Filippo Brunellesco. 1377 - 1446. The house of the orphanage (hospital) - Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence. 1421-44.
Brunellesco. Pazzi Chapel in Florence. Started in 1429.
Leon Battista Alberti. 1404 - 1472.
The central figure of the Renaissance along with Brunellesco.
Palazzo Rucellai in Florence. 1446-51.
Alberti. Facade of the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. 1456-70.
Sculpture in Florence
Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betty Bardi). 1386 - 1466.He was at the head of the masters who laid the foundation for the flowering of the Renaissance.
In the art of his time he acted as a true innovator:
The images he created are the first embodiment of the humanistic ideal of a comprehensively developed personality.
Based on a careful study of nature.
Skillfully used the ancient heritage.
The first of the masters of the Renaissance managed to solve the problem of a stable setting of the figure.
He revived the image of nudity in statuary plastic.
He cast the first bronze monument.
He was the first to try to solve the free-standing group problem.
He took part in the decoration of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore:
marble statue of David.
Lorenzo Ghiberti. 1378 - 1455.
Eastern doors of the Baptistery in Florence. 1425-52. Gilded bronze.
Ghiberti.
History of Joseph.
Ghiberti. East doors of the Baptistery in Florence. Noah and the Flood. 1425-52. Fragment.
Andrea Verrocchio (Verrocchio).
1435 - 1488. David. Bronze. 1476.
Painting of Florence
Following the sculpture, there was a turning point in painting.Masaccio. 1401 - 1428.
Saint Peter healing the sick with his shadow. 1425-26.
Fra Filippo Lippi. 1406 - 1469.
Poliolo, Antonio. 1429 - 1493. Hercules and Antaeus.
Andrea Mantegna. 1431 - 1506. Dead Christ. 1490.
Mantegna. Lodovico Gonzago, Duke of Mantua with his family. Camera degli Sposi. Fragment of the northern wall. 1471-74.
At the beginning of the 15th century, there were huge changes in life and culture in Italy. Since the 12th century, the townspeople, merchants and artisans of Italy have waged a heroic struggle against feudal dependence. Developing trade and production, the townspeople gradually got richer, threw off the power of the feudal lords and organized free city-states. These free Italian cities became very powerful. Their citizens were proud of their conquests. The enormous wealth of the independent Italian cities caused them to flourish. The Italian bourgeoisie looked at the world with different eyes, they firmly believed in themselves, in their own strength. They were alien to the desire for suffering, humility, the rejection of all earthly joys that have been preached to them so far. The respect for the earthly person who enjoys the joys of life grew. People began to take an active attitude to life, eagerly explore the world, admire its beauty. During this period, various sciences are born, art develops.
In Italy, many monuments of art have been preserved ancient rome, therefore, the ancient era was again revered as a model, ancient art became an object of admiration. Imitation of antiquity and gave reason to call this period in art - rebirth which means in French "Renaissance". Of course, this was not a blind, exact repetition. ancient art, it was already a new art, but based on antique samples. The Italian Renaissance is divided into 3 stages: VIII - XIV centuries - Pre-Renaissance (Proto-Renaissance or Trecento- with it.); XV century - early Renaissance (Quattrocento); late 15th - early 16th century - high renaissance.
Throughout Italy there were archaeological excavations looking for ancient monuments. The newly discovered statues, coins, utensils, weapons were carefully preserved and collected in museums specially created for this purpose. Artists studied on these samples of antiquity, drew them from life.
Trecento (Pre-Renaissance)
The true beginning of the Renaissance is associated with the name Giotto di Bondone (1266? - 1337). He is considered the founder of Renaissance painting. The Florentine Giotto has made great contributions to the history of art. He was the renewer, the ancestor of all European painting after the Middle Ages. Giotto breathed life into gospel scenes, created images real people, spiritualized, but earthly.
Giotto for the first time creates volumes with the help of chiaroscuro. He loves clean light colors cold shades: pink, pearl gray, pale purple and light purple. The people in the frescoes of Giotto are stocky, with a heavy tread. They have large features faces, wide cheekbones, narrow eyes. His man is kind, considerate, serious.
Of the works of Giotto, the frescoes in the temples of Padua are best preserved. He presented the gospel stories here as existing, earthly, real. In these works, he tells about the problems that concern people at all times: about kindness and mutual understanding, deceit and betrayal, about depth, sorrow, meekness, humility and eternal all-consuming maternal love.
Instead of disjointed individual figures, as in medieval painting, Giotto managed to create coherent story, a whole story about the complex inner life heroes. Instead of the conventional golden background of the Byzantine mosaics, Giotto introduces a landscape background. And if in Byzantine painting the figures, as it were, hovered, hung in space, then the heroes of Giotto's frescoes found solid ground under their feet. Giotto's search for the transfer of space, the plasticity of figures, the expressiveness of movement made his art a whole stage in the Renaissance.
One of famous masters pre-revival -
Simone Martini (1284 - 1344).
In his painting, the features of northern Gothic were preserved: Martini's figures are elongated, and, as a rule, on a golden background. But Martini creates images with the help of chiaroscuro, gives them a natural movement, tries to convey a certain psychological state.
Quattrocento (early Renaissance)
Antiquity played a huge role in the formation of the secular culture of the early Renaissance. The Platonic Academy opens in Florence, the Laurentian library contains the richest collection of ancient manuscripts. The first art museums filled with statues, rubble ancient architecture, marbles, coins, ceramics. During the Renaissance, the main centers emerged artistic life Italy - Florence, Rome, Venice.
One of major centers Florence was the birthplace of the new, realistic art. In the 15th century, many famous masters of the Renaissance lived, studied and worked there.
Early Renaissance architecture
The inhabitants of Florence had a high artistic culture, they actively participated in the creation of city monuments, and discussed options for the construction of beautiful buildings. Architects abandoned everything that resembled Gothic. Under the influence of antiquity, buildings crowned with a dome began to be considered the most perfect. The model here was the Roman Pantheon.
Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, a city-museum. It has preserved its architecture from antiquity almost intact, its most beautiful buildings were mostly built during the Renaissance. Above the red brick roofs of the ancient buildings of Florence rises the huge building of the city's cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, which is often referred to simply as Florence Cathedral. Its height reaches 107 meters. A magnificent dome, the harmony of which is emphasized by white stone ribs, crowns the cathedral. The dome is striking in size (its diameter is 43 m), it crowns the entire panorama of the city. The cathedral is visible from almost every street in Florence, clearly looming against the sky. This magnificent structure was built by the architect
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446).
The most magnificent and famous domed building of the Renaissance was St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It was built over 100 years. The creators of the original project were architects Bramante and Michelangelo.
Renaissance buildings are decorated with columns, pilasters, lion heads and "putti"(naked babies), plaster wreaths of flowers and fruits, leaves and many details, samples of which were found in the ruins of ancient Roman buildings. Back in fashion semicircular arch. Wealthy people began to build more beautiful and more comfortable houses. Instead of closely pressed to each other houses appeared luxurious palaces - palazzo.
Sculpture of the early Renaissance
In the 15th century, two famous sculptor -Donatello and Verrocchio.Donatello (1386? - 1466)- one of the first sculptors in Italy, who used the experience of ancient art. He created one of the finest works of the early Renaissance, the statue of David.
According to biblical legend, a simple shepherd, the young man David defeated the giant Goliath, and thereby saved the inhabitants of Judea from enslavement and later became king. David was one of the favorite images of the Renaissance. He is depicted by the sculptor not as a humble saint from the Bible, but as young hero, winner, defender of the native city. In his sculpture, Donatello sings of man as the ideal of a beautiful heroic personality that arose in the Renaissance. David is crowned with the laurel wreath of the winner. Donatello was not afraid to introduce such a detail as a shepherd's hat - a sign of his simple origin. In the Middle Ages, the church forbade depicting a naked body, considering it a vessel of evil. Donatello was the first master who bravely violated this prohibition. He asserts by this that the human body is beautiful. The statue of David is the first round sculpture in that era.
Another beautiful sculpture by Donatello is also known - a statue of a warrior , commander of Gattamelata. It was the first equestrian monument of the Renaissance. Created 500 years ago, this monument still stands on a high pedestal, decorating the square in the city of Padua. For the first time in sculpture, not a god, not a saint, not a noble and rich man was immortalized, but a noble, brave and formidable warrior with great soul who earned fame for great deeds. Dressed in antique armor, Gattemelata (this is his nickname, meaning "spotted cat") sits on a mighty horse in a calm, majestic pose. The features of the warrior's face emphasize a decisive, firm character.
Andrea Verrocchio (1436 -1488)
The most famous student of Donatello, who created the famous equestrian monument to the condottiere Colleoni, which was placed in Venice on the square near the church of San Giovanni. The main thing that strikes in the monument is the joint energetic movement of the horse and rider. The horse, as it were, rushes beyond the marble pedestal on which the monument is erected. Colleoni, standing up in the stirrups, stretched out, raising his head high, peers into the distance. A grimace of anger and tension froze on his face. In his posture, one feels a huge will, his face resembles a bird of prey. The image is filled with indestructible strength, energy, harsh authority.
Early Renaissance painting
The Renaissance also updated the art of painting. Painters have learned to correctly convey space, light and shadow, natural poses, various human feelings. It was the early Renaissance that was the time of accumulation of this knowledge and skills. The paintings of that time are imbued with light and high spirits. The background is often written in light colors, and buildings and natural motifs are outlined by sharp lines, pure colors predominate. With naive diligence, all the details of the event are depicted, the characters are most often lined up and separated from the background by clear contours.
The painting of the early Renaissance only strived for perfection, however, thanks to its sincerity, it touches the soul of the viewer.
Tommaso di Giovanni di Simone Cassai Guidi, Known by the name Masaccio (1401 - 1428)
He is considered a follower of Giotto and the first master of painting of the early Renaissance. Masaccio lived only 28 years, but for his such short life left a mark in art, which is difficult to overestimate. He managed to complete the revolutionary transformations in painting begun by Giotto. His painting is distinguished by a dark and deep color. The people in the frescoes of Masaccio are much denser and more powerful than in the paintings of the Gothic era.
Masaccio was the first to correctly arrange objects in space, taking into account perspective; he began to depict people according to the laws of anatomy.
He knew how to link figures and landscape into a single action, to convey the life of nature and people in a dramatic and at the same time quite natural way - and this is the great merit of the painter.
This is one of the few easel easel works Masaccio commissioned to him in 1426 for the chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Pisa.
The Madonna sits on a throne built strictly according to the laws of Giotto's perspective. Her figure is written with confident and clear strokes, which creates the impression of a sculptural volume. Her face is calm and sad, her detached gaze is directed nowhere. Wrapped in a dark blue cloak, the Virgin Mary holds the Infant in her arms, whose golden figure stands out sharply against a dark background. The deep folds of the cloak allow the artist to play with chiaroscuro, which also creates a special visual effect. The baby eats black grapes - a symbol of communion. The impeccably drawn angels (the artist knew the human anatomy perfectly) surrounding the Madonna give the picture an additional emotional sound.
The only sash painted by Masaccio for a double-sided triptych. After early death painter, the rest of the work, commissioned by Pope Martin V for the church of Santa Maria in Rome, was completed by the artist Masolino. It depicts two strict, monumentally executed figures of saints dressed in all red. Jerome is holding open book and a model of the basilica, at his feet lies a lion. John the Baptist is depicted in his usual form: he is barefoot and holds a cross in his hand. Both figures impress with anatomical precision and an almost sculptural sense of volume.
Interest in a person, admiration for his beauty were so great in the Renaissance that this led to the emergence of a new genre in painting - the portrait genre.
Pinturicchio (variant of Pinturicchio) (1454 - 1513) (Bernardino di Betto di Biagio)
A native of Perugia in Italy. For some time he painted miniatures, helped Pietro Perugino decorate the Sistine Chapel in Rome with frescoes. Gained experience in the most complex form of decorative and monumental wall painting. A few years later, Pinturicchio became an independent muralist. He worked on frescoes in the Borgia apartments in the Vatican. He made wall paintings in the library of the cathedral in Siena.
The artist not only conveys a portrait resemblance, but seeks to reveal internal state person. Before us is a teenage boy dressed in a strict dress of a city dweller. Pink colour, on the head a small blue cap. Brown hair falls to the shoulders, framing a delicate face, the attentive look of brown eyes is thoughtful, a little anxious. Behind the boy is an Umbrian landscape with thin trees, a silvery river, a sky turning pink on the horizon. The spring tenderness of nature, as an echo of the character of the hero, is in harmony with the poetry and charm of the hero.
The image of the boy is given in the foreground, large and occupies almost the entire plane of the picture, and the landscape is painted in the background and very small. This creates the impression of the significance of man, his dominance over the surrounding nature, asserts that man is the most beautiful creation on earth.
Here is presented the solemn departure of Cardinal Kapranik to the Basel Cathedral, which lasted almost 18 years, from 1431 to 1449, first in Basel, and then in Lausanne. The young Piccolomini was also in the retinue of the cardinal. In an elegant frame of a semicircular arch, a group of horsemen is presented, accompanied by pages and servants. The event is not so real and reliable, but chivalrously refined, almost fantastic. In the foreground, a beautiful rider on a white horse, in a luxurious dress and hat, turning his head, looks at the viewer - this is Aeneas Silvio. With pleasure the artist writes rich clothes, beautiful horses in velvet blankets. The elongated proportions of the figures, slightly mannered movements, slight tilts of the head are close to the court ideal. The life of Pope Pius II was full of bright events, and Pinturicchio spoke about the meetings of the Pope with the King of Scotland, with Emperor Frederick III.
Filippo Lippi (1406 - 1469)
There were legends about Lippi's life. He himself was a monk, but left the monastery, became a wandering artist, kidnapped a nun from the monastery and died poisoned by the relatives of a young woman, whom he fell in love with at an advanced age.
He painted images of the Madonna and Child, filled with living human feelings and experiences. In his paintings, he depicted many details: household items, environment, so his religious subjects were similar to secular paintings.
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 - 1494)
He painted not only religious subjects, but also scenes from the life of the Florentine nobility, their wealth and luxury, portraits of noble people.
Before us is the wife of a wealthy Florentine, a friend of the artist. In this not very beautiful, luxuriously dressed young woman, the artist expressed calmness, a moment of stillness and silence. The expression on the woman's face is cold, indifferent to everything, it seems that she foresees her imminent death: soon after painting the portrait, she will die. The woman is depicted in profile, which is typical for many portraits of that time.
Piero della Francesca (1415/1416 - 1492)
One of the most important names in Italian painting 15th century. He completed numerous transformations in the methods of constructing the perspective of a picturesque space.
The picture is painted on a poplar board with egg tempera - obviously, by this time the artist had not yet mastered the secrets oil painting, in the technique of which his later works will be written.
The artist captured the manifestation of the mystery of the Holy Trinity at the time of the Baptism of Christ. The white dove, spreading its wings over the head of Christ, symbolizes the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Savior. Figures of Christ, John the Baptist and standing nearby with them the angels are written in a restrained color scheme.
His frescoes are solemn, sublime and majestic. Francesca believed in the high destiny of man and in his works people always do wonderful things. He used subtle, gentle transitions of colors. Francesca was the first to paint en plein air (in the air).
Federal Agency for Education
St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Department of History
Discipline: Culturology
Titans and masterpieces of Renaissance culture
Group 1 student ES 2
E. Yu. Nalivko
Supervisor:
to. and. n., teacher
I. Yu. Lapina
Saint Petersburg
Introduction…………………………………………………………3
The art of the early Renaissance………………………..4
High Renaissance period…………………………….5
Sandro Botticelli……………………………………….5
Leonardo Da Vinci…………………………………………7
Michelangelo Buonarroti …….………………………10
Raffaello Santi…………....…………………………….13
Conclusion……………………………………………………..15
List of used literature……………………....16
Introduction
Renaissance - important period in world culture. Initially a new phenomenon in European cultural life looked like a return to the forgotten achievements of ancient culture in the field of science, philosophy, literature. The phenomenon of the Renaissance lies in the fact that the ancient heritage has become a weapon for the overthrow of church canons and prohibitions. In essence, we must talk about a grandiose cultural revolution that lasted two and a half centuries and ended with the creation of a new type of worldview and a new type of culture. Nothing like this was observed outside the European region at that time. Therefore, this topic aroused my great interest and desire to analyze this period in more detail.
In my essay, I want to focus on such prominent people like Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raffaello Santi. It was they who became the most prominent representatives of the main stages of the Italian Renaissance.
1. The Art of the Early Renaissance
In the first decades of the 15th century, a decisive turning point took place in the art of Italy. The emergence of a powerful center of the Renaissance in Florence led to the renewal of the entire Italian artistic culture.
The work of Donatello, Masaccio and their associates marks the victory of Renaissance realism, which differed significantly from the "realism of details" that was characteristic of the gothic art of the late trecento. The works of these masters are imbued with the ideals of humanism. They glorify and glorify a person, raise him above the level of everyday life.
In their struggle with the Gothic tradition, the artists of the early Renaissance sought support in antiquity and the art of the Proto-Renaissance. What the masters of the Proto-Renaissance searched for only intuitively, by touch, is now based on accurate knowledge.
Italian art of the 15th century is distinguished by great diversity. The new art, which won at the beginning of the 15th century in advanced Florence, did not immediately receive recognition and distribution in other areas of the country. While Bruneleschi, Masaccio, Donatello worked in Florence, the traditions of Byzantine and Gothic art were still alive in northern Italy, only gradually being replaced by the Renaissance.
Florence was the main center of the early Renaissance. The Florentine culture of the first half and the middle of the 15th century is varied and rich. Since 1439, since the ecumenical church council held in Florence, to which the Byzantine emperor John Palaiologos and the patriarch of Constantinople arrived, accompanied by a magnificent retinue, and especially after the fall of Byzantium in 1453, when many scientists who had fled from the East found refuge in Florence, this city becomes one of the main centers in Italy for the study of the Greek language, as well as literature and philosophy Ancient Greece. And yet the leading role in the cultural life of Florence in the first half and the middle of the 15th century undoubtedly belonged to art. 1
2. The period of the High Renaissance
This period of time represents the apogee of the Renaissance. It was a short period, lasting about 30 years, but quantitatively and qualitatively, this period of time is like centuries. Art High Renaissance is a summation of the achievements of the 15th century, but at the same time it is a new qualitative leap, both in the theory of art and in its implementation. The unusual "densification" of this period can be explained by the fact that the number of simultaneously (in one historical period) working brilliant artists is a kind of record even for the entire history of art. Suffice it to name such names as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo.
3. Sandro Botticelli
The name of Sandro Botticelli is known throughout the world as the name of one of the most remarkable artists of the Italian Renaissance.
Sandro Botticelli was born in 1444 (or in 1445) in the family of a tanner, Florentine citizen Mariano Filippepi. Sandro was the youngest, the fourth son of Philippepi. Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about where and when Sandro was trained as an artist and whether, as old sources say, he really first studied jewelry, and then began to paint. In 1470, he already had his own workshop and independently carried out the received orders.
The charm of Botticelli's art always remains a little mysterious. His works evoke a feeling that the works of other masters do not evoke.
Botticelli was inferior to many artists of the 15th century, some in courageous energy, others in true authenticity of details. His images (with very rare exceptions) are devoid of monumentality and drama, their exaggeratedly fragile forms are always a little arbitrary. But like no other painter of the 15th century, Botticelli was endowed with the ability for the finest poetic understanding of life. For the first time, he was able to convey the subtle nuances of human experiences. Joyful excitement is replaced in his paintings by melancholic reverie, outbursts of fun - aching melancholy, calm contemplation - uncontrollable passion.
The new direction of Botticelli's art receives its extreme expression in the last period of his activity, in the works of the 1490s and early 1500s. Here the devices of exaggeration and dissonance become almost unbearable (for example, the "Miracle of St. Zenobius"). The artist then plunges into the abyss of hopeless sorrow (“Pieta”), then surrenders to enlightened exaltation (“Communion of St. Jerome”). His pictorial manner is simplified almost to icon-painting conventions, distinguished by some kind of naive tongue-tiedness. Plane linear rhythm completely obeys both the drawing, brought to the limit in its simplicity, and color with its sharp contrasts of local colors. The images, as it were, lose their real, earthly shell, acting as mystical symbols. And yet in this, through and through religious art the human principle is forcing its way with great force. Never before has an artist invested so much personal feeling in his works, never before have his images had such a high moral significance.
With the death of Botticelli, the history of Florentine painting of the Early Renaissance ends - this true spring of Italian artistic culture. A contemporary of Leonardo, Michelangelo and the young Raphael, Botticelli remained alien to their classical ideals. As an artist, he belonged entirely to the 15th century and had no direct successors in High Renaissance painting. However, his art did not die with him. That was the first attempt to reveal the spiritual world of a person, a timid attempt and ending tragically, but through generations and centuries it received its infinitely multifaceted reflection in the work of other masters.
The art of Botticelli is a poetic confession of a great artist that excites and will always excite the hearts of people. 2
4. Leonardo Da Vinci
In the history of mankind it is not easy to find another person as brilliant as the founder of the art of the High Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The comprehensive nature of the activities of this great artist and scientist became clear only when the scattered manuscripts from his legacy were examined. Colossal literature is dedicated to Leonardo, his life has been studied in detail. And, nevertheless, much in his work remains mysterious and continues to excite the minds of people.
Leonardo da Vinci was born in the village of Anchiano near Vinci: not far from Florence. He was illegitimate son a prosperous notary and a simple peasant woman. Noticing the boy's extraordinary ability in painting, his father gave him to the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio. In the picture of the teacher “The Baptism of Christ”, the figure of a spiritualized blond angel belongs to the brush of the young Leonardo.
Among his early works is Madonna with a Flower (1472), painted in oil painting, then rare in Italy.
Around 1482, Leonardo entered the service of the Duke of Milan, Lodovico Moro. The master recommended himself, first of all, as a military engineer, architect, specialist in the field of hydraulic engineering, and only then as a painter and sculptor. However, the first Milan period of Leonardo's creativity (1482-1499) turned out to be the most fruitful. The master became the most famous artist in Italy, studied architecture and sculpture, turned to fresco and altar painting.
The picturesque paintings of Leonardo of the Milan period have survived to our time. The first altarpiece of the High Renaissance was Madonna in the Grotto (1483-1494). The painter departed from the traditions of the fifteenth century: in the religious paintings of which solemn stiffness prevailed. There are few figures in Leonardo's altarpiece: the feminine Mary, the Infant Christ blessing little John the Baptist, and a kneeling angel, as if looking out of the picture. The images are perfectly beautiful, naturally connected with their environment. This is a kind of grotto among dark basalt rocks with a gap in the depths - a landscape typical of Leonardo as a whole is fantastically mysterious. Figures and faces are shrouded in an airy haze, giving them a special softness. The Italians called this technique Deonardo sfumato.
In Milan, apparently, the master created the canvas "Madonna and Child" ("Madonna Lita"). Here, in contrast to the Madonna with a Flower, he strove for a greater generalization of the ideality of the image. Not a certain moment is depicted, but a certain long-term state of peace of joy in which a young beautiful woman is immersed. Cold clear light illuminates her subtle soft face with a half-lowered gaze and a slight, barely perceptible smile. The picture is painted in tempera, giving sonority to the tones of Mary's blue cloak and red dress. The fluffy dark golden curly hair of the Infant is amazingly painted, his attentive gaze directed at the viewer is not childishly serious.
When Milan was taken by French troops in 1499, Leonardo left the city. The time for his wanderings has begun. For some time he worked in Florence. There, Leonardo's work seemed to be illuminated by a bright flash: he painted a portrait of Mona Lisa, the wife of the wealthy Florentine Francesco di Giocondo (circa 1503). The portrait is known as the "Gioconda", has become one of the most famous works of world painting.
A small portrait of a young woman, shrouded in an airy haze, sitting against the backdrop of a bluish-green landscape, is full of such lively and tender trembling that, according to Vasari, one can see the pulse beating in the deepening of Mona Lisa's neck. It would seem that the picture is easy to understand. Meanwhile, in the extensive literature dedicated to the Mona Lisa, the most opposite interpretations of the image created by Leonardo collide.
In the last years of his life, Leonardo da Vinci worked little as an artist. Having received an invitation from the French king Francis 1, he left for France in 1517 and became a court painter. Soon Leonardo died. In the self-portrait - drawing (1510-1515), the gray-bearded patriarch with a deep mournful look looked much older than his age.
The scale and uniqueness of Leonardo's talent can be judged by his drawings, which occupy one of the places of honor in the history of art. Not only manuscripts devoted to the exact sciences, but also works on the theory of art are inextricably linked with drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, sketches, sketches, and diagrams. A lot of space is given to the problems of chiaroscuro, volumetric modeling, linear and aerial perspective. Leonardo da Vinci owns numerous discoveries, projects and experimental studies in mathematics, mechanics, and other natural sciences.
The art of Leonardo da Vinci, his scientific and theoretical research, the uniqueness of his personality have gone through the entire history of world culture and science and have had a huge impact. 3
5 Michelangelo Buonarroti
Among the demigods and titans of the High Renaissance, Michelangelo occupies a special place. As a creator of new art, he deserves the name Prometheus of the 16th century
The beautiful marble statue, known as the Pieta, remains to this day a monument to the first stay in Rome and the full maturity of the 24th summer artist. The Holy Virgin sits on a stone, on her lap rests the lifeless body of Jesus, taken down from the cross. She supports him with her hand. Under the influence of ancient works, Michelangelo discarded all the traditions of the Middle Ages in the depiction of religious subjects. He gave harmony and beauty to the body of Christ and to the whole work. It was not the death of Jesus that was supposed to evoke horror, but only a feeling of reverent surprise towards the great sufferer. The beauty of the naked body benefits greatly from the effect of light and shadow produced by the artfully arranged folds of Mary's dress. In the face of Jesus, depicted by the artist, they even found similarities with Savonarola. The eternal covenant of struggle and protest, eternal monument hidden suffering of the artist himself remained Pieta.
Michelangelo returned to Florence in 1501, at a difficult moment for the city, where from a huge block of Carrara marble, which was intended for a colossal statue of the biblical David to decorate the dome of the cathedral, he decided to create an integral and perfect work, without reducing its size, and it was David. In 1503, on May 18, the statue was installed on the Piazza Senoria, where it stood for more than 350 years.
In the long and bleak life of Michelangelo, there was only one period when happiness smiled at him - this is when he worked for Pope Julius ll. Michelangelo, in his own way, loved this rude warrior dad, who had not at all papal sharp manners. The tomb of Pope Julius did not turn out as magnificent as Michelangelo intended it to be. Instead of the Cathedral of St. Peter, she was placed in a small church of St. Peter, where she did not even enter in its entirety, and its individual parts dispersed along different places. But even in this form, it is rightfully one of the most famous creations of the Renaissance. Its central figure is the biblical Moses, the liberator of his people from Egyptian captivity (the artist hoped that Julius would free Italy from the conquerors). All-consuming passion, inhuman strength strain the powerful body of the hero, his face reflects will and determination, a passionate thirst for action, his gaze is directed towards the promised land. In Olympian majesty sits a demigod. One of his hands rests powerfully on a stone tablet on his knees, the other rests here with a carelessness worthy of a man who needs only a movement of his eyebrows to make everyone obey. As the poet said, "before such an idol the Jewish people had the right to prostrate themselves in prayer." According to contemporaries, Michelangelo's "Moses" actually saw God.
At the request of Pope Julius, Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican with frescoes depicting the creation of the world. His paintings are dominated by lines and bodies. 20 years later, on one of the walls of the same chapel, Michelangelo painted a fresco " Last Judgment"- a stunning vision of the appearance at the Last Judgment of Christ, at the wave of whose hand sinners fall into the hellish abyss. The muscular, Herculean giant does not look like the biblical Christ who sacrificed himself for the good of mankind, but the personification of the retribution of ancient mythology, the fresco reveals the terrible abyss of a desperate soul, the soul of Michelangelo.
In the works of Michelangelo, the pain caused by the tragedy of Italy is expressed, merged with pain about his own sad fate. Beauty, which is not mixed with suffering and misfortune, Michelangelo found in architecture. Michelangelo took over the construction of St. Peter's after Bramante's death. A worthy successor to Bramante, he created a dome and to this day is unsurpassed in either size or grandeur,
Michelangelo had no pupils, no so-called school. But there was a whole world created by him. 4
6. Rafael
The work of Raphael Santi is one of those phenomena of European culture that are not only covered with world fame, but have also gained special significance - the highest landmarks in the spiritual life of mankind. For five centuries, his art has been perceived as one of the examples of aesthetic perfection.
The genius of Raphael was revealed in painting, graphics, architecture. The works of Raphael are the most complete, vivid expression of the classical line, the classical beginning in the art of the High Renaissance (Appendix 3). Raphael created a "universal image" of a beautiful person, perfect physically and spiritually, embodied the idea of the harmonious beauty of being.
Raphael (more precisely, Raffaello Santi) was born on April 6, 1483 in the city of Urbino. He received his first painting lessons from his father, Giovanni Santi. When Raphael was 11 years old, Giovanni Santi died and the boy was left an orphan (he lost the boy 3 years before the death of his father). Apparently, over the next 5-6 years, he studied painting with Evangelista di Piandimeleto and Timoteo Viti, minor provincial masters.
The first works of Raphael known to us were performed around 1500 - 1502, when he was 17-19 years old. These are miniature-sized compositions “Three Graces”, “Dream of a Knight”. These simple-hearted, still student-timid things are marked by subtle poetry and sincerity of feeling. From the very first steps of creativity, Raphael's talent is revealed in all its originality, his own artistic theme is outlined.
The best works of the early period include the Conestabile Madonna. Compositions depicting the Madonna and Child brought Raphael wide fame and popularity. The fragile, meek, dreamy Madonnas of the Umbrian period were replaced by more earthly, full-blooded images, their inner world became more complex, rich in emotional shades. Raphael created a new type of depiction of the Madonna and Child - monumental, strict and lyrical at the same time, gave this topic an unprecedented significance.
He glorified the earthly existence of man, the harmony of spiritual and physical forces in the paintings of the stanzas (rooms) of the Vatican (1509-1517), achieving an impeccable sense of proportion, rhythm, proportions, harmony of color, unity of figures and the majesty of architectural backgrounds. There are many images of the Mother of God ("Sistine Madonna", 1515-19), artistic ensembles in the murals of the Villa Farnesina (1514-18) and the loggias of the Vatican (1519, with students). In portraits, he creates the ideal image of a Renaissance man (Baldassare Castiglione, 1515). Designed the Cathedral of St. Peter, built the Chigi Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo (1512-20) in Rome.
Raphael's painting, its style, its aesthetic principles reflected the worldview of the era. By the third decade of the 16th century, the cultural and spiritual situation in Italy had changed. Historical reality destroyed the illusions of Renaissance humanism. The revival was coming to an end. 5
Conclusion
During the Renaissance, interest in the art of ancient Greece and Rome arose, which prompted Europe to change, which marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the new time. This period was not only a time of “revival” of the ancient past, it was a time of discoveries and research, a time of new ideas. Classical examples inspired new thinking, emphasizing the human personality, the development and manifestation of abilities, and not their limitations, which was characteristic of the Middle Ages. Training and Scientific research were no longer exclusively the work of the church. New schools and universities arose, natural science and medical experiments were carried out. Artists and sculptors strove in their work for naturalness, for a realistic recreation of the world and man. Classical statues and human anatomy were studied. Artists began to use perspective, abandoning the planar image. The objects of art were the human body, classical and modern subjects, as well as religious themes. Capitalist relations were emerging in Italy, and diplomacy began to be used as a tool in relations between city-states. Scientific and technological discoveries, such as the invention of the printing press, contributed to the spread of new ideas. Gradually, new ideas took possession of the whole of Europe.
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Freed from the religious and mystical content that binds it, painting turns to life, to real images of reality, to man. Along with the images of Christian mythology and antiquity that retain their significance, living people, the heroes of our time, are now the object of the artists' depiction. Overcoming the Gothic abstraction of images, developing the best features of Giotto's painting, the artists of the 15th century embark on wide way realism. Monumental fresco painting is experiencing an unprecedented flourishing.
Masaccio. The reformer of painting, who played the same role as in the development of Brunelleschi's architecture, and in sculpture - Donatello, was the Florentine Masaccio, who lived only 27 years (1401-1428), who created a cycle of frescoes that served as a model for several generations of Italian artists, in which they found continuation of the search for a generalized heroic image of a person, a truthful transmission of the world around him. Following the tradition of Giotto, the artist Masaccio focuses on the image of a person, enhancing his harsh energy and activity, civic humanism. Masaccio takes a decisive step in uniting figure and landscape, for the first time he introduces aerial perspective. In the frescoes of Masaccio, the shallow area - the scene in the paintings of Giotto - is replaced by an image of a real deep space; plastic light and shade modeling of figures becomes more convincing and richer, their construction is stronger, their characteristics are more diverse. And besides, Masaccio retains the enormous moral power of images, which captivates in the art of Giotto.
The main work of Masaccio are the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, which depict episodes from the legends of St. Peter and two biblical scenes - "The Fall" and "Expulsion from Paradise".
Among the indisputable works of Masaccio is the fresco "Expulsion from Paradise". Against the background of a sparingly outlined landscape, the figures of Adam and Eve emerging from the gates of paradise are clearly visible, above which an angel with a sword soars in the sky. This fresco presents a striking contrast to the painting of the late trecento, the traditions of which still dominated Florence at the time of its creation. Rejecting the heap of figures and objects, and petty detailing, Masaccio focuses on the dramatic content of the plot, staging and plastic modeling of the figures. For the first time in the history of Renaissance painting, Masaccio was able to convincingly sculpt a naked body, give it correct proportions, firmly and steadily put on the ground, where for the first time in Renaissance painting, nude figures are depicted, powerfully modeled by side light. He especially succeeded in the figure of Adam walking widely, bowing his head in shame and covering his face with his hands. The upturned head of the weeping Eve with sunken eyes and a dark spot of a wide-open mouth is written surprisingly boldly and in a generalized way.
A somewhat different impression is produced by the pair fresco "The Fall". True, and here general idea differs in laconicism, figures are molded plastically. However, the action develops here sluggishly and is completely devoid of the internal tension usually inherent in the works of Masaccio, the figures are not set as confidently as in The Expulsion from Paradise, and give the impression of static. It is possible that this fresco was executed by Masolino, who imitated the works of his more advanced and gifted younger brother.
The frescoes by Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel are imbued with sober rationalism. Talking about the miracles performed by St. Peter, Masaccio deprives the scenes he depicts of any shade of mysticism. His Christ, Peter and the apostles are earthly people, their faces are individualized and marked with the stamp of human feelings, their actions are dictated by natural human impulses. Therefore, the miracles performed by them are perceived as the result of the effort of the will of man, and not the intervention of divine providence.
Masaccio's compositions are distinguished by a clear development of the action. In the fresco "The Miracle with a Tax", the central place is occupied by the initial moment of history, when Christ and his disciples were stopped at the gates of the city by a tax collector who demanded payment of money for entry. Within this group, there are three main actors a - Christ, Peter and the tax collector. The collector was painted by the artist from the back, standing firmly on the ground, blocking the path of Christ and the apostles. This is the epitome of brute force. He is opposed by Christ, calm and majestic. Pointing to the river flowing near, he orders Peter to get a coin from the fish's mouth to pay taxes. The very moment of the miracle is relegated by the artist to the background. On the left in the depths, squatting down and bending over the river, Peter with an effort opens the mouth of a fish that has stuck out of the water and takes out a coin. On the right side, Peter hands the coin to the guard. The whole composition is written from a single point of view, the heads of the characters are on the horizon. The figures are located one after another in space and are given against the backdrop of a mountainous landscape, well correlated with them both in scale and in color. Masaccio uses here not only the means of linear, but also aerial perspective, gradually softening the colors as they move deeper.
Also simply and realistically interpreted by Masaccio are the episodes of "Distribution of Alms", "Healing by the Shadow", "Baptism of the Newly Converted". The faces of the characters presented are individualized, apparently, many of them are portraits. Individual figures are rendered with great observation, for example, a naked young man shivering from the cold in the Baptism scene.
Masaccio broke with the decorative and narrative trends that dominated painting in the second half of the 14th century. He took a decisive step in unifying the figure and the landscape, for the first time he gave an aerial perspective and a line of the natural horizon. Instead of pompous decorative colorfulness, a restrained and harmonious color scheme appeared in the paintings and frescoes of the artist.
Castagno. Among the followers of Masaccio, Andrea del Castagno (circa 1421-1457) stood out, who showed interest not only in the plastic form and perspective constructions characteristic of Florentine painting of this time, but also in the problem of color. The best of the created images of this rude, courageous, uneven artist by nature are distinguished by heroic strength and irrepressible energy. Such are the heroes of the murals of the Villa Pandolfini (circa 1450, Florence, the church of Santa Apollonia) - an example of the solution of a secular theme. On green and dark red backgrounds, the figures of prominent figures of the Renaissance stand out, among them the condottieri of Florence: Farinata degli Uberti and Pippo Spano. The latter stands firmly on the ground, legs wide apart, clad in armor, with an uncovered head, with a drawn sword in his hands; this is a lively person, full of frantic energy and confidence in his abilities. Powerful black and white modeling gives the image plastic power, expressiveness, emphasizes sharpness individual characteristics, a vivid portraiture, not seen before in Italian painting.
Among the frescoes of the Church of Santa Apollonia, it stands out for the scope of the image and the sharpness of the characteristics " The Last Supper"(1445-1450). This religious scene - the meal of Christ surrounded by disciples - was written by many artists who always followed a certain type of composition. Castagno did not depart from this type of construction, the vivid characteristic of the images, the nationality of the types of the apostles and Christ, the deep drama of the expression of feelings , emphasized rich and contrasting color scheme.
Fra Beato Angelico. Fra Beato's early works are close in style to late Gothic miniatures and are notable for the weak development of spatial relationships, the elongation and curvature of the figures, the careful finishing of details, the abundance of gold and the locality of colors. The works of Fra Beato are imbued with a religious feeling, but they are devoid of the harsh asceticism of the Middle Ages. The images of Christ, Mary, saints he created are lyrical and poetic, the surrounding nature is no longer hostile to man, but reveals itself to him in all its beauty.
The Last Judgment painting (Florence, San Marco Museum) painted by the artist after 1524 still seems very gothic next to the frescoes by Masaccio. It lacks the unity of space, general construction subject to the old iconographic scheme. And yet, a Renaissance sense of the reality and beauty of the world breaks through in it, especially in the image of a round dance of the blessed, dancing on the grass dotted with flowers of the Garden of Eden. Interestingly, in this picture, Fra Beato tried to use a linear perspective, but he failed to maintain the spatial principle in all parts of the composition.
Fra Beato Angelico did not remain a stranger to the artistic reform of Masaccio. Having done for my long life great evolution, he masters in later works means of conveying volume and space and moves on to a more generalized manner of painting. This was partly reflected already in his large cycle of frescoes in the monastery of San Marco in Florence, but to an even greater extent - in the paintings of the chapel of St. Nicholas in the Vatican, the last great job masters.
Paolo Uccello. Paolo Uccello (1397-1475) was associated with the art of the late trecento at the beginning of his activity, who then became passionately interested in new problems of art, especially the theory of linear perspective and the problem of depicting a figure in complex angles.
He was an assistant in Ghiberti's workshop while he was still working on the northern doors of the baptistery. The earliest dated work known to us by Uccello is a fresco depicting the condottiere John Hawkwood in the Florence Cathedral (1436). Unlike the first of these works - the frescoes by Simone Martini in the Siena Palazzo Publico, executed a century earlier, Paolo Uccello not only depicts a condottiere riding a horse, but, as it were, imitates an equestrian monument. In constructing it, Uccello skillfully uses linear perspective, creating the impression that the viewer is looking at the monument from the bottom up. Written in monochrome, in a laconic generalized manner, this fresco, according to the artist's intention, was supposed to replace, as it were, a sculptural monument.
Uccello is also known as the author of the first ever Western European art monumental battle scenes. Three times Uccello varied compositions with episodes of the battle of San Romano, enthusiastically depicting colorful horses and riders in a wide variety of perspective cuts and turns. Along with the well-known archaism of the manner, they also show the artist's passion for perspective and angles, reaching to excess.
No less indicative in this regard are the poorly preserved frescoes by Uccello in the church of Saita Maria Novella, in which a small, miniature-like technique and an abundance of details are combined with an interest in depicting space and a bold decision of angles.
Domenico Veneziano. Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410-1461) stands somewhat apart in the art of Florence in the first half of the 15th century. A native of Venice, he apparently met in his youth with the Dutch miniature, which aroused in him an interest in the problem of color, light and the transfer of the texture of things. He was closer to the archaizing art of Angelico than to Masaccio. His figures are devoid of structure, perspective constructions are not always correct. But at the same time, Veneziano's works are fanned with subtle lyricism and imbued with the poetry of light and color. Color takes on a leading role in his paintings, with its help he conveys space, air, form and light, unites figures with the environment. One of the first in Italy, he began to use the technique of oil painting. Among his best works are the "Adoration of the Magi" (Berlin, Dahlem), "Madonna with Saints" (Florence, Uffizi).
In the 15th century, the portrait genre gained independent significance. The profile composition, inspired by antique medals and making it possible to generalize and glorify the image of the person being portrayed, has become widespread. A precise line, delineates a sharply characteristic profile in " Portrait of a woman"(mid-15th century, Berlin-Dahlem, Art Gallery). The artist achieves a lively direct resemblance and, at the same time, a subtle coloristic unity in the harmony of light, shining colors, transparent, airy, softening the contours.
Filippo Lippi. Fra Filippo Lippi (c. typical representative of the early Renaissance, who replaced the monastic cassock with the hectic profession of a wandering artist. In gentle lyrical images - "Madonna under the Veil" (circa 1465, Florence, Uffizi), the painter and fugitive monk Filippo Lippi captured the touchingly feminine appearance of his beloved Lucrezia Buti, admiring a plump baby.
Florentine painting. In Florence in the last third of the 15th century, the painting of the early Renaissance developed in complex ways, in which the multifaceted problems of Renaissance realism receive a variety of solutions - from monumental-epic, heroic to genre-narrative, lofty-poetic and lyrical. The growing interest in everyday motifs, in the details of the situation, gives the picturesque compositions the features of a genre. Figures of people acquire greater harmony of proportions, flexibility.
Ghirlandaio. In the work of Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), and above all in his frescoes, the searches of the artists of the early Renaissance are summarized; in them, he acts as an observant writer of everyday life of the Florentine patriciate, who retained spiritual clarity, a calm, attentive look at the world. Written by order of the Medici family and persons close to them, the frescoes are narrative in nature, which is combined with solemnity and decorativeness, interest in household parts, transmission of lighting and space. They often include portraits of customers.
The traditionalism of the art of Ghirlandaio is revealed in the painting of the Ognissanti Church "The Last Supper" (1480). Repeating the composition found by his predecessors, he combines the figures of the apostles into groups, reveals the conflicting nature of the situation more strongly, and pays attention to the characterization of the place of action. The main work of Ghirlandaio is the frescoes of the Church of Santa Maria Novella (1485-1490) on scenes from the life of Mary and John the Baptist.
Located one above the other in several tiers, they turn in his interpretation, in essence, into solemn ceremonial domestic scenes modern life of citizens. The action takes place either on the street or in the interior of a rich house. In the fresco "The Nativity of Mary", among those who came to visit the woman in labor, Florentine ladies dressed in the fashion of that time, headed by the daughter of the patrician Tornabuoni, are depicted.
Among other works, Ghirlandaio stands out for his soft humanity and warmth "Portrait of an Old Man with a Grandson" (Paris, Louvre), where childish naivety and charm are opposed by fading old age, transformed by deep tenderness and care for the child.
Botticelli. If the art of Ghirlandaio reveals a connection with the tradition of painting of the beginning of the 15th century, integral in worldview, then the features of sublime poetry, refinement and aristocratic sophistication are most vividly embodied in the work of Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). The poetic charm of his images, their deep spirituality are combined in later works with a tragic attitude and painful brokenness.
The early works of Botticelli are characterized by soft lyricism and serenity. Along with religious compositions, he paints portraits full of inner life, spiritual purity, and charm. His most famous mature paintings - "Spring" (about 1480) and "The Birth of Venus" (about 1484, both - Florence, Uffizi) - were inspired by the poetry of the Medici court poet A. Poliziano and are marked by original interpretation of the plots and images of ancient myths, realized through deep personal poetic attitude.
In the painting "The Birth of Venus" Botticelli achieves an organic combination of sensual beauty and sublime spirituality. Strengthening the features of decorativeness, he introduces the conditional technique of gilding the hair of the goddess, intertwined in a complex linear pattern. Sparkling gold enriches the exquisite brilliance of the picture, combines with the greenish transparent tones of the sea, dark, saturated - plants and blue - the sky. The swiftness of the linear rhythm, the purity and tenderness of cold tones give rise to a feeling of fragility, the fragility of a beautiful ideal. And the flying marshmallows, and the nymph unfolding her cloak in front of Venus, and the goddess herself with her thoughtfully sad face, in which hidden movements of feelings slip through, are perceived as images that inspire nature.
The subtle graceful features of the female type found by Botticelli in Venus and Spring can also be recognized in the images of Madonnas created by the artist. The most famous of them is the "Magnificat" ("Madonna in Glory", 1481, Florence, Uffizi), presented surrounded by angels crowning her. The composition inscribed in a circle echoes the frame with its lines. Botticelli finds the most complex musical linear rhythms in the construction of compositions; the line for him is the main means of emotional expressiveness. At the same time, unlike most Florentine painters, Botticelli perfectly feels and conveys the beauty of exquisite color combinations.
The same evolution as sculpture goes through the painting of the early Renaissance. During the Renaissance, many famous world monuments of architecture were built. Early Renaissance(XIV-XV centuries) in the art of Italy is associated primarily with Florence, where the Medici patronized the humanists and all the arts. The huge role that Brunelleschi played in the architecture of the Early Renaissance, and Donatello in sculpture, belonged to Masaccio (1401-1428) in painting.
At the beginning of the XV century. the Florentine school is the vanguard of the humanistic art of the Renaissance. Hence the spirit of order and measure, which is so characteristic of the art of the Renaissance. Pagan and Christian plots are intertwined, transformed, imparting a specifically complex character to the culture of the Renaissance.
If in the era of the Proto-Renaissance the artist worked based on intuition, then the time of the Early Renaissance brought to the fore exact scientific knowledge. The first theorist in the field of painting and architecture was Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472). The art of the Renaissance, the main theme of which was the man-hero, gradually spread throughout Italy.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
The name Alberti is rightfully considered one of the first among the great creators of the culture of the Italian Renaissance. His theoretical writings artistic practice, his ideas and, finally, his very personality as a humanist played an extremely important role in the formation and development of the art of the Early Renaissance.
In the art of Venice, Byzantine traditions and Gothic influence dominated for a long time. The influence of Donatello's work on the development of Italian Renaissance art was enormous. The severe and courageous art of Masaccio had a huge impact on artistic culture Renaissance, in particular, on the work of Piero della Francesca and Michelangelo.
Botticelli's art, unlike most of the early Renaissance masters, was based on personal experience. History of styles in art and costume. In the XV century. the Italian Renaissance enters the Quattrocento period, when the basic principles of the "new style" become dominant. The early Renaissance is characterized by the emergence and rise of various territorial art schools, their active interaction and struggle.
Saint Paul's Cathedral
The spirit of the early Renaissance also manifested itself in an interest in antiquity, in its ideas and images, in the plots of pagan mythology, the appeal to which was forbidden in the Middle Ages.
After the sack of Rome by imperial troops in 1527, the Italian Renaissance entered a period of crisis. No less realistic is the interpretation of the scene "Expulsion from Paradise", where for the first time in Renaissance painting, naked figures are depicted, powerfully modeled by side light. Subsequently, the ideas of the Renaissance spread throughout Europe.
This work of Brunelleschi had a huge impact on the further development of architecture not only in Italy itself, but throughout Europe. Another recognizable masterpiece of Renaissance architecture is Cathedral Florence. It also houses many relics and works of art, including the famous "Pieta" by Michelangelo.
A new criterion for evaluating the beautiful arises, based on the similarity with nature and a sense of proportion. In art, special attention is paid to the plastic elaboration of forms and drawings. In the 15th century, Italian artists also solved the problem of rectilinear perspective, which had matured in the art of the trecento.
Sandro Botticelli
However, the influence of antiquity is superimposed on the centuries-old and strong traditions of the Middle Ages, on Christian art. Art began to fulfill the role of universal knowledge of the surrounding world. In the XV century. a number of scientific treatises on art appeared.
He developed the theory of linear perspective, truthful image depth of space in the picture. The dreams of humanists about the "ideal city" formed the basis of new principles of urban planning and architecture. In the buildings of this period, a sense of harmony comes to the fore. Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), an architect, sculptor and scientist, one of the creators of the scientific theory of perspective, became the ancestor of the Italian Renaissance architecture.
The dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore became the forerunner of numerous domed churches in Italy and other European countries. Brunelleschi was one of the first in Italian architecture to creatively comprehend and originally interpret the ancient order system and laid the foundation for the creation of a domed church based on the ancient order. One of the main achievements of Italian architecture of the XV century. was the creation of a new type of city palaces, which served as a model for public buildings of a later time.
Leon Battista Alberti (1404-72) occupies a special place in the history of Italian architecture. In northern Italy, the development of Renaissance art followed different paths. Lombardo and Coduccio also built cult buildings in Venice. In the XV century. Italian sculpture, which has acquired an independent significance independent of architecture, is flourishing. The practice of artistic life began to include orders from wealthy craftsmen and merchants to decorate public buildings; art competitions are held.
One of the most educated people of his time, the first historian of Italian art, a brilliant draftsman, Ghiberti devoted his life to one type of sculpture - relief. The main principle of his art Ghiberti considered the balance and harmony of all elements of the image. The Ghiberti workshop became a school for a whole generation of artists, in particular, the famous Donatello, the great reformer of Italian sculpture, worked there.
The Quattrocento (or Early Renaissance) was a time of experimental research. The third volume of the General History of Art is entirely devoted to the art of the Renaissance. A special place in the painting of the Early Renaissance belongs to Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and the young Michelangelo.
