6-meter opening at the top (oculus), fully commensurate with the proportions of the interior. Above the first dome, the architect built a brick cone, which serves as a support for a massive stone lantern, the weight of which reaches 700 tons, and above the cone, a second dome covered with lead sheets on a wooden frame, proportionally correlated with the external volumes of the building. An iron chain is laid at the base of the cone, which takes on the lateral thrust. A slightly pointed dome resting on a massive circular colonnade dominates the appearance of the cathedral.

The interior is mostly clad in marble, and since there is little color in it, it looks austere. Numerous tombs of famous generals and naval commanders are located along the walls. The glass mosaics of the vaults and walls of the choir were completed in 1897.

A huge scope for construction activity opened up after the London fire of 1666. The architect presented his city ​​redevelopment plan and received an order for the restoration of 52 parish churches. Wren proposed various spatial solutions; some buildings are built with true baroque pomp (for example, the church of St. Stephen in Walbrook). Their spiers, along with the towers of St. Paul form a spectacular panorama of the city. Mention should be made, among them, of the Churches of Christ on Newgate Street, St Bride on Fleet Street, St James on Garlick Hill and St Vedast on Foster Lane. If special circumstances required it, as in the construction of St Mary Aldermary or Christ Church College, Oxford (Tom's Tower), Wren could use late Gothic elements, although, in his own words, he did not like to "deviate from the best style".

In addition to building churches, Wren carried out private commissions, one of which was the creation of a new library. Trinity College(1676–1684) in Cambridge. In 1669 he was appointed chief caretaker of the royal buildings. In this position, he received a number of important government orders, such as the construction of hospitals in the Chelsea and Greenwich areas ( Greenwich Hospital) and several buildings included in Kensington Palace complexes And Hampton Court Palace.

During his long life, Wren was in the service of five successive kings on the English throne and left his position only in 1718. Wren died at Hampton Court on February 26, 1723 and was buried in the Cathedral of St. Paul. His ideas were taken up and developed by the next generation of architects, in particular N. Hawksmore and J. Gibbs. He had a significant impact on the development of church architecture in Europe and the United States.

Among the English nobility, a real fashion for Palladian mansions arose, which coincided with the philosophy of the early Enlightenment in England, which preached the ideals of rationality and orderliness, most fully expressed in ancient art.

Palladian English Villa It was a compact volume, most often three-story. The first one was treated with rustication, the main one was the front one, it was the second floor, it was combined on the facade with a large order with the third one - the residential floor. The simplicity and clarity of Palladian buildings, the ease of reproducing their forms, made similar buildings very common both in countryside private architecture and in the architecture of urban public and residential buildings.

The English Palladians made a great contribution to the development of park art. To replace the fashionable, geometrically correct " regular» gardens came « landscape" parks later called "English". Picturesque groves with foliage of different shades alternate with lawns, natural reservoirs, and islands. The paths of the parks do not offer an open perspective, and behind every bend they prepare an unexpected view. Statues, pavilions, and ruins hide in the shade of trees. Their main creator in the first half of the 18th century was William Kent

Landscape or landscape parks were perceived as the beauty of natural nature intelligently corrected, but the corrections were not supposed to be noticeable.

French classicism

Classicism in France was formed in more complex and contradictory conditions, local traditions and baroque influence were stronger. The origin of French classicism in the first half of the 17th century. went against the backdrop of a kind of refraction in the architecture of the Renaissance forms, late Gothic traditions and techniques borrowed from the emerging Italian Baroque. This process was accompanied by typological changes: a shift in emphasis from the extra-urban castle construction of the feudal nobility to urban and suburban housing construction for the bureaucratic nobility.

In France, the basic principles and ideals of classicism were laid. We can say that everything went from the words of two famous people, the Sun King (i.e. Louis XIV), who said “ The state is me!” and the famous philosopher Rene Descartes, who said: I think, therefore I am"(in addition to and counterbalance to Plato's saying -" I exist, therefore I think"). It is in these phrases that the main ideas of classicism are hidden: loyalty to the king, i.e. fatherland, and the triumph of reason over feeling.

The new philosophy demanded its expression not only in the lips of the monarch and philosophical works, but also in art accessible to society. We needed heroic images aimed at instilling patriotism and a rational principle in the thinking of citizens. Thus began the reformation of all facets of culture. Architecture created strictly symmetrical forms, subordinating not only space, but also nature itself, trying to get at least a little closer to what was created. Claude Ledoux utopian ideal city of the future. Which, by the way, remained exclusively in the architect's drawings (it is worth noting that the project was so significant that its motives are still used in various architectural trends).

The most striking figure in the architecture of early French classicism was Nicolas Francois Mansart(Nicolas François Mansart) (1598-1666) - one of the founders of French classicism. His merit, in addition to the direct construction of buildings, is the development of a new type of urban dwelling of the nobility - a "hotel" - with a cozy and comfortable layout, including a vestibule, a grand staircase, a number of enfiladed rooms, often closed around a patio. Gothic-style vertical sections of the facades have large rectangular windows, a clear division into floors and rich order plasticity. A feature of the Mansart hotels are high roofs, under which an additional living space was arranged - an attic, named after its creator. A fine example of such a roof is a palace. Maisons-Laffitte(Maisons-Laffitte, 1642-1651). Mansart's other works include - Hotel de Toulouse, Hotel Mazarin and Paris Cathedral Val de Grace(Val-de-Grace) completed to his design Lemerce And Le Muet.

The heyday of the first period of classicism belongs to the second half of the 17th century. The concepts of philosophical rationalism and classicism put forward by bourgeois ideology, absolutism in the face of Louis XIV takes as the official state doctrine. These concepts are completely subordinate to the will of the king, serve as a means of glorifying him as the highest personification of the nation, united on the basis of reasonable autocracy. In architecture, this has a twofold expression: on the one hand, the desire for rational order compositions, tectonically clear and monumental, freed from the fractional “multi-darkness” of the previous period; on the other hand, an ever-increasing tendency towards a single volitional principle in the composition, towards the dominance of the axis that subjugates the building and adjacent spaces, to the subordination of the human will not only to the principles of organizing urban spaces, but also to nature itself, transformed according to the laws of reason, geometry, “ideal” beauty . Both trends are illustrated by two major events in the architectural life of France in the second half of the 17th century: the first - the design and construction of the eastern facade of the royal palace in Paris - Louvre (Louvre); the second - the creation of a new residence of Louis XIV - the most grandiose architectural and landscape gardening ensemble in Versailles.

The eastern facade of the Louvre was created as a result of a comparison of two projects - one that came to Paris from Italy Lorenzo Bernini(Gian Lorenzo Bernini) (1598-1680) and French Claude Perrault(Claude Perrault) (1613-1688). Preference was given to the Perrault project (implemented in 1667), where, in contrast to the baroque restlessness and tectonic duality of Bernini's project, the extended facade (length 170.5 m) has a clear order structure with a huge two-story gallery interrupted in the center and on the sides by symmetrical projections . Paired columns of the Corinthian order (height 12.32 meters) carry a large, classically designed entablature, completed with an attic and a balustrade. The base is interpreted as a smooth basement, in the development of which, as in the elements of the order, the constructive functions of the main bearing support of the building are emphasized. A clear, rhythmic and proportional structure is based on simple relationships and modularity, and the lower diameter of the columns is taken as the initial value (module), as in the classical canons. The dimensions of the building in height (27.7 meters) and the overall large scale of the composition, designed to create a front square in front of the facade, give the building majesty and representativeness necessary for the royal palace. At the same time, the whole structure of the composition is distinguished by architectural logic, geometricity, and artistic rationalism.

Ensemble of Versailles(Château de Versailles, 1661-1708) - the pinnacle of the architectural activity of the time of Louis XIV. The desire to combine the attractive aspects of city life and life in the bosom of nature led to the creation of a grandiose complex, including the royal palace with buildings for the royal family and the government, a huge park and the city adjacent to the palace. The palace is a focal point in which the axis of the park converges - on the one hand, and on the other - three beams of the city's highways, of which the central one serves as a road connecting Versailles with the Louvre. The palace, the length of which from the side of the park is more than half a kilometer (580 m), its middle part is sharply pushed forward, and in height it has a clear division into the basement, the main floor and the attic. Against the background of order pilasters, the Ionic porticos play the role of rhythmic accents that unite the facades into an integral axial composition.

The axis of the palace serves as the main disciplinary factor in the transformation of the landscape. Symbolizing the unlimited will of the reigning owner of the country, it subjugates elements of geometrized nature, alternating in strict order with architectural elements of park designation: stairs, pools, fountains, various small architectural forms.

The principle of axial space inherent in the Baroque and Ancient Rome is realized here in the grandiose axial perspective of the green parterres and alleys descending in terraces, leading the observer's gaze deep into the canal, located in the distance, cruciform in plan and further to infinity. Pyramid-shaped bushes and trees emphasized the linear depth and artificiality of the created landscape, turning into natural only beyond the main perspective.

Idea " transformed nature” corresponded to the new way of life of the monarch and the nobility. It also led to new urban planning plans - a departure from the chaotic medieval city, and ultimately to a decisive transformation of the city based on the principles of regularity and the introduction of landscape elements into it. The result was the spread of the principles and techniques developed in the planning of Versailles to work on the reconstruction of cities, primarily Paris.

André Lenotrou(André Le Nôtre) (1613-1700) - the creator of the garden and park ensemble Versailles- belongs to the idea of ​​regulating the layout of the central district of Paris, adjacent from the west and east to the palaces of the Louvre and the Tuileries. Axis Louvre - Tuileries, coinciding with the direction of the road to Versailles, determined the meaning of the famous " Parisian diameter”, which later became the main thoroughfare of the capital. On this axis, the Tuileries Garden and part of the avenue - the alleys of the Champs Elysees were laid out. In the second half of the 18th century, Place de la Concorde was created, uniting the Tuileries with the avenue of the Champs Elysees, and in the first half of the 19th century. the monumental arch of the Star, placed at the end of the Champs Elysees in the center of the round square, completed the formation of the ensemble, the length of which is about 3 km. Author Palace of Versailles Jules Hardouin-Mansart(Jules Hardouin-Mansart) (1646-1708) also created a number of outstanding ensembles in Paris in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. These include round Victory Square(Place des Victoires), rectangular Place Vendôme(Place Vendome), complex of the hospital of the Invalides with a domed cathedral. French classicism of the second half of the 17th century. adopted the urban achievements of the Renaissance and especially the Baroque, developing and applying them on a grander scale.

In the XVIII century, during the reign of Louis XV (1715-1774), in French architecture, as in other forms of art, the Rococo style was developed, which was a formal continuation of the baroque pictorial trends. The originality of this style, close to baroque and pretentious in its forms, manifested itself mainly in the interior decoration, which corresponded to the luxurious and wasteful life of the royal court. The ceremonial halls acquired a more comfortable, but also more pretentious character. In the architectural decoration of the premises, mirrors and stucco decorations made of intricately curved lines, flower garlands, shells, etc. were widely used. This style was also widely reflected in furniture. However, already in the middle of the 18th century, there was a move away from the pretentious forms of Rococo towards greater rigor, simplicity and clarity. This period in France coincides with a broad social movement directed against the monarchical socio-political system and received its resolution in the French bourgeois revolution of 1789. The second half of the 18th and the first third of the 19th century in France mark a new stage in the development of classicism and its wide distribution in European countries.

CLASSICISM OF THE SECOND HALF OF XVIII century largely developed the principles of architecture of the previous century. However, the new bourgeois-rationalist ideals - simplicity and classical clarity of forms - are now understood as a symbol of a certain democratization of art promoted within the framework of the bourgeois enlightenment. The relationship between architecture and nature is changing. Symmetry and axis, which remain the fundamental principles of composition, no longer have their former importance in the organization of the natural landscape. Increasingly, the French regular park is giving way to the so-called English park with a picturesque landscape composition imitating the natural landscape.

The architecture of buildings becomes somewhat more humane and rational, although the huge urban scale still determines a broad ensemble approach to architectural tasks. The city with all its medieval buildings is considered as an object of architectural influence in general. Ideas for an architectural plan for the entire city are put forward; At the same time, the interests of transport, issues of sanitary improvement, placement of objects of trade and production activities and other economic issues begin to occupy a significant place. In the work on new types of urban buildings, much attention is paid to multi-storey residential buildings. Despite the fact that the practical implementation of these urban planning ideas was very limited, the increased interest in the problems of the city influenced the formation of ensembles. In the conditions of a large city, new ensembles try to include large spaces in their “sphere of influence”, often becoming open-ended.

The largest and most characteristic architectural ensemble of French classicism of the XVIII century - Place de la Concorde in Paris created by the project Ange-Jacques Gabriel (Ange-Jacque Gabriel(1698 - 1782) in the 50-60s of the XVIII century, and received its final completion during the second half of the XVIII - first half of the XIX century. The vast square serves as a distribution space on the banks of the Seine between the Tuileries Garden adjoining the Louvre and the wide boulevards of the Champs Elysees. Previously existing dry ditches served as the boundary of a rectangular area (dimensions 245 x 140 m). The "graphic" layout of the area with the help of dry ditches, balustrades, sculptural groups bears the stamp of the planar layout of the Versailles park. In contrast to the closed squares of Paris in the 17th century. (Place Vendôme, etc.), Place de la Concorde is a sample of an open square, limited only on one side by two symmetrical buildings built by Gabriel, which formed a transverse axis passing through the square, and the Rue Royale formed by them. The axis is fixed on the square with two fountains, and at the intersection of the main axes a monument to King Louis XV was erected, and later a high obelisk). The Champs Elysees, the Tuileries Garden, the space of the Seine and its embankments are, as it were, a continuation of this architectural ensemble, huge in its scope, in a direction perpendicular to the transverse axis.

Partial reconstruction of the centers with the arrangement of regular "royal squares" also covers other cities of France (Rennes, Reims, Rouen, etc.). Particularly prominent is the Royal Square in Nancy (Place Royalle de Nancy, 1722-1755). Urban planning theory is developing. In particular, one should note the theoretical work on urban squares by the architect Patt, who processed and published the results of a competition for Place Louis XV in Paris, held in the middle of the 18th century.

The space-planning development of buildings of the French classicism of the XVIII century is not conceived in isolation from the urban ensemble. The leading motif remains a large order, which correlates well with the adjacent urban spaces. A constructive function is returned to the order; it is more often used in the form of porticos and galleries, its scale is enlarged, covering the height of the entire main volume of the building. Theorist of French classicism M. A. Laugier (Laugier M.A) fundamentally rejects the classical column where it really does not carry a load, and criticizes the placement of one order on another, if it is really possible to get by with one support. Practical rationalism receives a broad theoretical justification.

The development of theory has become a typical phenomenon in the art of France since the 17th century, since the establishment of the French Academy (1634), the formation of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (1648) and the Academy of Architecture (1671). Particular attention in theory is given to orders and proportions. Developing the doctrine of proportions Jacques Francois Blondel(1705-1774) - French theorist of the second half of the 17th century, Laugier creates a whole system of logically justified proportions, based on the rationally meaningful principle of their absolute perfection. At the same time, in proportions, as in architecture as a whole, the element of rationality, based on speculatively derived mathematical rules of composition, is enhanced. There is a growing interest in the heritage of antiquity and the Renaissance, and in specific examples of these eras, they seek to see the logical confirmation of the principles put forward. The Roman Pantheon is often cited as an ideal example of the unity of the utilitarian and artistic functions, and the buildings of Palladio and Bramante, in particular Tempietto, are considered the most popular examples of the Renaissance classics. These samples are not only carefully studied, but often serve as direct prototypes of buildings being erected.

In built in the 1750-1780s according to the project Jacques Germain Souflo(Jacques-Germain Soufflot) (1713 - 1780) St. Genevieve in Paris, which later became the national French Pantheon, one can see a return to the artistic ideal of antiquity and the most mature examples of the Renaissance inherent in this time. The composition, cruciform in plan, is distinguished by the logic of the general scheme, the balance of architectural parts, the clarity and clarity of construction. The portico goes back in its forms to the Roman Pantheon, a drum with a dome (span 21.5 meters) resembles a composition Tempietto. The main façade completes the perspective of a short, straight street and serves as one of the most visible architectural landmarks in Paris.

An interesting material illustrating the development of architectural thought in the second half of the 18th - early 19th centuries is the publication in Paris of competitive academic projects awarded the highest award (Grand prix). A red thread running through all these projects is admiration for antiquity. Endless colonnades, huge domes, repeatedly repeated porticos, etc., speak, on the one hand, of a break with the aristocratic effeminacy of Rococo, on the other hand, of the flowering of a kind of architectural romance, for the realization of which there was, however, no ground in social reality.

The eve of the French Revolution (1789-94) gave rise to a striving for severe simplicity in architecture, a bold search for monumental geometrism, new, orderless architecture (K. N. Ledoux, E. L. Bulle, J. J. Lekeux). These searches (noted also by the influence of the architectural etchings of G. B. Piranesi) served as the starting point for the late phase of classicism - Empire.

During the years of the revolution, almost no construction was carried out, but a large number of projects were born. The general tendency to overcome canonical forms and traditional classical schemes is determined.

Culturological thought, having passed the next round, ended at the same place. The painting of the revolutionary direction of French classicism is represented by the courageous drama of historical and portrait images of J. L. David. During the years of the empire of Napoleon I, magnificent representativeness grows in architecture (Ch. Percier, L. Fontaine, J. F. Chalgrin)

Rome became the international center of classicism of the 18th century - the beginning of the 19th century, where the academic tradition dominated in art, with a combination of nobility of forms and cold, abstract idealization, often for academicism (German painter A. R. Mengs, Austrian landscape painter J. A. Koch, sculptors - Italian A. Canova, Dane B. Thorvaldsen).

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, classicism was formed in Dutch architecture- architect Jacob van Campen(Jacob van Campen, 1595-165), which gave rise to a particularly restrained version of it, Cross-links with French and Dutch classicism, as well as with the early Baroque, affected the short brilliant heyday classicism in Swedish architecture late 17th - early 18th century - architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger(Nicodemus Tessin Younger 1654-1728).

In the middle of the 18th century, the principles of classicism were transformed in the spirit of the aesthetics of the Enlightenment. In architecture, the appeal to "naturalness" put forward the requirement for constructive justification of the order elements of the composition, in the interior - the development of a flexible layout of a comfortable residential building. The landscape environment of the “English” park became the ideal environment for the house. The rapid development of archaeological knowledge about Greek and Roman antiquity (excavations of Herculaneum, Pompeii, etc.) had a huge impact on the classicism of the 18th century; The works of I. I. Winkelmann, J. V. Goethe, and F. Militsiya made their contribution to the theory of classicism. In the French classicism of the 18th century, new architectural types were defined: an exquisitely intimate mansion, a front public building, an open city square.

In Russia classicism went through several stages in its development and reached unprecedented proportions during the reign of Catherine II, who considered herself an "enlightened monarch", was in correspondence with Voltaire and supported the ideas of the French Enlightenment.

The classical architecture of St. Petersburg was close to the ideas of significance, grandeur, powerful pathos.

Peoples' Friendship University of Russia

Faculty of Philology

Department of Russian and Foreign Literature


on the course "History of Russian literature of the 19th century"

Subject:

"Classicism. Basic principles. The originality of Russian classicism"


Completed by student Ivanova I.A.

Group FZhB-11

Scientific adviser:

Associate Professor Pryakhin M.N.


Moscow



The concept of classicism

Philosophical doctrine

Ethical and aesthetic program

genre system

Representatives of classicism


The concept of classicism


Classicism is one of the most important trends in the literature of the past. Having established itself in the works and creativity of many generations, putting forward a brilliant galaxy of poets and writers, classicism left such milestones on the path of the artistic development of mankind as the tragedies of Corneille, Racine, Milton, Voltaire, the comedies of Molière and many other literary works. The history itself confirms the viability of the traditions of the classicist artistic system and the value of the concepts of the world and the human person underlying it, primarily the moral imperative characteristic of classicism.

Classicism did not always remain identical to itself in everything, constantly developing and improving. This is especially obvious if we consider classicism in the perspective of its three centuries of existence and in various national variants, in which it appears to us in France, in Germany and in Russia. Taking its first steps in the 16th century, that is, at the time of the mature Renaissance, classicism absorbed and reflected the atmosphere of this revolutionary era, and at the same time it carried new trends that were destined to be energetically manifested only in the next century.

Classicism is one of the most studied and theoretically thought out literary movements. But, despite this, its detailed study is still an extremely relevant topic for a modern researcher, largely due to the fact that it requires special flexibility and subtlety of analysis.

The formation of the concept of classicism requires a systematic, purposeful work of the researcher based on attitudes towards artistic perception and the development of value judgments in the analysis of the text.

Russian classicism literature

Therefore, in modern science, contradictions often arise between the new tasks of literary research and the old approaches to the formation of theoretical and literary concepts about classicism.


Basic principles of classicism


Classicism, as an artistic movement, tends to reflect life in ideal images, gravitating towards the universal "norm" model. Hence the cult of antiquity of classicism: classical antiquity appears in it as an example of perfect and harmonious art.

Both high genres and low ones were obliged to instruct the public, to elevate its morals, to enlighten feelings.

The most important norms of classicism are the unity of action, place and time. In order to more accurately convey the idea to the viewer and inspire him to selfless feelings, the author should not complicate anything. The main intrigue should be simple enough so as not to confuse the viewer and not deprive the picture of integrity. The demand for unity of time was closely linked to the unity of action. The unity of the place was interpreted in different ways. It could be the space of one palace, one room, one city, and even the distance that the hero could cover within twenty-four hours.

Classicism is formed, experiencing the influence of other pan-European trends in art that are directly in contact with it: it repels the aesthetics of the Renaissance that preceded it and opposes the Baroque.


Historical basis of classicism


The history of classicism begins in Western Europe at the end of the 16th century. In the 17th century reaches its highest development, associated with the flowering of the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV in France and the highest rise in theatrical art in the country. Classicism continued to fruitfully exist in the 18th and early 19th centuries, until it was replaced by sentimentalism and romanticism.

As an artistic system, classicism finally took shape in the 17th century, although the very concept of classicism was born later, in the 19th century, when an irreconcilable war of romance was declared on it.

Having studied the poetics of Aristotle and the practice of the Greek theater, the French classics proposed the rules of construction in their works, based on the foundations of rationalistic thinking of the 17th century. First of all, this is strict observance of the laws of the genre, division into higher genres - an ode (a solemn song (lyric) poem praising glory, praise, greatness, victory, etc.), tragedy (a dramatic or stage work that depicts an irreconcilable conflict of personality with opposing forces), epic (depicts actions or events in an objectively narrative form, characterized by a calmly contemplative attitude to the depicted subject) and lower - comedy (dramatic performance or composition for the theater, where society is presented in a funny, funny way), satire (a kind of comic , which differs from other types (humor, irony) by the sharpness of the denunciation).

The laws of classicism were most characteristically expressed in the rules for constructing a tragedy. From the author of the play, first of all, it was required that the plot of the tragedy, as well as the passions of the characters, be believable. But the classicists have their own understanding of plausibility: not just the similarity of what is depicted on the stage with reality, but the consistency of what is happening with the requirements of reason, with a certain moral and ethical norm.


Philosophical doctrine


Unlike the irrational Baroque, Classicism was rational and appealed not to faith, but to reason. He sought to balance among themselves all the worlds - divine, natural, social and spiritual. He stood up for the dynamic balance of all these spheres, which should not conflict with each other, but coexist peacefully within the boundaries and imperatives set by the mind.

The central place in Classicism was occupied by the idea of ​​order, in the establishment of which the leading role belongs to reason and knowledge. From the idea of ​​the priority of order and reason followed a characteristic concept of man, which could be reduced to three leading foundations or principles:

) the principle of the priority of reason over passions, the belief that the highest virtue is to resolve the contradictions between reason and passions in favor of the first, and the highest valor and justice lie, respectively, in actions prescribed not by affects, but by reason;

) the principle of the original morality and law-abidingness of the human mind, the belief that it is the mind that is able to lead a person to truth, goodness and justice in the shortest way;

) the principle of social service, which asserted that the duty prescribed by reason is the honest and selfless service of a person to his sovereign and state.

In socio-historical and moral-legal terms, Classicism turned out to be associated with the process of centralization of power and the strengthening of absolutism in a number of European states. He took on the role of ideology, defending the interests of the royal houses, seeking to unite nations around him.

Ethical and aesthetic program


The initial principle of the aesthetic code of classicism is the imitation of beautiful nature. Objective beauty for the theorists of classicism (Boileau, Andre) is the harmony and regularity of the universe, which has as its source a spiritual principle that forms matter and puts it in order. Beauty thus, as an eternal spiritual law, is opposed to everything sensual, material, changeable. Therefore, moral beauty is higher than physical beauty; the creation of human hands is more beautiful than the rough beauty of nature.

The laws of beauty do not depend on the experience of observation, they are derived from the analysis of inner spiritual activity.

The ideal of the artistic language of classicism is the language of logic - accuracy, clarity, consistency. The linguistic poetics of classicism avoids, as far as possible, the objective depiction of the word. Her usual remedy is an abstract epithet.

The ratio of individual elements of a work of art is built on the same principles, i.e. composition, which is usually a geometrically balanced structure based on a strict symmetrical division of the material. Thus the laws of art are likened to the laws of formal logic.


The political ideal of classicism


In their political struggle, the revolutionary bourgeois and plebeians in France, both in the decades preceding the revolution and in the turbulent years of 1789-1794, made extensive use of ancient traditions, the ideological legacy and external forms of Roman democracy. So, at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. in European literature and art, a new type of classicism has developed, new in its ideological and social content in relation to the classicism of the 17th century, to the aesthetic theory and practice of Boileau, Corneille, Racine, Poussin.

The art of classicism of the era of the bourgeois revolution was strictly rationalistic, i.e. required a complete logical correspondence of all elements of the artistic form to an extremely clearly expressed plan.

Classicism XVIII-XIX centuries. was not a homogeneous phenomenon. In France, the heroic period of the bourgeois revolution of 1789-1794. preceded and accompanied by the development of revolutionary republican classicism, which was embodied in the dramas of M.Zh. Chenier, in the early painting of David, etc. In contrast, during the years of the Directory and especially the Consulate and the Napoleonic Empire, classicism lost its revolutionary spirit and turned into a conservative academic direction.

Sometimes under the direct influence of French art and the events of the French Revolution, and in some cases independently of them and even preceding them in time, a new classicism developed in Italy, Spain, the Scandinavian countries, and the USA. In Russia, classicism reached its highest height in the architecture of the first third of the 19th century.

One of the most significant ideological and artistic achievements of this time was the work of the great German poets and thinkers - Goethe and Schiller.

With all the variety of variants of classic art, it had much in common. Both the revolutionary classicism of the Jacobins, and the philosophical and humanistic classicism of Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, and the conservative classicism of the Napoleonic Empire, and the very diverse - sometimes progressive-patriotic, sometimes reactionary-great-power - classicism in Russia were contradictory creations of the same historical era.

genre system


Classicism establishes a strict hierarchy of genres, which are divided into high (ode, tragedy, epic) and low (comedy, satire, fable).

ABOUT? Yes- a poetic, as well as musical and poetic work, distinguished by solemnity and sublimity, dedicated to some event or hero.

Tragé? diya- a genre of fiction based on the development of events, which, as a rule, is inevitable and necessarily leads to a catastrophic outcome for the characters.

The tragedy is marked by severe seriousness, depicts reality most sharply, as a clot of internal contradictions, reveals the deepest conflicts of reality in an extremely intense and rich form, which acquires the meaning of an artistic symbol; It is no coincidence that most tragedies are written in verse.

epic? I- generic designation of major epic and similar works:

.An extensive narrative in verse or prose about outstanding national historical events.

2.A complex, long history of something, including a number of major events.

Comé? diya- a genre of fiction characterized by a humorous or satirical approach.

Satire- a manifestation of the comic in art, which is a poetic humiliating denunciation of phenomena using various comic means: sarcasm, irony, hyperbole, grotesque, allegory, parody, etc.

Ba? taking off- a poetic or prose literary work of a moralizing, satirical nature. At the end of the fable there is a brief moralizing conclusion - the so-called morality. The actors are usually animals, plants, things. In the fable, the vices of people are ridiculed.


Representatives of classicism


In literature, Russian classicism is represented by the works of A.D. Kantemira, V.K. Trediakovsky, M.V. Lomonosov, A.P. Sumarokov.

HELL. Kantemir was the ancestor of Russian classicism, the founder of the most vital real-satirical direction in it - such are his well-known satires.

VC. Trediakovsky, with his theoretical works, contributed to the establishment of classicism, but in his poetic works the new ideological content did not find an appropriate artistic form.

In a different way, the traditions of Russian classicism manifested themselves in the works of A.P. Sumarokov, who defended the idea of ​​the inseparability of the interests of the nobility and the monarchy. Sumarokov laid the foundation for the dramatic system of classicism. In tragedies, under the influence of the reality of that time, he often refers to the theme of the uprising against tsarism. In his work, Sumarokov pursued social and educational goals, preaching high civic feelings and noble deeds.

The next prominent representative of Russian classicism, whose name is known to everyone without exception, is M.V. Lomonosov (1711-1765). Lomonosov, unlike Kantemir, rarely ridicules the enemies of enlightenment. He managed to almost completely rework the grammar based on the French canons, and made changes to the versification. Actually, it was Mikhail Lomonosov who became the first who was able to introduce the canonical principles of classicism into Russian literature. Depending on the quantitative mixing of words of three kinds, this or that style is created. This is how the "three styles" of Russian poetry developed: "high" - Church Slavonic words and Russian.

The pinnacle of Russian classicism is the work of D.I. Fonvizin (Brigadier, Undergrowth), the creator of a truly original national comedy, who laid the foundations of critical realism within this system.

Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin was the last among the largest representatives of Russian classicism. Derzhavin managed to combine not only the themes of these two genres, but also vocabulary: in "Felitsa" the words "high calm" and vernacular are organically combined. Thus, Gavriil Derzhavin, who developed the possibilities of classicism to the maximum in his works, became at the same time the first Russian poet to overcome the canons of classicism.


Russian classicism, its originality


A significant role in the shift of the genre dominant in the artistic system of Russian classicism was played by a qualitatively different attitude of our authors to the traditions of the national culture of previous periods, in particular to national folklore. The theoretical code of French classicism - "The Poetic Art" of Boileau demonstrates a sharply hostile attitude towards everything that in one way or another had a connection with the art of the masses. In attacks on the theater of Tabarin, Boileau denies the traditions of folk farce, finding traces of this tradition in Molière. The sharp criticism of burlesque poetry also testifies to the well-known anti-democratism of his aesthetic program. There was no place in Boileau's treatise to characterize such a literary genre as a fable, which is closely connected with the traditions of the democratic culture of the masses.

Russian classicism did not shy away from national folklore. On the contrary, in the perception of the traditions of folk poetic culture in certain genres, he found incentives for his enrichment. Even at the origins of the new direction, undertaking the reform of Russian versification, Trediakovsky directly refers to the songs of the common people as a model that he followed in establishing his rules.

The absence of a gap between the literature of Russian classicism and the traditions of national folklore explains its other features. Thus, in the system of poetic genres of Russian literature of the 18th century, in particular in the work of Sumarokov, the genre of the lyrical love song, which Boileau does not mention at all, suddenly flourishes. In Epistle 1 on Poetry, Sumarokov gives a detailed description of this genre along with characteristics of recognized classicist genres, such as ode, tragedy, idyll, etc. Sumarokov includes in his Epistle a description of the fable genre, while relying on the experience of La Fontaine . And in his poetic practice, both in songs and in fables, Sumarokov, as we will see, often directly focused on folklore traditions.

The peculiarity of the literary process of the late XVII - early XVIII century. explains another feature of Russian classicism: its connection with the artistic system of the Baroque in its Russian version.


Bibliography


1. Natural-legal philosophy of classicism of the 17th century. #"justify">Books:

5.O.Yu. Schmidt "The Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Volume 32." Ed. "Soviet Encyclopedia" 1936

6.A.M. Prokhorov. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Volume 12. "Publishing house" Soviet Encyclopedia "1973

.S.V. Turaev "Literature. Reference materials". Ed. "Enlightenment" 1988


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Classicism is an artistic movement that originated in the Renaissance, which, along with the Baroque, occupied an important place in the literature of the 17th century and continued to develop during the Enlightenment - until the first decades of the 19th century. The adjective "classic" is quite ancient.: even before getting its main meaning in Latin, "classicus" meant "noble, wealthy, respected citizen." Having received the meaning of “exemplary”, the concept of “classical” began to be applied to such works and authors, which became the subject of school study, were intended for reading in classes. It was in this sense that the word was used both in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, and in the 17th century the meaning “worthy for study in classes” was enshrined in dictionaries (dictionary of S.P. Richlet, 1680). The definition of "classical" was applied only to ancient, ancient authors, but not to modern writers, even if their works were recognized as artistically perfect and aroused the admiration of readers. The first to use the epithet "classical" in relation to the writers of the 17th century was Voltaire ("The Age of Louis XIV", 1751). The modern meaning of the word "classical", which significantly expands the list of authors belonging to the literary classics, began to take shape in the era of romanticism. At the same time, the concept of "Classicism" appeared. Both terms among the romantics often had a negative connotation: Classicism and "classics" were opposed to "romantics" as outdated literature blindly imitating antiquity - innovative literature (see: "On Germany", 1810, J. de Stael; "Racine and Shakespeare" , 1823-25, Stendhal). On the contrary, the opponents of romanticism, primarily in France, began to use these words as a designation of a truly national literature that opposes foreign (English, German) influences, they defined the word "classics" of the great authors of the past - P. Corneille, J. Racine, Molière, F. La Rochefoucauld. High appreciation of the achievements of French literature of the 17th century, its significance for the formation of other national literatures of the New Age - German, English, etc. - contributed to the fact that this century was considered the "era of Classicism", in which French writers and their diligent students in other countries played a leading role. Writers who clearly did not fit within the framework of classicist principles were assessed as "stragglers" or "strayed". In fact, two terms were established, the meanings of which partly intersected: "classical"-i.e. exemplary, artistically perfect, included in the fund of world literature, and "classic" - that is, relating to Classicism as a literary movement, embodying its artistic principles.

Concept - Classicism

Classicism - a concept that entered the history of literature of the late 19th - early 20th century, in works written by scientists of the cultural-historical school (G. Lanson and others). The features of Classicism were primarily determined from the dramatic theory of the 17th century and from N. Boileau's treatise "Poetic Art" (1674). It was considered as a direction oriented towards ancient art, drawing its ideas from Aristotle's Poetics, and also as embodying the absolutist monarchical ideology. The revision of this concept of Classicism both in foreign and domestic literary criticism falls on the 1950s and 60s: from now on, Classicism began to be interpreted by most scientists not as an “artistic expression of absolutism”, but as “a literary movement that experienced a period of bright heyday in the 17th century, in the years strengthening and triumph of absolutism ”(Vipper Yu.B. On the“ seventeenth century ”as a special era in the history of Western European literatures. The 17th century in world literary development.). The term "Classicism" retained its role even when scientists turned to non-classic, baroque works of literature of the 17th century. In the definition of Classicism, they singled out, first of all, the desire for clarity and accuracy of expression, strict obedience to the rules (the so-called “three unities”), and alignment with ancient samples. The origin and spread of Classicism was associated not only with the strengthening of the absolute monarchy, but also with the emergence and influence of the rationalist philosophy of R. Descartes, with the development of the exact sciences, primarily mathematics. In the first half of the 20th century, Classicism was called the "school of the 1660s" - a period when great writers - Racine, Molière, Lafontaine and Boileau - simultaneously worked in French literature. Gradually, its origins were revealed in the Italian literature of the Renaissance: in the poetics of J. Cintio, J. Ts. Scaliger, L. Castelvetro, in the tragedies of D. Trissino and T. Tasso. The search for an “ordered manner”, the laws of “true art” was found in English (F. Sidney, B. Johnson, J. Milton, J. Dryden, A. Pope, J. Addison), in German (M. Opitz, I. Kh. .Gotsched, I.V. Goethe, F. Schiller), in Italian (G. Chiabrera, V. Alfieri) literature of the 17-18 centuries. A prominent place in European literature was occupied by Russian Classicism of the Enlightenment (A.P. Sumarokov, M.V. Lomonosov, G.R. Derzhavin). All this led researchers to consider it as one of the important components of the artistic life of Europe for several centuries and as one of the two (along with baroque) main trends that laid the foundations of the culture of the New Age.

Durability of Classicism

One of the reasons for the longevity of Classicism was that the writers of this trend considered their work not as a way of subjective, individual self-expression, but as the norm of “true art”, addressed to the universal, unchanging, to “beautiful nature” as a permanent category. The classicist vision of reality, which was formed on the threshold of the New Age, had, like the Baroque, internal drama, but subordinated this drama to the discipline of external manifestations. Ancient literature served for the classicists as an arsenal of images and plots, but they were filled with relevant content. If early, Renaissance Classicism sought to recreate antiquity by imitation, then Classicism of the 17th century enters into competition with ancient literature, sees in it, first of all, an example of the correct use of the eternal laws of art, using which one can be able to surpass ancient authors (see the Dispute about the "ancient" and "new"). Strict selection, ordering, harmony of composition, classification of themes, motives, all the material of reality, which became the object of artistic reflection in the word, were for the writers of Classicism an attempt to artistically overcome the chaos and contradictions of reality, correlated with the didactic function of works of art, with the principle drawn from Horace "to teach entertaining." A favorite collision in the works of Classicism is the clash of duty and feelings, or the struggle of reason and passion. Classicism is characterized by a stoic mood, opposition to chaos and irrationality of reality, one's own passions and affects, a person's ability, if not to overcome them, then to curb, in extreme cases - to both dramatic and analytical awareness (the heroes of Racine's tragedies). Descartes' "I think, therefore I am" plays in the artistic worldview of the characters of Classicism the role of not only a philosophical and intellectual, but also an ethical principle. The hierarchy of ethical and aesthetic values ​​determines the predominant interest of Classicism in moral, psychological and civil topics, dictates the classification of genres, dividing them into “higher” (epic, ode, tragedy) and lower (comedy, satire, fable), the choice for each of these genres specific themes, styles, character systems. Classicism is characterized by the desire to analytically separate the tragic and the comic, the sublime and the low, the beautiful and the ugly, in different works, even artistic worlds. At the same time, turning to low genres, he seeks to ennoble them, for example, to remove coarse burlesque from satire, and farcical features from comedy (Moliere's "high comedy"). The poetry of Classicism strives for a clear expression of significant thought, meaning; it refuses sophistication, metaphorical complexity, and stylistic embellishments. Of particular importance in Classicism are dramatic works and the theater itself, which is able to most organically perform both moralizing and entertaining functions. In the bosom of Classicism, prose genres are also developing - aphorisms (maxims), characters. Although the theory of Classicism refuses to include the novel in the system of genres worthy of serious critical reflection, but in practice the poetics of Classicism had a tangible impact on the popular concept of the novel in the 17th century as an “epopee in prose”, defined the genre parameters of the “little novel”, or “romantic short story” 1660-80s, and “The Princess of Cleves” (1678) by M.M. de Lafayette is considered by many experts as a model of a classic novel.

Theory of Classicism

The theory of Classicism is not limited only to Boileau's poetic treatise "Poetic Art": although its author is rightly considered the legislator of Classicism, he was only one of the many creators of literary treatises in this direction, along with Opitz and Dryden, F.Chaplain and F.d'Aubignac. It develops gradually, experiences its formation in disputes between writers and critics, changes over time. National versions of Classicism also have their differences: French - develops into the most powerful and consistent artistic system, exerts its influence on the Baroque; German - on the contrary, having arisen as a conscious cultural effort to create a "correct" and "perfect" poetic school worthy of other European literatures (Opitz), as if "choked" in the stormy waves of the bloody events of the Thirty Years' War and is drowned out, overlapped by baroque. Although the rules are a way to keep creative imagination, freedom within the boundaries of reason, Classicism understands how important intuitive insight is for a writer, a poet, forgives talent for deviation from the rules if it is appropriate and artistically effective (“The smallest thing to look for in a poet is the ability to subordinate words and syllables to certain laws and write poetry. A poet must be ... a person with a rich imagination, with an inventive fantasy "- Opitz M. A book about German poetry. Literary manifestos). A constant subject of discussion in the theory of Classicism, especially in the second half of the 17th century, is the category of "good taste", which was interpreted not as an individual preference, but as a collective aesthetic norm developed by a "good society". The taste of Classicism prefers verbosity - laconicism, vagueness and complexity of expression - simplicity and clarity, striking, extravagant - decent. Its main law is artistic plausibility, which is fundamentally different from artlessly truthful reflection of life, from historical or private truth. Plausibility portrays things and people as they should be, and is associated with the concept of moral standards, psychological probability, decency. Characters in Classicism are built on the allocation of one dominant feature, which contributes to their transformation into universal universal types. His poetics, in its initial principles, is opposed to the baroque, which does not exclude the interaction of both literary movements not only within the framework of one national literature, but also in the work of the same writer (J. Milton).

In the Age of Enlightenment, the civil and intellectual nature of the conflict in the works of Classicism, its didactic-moralistic pathos, acquires special significance. Enlightenment Classicism even more actively comes into contact with other literary trends of its era, no longer relies on the “rules”, but on the “enlightened taste” of the public, gives rise to various versions of Classicism (“Weimar classicism” by J.W. Goethe and F. Schiller) . Developing the ideas of "true art", Classicism of the 18th century, more than other literary movements, lays the foundations of aesthetics as a science of beauty, which received its development and the terminological designation itself precisely in the Enlightenment. The requirements put forward to Classicism for clarity of style, semantic fullness of images, sense of proportion and norms in the structure and plot of works retain their aesthetic relevance to this day.

The word classic comes from Latin classicus, which means exemplary, first-class.

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The European direction of classicism was based on the ideas of rationalism and the canons of ancient art. It implies strict rules for creating a work of art, which give it conciseness and logic. Attention is paid only to a clear elaboration of the main part, without spraying on the details. The priority goal of this direction is the fulfillment of the social and educational function of art.

The formation of classicism takes place in each united territory, but in different time periods. The need for this direction is felt in the historical period of transition from feudal fragmentation to territorial statehood under absolute monarchy. In Europe, the formation of classicism took place primarily in Italy, but one cannot but note the significant influence of the emerging French and English bourgeoisie.

Classicism in painting

(Giovanni Battista Tiepolo "The Feast of Cleopatra")

In creative searches, sculptors and artists turned to ancient art and transferred its features into their works. This generated a wave of public interest in art. Despite the fact that the views of classicism imply a natural depiction of everything that is presented in the picture, the masters of the Renaissance, like the ancient creators, idealized human figures. The people captured in the paintings are more like sculptures: they “freeze” in eloquent poses, male bodies are athletic, and female figures are exaggeratedly feminine, even in elderly heroes the skin is toned and elastic. This trend, borrowed from the ancient Greek sculptors, is explained by the fact that in ancient times a person was presented as an ideal creation of God without flaws and shortcomings.

(Claude Lorrain "Noon. Rest on the Flight into Egypt")

Ancient mythology also had a significant impact on the formation of style. At the initial stages, it was expressed literally, in the form of mythical plots. Over time, manifestations became more veiled: mythology was represented by ancient buildings, creatures or objects. The later period was marked by a symbolic interpretation of myths: artists conveyed their own thoughts, emotions and moods through individual elements.

(Fyodor Mikhailovich Matveev "View of Rome. Colosseum")

The function of classicism in the bosom of world artistic culture is moral public education, the formation of ethical norms and rules. The regulation of creative laws held a strict hierarchy of genres, each of which contained formal boundaries:

  • Low(still life, landscape, portrait);
  • High(historical, mythological, religious).

(Nicolas Poussin "The Arcadian Shepherds")

The painter Nicolas Poussin is considered to be the founder of the style. His works are built on sublime philosophical subjects. From a technical point of view, the structure of the canvases is harmonious and complemented by rhythmic coloring. Vivid examples of the master's works: "The Finding of Moses", "Rinaldo and Armida", "The Death of Germanicus" and "The Arcadian Shepherds".

(Ivan Petrovich Argunov "Portrait of an unknown woman in a dark blue dress")

In the Russian art of classicism, portrait images predominate. Admirers of this style are A. Agrunov, A. Antropov, D. Levitsky, O. Kiprensky, F. Rokotov.

Classicism in architecture

The fundamental features of the style are the clarity of lines, clear, uncomplicated forms, and the lack of an abundance of details. Classicism sought to rationally use every square meter of space. Over time, the style has been influenced by different cultures and worldviews of masters from all over Europe. In the architecture of classicism, the following areas are distinguished:

  • Palladianism

The initial form of manifestation of classicism, the founder of which is the architect Andrea Palladio. In the absolute symmetry of the buildings, the spirit of the architecture of Ancient Greece and Rome is guessed;

  • empire

The direction of high (late) classicism, whose birthplace is considered to be France during the reign of Napoleon I. The royal style combines theatricality and classical elements (columns, stucco, pilasters), arranged in accordance with clear rules and perspective;

  • neo-Greek

"Return" of ancient Greek images with features of the Italian Renaissance in the 1820s. The founders of the direction are Henri Labrust and Leo von Klenze. The uniqueness lies in the detailed reproduction of the classics on the parliament buildings, museums, temples;

  • regency style

In 1810-1830. developed a style that combines classical trends with French design. Particular attention is paid to the decoration of facades: geometrically correct patterns and ornaments of the walls are complemented by decorated window openings. The emphasis is on the decorative elements framing the front door.

(Stupinigi is a country residence of the monarchs of the House of Savoy, province of Turin, Italy)

The main features of classicism in architecture:

  • Majestic simplicity;
  • The minimum number of parts;
  • Conciseness and rigor of both external and internal decoration of buildings;
  • Soft color palette, which is dominated by milky, beige, light gray shades;
  • High ceilings decorated with stucco;
  • The interior included items exclusively carrying a functional purpose;
  • Of the decor elements, royal columns, arches, exquisite stained-glass windows, openwork railings, lamps, carved fireplace grates, light curtains made of plain materials were used.

(Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow)

Classicism is recognized as one of the most common styles throughout the world. In Europe, the vector of development of this direction was influenced by the works of the masters Palladio and Scamozzi. And in France, the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot was the author of the basic structural solutions for the style. Germany acquired several administrative buildings in the classical style thanks to the masters Leo von Klenze and Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Andrey Zakharov, Andrey Voronikhin and Karl Rossi made an invaluable contribution to the development of this trend in Russia.

Conclusion

The era of classicism left behind many magnificent creations of artists and architects, which can be seen throughout Europe to this day. The most ambitious projects of the late 17th and early 19th centuries took place under the auspices of classicism: city parks, resorts and even new cities were rebuilt. By the 20s of the 19th century, the strict style was diluted with elements of luxurious baroque and renaissance.



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