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Renaissance art. The Renaissance era covers the period

F.Lippe Madonna

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 the art of Ancient Rome have been preserved, so the ancient era was again revered as a model, ancient art became an object of admiration. The imitation of antiquity gave reason to call this period in art - the Renaissance, which in French means "Renaissance". Of course, this was not a blind, exact repetition of ancient art, it was already new art, but based on ancient models. 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 XV - early XVI century - High Renaissance.

Archaeological excavations were carried out throughout Italy, 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.

Flight into Egypt (Giotto)

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 a renewer, the ancestor of all European painting after the Middle Ages. Giotto breathed life into the gospel scenes, created images of real people, spiritualized, but earthly.

Return of Joachim to the Shepherds (Giotto)

Giotto for the first time creates volumes with the help of chiaroscuro. He likes clean, light colors in cold shades: pinks, pearl grays, pale purples and light lilacs. The people in the frescoes of Giotto are stocky, with a heavy tread. They have large facial features, wide cheekbones, narrow eyes. His man is kind, considerate, serious.

Fresco by Giotto in the temple of Padua

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.

Fresco by Giotto

Instead of disparate individual figures, as in medieval painting, Giotto managed to create a coherent story, a whole narrative about the complex inner life of the characters. 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.

Fresco by S.Martini

One of the famous masters of the Pre-Renaissance is 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.

Fresco fragment. Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 - 1494)

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 appear, filled with statues, fragments of ancient architecture, marbles, coins, and ceramics.

In the Renaissance, the main centers of the artistic life of Italy stood out - Florence, Rome, Venice. One of the largest centers, the birthplace of a new, realistic art was Florence. In the 15th century, many famous masters of the Renaissance lived, studied and worked there.

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral)

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 of Santa Maria del Fiore, which is often called simply the Cathedral of Florence. 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).

St. Peter's Cathedral (arch. Brunelleschi and Bramante)

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. The semicircular arch came into fashion again. Wealthy people began to build more beautiful and more comfortable houses. Instead of houses closely pressed to each other, luxurious palaces appeared - palazzos.

David (sc.Donatello)

Sculpture of the early Renaissance

In the 15th century in Florence they created two famous sculptors - 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 the 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 a young hero, winner, defender of his 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.

Statue of the commander Gattamelata (sc. Donatello)

Another beautiful sculpture by Donatello is also known - a statue of a warrior, commander 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, not a god, not a saint, not a noble and rich man was immortalized in sculpture, but a noble, brave and formidable warrior with a great soul, who deserved 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.

Equestrian monument to the condottiere Colleoni (Verocchio)

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.

Fresco by Masaccio

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 painted in light colors, while buildings and natural motifs are outlined with 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 as 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 in such a short life he left a mark in art that 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.

Fresco by Masaccio

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.

Adoration of the Magi (Masaccio)

Madonna and Child with Four Angels (Masaccio)

This is one of the few easel easel works commissioned by Masaccio 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. Impeccably drawn angels (the artist knew the human anatomy perfectly) surrounding the Madonna give the picture an additional emotional sound.

Masaccio. Fresco from the library of the Cathedral in Siena, dedicated to the biography of the humanist and poet Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1405-1464)

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.

Saints Jerome and John the Baptist (Masaccio)

The only sash painted by Masaccio for a double-sided triptych. After the early death of the 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 holds an open book and a model of the basilica, a lion lies at his feet. 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.

Portrait of a Boy (1480) (Pinturicchio)

Interest in man, admiration for his beauty were so great in the Renaissance that this led to the emergence 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 the inner state of a person. Before us is a teenage boy, dressed in a strict pink town dress, with a small blue cap on his head. 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.

Madonna and Child with Two Angels (F. Lippi)

Filippo Lippi (1406 - 1469)

There were legends about Lippi's life. He himself was a monk, but left the monastery, became a wandering artist, abducted a nun from the monastery and died poisoned by the relatives of a young woman with whom he fell in love 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, the environment, so his religious subjects were similar to secular paintings.

Annunciation (1443) (F. Lippi)

Coronation of Mary (1441-1447) (F. Lippi)

Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni (1488) (Ghirlandaio)

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.

Baptism (1458-1460) (P. della Francesca)

Piero della Francesca (1415/1416 - 1492)

One of the most significant names in Italian painting of the 15th century. He completed numerous transformations in the methods of constructing the perspective of a picturesque space.

The picture was painted on a poplar board in egg tempera - obviously, by this time the artist had not yet mastered the secrets of oil painting, in the technique of which his later works would be painted.

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. The figures of Christ, John the Baptist and the angels standing next to them are painted in restrained colors.

Fresco by della Francesca

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).

Dead Christ (Mantegna)

Andrea Mantegna (1431 - 1506)

Major artist from Padua. He admired the harsh grandeur of the works of ancient artists. His images are reminiscent of Greek sculptures - strict and beautiful. In his frescoes, Mantegna sang the heroic personality. Nature in his paintings is deserted and inhospitable.

Mantegna. Madonna and Child with John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene (1500)

The Madonna sits on a scarlet chair under a canopy and holds the naked Christ Child in her arms. There is nothing regal in the guise of the Virgin Mary, rather, this is the image of a young peasant woman. The naked body of the Infant seems surprisingly alive. On the sides of the Madonna are John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene. In the hands of the Magdalene is a vessel with incense for anointing, the cross in the hands of John is wrapped around a ribbon with a text about the lamb, atoning for the sins of the world. The figures are drawn in the usual manner for an artist and seem to be carved from stone, every fold is sharply defined in their clothes. The background is an image of a garden with dark foliage. In its tone, this greenery contrasts with the pale green, light sky. The work evokes a feeling of deep sadness and a certain doom.

Parnassus (Mantegna)

Prayer for the Cup (Mantegna)

This small picture depicts the moment when, after the Last Supper, Jesus retires with Saint Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to the Garden of Gethsemane, where, leaving the apostles accompanying him, he leaves to pray, turning to God the Father: “My Father! this."

The kneeling figure of Christ in a prayerful pose is the compositional center of the picture. His eyes are turned to the sky, where a group of angels is visible on a cloud. At the foot of the mountain, the apostles accompanying Christ sleep.

On the road leading to the garden, accurately illustrating the words of the Gospel: "Behold, the betrayer of Me has come near," a group of guards, led by Judas, is visible.

There is a lot of symbolism in the picture: a dry tree with a vulture portends death, and a branch with a green shoot indicates an imminent resurrection; humble rabbits sitting on the road along which a detachment of Roman soldiers will pass to take Christ into custody speak of the meekness of a person in the face of imminent death. Three stumps left from freshly cut down trees remind of the impending crucifixion.

Sacred Conversation (Bellini)

Giovanni Bellini (1427/1430 - 1516)

The Bellini brothers brightly showed themselves in the early Renaissance. Especially famous is Giovanni Bellini, who was often called Gianbellino. He grew up in the family of a major Venetian painter. Together with his brother from his youth, he helped his father to carry out artistic orders. He worked on decorating the Doge's Palace in Venice.

His painting is distinguished by soft picturesqueness, rich golden color. The Madonnas of Gianbellino seem to dissolve in the landscape, always organic with it.

Madonna in the meadow (1500-1505) Bellini.

In the center of the picture is the image of a young Mary sitting in a meadow, on whose knees a sleeping naked baby. Her thoughtful face is charming, her hands folded in a prayerful gesture are beautiful. The figurine of the divine baby seems to be a sculpture, this indicates a close acquaintance with the work of Mantegna. However, the softness of the chiaroscuro and the overall saturation of the colors suggest that Bellini found his way into painting.

In the background is a beautiful landscape. The picture was painted in mixed media, which allowed the artist to make the contours softer and the colors more saturated.

Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan. Bellini

This portrait was commissioned by Bellini as an artist of the Republic of Venice. The doge is depicted here almost frontally - contrary to the then existing tradition of depicting faces in profile, including on medals and coins.

Clear chiaroscuro perfectly draw high cheekbones, nose and stubborn chin of an intelligent and strong-willed face of an elderly person. On a bright blue-green background, a white with gold and silver brocade mantle stands out in contrast. The doge wore it on the feast of the Candlemas - the day when he became engaged to the sea, taking power over Venice for a year. Oil work helped the artist fill the space of the picture with air and thereby make the image of the Doge surprisingly alive.

Italian culture in the period 1200s-1300s. Sometimes - the stage of common European culture of the 1100s - 1200s. During this period, the main features of the Renaissance are laid.

Early Renaissance

The early Renaissance, which is characterized by the emergence of Renaissance literature and the humanities related to it, covers the 14th and most of the 15th centuries, that is, chronologically, it dates back to the Middle Ages.

High Renaissance

The High Renaissance is a period in the history of Italian art at the end of the 15th - the first third of the 16th centuries, marked by an unprecedented rise in painting, architecture, and literature. The brightest representatives are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Rafael Santi.

The High Renaissance became the brightest and most fruitful period, when Renaissance thought and fine arts reached their highest peak. At this point, the Renaissance went beyond Italy, becoming a pan-European phenomenon. It was then that the contemporaries of this cultural upheaval clearly felt the onset of new times, and the very concept of “Renaissance” entered the everyday life of educated people.

Late Renaissance

The late Renaissance (the last decades of the 16th century) coincided in time with the beginning and the first successes of the religious Reformation in Europe. The culture of the Late Renaissance is therefore to the same extent the culture of the Reformation, the result of a complex interaction of these two historical processes. During this period, Europe finally entered the Modern Age.

In the Renaissance, the worldview underlying all cultural development became humanism. It is characterized by admiration for a real person, faith in his creative abilities, recognition of the importance of earthly existence. Humanists considered themselves followers of ancient thinkers, Antiquity for them was an ideal and standard. However, in the culture of the Renaissance, the elements formed in the Middle Ages turned out to be no less important than the elements of ancient culture. The culture of the Renaissance became a synthesis of medieval and ancient culture and was prepared by the entire centuries-old process of European cultural development.

Humanistic ideas have made a real revolution in art. Works of art are becoming more realistic, admiration can be traced in them not only for the beauty of human souls but also the perfection of the human body. Artists and sculptors strive to convey the whole gamut of human feelings and experiences, including those associated with earthly joys and concerns.

The great turning point of the Renaissance, which determined the paths for the further development of world culture, was most clearly manifested in the visual arts.material from the site

Renaissance literature

The founder of the Italian Renaissance is considered Francesco Petrarca(1804-1374), in whose work the motives of earthly human love sound. Humanistic traditions in Italian literature were developed by a younger contemporary of Petrarch Giovanni Boccaccio(1313-1375), who gained worldwide fame thanks to a collection of short stories called the Decameron.

Renaissance painting

The true masters of the Early Renaissance in Italian painting can be called Giotto And Sandro Botticelli, and in Italian sculpture - Bernardo, Antonio Rosselino, Donatello creator of the first nude sculpture.

A short guide to the ideas of the European Renaissance.

Renaissance

History and features

For two hundred years, Europe has witnessed an amazing renaissance of painting, sculpture and architecture, with Italy as its epicenter. The concept of the "Renaissance" appeared in the 19th century thanks to the work of the historian Michelet and professor of art history Jacob Burckhard.

Characteristic

The Italian Renaissance restored Western art along the lines of classical Greek art, especially in the fields of sculpture and painting. From the beginning of the 14th century, in search of a new set of artistic values and a response to the Gothic style, Italian masters and thinkers began to be inspired by the ideas of ancient Greece and Rome, which was in perfect harmony with their desire to create a universal and noble art form and express the mood of that time.

Humanism

First of all, the art of that time was conditioned by the philosophical concept of "humanism", based on existing achievements (for example, democratic ones).

In the visual arts, humanism advocates:

Creation of a unique composition instead of stereotypical and symbolic images.
Greater realism and attention to detail, which is reflected in the development of linear perspective theories. This approach explains both the veneration of classical sculptures and the falling out of fashion of Byzantine works.
Emphasis on developing and promoting virtuous action. The leading art theorist of the time, Alberti (1404-1472), stated that "happiness cannot be achieved without good, just and righteous deeds."

Causes

It is still unclear what caused this change in art. Although the dark ages for Europe ended and the Christian church experienced a rebirth in the 12th and 13th centuries, in the 14th century there were serious problems with crops, an epidemic of plague and a war between England and France. Therefore, the reason for the breakthrough in creativity, of course, was a number of factors and historical events.

Positive development trends are observed at that time in Italy. Venice and Genoa grew rich on trade with the East, and Florence became the center of jewelry, wool and silk production. Prosperity gradually comes to Northern Europe, as evidenced by the formation of the Hanseatic League.

The invention of printing has helped spread new ideas, reflecting, to some extent, the impatience of slow progress after a thousand years of cultural and intellectual famine, the longing for rebirth.

The weakness of the church

The precarious position of the church gave an additional impetus to development. This leads to the rise of humanistic views and encourages the clergy to decorate temples and churches, to cooperate with architects and sculptors. The reaction to this change, known as the counter-reformation, lasted until the end of the sixteenth century.

Development

The Renaissance also parallels the beginning of the great Western discoveries. Europeans explore new sea routes, explore continents and create new colonies. New research is also taking place in other areas related to science, nature and the world. Fine arts masters demonstrate their own desire for new methods and knowledge. According to the Italian artist, architect and historian Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), not only respect for art and classical antiquity is growing, but also the desire to learn from nature and imitate it.

Epicenter

In addition to being the wealthiest trading nation, Italy had a huge number of classical works and artefacts at its disposal. Examples of Roman architecture and sculpture, as well as ancient Greek works, were found in almost every city in the country. In addition, the fall of Constantinople - the capital of the Byzantine Empire - caused many Greek scholars to emigrate to Italy, along with their classical ideas and important texts. All these factors explain why this particular country became the center of the European Renaissance.

In Northern Europe, the Renaissance is characterized by advances in the representation of light, its diffusion and reflection, as reflected in portraiture and still life paintings. This is partly due to the fact that most northern Renaissance artists used oil paints in the early 15th century, preferring them to tempera or fresco, which (for many reasons, including climatic) were still preferred and popular in Italy.

The religious art of that time is dominated by the image of the apostles and members of the Holy Family, who are depicted as living people. Their poses and surroundings express real human emotions. Plots and stories from classical mythology illustrating the ideas of humanism are also popular.

Titian.

It is also worth noting that the status of the profession of artists and sculptors is moving to a new level, because now the creation of paintings and sculptures requires mental preparation and serious technique.

galleries

The following Italian galleries have significant collections of Renaissance paintings or sculptures:

Uffizi Gallery.
Pitti Palace.
Museums of the Vatican.
Gallery Doria-Pamphili.
Capodimonte Museum.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Conclusion

The main contribution of the Italian Renaissance to the history of art can be described as the promotion of classical ancient ideals, which resulted in the classical development of Western painting and sculpture. Although contemporary artists are exploring new forms of art, Greek antiquity and its interpretation in the form of the Renaissance remains the main model for the West.

Renaissance updated: September 16, 2017 by: Gleb

XIV-XV century. In the countries of Europe, a new, turbulent era begins - the Renaissance (Renaissance - from the French Renaissanse). The beginning of the era is associated with the liberation of man from feudal serfdom, the development of sciences, arts and crafts.

The Renaissance began in Italy and continued its development in the countries of northern Europe: France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. The late Renaissance dates from the middle of the 16th to the 90s of the 16th century.

The influence of the church on the life of society has weakened, interest in antiquity is reviving with its attention to the personality of a person, his freedom and development opportunities. The invention of printing contributed to the spread of literacy among the population, the growth of education, the development of sciences, arts, including fiction. The bourgeoisie was not satisfied with the religious worldview that prevailed in the Middle Ages, but created a new, secular science based on the study of the nature and heritage of ancient writers. Thus began the "revival" of ancient (ancient Greek and Roman) science and philosophy. Scientists began to search for and study ancient literary monuments stored in libraries.

There were writers and artists who dared to oppose the church. They were convinced that the greatest value on earth is a person, and all his interests should be focused on earthly life, on how to live it fully, happily and meaningfully. Such people, who dedicated their art to man, began to be called humanists.

Renaissance literature is characterized by humanistic ideals. This era is associated with the emergence of new genres and with the formation of early realism, which is called so, "Renaissance realism" (or Renaissance), in contrast to the later stages, enlightenment, critical, socialist. The works of the Renaissance give us an answer to the question of the complexity and importance of the assertion of the human personality, its creative and active principle.

Renaissance literature is characterized by various genres. But certain literary forms prevailed. Giovanni Boccaccio becomes the legislator of a new genre - the short story, which is called the Renaissance short story. This genre was born of a feeling of surprise, characteristic of the Renaissance, before the inexhaustibility of the world and the unpredictability of man and his actions.

In poetry, it becomes the most characteristic form of a sonnet (a stanza of 14 lines with a certain rhyme). Dramaturgy is developing a lot. The most prominent playwrights of the Renaissance are Lope de Vega in Spain and Shakespeare in England.

Journalism and philosophical prose are widespread. In Italy, Giordano Bruno denounces the church in his works, creates his own new philosophical concepts. In England, Thomas More expresses the ideas of utopian communism in his book Utopia. Widely known are such authors as Michel de Montaigne ("Experiments") and Erasmus of Rotterdam ("Praise of Stupidity").

Among the writers of that time are also crowned persons. Poems are written by Duke Lorenzo de Medici, and Marguerite of Navarre, sister of King Francis I of France, is known as the author of the Heptameron collection.

In the fine arts of the Renaissance, man appeared as the most beautiful creation of nature, strong and perfect, angry and gentle, thoughtful and cheerful.

The world of Renaissance man is most vividly represented in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo. Biblical stories form the vault of the chapel. Their main motive is the creation of the world and man. These frescoes are full of grandeur and tenderness. On the altar wall is the Last Judgment fresco, which was created in 1537-1541. Here, Michelangelo sees in man not the "crown of creation", but Christ is presented as angry and punishing. The ceiling and altar wall of the Sistine Chapel represent a clash of possibility and reality, the sublimity of the idea and the tragedy of the implementation. "The Last Judgment" is considered a work that completed the Renaissance in art.

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“There is no business that would be more difficult to organize, more dangerous to conduct, and more doubtful of success than replacing the old order with a new one.”
Niccolo Machiavelli

The era of the Renaissance went down in history as a time of many great achievements, discoveries, the brightest talents that created masterpieces in various fields of art, literature and science.

It is impossible to give an exhaustive description of this period, it is too multifaceted, covers vast territories, hides contradictions that historians still argue about.

Even in determining the clear time boundaries of this era, there is no agreement among researchers. What can we say about some universal answer to the question "what is the Renaissance."

In this article, we will try to dwell on the main characteristic features of the Renaissance, approximately outline the time frame of this period and recall the most prominent representatives of the Renaissance, without which it is impossible to imagine European culture.

Renaissance is rebirth in French

The term Renaissance is of French origin (Renaissance) and literally means "reborn", "revival".

As the name of an entire era, the word came into use with the light hand of the French historian Jules Michelet, who in the middle of the 19th century published the book History of France in the 16th century: Renaissance.

*Jules Michelet

And although the new era of cultural upsurge did not begin in France, it was this word that entered many languages without translation, as a designation of a time period in European history from about the 14th to the 16th century.

In Russian terms Renaissance and Revival equal and interchangeable.

People who lived and worked in the Renaissance themselves felt their time as a turning point, as a rebirth after the darkness of the Middle Ages.

It is not surprising that long before Jules Michelet in the middle of the 16th century the Italian artist Giorgio Vasari also used the term Renaissance in Italian (rinascita) in a book about the great artists of his time, referring to a breakthrough in art. Now in Italy the term Rinascimento is used.

When was the renaissance

In determining the dates of the beginning and end of the Renaissance, there is no agreement among historians. The problem is aggravated by the fact that in different countries of Europe the Renaissance began at different times, proceeded differently and did not end synchronously on the end command.

But one thing is indisputable - before all, a special culture of the Renaissance took shape in Italy, because. By the 14th century, this country had reached a high level of economic and political development compared to other medieval regions of Europe.

By the way, during the Middle Ages, there are at least three periods of cultural flourishing in the 9th-12th centuries, which are also commonly called the Renaissance. All of them, one way or another, were associated with an appeal to the ancient heritage, but did not become a serious turn in history.

Many researchers consider the starting point of the Renaissance in 1341, when the poet Francesco Petrarca He was crowned in Rome on the Capitoline Hill with a laurel wreath for achievements in the field of literature.

Petrarch advocated revival of ancient culture, preached a return to pure Latin, the development of the cultural heritage of the ancients.

*Monument to Petrarch in Florence

And if Petrarch was the first cultural figure of the Renaissance, then Florence call it the first center and cultural capital, holding a leading position until the XVI century.

It was here that the preconditions necessary for a cultural breakthrough coincided in the 14th century:

high level of economic development;
lack of clear boundaries between classes;
the cult of equality of citizens before the law;
a developed education system covering different segments of the population;
direct connection with Roman civilization, the cultural heritage of which was part of the national past (Florence was founded in 59 BC by Julius Caesar himself).

These prerequisites are typical not only for Florence, but for the whole of Italy as a whole.

with date the end of the great renaissance even less certainty.

Among others they name:

1492 when America was discovered;
1517 when;
1600, when the scandalous philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in Rome;
Even 1648, when the Thirty Years' War ended with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia, and a qualitatively new era began in the history of European states.

Italian and Northern Renaissance

In Italy, the ferment of minds began a century earlier than in the regions beyond the Alps. If in the free Italian cities the harbingers of the Renaissance Dante and Giotto appeared already at the end of the 13th century, the first signs of the Northern Renaissance, the van Eyck brothers worked in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 15th century.

* Artists brothers van Eyck - the founders of the Northern Renaissance

Renaissance, and, like the time of great creators, unites Italy and northern Europe, but the differences between them are significant.

Italian Renaissance	Northern Renaissance
Spread since the middle of the XIV century	Started in the 15th century at the end of the Italian Renaissance
Italy: Florence, Milan, Venice, Naples, Padua, Ferrara, etc.	Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, England
Appeal to the ideals of the ancient world	Appeal to the ideals of early Christianity
Development of secular worldview ideas	Development of ideas of religious renewal
Influence of ancient art	Influence of Gothic art
Focus on man as a heroic personality, on the divine nature of man	Focus on Christian love for neighbor, on the divine essence of nature

The desire for liberation from church dogmas	Striving for the Perfection of the Church and Its Teachings

*Jan van Eyck. Madonna of Chancellor Rolin. 1435 Northern Renaissance.

*Bartolomeo Vivarini. Madonna and Child. 1490 Italian Renaissance.

Stages of the Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance is usually divided into four periods:

Major Achievements of the Renaissance

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to cite the original metaphor of the Russian philosopher Alexei Fedorovich Losev, cited by him in the book Aesthetics of the Renaissance. Losev insists that the Middle Ages by no means forgot the heritage of the ancient world, but also did not allow it to declare itself at the top of its voice.

“The Middle Ages left antiquity unburied, from time to time galvanizing and incantations bringing its corpse back to life. Renaissance stood in tears at her grave and tried to resurrect her soul. At one fatally auspicious moment, it succeeded.

At the right time and in the right place, there was a turning point in the development of culture, born in the harsh Middle Ages, singing odes to the beautiful ancient world, but at the same time going its own way.

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