Try to compare the image of the ideal renaissance city. Renaissance

The age of the city has reached its splendid heyday, but there are already signs that it is dying. The century was stormy and cruel, but inspiring. It originated from the city-states of Ancient Greece (3 thousand years before the Renaissance), which gave rise to the ideal of a free man who rules himself. Because, in fact, such a city consisted of a group of people who, after many generations of quarrels and civil strife, developed an effective system of self-government. This system varied from city to city. In any of them, the number of people capable of claiming full citizenship has always been small. The mass of the inhabitants remained in a more or less servile position and exercised their rights only through violent and cruel uprisings against the higher strata. Nevertheless, throughout Europe, in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands especially, there was some social agreement about the aims, if not the methods, of government, namely the structure of society, in which the rulers were chosen by some of the ruled. From this civic concept began endless bloody wars. The price that citizens paid for their freedom was measured by their willingness to take up arms in defense of their city against its rivals.

The true voice of the city was the great bell on the city hall or the cathedral, which sounded the alarm at the approach of the armed inhabitants of a hostile city. He called on all who were able to hold weapons to the walls and to the gates. The Italians turned the bell into a kind of mobile temple, some kind of secular Ark, which led the armies into battle. In a battle with neighboring cities for possession of a piece of arable land, in a battle against an emperor or a king for civil rights, in a battle against hordes of wandering soldiers ... During these battles, life in the city froze. All able-bodied men, from fifteen to seventy years old without exception, broke away from normal activities to fight. So in the end, for the sake of economic survival, they began to hire professionals who knew how to fight, while civil power, meanwhile, was concentrated in the hands of one of the prominent citizens. Since he controlled money and weapons, this citizen was gradually transformed into the ruler of a once free city. In those countries that recognized the central monarchy, the city was reconciled to the throne (simply from exhaustion). Some cities, such as London, retained greater autonomy. Others found themselves completely absorbed in the structure of the monarchy. Nevertheless, throughout the Renaissance, cities continued to exist as living entities, performing most of the functions that in modern society fall under the jurisdiction of the central government. They were neither industrial, bedroom districts, nor amusement parks, which many of them later became, but organic structures that combined human flesh and building stone into their own recognizable rhythm of life.

city ​​shape

Cities with which Europe was studded like formal clothes precious stones, by the Renaissance were already ancient. They passed from century to century, maintaining a surprisingly regular shape and constant size. Only in England they did not feel symmetrical, because, with rare exceptions, English cities were not built according to a predetermined plan, but grew from modest settlements, and their structure was formless, as the building was attached to the building in the most disorderly way. On the Continent the trend continued to start new cities rather than expand old ones to unmanageable proportions. In Germany alone, 2,400 cities were founded in 400 years. True, by today's standards it is difficult to say whether these were small towns or large villages. Orange in France had only 6,000 inhabitants until the 19th century. And a city with a quarter of a million inhabitants was considered simply a giant, and there were few of them. The population of Milan, the capital of the duchy, was 200 thousand people, that is, twice the population of its main rival, Florence (see Fig. 53, photo 17), so size was not at all a measure of power.

Rice. 53. Florence at the end of the 15th century From a modern woodcut

Reims, the place of coronations, a large shopping center, had 100 thousand inhabitants, and Paris something about 250 thousand. The population of most European cities could be estimated at 10-50 thousand people. Even the losses from the plague did not affect the population for a long time. The number of victims of the plague has always been exaggerated, although, perhaps, in a few months it carried away about a quarter of the inhabitants. However, after a generation, the city returned to its usual level of population. The surplus of inhabitants flowed to new cities. The Italian model, when several towns, united by military or commercial ties, are attached to big city, to varying degrees, can be traced throughout Europe. In such a federation, the system of government and local customs inherent in each city was zealously observed, but the collection of taxes and protection was controlled from the center city.

The city grew like a tree, keeping its shape but growing in size, and the city walls, like cut rings, marked the milestones of its growth. Just outside the city walls lived the poor, beggars, outcasts of all kinds, who built their huts around the walls, creating a disgusting mess of miserable streets. Sometimes they were dispersed by the energetic municipality, but more often they were allowed to remain where they were until some plan loomed. Wealthy residents settled outside the city in villas in the middle of large estates, protected by their own walls. When, finally, economic necessity or civic pride demanded the expansion of the city, another ring of walls was erected around. They took over new land and left additional space for development. And the old walls continued to stand for several more centuries, if they were not predatoryly dismantled for the construction of new buildings. Cities resumed their form, but did not pursue new building materials, so that the same piece of brick or hewn stone could be in half a dozen different buildings in a thousand years. You can still see traces of the disappeared old walls, because later they turned into ring roads or, less often, into boulevards.

The fortress walls set the shape and determined the size of the city. In the Middle Ages, they served as a powerful protection for the inhabitants, who had supplies of water and food. A military leader who was about to besiege a city should have prepared for many months of waiting until the enemy ran out of supplies. The walls were kept in order at the public expense, and, whatever else fell into disrepair, they were taken care of first of all. The collapsed wall was a sign of a ruined city, and the first task of the victorious invader was to wipe it off the face of the earth. Unless he was going to live there. However, gradually the fortress walls lost their significance, which was reflected in the way cities began to be depicted. In the 16th century, the top view was widely used, the plan, where special importance was attached to the streets. They were painted in the border of houses. Important buildings were highlighted. But gradually everything was formalized, made flat, and the plan became more accurate, although less spectacular and picturesque. But before the plan came into use, the city was depicted as if a traveler, approaching, sees it from afar. It was rather a work of art, on which the city appeared, as in life, with walls, towers, churches, pressed close to each other, like one huge castle (see Fig. 54).

Rice. 54. City wall as a military structure. Nuremberg in 1493. From a modern engraving

Such cities exist to this day, such as Verona, located on a hillside. In their plan, the drawing laid down by the builders is clearly visible. In the south, especially in Italy, large, tower-like houses dominated, giving the urban landscape the appearance of a petrified forest. These houses were remnants of a more violent age, when feuds between families and factions tore apart the cities. Then those who could build higher, higher, even higher gained an advantage over their neighbors. Skillful city government succeeded in reducing their numbers, but many still sought to elevate themselves in this way, endangering the internal security of the city and greedily depriving the narrow streets of air and light.

Rice. 55. City gate, where duties are collected from all goods arriving in the city

The city gates that cut through the walls (see fig. 55) played a double role. They performed not only a defensive function, but also contributed to the city's income. Guards were placed around them, collecting a fee on everything that was brought into the city. Sometimes these were agricultural products, crops harvested from the surrounding fields, orchards and orchards. And sometimes - exotic spices brought from thousands of miles - everything at the gate was subject to customs inspection and duties. At one time, when the Florentine customs had fallen dangerously low, one of the officials suggested doubling the number of gates and thereby doubling their profitability. At a meeting in the city council, he was ridiculed, but this thoughtless proposal stemmed from the belief that the city was an independent entity. The villagers hated these extortions, receiving only dubious promises of armed protection for them. They went to all sorts of tricks, just to avoid paying. Sacchetti has a very true-sounding story about a peasant who hid chicken eggs in his baggy pants to fool the guards. But those, warned by the enemy of the peasant, forced him to sit down while they examined the cargo. The result is clear.

In cities, gates played the role of eyes and ears. They were the only point of contact with the outside world. It was from the outside world that the threat came, and the guards at the gate meticulously reported to the ruler about the arrival and departure of foreigners and all sorts of strangers in general. In free cities, closed gates were a symbol of independence. The late traveler, who arrived after sunset, was forced to spend the night outside the city walls. Hence the custom to build hotels outside, at the main gate. The gate itself was like a small fortress. They housed a garrison guarding the city. Huge castles that towered over medieval cities were, in fact, a simple continuation of the main fortress gate-houses.

However, the absence of a building plan in medieval cities was more apparent than real. It is true: the streets twisted aimlessly, circled, made loops, even dissolved into some courtyards, but after all, they were not supposed to provide a direct transition from one point of the city to another, but to create a frame, scenery for public life. The stranger, having passed through the city gates, could easily find his way to the center of the city, because the main streets radiated from the central square. "Piazza", "place", "parade ground", "square", whatever it was called in the local language, was the direct heir to the Roman forum, a place where anxious people gathered in days of war and where they wandered, having fun, in peacetime. . Again, only England did not have such a meeting place. The British preferred to expand the main street into a market. It served the same purpose, but lacked a sense of cohesion and unity, and with increased traffic lost its importance as a central meeting place. However, on the continent, this echo of Ancient Rome continued to exist.

Rice. 56. Piazza (square) San Marco, Venice

It could have been a modest, unpaved area, shaded by trees, perhaps surrounded by shabby houses. And it could be huge, amazing, like the main squares in Siena or Venice (see Fig. 56), could be planned so that it seemed like a huge hall without a roof. However, no matter how she looked, she remained the face of the city, the place where the inhabitants gathered, and the vital organs of the city, the centers of government and justice, lined up around her. Somewhere else there could be another, naturally formed center: for example, a cathedral with auxiliary buildings, usually built on a small square. From the main gate, a fairly wide straight and clean road led to the square, then to the cathedral. At the same time, away from the center, the streets became, as it were, peripheral veins serving local needs. They were deliberately made narrow - both to provide passers-by protection from the sun and rain, and in order to save space. Sometimes the top floors of buildings were only a few feet apart. The narrowness of the streets also served as protection during wars, because the first action of the attackers was to gallop through them before the inhabitants had time to erect barriers. Troops could not maintain military order by marching on them. Under such circumstances, a hostile mob, armed with simple boulders, could successfully prevent the passage of professional soldiers. In Italy, streets began to be paved as early as the 13th century, and by the 16th century all the main streets of most European cities were paved. There was no separation between pavement and pavement, because everyone either rode or walked. Crews began to appear only in the 16th century. Gradually, wheeled traffic grew, the streets straightened to make it easier for him to pass, and then pedestrians were taken care of, further emphasizing the difference between rich and poor.

Cult of Vitruvius

The cities of the Renaissance era had one thing in common: they grew and developed spontaneously, as needed. Only the city walls were planned, which were laid and built as a whole, and inside the city, only the size of a particular building set the layout of the adjacent territory. The cathedral determined the structure of the whole district with adjoining streets and squares, but in other places houses appeared as needed or were rebuilt from existing ones. Even the very concept of city planning was absent until the second half of the 15th century, when the ideas of the Roman architect Vitruvius Polio were revived. Vitruvius was the architect of August Rome, and his work On Architecture dates from about 30 BC. He was not one of the famous architects, but his book was the only one on this subject, and it pleased the world, obsessed with antiquity. Discoveries in architecture were made in the same way as in geography: the ancient author gave impetus to minds capable of their own creativity and research. People who believe they are following Vitruvius have in fact used his name to frame their own theories. Vitruvius considered the city as a self-sufficient unit, which should be planned, like a house, all parts of which are subordinate to the whole. Sewerage, roads, squares, public buildings, proportions of building sites - everything has its own place in this plan. The first treatise based on the concept of Vitruvius was written by the Florentine Leon Battista Alberti. It was published in 1485, only thirteen years after his death, and led a long line of works that stretched until the 19th century, works that had a huge impact on urban planning. Most of these works were amazingly, even too exquisitely, illustrated. Given the mathematical basis of this cult, it is not surprising that the followers took everything to the extreme. The city was invented, just like a problem in geometry, not paying attention to human and geographical factors. Theoretical perfection led in practice to lifeless dryness.

Rice. 57. Palma Nova, Italy: a strict urban plan

Just fortunate that only a few cities were built in accordance with the principles of Vitruvius. Every now and then there was a need, more often a military one, in a new city. At times it could be built according to this new theory (for example, Palma Nova (see fig. 57) in the Venetian state). For the most part, however, architects had to content themselves with partial development, because they rarely had the opportunity to completely demolish the old buildings and rebuild in their place. The architect faced passive resistance, suffice it to recall how Leonardo da Vinci's proposal to build satellite settlements around Milan was met. The terrible plague of 1484 claimed 50,000 inhabitants, and Leonardo wanted to build ten new cities with 5,000 houses and settle there 30,000 people, "in order to defuse too much crowding of people who have huddled in herds like goats ... filling every corner of space with stench and sowing seeds infection and death. But nothing of the kind was done, because neither monetary gain nor military advantages were foreseen in this. And the ruler of Milan chose to spend the gold on decorating his own court. This was the case throughout Europe. Cities have already taken shape and there is no room left for large-scale planning. Rome was the only exception to this rule.

The first city of Christianity in the Middle Ages fell into decay. The peak of his misfortunes was the transfer of the papacy to residence in Avignon in 1305. For more than a hundred years, there has not been a power in the Eternal City strong enough to restrain the ambitions of the great families and the brutal savagery of the crowd. Other cities of Italy grew prettier and prospered, while Rome was covered with mold and collapsed. The city of Augusta was built firmly, it survived and did not succumb to the attacks of time and the raids of the barbarians, but died at the hands of its own citizens. The wars were partly to blame, but mainly the fact that massive ancient buildings were a source of ready-made building materials. In 1443 the great schism ended, and the papacy was again established in Rome. For the first time, Pope Nicholas V drew attention to the deplorable state of the Eternal City. He understood that in order to recognize Rome as the capital of the world, it needs to be rebuilt (see Fig. 58). An enormous task! The city once held about a million people - the largest number of inhabitants up to 19th century. Before the industrial revolution, which led to the expansion of construction, no European city could compare in size with the Rome of Augustus. And in 1377 it had only about 20 thousand inhabitants. Seven of its hills were abandoned, the population preferred to live on the swampy banks of the Tiber. Cattle roamed the deserted streets lined with ruined houses. The forum lost its former glory and bore the nickname "Campo Vacchino", that is, "Cow Field". Dead animals were never cleaned up, and they rotted where they died, adding the smell of smoldering and rot to the filthy slush underfoot. There was no city in Europe that sank so low from such great heights.

Rice. 58. Panorama of Rome in 1493, with St. Peter's (above). From a modern engraving in Schedel's book "The Chronicle of the World"

More than 160 years have passed since Pope Nicholas V conceived his reconstruction, and until the time when Bernini completed the colonnade at St. Peter's Cathedral, more than 160 years have passed. And all the popes who ruled in these one and a half centuries, from the virtuous to the vicious, from the most learned Nicholas to the depraved Alexander Borgia, shared a passion that breathed new life into the first of all cities of the Renaissance, a love of art and architecture, a desire to turn the ancient city into a worthy capital of a Christian peace.

The list of names of architects and artists who worked there sounds exactly like a roll call of fame: Alberti, the first of the Vitruvians, Bramante, Sangallo, Bernini, Raphael, Michelangelo and many others who fell into the shadow of the great, but are able to decorate the court of any ruler. Some of what has been done is regrettable: for example, the destruction of the ancient St. Peter's Cathedral in order to build a new Bramante temple in its place caused a storm of protests. But absolute papal authority was enough to complete one of the greatest urban projects in history. The result was not just a magnificent monument to some ruler. A number of benefits went to ordinary citizens: water supply improved, the ancient sewerage system was restored, the threat of fires and plague sharply decreased.

City life

The city was a stage on which, in front of all honest people, what was happening now in the silence of offices took place. Details striking in their variability were striking: the irregularity of buildings, the eccentric styles and variegation of costumes, the countless goods that were produced right on the streets - all this gave the Renaissance city a brightness that is absent in the monotonous monotony of modern cities. But there was also a certain homogeneity, a fusion of groups that proclaimed the inner unity of the city. In the 20th century, the eye has become accustomed to the divisions created by urban sprawl: pedestrian and car traffic take place in different worlds, industry is separated from commerce, and both are separated by space from residential areas, which, in turn, are subdivided according to the wealth of their inhabitants. A city dweller can live his whole life without seeing how the bread he eats is baked or how the dead are buried. The larger the city became, the more a person moved away from his fellow citizens, until the paradox of loneliness in the midst of a crowd became an ordinary phenomenon.

In a walled city of, say, 50,000 people, where most of the houses were wretched shacks, the lack of space encouraged people to spend more time in public. The shopkeeper sold goods almost from the stall, through a small window. The shutters of the first floors were made on hinges in order to quickly recline, forming a shelf or table, that is, a counter (see Fig. 60). He lived with his family in the upper rooms of the house and, only having become significantly richer, could he keep a separate store with clerks, and live in a garden suburb.

Rice. 60. City traders, including: a clothing and textile merchant (left), a barber (center) and a confectioner (right)

A skilled craftsman also used the lower floor of the house as a workshop, sometimes putting his products up for sale right there on the spot. Craftsmen and merchants were very inclined to show herd behavior: each city had its own Tkatskaya Street, Myasnitsky Ryad, and its own Rybnikov Lane. And if there was not enough space in small crowded rooms, or even just in good weather, trade moved to the street, which became indistinguishable from the market. Dishonest people were punished publicly, in the square, in the same place where they earned their living, that is, in public. They were tied to a pillory, and worthless goods were burned at their feet or hung around their necks. A vintner who sold bad wine was forced to drink a large amount of it, and the rest was poured over his head. Rybnik was forced to sniff rotten fish or even smeared his face and hair with it.

At night, the city was plunged into complete silence and darkness. Even where there was no obligatory "hour of extinguishing the fires", the wise man tried not to go out late and after dark sat safely behind strong doors with bolts. A passer-by, caught by the guards at night, had to prepare to convincingly explain the reason for his suspicious walk. There were no such temptations that could lure an honest man from home at night, because public entertainment ended at sunset, and the townsfolk adhered to the hoarding habit of going to bed at sunset. Tallow candles were available, but still quite expensive. And foul-smelling wicks soaked in rags of fat were also used sparingly, because fat cost more than meat. The working day, which lasted from dawn to dusk, left little strength for a stormy night of fun. With the widespread development of printing, it became a custom in many homes to read the Bible. Another domestic entertainment was music-making for those who could afford to purchase a musical instrument: a lute, or a viol, or a flute, as well as singing for those who did not have money for it. Most people spent the brief hours of leisure between dinner and bedtime in conversation. However, the lack of evening and night entertainment was more than made up during the day at public expense. Frequent church holidays reduced the number of working days per year to a figure, perhaps lower than today.

Rice. 61. Religious procession

Fasting days were strictly observed and supported by the force of law, but holidays were understood literally. They not only included the liturgy, but turned into wild fun. These days, the solidarity of the townspeople was clearly manifested in crowded religious processions and religious processions (see Fig. 61). There were few observers then, because everyone wanted to take part in them. Albrecht Dürer witnessed a similar procession in Antwerp, and his artist's eye gazed with delight at the endless procession of colors and shapes. It was on the day of the Assumption of the Virgin, “... and the whole city, regardless of rank and occupation, gathered there, each dressed in the best dress according to his rank. All guilds and estates had their own signs by which they could be recognized. In the intervals they carried huge expensive candles and three long old Frankish trumpets of silver. There were also drums and pipes made in the German style. They blew and beat loudly and noisily ... There were goldsmiths and embroiderers, painters, masons and sculptors, joiners and carpenters, sailors and fishermen, weavers and tailors, bakers and tanners ... truly workers of all kinds, as well as many artisans and different people, earning their own living. They were followed by archers with rifles and crossbows, horsemen and foot soldiers. But in front of all of them were religious orders ... A large crowd of widows also took part in this procession. They supported themselves by their labor and observed special rules. They were dressed from head to toe in white clothes, sewn especially for this occasion, it was sad to look at them ... Twenty people carried the image of the Virgin Mary with our Lord Jesus, luxuriously dressed. In the course of the procession, many wonderful things were shown, magnificently presented. Wagons were pulled, on which stood ships and other structures full of masked people. They were followed by a troupe, representing the prophets in order and scenes from the New Testament ... From beginning to end, the procession lasted more than two hours until it reached our house.

The miracles that so delighted Dürer in Antwerp would have fascinated him in Venice and Florence, because the Italians treated religious holidays as an art form. At the feast of Corpus Christi in Viterbo, in 1482, the whole procession was divided into sections, each of which was responsible for some cardinal or the highest dignitary of the church. And each strove to outdo the other by decorating his plot with costly draperies and providing it with a stage on which the mysteries were played, so that, as a whole, it formed into a series of plays about the death and resurrection of Christ. The stage used in Italy for the performance of the mysteries was the same as in all of Europe: a three-story structure, where the upper and lower floors served respectively as Heaven and Hell, and the main middle platform depicted the Earth (see Fig. 62).

Rice. 62. Scene for the presentation of mysteries

Most of all attention was attracted by the complex stage mechanism, which allowed the actors to soar and float in the air. There was one scene in Florence which consisted of a suspended ball, surrounded by angels, from which, at the right moment, a chariot appeared and descended to earth. Leonardo da Vinci made an even more complex machine for the Dukes of Sforza, which showed the movement of celestial bodies, each carrying its own guardian angel.

Secular processions in Italy reenacted the great triumphs of classical Rome and were named after them. Sometimes they were arranged in honor of the arrival of some sovereign or famous military leader, sometimes just for the sake of a holiday. The glorious names of the great Romans were revived in memory, they were represented in togas and laurel wreaths and transported around the city in chariots. They especially liked to depict allegories: Faith conquered Idolatry, Virtue exterminated Vice. Another favorite representation is the three ages of man. Every earthly or supernatural event was played out in great detail. The Italians did not work on the literary content of these scenes, preferring to spend money on the pomp of the spectacle, so that all allegorical figures were straightforward and superficial creatures and only proclaimed high-sounding empty phrases without any conviction, thus passing from performance to performance. But the splendor of the scenery and costumes delighted the eye, and that was enough. In no other city in Europe did civic pride manifest itself so brightly and with such brilliance as in the annual ritual of the wedding with the sea, which was performed by the ruler of Venice, a strange mixture of commercial arrogance, Christian gratitude and Eastern symbolism. This ritual festival begins in 997 after the birth of Christ, when the Doge of Venice before the battle made a libation of wine, pouring it into the sea. And after the victory, it was celebrated on the next Ascension Day. A huge state barge, called the Bucentaur, was rowed to the same point in the bay, and there the doge threw a ring into the sea, declaring that by this action the city was married to the sea, that is, to the elements that made it great (see. Fig. 63).

Rice. 63. "Bucentaur" Venetian

"Bucentaur" majestically participated in all civil ceremonies. Solemn processions in other cities moved in the dust in the heat, and the Venetians glided along the smooth surface of their great sea route. The Bucentaur was refitted from a battle galley, which swept all the enemies of Venice from the Adriatic. She retained the powerful and vicious ramming prow of a warship, but now the upper deck was trimmed with scarlet and gold brocade, and a garland of golden leaves stretched along the side sparkled dazzlingly in the sun. On the prow was a human-sized figure of Justice with a sword in one hand and scales in the other. The sovereigns who came to visit were escorted on this ship to the island city, surrounded by countless small boats, also decorated with rich fabrics and garlands. The guest was brought to the very door of the residence allotted to him. No wonder the Venetian carnivals, staged with the same splendid disregard for expense, resplendent with the same sensual, almost savage taste for bright colors, attracted visitors from all over Europe. During these days, the city's population doubled. Apparently, the fashion for masquerades went from Venice, which then spread to all the courtyards of Europe. Other Italian cities masked actors were introduced into the mysteries, but it was the entertainment-loving Venetians with their commercial acumen who appreciated the mask as a piquant addition to the carnival.

The military competitions of the Middle Ages continued almost unchanged into the Renaissance, although the status of their participants somewhat decreased. So, for example, the fishmongers of Nuremberg staged their own tournament. Archery competitions were very popular, although the bow as a weapon disappeared from the battlefield. But the most beloved were the holidays, the roots of which went back to pre-Christian Europe. Failing to eradicate them, the Church, so to speak, christened some of them, that is, appropriated them, while others continued to live in an unchanged form, both in Catholic and Protestant countries. The greatest of these was May Day, the pagan meeting of spring (see Fig. 64).

Rice. 64. May Day celebration

On this day, both the poor and the rich traveled and went out of town to pick flowers, dance and feast. To become May Lord was a great honor, but also an expensive pleasure, because all the festive expenses fell on him: it happened that some men disappeared from the city for a while to evade this honorary role. The holiday brought to the city a particle of the countryside, life in nature, so close and so far away. Throughout Europe, the change of seasons was celebrated with festivities. They differed from each other in details and names, but the similarities were stronger than the differences. The Lord of Disorder still reigned on one of the winter days - the direct heir of the Roman saturnalia, which, in turn, was a relic of the prehistoric winter solstice festival. Again and again they tried to eradicate it, but it was revived in local carnivals with jesters, warriors and dancers in disguise, which first appeared to the world in cave drawings. The time has come, and the holidays of a thousand years ago easily fit into the life of cities, where the roar of printing presses and the noise of wheeled carriages marked the beginning of a new world.

Travelers

The main cities of Europe were connected by a very efficient postal system. A simple layman could freely use it ... if he was not afraid that his letters would be read. The authorities who organized the mail were interested in espionage almost as much as in establishing communication between cities and countries. Despite the terrible state of the roads, the number of vehicles increased. The wave of pilgrimage reached an unprecedented height, and when the flow of pilgrims began to subside, merchants took their place, because trade was actively developing. State officials were ubiquitous, the tramp of soldiers' boots on the march did not subside for a minute. Travelers going about their business are no longer a rarity. People like the restless Erasmus moved from one scientific center to another in search of a place and means of subsistence. Some even saw travel as a means of education combined with pleasure. In Italy, a new school of local history writers arose, who recommended the inquisitive to visit interesting places. Many traveled on horseback, but carriages had already begun to appear (see fig. 65), rumored to have been first invented in Kotz or Kosice (Hungary).

Rice. 65. German carriage 1563. Long-distance travel required at least 4 horses

Most of these carriages were made for show - they were extremely uncomfortable. The body was hung on belts, which in theory were supposed to serve as springs, but in practice turned the trip into a series of nauseating dives and swings. The average speed was twenty miles a day, depending on the quality of the roads. It took at least six horses to pull the carriage through the thick winter mud. They were very sensitive to the bumps they often encountered along the way. Once in Germany, such a pothole formed that three carriages fell into it at once, and this cost the life of one unfortunate peasant.

Roman roads were still the main arteries of Europe, but even their splendor could not resist the predation of the peasants. When material was needed to build a barn or barn, or even a house, the villagers with habitual readiness turned to large stocks of already hewn stone, which, in fact, was the road. As soon as the upper layers of the road surface were removed, the weather and transport completed the rest. In a few regions, there were orders to preserve and maintain roads outside the cities. In England, a miller who suddenly needed clay for repairs dug a hole 10 feet across and eight feet deep, and then threw it away. The pit filled with rainwater, a traveler fell into it and drowned. Called to account, the miller said that he had no intention of killing anyone, there was simply nowhere else to get clay. He was released from custody. However, the ancient custom prescribed to make roads of minimum width: in one place it was supposed to allow two carts to pass each other, in the other - to pass a knight with a spear at the ready. In France, where Roman roads ran through forests, their width was increased from 20 feet to about seventy-eight, as a precaution against brigands, who became more and more numerous as expensive freight traffic increased. A wise man always traveled in company, and everyone was armed. The lone traveler was regarded with suspicion, and he could well end up in a local prison if he did not name worthy reasons for his stay in this region.

Travel across Europe, even under favorable circumstances, could take several weeks. Therefore, roadside hotels - inns (see Fig. 66) have acquired such importance.

Rice. 66. Home common room roadside hotel

It could be a large establishment, such as the famous Bull Hotel in Padua, where up to 200 horses were housed in the stables, or it could be a tiny, fetid tavern for the careless and naive. In Austria, an innkeeper was captured, who, as it was proven, over the years killed more than 185 guests and accumulated considerable wealth from this. However, most contemporaries paint a quite friendly picture. The nice lady, portrayed by William Caxton in the first guidebook, was supposed to make a pleasant impression on travelers after a tiring day spent on the road. Caxton had his book printed in 1483.

Among other things, she supplied his monolingual countrymen with enough French phrases to inquire about how to get out of the city, hire a horse and get a lodging for the night. The conversation in the hotel cited there is more polite than informative, but it shows us what situations were repeated every evening in all the cities of Europe.

“God bless you, lady.

- Welcome, boy.

– Can I get a bed here?

- Yes, good and clean, [even if] there are a dozen of you.

No, there are three of us. Can you eat here?

- Yes, in abundance, thank God.

“Bring us food and give the horses hay and dry them well with straw.”

Travelers ate, prudently checked the bill for the meal and asked to add its cost to the morning calculation. Then follows:

“Take us to bed, we are tired.

“Jeanette, light a candle and show them upstairs to that room. And bring them hot water to wash their feet, and cover them with a feather bed.”

Judging by the conversation, this is a first-class hotel. Travelers are served dinner on the table, they obviously did not bring food with them, although this was the custom. They are escorted to bed with a candle and provided with warm water. Perhaps, if they were lucky, they could get a bed for each, and not share it with some stranger. But whether it was a luxurious hotel, in which guests were also offered entertainment, or a simple hut near the city wall, the traveler could rest in it for several hours, protected not only from bad weather and wild animals, but also from his fellow humans.

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. 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 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 15th - early 16th 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 nature.

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.

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.

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 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.

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, fragments of ancient architecture, marbles, coins, ceramics. In the Renaissance, the main centers of the artistic life of Italy stood out - 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 sculptors worked in Florence - 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 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, 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.

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 can feel great will, the 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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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.

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 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 a person, his dominance over surrounding nature, claims 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, 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, 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 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 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. The figures of Christ, John the Baptist and the angels standing next to them are painted in restrained colors.
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).

Creation problem ideal city, despite today's relevance, was especially acute in the distant era of the Renaissance (XIV - XVI centuries). This theme, through the prism of the philosophy of anthropocentrism, becomes the leading one in the art of urban planning of this period. A man with his needs for happiness, love, luxury, comfort, convenience, with his thoughts and ideas, becomes the measure of that time, a symbol of the resurgent ancient spirit, called to sing of this very Man with a capital letter. He moves the creative thought of the Renaissance to the search for unique, sometimes utopian, architectural and philosophical solutions to the problem of the formation of the city. The latter begins to play a new role, it is perceived as a closed whole interconnected space, fenced off and different from nature, where the whole life of a person passes.

In this space, both physical and aesthetic needs and desires of a person should be fully taken into account, such aspects of human stay in the city as comfort and safety should be fully thought out. The new firearms made the medieval stone fortifications defenseless. This predetermined, for example, the appearance of walls with earthen bastions along the perimeter of cities and determined, it would seem, a bizarre star-shaped line of city fortifications. A general revivalist idea of ​​the "ideal city" is being formed - the city that is most convenient and safe for living. In a word, such trends are not alien to the modern architect, but the Renaissance then marked a new frontier, a new breath of life in the mind of the creator, establishing certain unknowns. earlier criteria, standards and stereotypes, the consequences of which are felt in the search for an ideal city today.

The first studies in this vein were carried out by Mark Vitruvius (second half of the 1st century BC), an architect and engineer in the army of Julius Caesar, - in his treatise Ten Books on Architecture, Vitruvius posed the problem of the golden mean between theory and practice, described the basic concepts of aesthetics, the proportionality of the building and the person, for the first time in history he investigated the problem of musical acoustics of premises.

Vitruvius himself did not leave an image of the ideal city, but this was done by many researchers and successors of his ideas, from which, as is often noted, the Renaissance itself began.

But arguments about the ideal city, its concepts originate in the treatises of ancient Greek philosophers - so, for a second, it is worth turning to an era somewhat earlier than we are considering - to antiquity.

Sfortsinda - typical houses arch. Filarete (drawing by Leonardo da Vinci)

The centuries-old process of building city-states in the capital of Ancient Greece, Athens, was summed up in the writings of the two largest philosophers of antiquity: Plato (428 - 348 BC) and Aristotle (384 - 322 BC).

Thus, the idealist philosopher Plato, associated with the aristocratic circles of his time, was an adherent of a rigidly regulated state structure, not without reason he also owned a story about the mythical country of Atlantis, ruled by a king and archons. In the interpretation of Plato, Atlantis was the historical prototype of that ideal city-state, which he discussed in his works “The State” and “Laws”.

Returning to the Renaissance, let's say about Leon Batista Alberti, the first true theorist of urban planning in the history of mankind, who describes in detail “how to make a city”, starting from the choice of a place and ending with its internal structure. Alberti wrote that “beauty is a strict proportionate harmony of all parts united by what they belong to, such that nothing can be added, subtracted, or changed without making it worse.” In fact, Alberti was the first to proclaim the basic principles of the Renaissance urban ensemble, linking the ancient sense of proportion with the rationalistic beginning of a new era. The given ratio of the height of the building to the space located in front of it (from 1:3 to 1:6), the consistency of the architectural scales of the main and secondary buildings, the balance of the composition and the absence of dissonant contrasts - these are the aesthetic principles of Renaissance urban planners.

Alberti in his treatise "Ten books on architecture" draws an ideal city, beautiful in rational planning and appearance buildings, streets, squares. The entire living environment of a person is arranged here in such a way that it meets the needs of the individual, family, and society as a whole.

Bernardo Gambarelli (Rosselino), picking up already existing ideas, contributes to the development of the vision of an ideal city, which resulted in the city of Pienza (1459), which actually exists to this day, incorporating elements of many projects that have remained on paper or in creative the intentions of the creators. This city is a clear example of the transformation of the medieval settlement of Corsignano into an ideal Renaissance city with straight streets and a regular layout.

Antonio di Pietro Averlino (Filarete) (c. 1400 - c. 1469) in his treatise gives an idea of ​​​​the ideal city of Sforzinda.

The city was an octagonal star in plan, formed by the intersection at an angle of 45 ° of two equal squares with a side of 3.5 km. In the ledges of the star there were eight round towers, and in the "pockets" - eight city gates. The gates and towers were connected to the center by radial streets, some of which were shipping channels. In the central part of the city, on a hill, there was the main square, rectangular in plan, on the short sides of which there were supposed to be princely palace and the city cathedral, and along the long ones - judicial and city institutions.

In the center of the square there was a pond and a watchtower. Two others adjoined the main square, with the houses of the most eminent residents of the city. Sixteen more squares were located at the intersection of the radial streets with the ring street: eight shopping squares and eight for parish centers and churches.

Pienza was not the only realized city in Italy that embodied the principles of the "ideal" planning. Italy itself at that time was not a united state, as we know it now, it consisted of many separate independent republics and duchies. At the head of each such area was a noble family. Of course, every ruler wanted to have in his state a model of an “ideal” city, which would allow him to be considered an educated and progressive Renaissance person. Therefore, in 1492, the representative of the D Este dynasty, Duke Ercole I, decided to rebuild one of the main cities of his duchy - Ferrara.

The restructuring was entrusted to the architect Biagio Rossetti. He was distinguished by a breadth of views, as well as a love of innovation, which manifested itself in almost all of his works. He thoroughly studied the old layout of the city and came to an interesting solution. If before him architects either demolished old buildings or built from scratch, then Biagio decided to build a new city on top of the old one. Thus, he simultaneously embodied the concept of the Renaissance city with its straight streets and open spaces and emphasized the integrity and self-sufficiency of the medieval city. The main innovation of the architect was a different use of spaces. He did not obey all the laws of regular urban planning, which suggested open squares and wide streets. Instead, since the medieval part of the city was left intact, Biagio plays on opposites: he alternates main roads with narrow streets, bright squares with dark dead ends, large ducal houses with low houses of ordinary inhabitants. Moreover, these elements do not contradict each other at all: the reverse perspective is combined with the straight one, and the running lines and growing volumes do not contradict each other.

The Venetian scholar and scholar of architecture Daniele Barbaro (1514-1570) devoted most of his life to the study of the treatise of Vitruvius, which resulted in his book entitled "Ten books on the architecture of Vitruvius with a commentary by Daniele Barbaro", written in 1556. In this book the attitude to ancient architecture was reflected not only by the author himself, but also by most architects of the 16th century. Daniele Barbaro throughout his life thoroughly studied the treatise and tried to recreate the scheme of the ideal city, which would reflect the ideas of Vetruvius and his concepts that complement his vision.

Somewhat earlier, the Renaissance architect Cesare Cesarino published his commentary on the Ten Books of Architecture in 1521 with numerous illustrations, including theoretical diagrams of an ideal city.

Among the many such theorists of the XVI century. Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) occupied a special place. In his treatise Four Books on Architecture (Italian: Quattro Libri deHArchitettura), published in 1570, Palladio did not single out a special section on the city, but his entire work was essentially devoted to this particular topic. He said that "a city is nothing but a kind of big house, and vice versa, a house is a kind of small city."

Putting an equal sign between a residential building and a city, Palladio thereby emphasized the integrity of the urban organism and the interconnectedness of its spatial elements. He reflects on the integrity of the urban organism and the relationship of its spatial elements. About the urban ensemble, he writes: "Beauty is the result of a beautiful form and the correspondence of the whole to parts, parts to each other and also parts to the whole." A prominent place in the treatise is given to the interior of buildings, their dimensions and proportions. Palladio is trying to organically connect the outer space of the streets with the interior of houses and courtyards.

At the end of the XVI century. during the siege of cities, artillery weapons with explosive shells began to be used. This forced city planners to reconsider the nature of city fortifications. The fortress walls and towers were replaced by earthen bastions, which, being carried forward beyond the city boundaries, were capable of both repelling enemy attacks and conducting flanking fire on the enemy approaching the city. Based on this, there was no need to protect the city gates, which from now on have turned from powerful defense centers into the main entrances to the city. These innovations in the form of a variety of star-shaped bizarre forms are reflected in the projects of the ideal cities of Buonayuto Lorini, Antonio Lupicini, Francesco di George Martini, Girolamo Maggi, Giovanni Bellucci, Fra Giocondo, Francesco de Marchi, Daniel Speckle, Jacques Perret, Albrecht Dürer, Vicenzo Scamozzi , George Vasari Jr. and etc.

And the fortified city of Palmanova can rightly be considered the culmination of the fortification architecture of the Renaissance, the plan of which, according to the plan of the architect Vicenzo Scamozzi, has the shape of a nine-pointed star, and the streets radiate from the square located in the center. The territory of the city was surrounded by twelve bastions, and each of the bastions was planned in such a way as to protect the neighboring ones, and had four city gates, from which there were two main streets intersecting at right angles. At their intersection was the main square, which overlooked the palace, cathedral, university and city institutions. Two trading squares adjoined the main square from the west and east, the exchange square was located in the north, and the square for hay and firewood trade was located in the south. The territory of the city was crossed by a river, and closer to its periphery there were eight parish churches. The layout of the city was regular. The fortress was surrounded by a moat.

In the engineering environment of the Renaissance, questions of composition, harmony, beauty, and proportion are diligently studied. In these ideal constructions, the planning of the city is characterized by rationalism, geometric clarity, centric composition and harmony between the whole and the parts. And, finally, what distinguishes the architecture of the Renaissance from other eras is the person standing in the center, at the basis of all these constructions. Many more names and names of cities can serve as examples. Survived Urbino with its grandiose Ducal Palace, "a city in the form of a palazzo", created by the architect Luciano Laurana for Duke Federico da Montefeltro, Terradel Sole ("City of the Sun"), Vigevano in Lombardy, Valletta (capital of Malta). As for the latter, this majestic walled city grew on the waterless, steep cliffs of the Mount Sciberras peninsula, rising between the two deep harbors of Marsamxett and Grand Harbour. Founded in 1566, Valletta was completely built, along with impressive bastions, forts and a cathedral, in an astonishingly short time - 15 years.

General ideas, concepts of the Renaissance flowed far beyond the turn of the 17th century and splashed out stormy stream, covering subsequent generations of architects and engineers.

Even the example of many modern architectural projects shows the influence of the Renaissance, which for several centuries has not lost its idea of ​​humanity and the primacy of human comfort. Simplicity, convenience, "accessibility" of the city for the inhabitant in all sorts of variable devices can be found in many works, and each following them in their own way, architects and researchers, all as one, nevertheless stepped along the paved road already paved by the masters of the Renaissance.

Not all examples of “ideal cities” were considered in the article, the origins of which date back to us from the depths of the era of the beautiful Renaissance - in some, the emphasis is on the convenience and ergonomics of being a civilian, in others on the maximum efficiency of defensive operations; but in all the examples we observe a tireless craving for improvement, for achieving results, we see confident steps towards the convenience and comfort of a person. Ideas, concepts, to some extent, the aspirations of the Renaissance flowed far beyond the turn of the 17th century and splashed out in a stormy stream, embracing subsequent generations of architects and engineering figures.

And the example of modern architects clearly shows the influence of the concepts of the Renaissance figures, somewhat modified, but not losing their idea of ​​humanity and the primacy of human comfort in urban planning projects. Simplicity, convenience, "accessibility" of the city for the resident in all sorts of variable devices can be found in many other works, implemented and by no means - remained on paper. Each following their own path, architects and researchers, all as one, nevertheless stepped along the paved road already paved by the masters of the Renaissance, following the immortally relevant and alluring light of the idea of ​​rebirth, the rebirth of the human soul, and the main steps in this direction were taken in distant XIV century.

The concepts of the ideal city of the Renaissance, for all their utopia and impossibility from a pragmatic point of view of a person, especially a modern one, do not cease completely in their splendor or at least partially, elements periodically creep into the work of romantic architects, striving not so much for perfection in their difficult creative craft, how much to perfection in an environment more complex and unpredictable than parchment and perspective - to the unattainable perfection of the human soul and consciousness.

Palmanova - Cathedral

Renaissance art in Italy (XIII-XVI centuries).

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Features of the art of the Renaissance in Italy.

The art of the Renaissance arose on the basis of humanism (from the Latin humanus - “human”) - a trend of social thought that originated in the 14th century. in Italy, and then during the second half of the 15th and in the 16th centuries. spread to other European countries. Humanism proclaimed the highest value of man and his good. The followers of this trend believed that every person has the right to freely develop as a person, realizing their abilities. The ideas of humanism are most fully and vividly embodied in art, main theme who became a beautiful, harmoniously developed person with unlimited spiritual and creative possibilities. Humanists were inspired by antiquity, which served for them as a source of knowledge and a model of artistic creativity. The great past of Italy, constantly reminding of itself, was perceived at the time as the highest perfection, while the art of the Middle Ages seemed inept and barbaric. The term "revival", which arose in the 16th century, meant the birth of a new art, reviving classical ancient culture. However, the art of the Renaissance owes much to the artistic tradition of the Middle Ages. The old and the new were inextricably linked and confronted. With all the contradictory diversity of its origins, the art of the Renaissance is marked by a deep and fundamental novelty. It laid the foundations of the European culture of modern times. All major art forms - painting and graphics, sculpture, architecture - have changed tremendously.
In architecture, the creatively reworked principles of ancient order system , new types of public buildings emerged. Painting was enriched with a linear and aerial perspective, knowledge of the anatomy and proportions of the human body. Earthly content penetrated the traditional religious themes of works of art. Increased interest in ancient mythology, history, everyday scenes, landscapes, portraits. Along with the monumental wall paintings that adorned architectural structures, a painting appeared; oil painting originated.
Art has not yet ceased to be a craft, but the first place has already taken creative individuality artist, whose activities at that time were very diverse. The universal talent of the masters of the Renaissance is amazing - they often worked simultaneously in the field of architecture, sculpture and painting, combined their passion for literature, poetry and philosophy with the study of the exact sciences. The concept of a creatively rich, or "Renaissance" personality later became a household word.
In the art of the Renaissance, the paths of scientific and artistic comprehension of the world and man were closely intertwined. Its cognitive meaning was inextricably linked with sublime poetic beauty; in its striving for naturalness, it did not descend to petty everyday life. Art has become a universal spiritual need.
The formation of the Renaissance culture in Italy took place in economically independent cities. In the rise and flourishing of the art of the Renaissance, the Church and the magnificent courts of the uncrowned sovereigns - the ruling wealthy families, who were the largest patrons and customers of works of painting, sculpture and architecture, played an important role. The main centers of Renaissance culture were at first the cities of Florence, Siena, Pisa, then Padua, Ferrara, Genoa, Milan, and later, in the second half of the 15th century, rich merchant Venice. In the XVI century. Rome became the capital of the Italian Renaissance. Since that time, all other centers of culture, except Venice, have lost their former importance.
In the era of the Italian Renaissance, it is customary to distinguish several periods:

Proto-Renaissance (second half of the XIII-XIV centuries),

Early Renaissance (XV century),

High Renaissance (late 15th - first third of the 16th century)

Late Renaissance (last two thirds of the 16th century).

Proto-Renaissance

In Italian culture of the XIII-XIV centuries. Against the backdrop of still strong Byzantine and Gothic traditions, features of a new art began to appear, which would later be called the art of the Renaissance. Therefore, this period of its history was called Proto-Renaissance(from the Greek "protos" - "first", i.e. prepared the onset of the Renaissance). There was no similar transitional period in any of the European countries. In Italy itself, proto-Renaissance art arose and developed only in Tuscany and Rome.
In Italian culture, the features of the old and the new were intertwined. The last poet of the Middle Ages and the first poet of the new era, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), created the Italian literary language. What Dante started was continued by other great Florentines of the 14th century - Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), the founder of European lyric poetry, and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the founder of the novel (short story) genre in world literature. The pride of the era are the architects and sculptors Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio and the painter Giotto di Bondone .
Architecture
Italian architecture for a long time followed medieval traditions, which was expressed mainly in the use of a large number of Gothic motifs. At the same time, Italian Gothic itself was very different from the Gothic architecture of northern Europe: it gravitated towards calm large forms, even light, horizontal divisions, and wide wall surfaces. In 1296, construction began in Florence Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Arnolfo di Cambio wanted to crown the altar of the cathedral with a huge dome. However, after the death of the architect in 1310, the construction was delayed, it was completed already in the period of the Early Renaissance. In 1334, according to the design of Giotto, the construction of the bell tower of the cathedral, the so-called campanile, was begun - a slender rectangular tower with horizontal divisions by floors and elegant Gothic windows, the lancet arched form of which was preserved in Italian architecture for a long time.
Among the most famous city palaces is the Palazzo Vecchio (Palazzo della Signoria) in Florence. It is believed that it was built by Arnolfo di Cambio. It is a heavy cube with a high tower, lined with hard stone rustication. The three-storey façade is decorated with paired windows inscribed in semicircular arches, which gives the entire building an impression of restrained austerity. The building defines the appearance of the old city center, invading the square with a harsh bulk.
Sculpture
Earlier than in architecture and painting, artistic searches were outlined in sculpture, and above all in the Pisan school, the founder of which was Niccolò Pisano (circa 1220 - between 1278 and 1284). Niccolo Pisano was born in Apulia, in southern Italy. It is believed that he studied sculpture in the southern schools, where the spirit of the revival of the classical traditions of antiquity flourished. Without a doubt, Niccolo studied the sculptural decoration of late Roman and early Christian sarcophagi. The earliest known work of the sculptor is a hexagonal marble pulpit, made by him for the baptistery in Pisa (1260), - became an outstanding work of Renaissance sculpture and had a huge impact on its further development. The main achievement of the sculptor is that he managed to give volume and expressiveness to the forms, and each image has bodily power.
From the workshop of Niccolò Pisano came the remarkable masters of sculpture of the Proto-Renaissance - his son Giovanni Pisano and Arnolfo di Cambio, also known as an architect. Arnolfo di Cambio (circa 1245 - after 1310) gravitated toward monumental sculpture, in which he used his life observations. One of the best works he did together with his father and son Pisano - Fountain in Piazza Perugia(1278). Fonte Maggiore, decorated with numerous statues and reliefs, has become the pride of the city. It was forbidden to drink animals from it, to take water in wine barrels or in unwashed dishes. The city museum has preserved fragments of reclining figures made by Arnolfo di Cambio for the fountain. In these figures, the sculptor managed to convey all the richness of the movements of the human body.
Painting
In the art of the Italian Renaissance, wall painting occupied a dominant place. It was made in fresco technique. With paints prepared on water, they wrote either on wet plaster (actually a fresco) or on dry - this technique is called "a secco" (translated from Italian - "dry"). The main binder of plaster is lime. Because lime takes a little time to dry, fresco painting had to be done quickly, often in parts, between which there were connecting seams. From the second half of the XV century. the technique of fresco began to be supplemented with painting a secco; the latter allowed for slower work and allowed the finishing of parts. The work on the murals was preceded by the production of sinopia - auxiliary drawings applied under the fresco on the first layer of plaster. These drawings were made with red ocher, which was mined from clay near the city of Sinop, located on the Black Sea coast. According to the name of the city, the paint was called Sinop, or sinopia, later the drawings themselves began to be called the same way. Sinopia was used in Italian painting from the 13th to the middle of the 15th century. However, not all painters resorted to the help of sinopia - for example, Giotto di Bondone, the most prominent representative of the era of the Proto-Renaissance, did without them. Gradually, synopia was abandoned. From the middle of the XV century. Cardboards were widely used in painting - preparatory drawings made on paper or on fabric in the size of future works. The contours of the drawing were transferred to wet plaster with the help of coal dust. It was blown through the holes pierced in the contour and pressed into the plaster with some sharp tool. Sometimes synopia from a sketch sketch turned into a finished monumental drawing, and cardboards acquired the value of independent works of painting.

The founder of the new Italian style of painting is Cimabue (actually Cenny di Pepo, c. 1240 - c. 1302). Cimabue was famous in Florence as a master of solemn altar paintings and icons. His images are characterized by abstraction and static character. And although Cimabue followed Byzantine traditions in his work, in his works he tried to express earthly feelings, soften the rigidity of the Byzantine canon.
Piero Cavallini (between 1240 and 1250 - around 1330) lived and worked in Rome. He is the author of the mosaics of the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere (1291), as well as the frescoes of the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere (circa 1293). In his works, Cavallini gave the forms volume and tangibility.
Achievements Cavallini adopted and continued Giotto di Bondone(1266 or 1267 - 1337), greatest artist Proto-Renaissance. The name of Giotto is associated with a turn in the development of Italian painting, its break with medieval artistic canons and the traditions of Italo-Byzantine art of the 13th century. The most famous works of Giotto are the paintings of the Arena Chapel in Padua (1304-06). The frescoes are distinguished by their clarity, uncomplicated narrative, the presence of everyday details that give vitality and naturalness to the depicted scenes. Rejecting the church canon that dominated the art of that time, Giotto depicts his characters as similar to real people: with proportional, squat bodies, round (rather than elongated) faces, the correct cut of the eyes, etc. His saints do not hover above the ground, but stand firmly on it with both feet. They think more about the earthly than about the heavenly, experiencing completely human feelings and emotions. For the first time in the history of Italian painting, the state of mind of the heroes of a painting is conveyed by facial expressions, gestures, posture. Instead of the traditional golden background, Giotto's frescoes depict landscapes, interiors, or sculptural groups on the facades of basilicas.
In the second half of the XIV century. the picturesque school of Siena comes to the fore. The largest and most refined master of Sienese painting of the XIV century. was Simone Martini (c. 1284-1344). The brush of Simone Martini owns the first image in the history of art of a concrete historical event with a portrait of a contemporary. This image " Condottiere Guidoriccio da Fogliano"in the Mappamondo (World Maps) room in the Palazzo Publico (Siena), which was the prototype for numerous future equestrian portraits. The altarpiece The Annunciation by Simone Martini, now kept in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, enjoys well-deserved fame.

Features of the Renaissance. Proto-Renaissance

Features of the Renaissance

Early Renaissance

In the XV century. the art of Italy occupied a dominant position in the artistic life of Europe. The foundations of a humanistic secular (i.e., not ecclesiastical) culture were laid in Florence, which pushed Siena and Pisa into the background. Political power here belonged to merchants and artisans, the strongest influence on city affairs was exerted by several wealthy families, who constantly competed with each other. This struggle ended at the end of the 14th century. victory of the Medici banking house. Its head, Cosimo de' Medici, became the unspoken ruler of Florence. Writers, poets, scientists, architects, artists flocked to the court of Cosimo Medici. The Renaissance culture of Florence reached its peak under Lorenzo de' Medici, nicknamed the Magnificent. Lorenzo was a great patron of the arts and sciences, the creator of the Platonic Academy, where the outstanding minds of Italy, poets and philosophers gathered, where refined debates were held that elevated the spirit and mind.

Architecture

Under Cosimo and Lorenzo Medici, a real revolution took place in the architecture of Florence: extensive construction was launched here, which significantly changed the face of the city. The ancestor of Renaissance architecture in Italy was Filippo Brunelleschi(1377-1446) - architect, sculptor and scientist, one of the creators of the scientific theory of perspective. Brunelleschi's greatest engineering achievement was the construction of the dome. Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Thanks to his mathematical and technical genius, Brunelleschi managed to solve the most difficult problem of his time. The main difficulty that the master faced was caused by the gigantic span of the middle cross (42 m), which required special efforts to facilitate spreading. Brunelleschi solved the problem by applying an ingenious design: a light hollow dome consisting of two shells, a frame system of eight bearing ribs connected by rings encircling them, a light lantern that closed and loaded the arch. 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 the architecture of Italy to creatively comprehend and originally interpreted the ancient order system ( Ospedale degli Innocenti (Shelter for foundlings), 1421-44), marked the beginning of the creation of domed churches based on the ancient order ( Church of San Lorenzo ). A true gem of the Early Renaissance was created by Brunelleschi commissioned by a wealthy Florentine family Pazzi Chapel(begun in 1429). The humanism and poetry of Brunelleschi's work, the harmonious proportion, lightness and elegance of his buildings, keeping in touch with the traditions of the Gothic, the creative freedom and scientific validity of his ideas determined Brunelleschi's great influence on the subsequent development of Renaissance architecture.

One of the main achievements of Italian architecture of the XV century. was the creation of a new type of city palaces, the palazzo, which served as a model for public buildings of a later time. Features of the 15th century palazzo are a clear division of the closed volume of the building into three floors, an open courtyard with summer floor arcades, the use of rust (stone with a roughly beveled or convex front surface) for facade cladding, as well as a strongly extended decorative cornice. A striking example of this style is the capital construction of Brunelleschi's student Michelozzo di Bartolommeo (1396-1472), the court architect of the Medici family, - Palazzo Medici - Riccardi (1444-60), which served as a model for the construction of many Florentine palaces. The creation of Michelozzo is close Palazzo Strozzi(founded in 1481), which is associated with the name of the architect and sculptor Benedetto da Maiano (1442-97).

A special place in the history of Italian architecture is occupied by Leon Battista Alberti(1404-72). A comprehensively gifted and widely educated man, he was one of the most brilliant humanists of his time. The range of his interests was unusually diverse. It covered morality and law, mathematics, mechanics, economics, philosophy, poetry, music, painting, sculpture, architecture. A brilliant stylist, Alberti left numerous works in Latin and Italian. In Italy and abroad, Alberti earned himself the fame of an outstanding art theorist. The famous treatises “Ten Books on Architecture” (1449-52), “On Painting”, “On the Statue” (1435-36) belong to his pen. But architecture was Alberti's main vocation. In architectural work, Alberti gravitated towards bold, experimental solutions, innovatively using the ancient artistic heritage. Alberti created new type city ​​palace ( Palazzo Rucellai ). In religious architecture, striving for grandeur and simplicity, Alberti used motifs of Roman triumphal arches and arcades in the design of facades ( Church of Sant'Andrea in Mantua, 1472-94). The name Alberti is rightfully considered one of the first among the great creators of the culture of the Italian Renaissance.

Sculpture

In the XV century. Italian sculpture, which has acquired an independent significance independent of architecture, is flourishing. Orders for the decoration of public buildings are beginning to enter the practice of artistic life; art competitions are held. One of these competitions - for the manufacture of bronze of the second northern doors of the Florentine baptistery (1401) - is considered a significant event that opened a new page in the history of Italian Renaissance sculpture. The victory was won by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1381-1455).

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 pinnacle of Ghiberti's work was east doors of the florence baptistery (1425-52), who immortalized the name of the master. The decoration of the doors includes ten square compositions made of gilded bronze (" Creation of Adam and Eve”), with their unusual expressiveness reminiscent of picturesque paintings. The artist managed to convey the depth of space, saturated with pictures of nature, figures of people, architectural structures. With the light hand of Michelangelo, the eastern doors of the Florentine baptistery began to be called "Gates of Paradise".

The Ghiberti workshop became a school for a whole generation of artists, in particular, the famous Donatello, the great reformer, worked there. Italian sculpture. The work of Donatello (c. 1386-1466), which absorbed the democratic traditions of the culture of Florence in the 14th century, is one of the peaks in the development of the art of the Early Renaissance. It embodied the search for new, realistic means of depicting reality, characteristic of the art of the Renaissance, close attention to man and his spiritual world. The influence of Donatello's work on the development of Italian Renaissance art was enormous.

The second generation of Florentine sculptors gravitated towards more lyrical, peaceful, secular art. The leading role in it belonged to the family of sculptors della Robbia. The head of the family, Lucca della Robbia (1399/1400 - 1482), became famous for his use of the glaze technique in round sculpture and relief. The technique of glaze (majolica), known from ancient times to the peoples of Asia Minor, was brought to the Iberian Peninsula and the island of Majorca (hence its name) in the Middle Ages, and then spread widely in Italy. Lucca della Robbia created medallions with reliefs on a deep blue background for buildings and altars, garlands of flowers and fruits, majolica busts of the Madonna, Christ and saints. The cheerful, elegant, kind art of this master received a well-deserved recognition of his contemporaries. Great perfection in the majolica technique was also achieved by his nephew Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) ( reliefs on the façade of the Ospedale degli Innocenti).

Painting

The huge role that Brunelleschi played in the architecture of the Early Renaissance, and Donatello in sculpture, belonged to Masaccio (1401-1428) in painting. Masaccio died young, before reaching the age of 27, and yet he managed to do a lot in painting. The famous art historian Vipper said: "Masaccio is one of the most independent and consistent geniuses in the history of European painting, the founder of a new realism ..." Continuing the search for Giotto, Masaccio boldly breaks with medieval artistic traditions. In fresco "Trinity"(1426-27), created for the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, for the first time in a mural painting by Masaccio applies full perspective. In the murals of the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence (1425-28) - the main creation of his short life - Masaccio gives the images an unprecedented vitality, emphasizes the physicality and monumentality of his characters, masterfully conveys the emotional state of the psychological depth of the images. In Fresco "Expulsion from Paradise" the artist solves the most difficult task of his time to depict a naked human figure. The harsh and courageous art of Masaccio had a huge impact on the artistic culture of the Renaissance.

The development of the painting of the Early Renaissance was ambiguous: the artists went their own, sometimes in different ways. The secular beginning, the desire for a fascinating narrative, the lyrical earthly feeling found vivid expression in the works of Fra Filippo Lippi (1406-69), a monk of the Carmelite order. Charming master, author of many altar compositions, among which the picture is considered the best « Adoration of the Child » created for the chapel in Palazzo Medici - Riccardi, Filippo Lippi managed to convey human warmth and poetic love for nature in them.

In the middle of the XV century. the painting of Central Italy experienced a rapid flowering, a striking example of which is the work of Piero della Francesca(1420-92), the greatest artist and art theorist of the Renaissance. The most remarkable creation of Piero della Francesca - cycle of frescoes in the church of San Francesco in Arezzo, which are based on the legend of the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross. The frescoes, arranged in three tiers, trace the history of the life-giving cross from the very beginning, when a sacred tree grows from the seed of the paradise tree of the knowledge of good and evil on Adam's grave. ("Death of Adam") until the end, when the Byzantine emperor Heraclius solemnly returns the Christian relic to Jerusalem (« Battle between Heraclius and Chosroes » ). The work of Piero della Francesca went beyond local schools of painting and determined the development of Italian art in general.

In the second half of the 15th century, many talented craftsmen worked in northern Italy in the cities of Verona, Ferrara, and Venice. Among the painters of this time, the most famous is Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506) - a master of easel and monumental painting, draftsman and engraver, sculptor and architect. The pictorial manner of the artist is distinguished by the chasing of forms and drawings, the rigor and truthfulness of generalized images. Thanks to the spatial depth and sculptural nature of the figures, Mantegna achieves the impression of a real scene frozen for a moment - his characters look so voluminous and natural. Most of his life Mantegna lived in Mantua, where he created his most famous work - mural "Chamber degli Sposi" in the country castle of the Marquis L. Gonzaga. By means of painting alone, he created here a luxurious Renaissance interior, a place for ceremonial receptions and holidays. The art of Mantegna, which enjoyed great fame, influenced the entire northern Italian painting.

A special place in the painting of the Early Renaissance belongs to Sandro Botticelli(actually Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi), who was born in 1445 in Florence in the family of a wealthy leather tanner. In 1459-64. the young man is studying painting with the famous Florentine master Filippo Lippi. In 1470 he opened his own workshop in Florence, and in 1472 he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke.

The first creation of Botticelli was the composition "Strength", which he performed for the merchant court of Florence. The young artist quickly gained the trust of customers and gained fame, which attracted the attention of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the new ruler of Florence, became his court master and favorite. Botticelli executed most of his paintings for the houses of the duke and other noble Florentine families, as well as for churches, monasteries and public buildings in Florence.

Second half of the 1470s and 1480s became for Botticelli a period of creative flowering. For the main facade of the church of Santa Maria Novella, he writes the composition " Adoration of the Magi"- a kind of mythologized group portrait of the Medici family. A few years later, the artist creates his famous mythological allegory "Spring".

In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV ordered a group of painters, among whom was Botticelli, to decorate his chapel with frescoes, which later received the name "Sistine". Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel by Botticelli Temptation of Christ », « Scenes from the life of Moses », « Punishment of Korea, Dathan and Aviron". In the next few years, Botticelli completed a series of 4 frescoes based on short stories from Boccaccio's Decameron, created his most famous mythological works (“The Birth of Venus”, “ Pallas and Centaur”), as well as several altar compositions for Florentine churches (“ Coronation of the Virgin Mary », « Altar of San Barnaba"). Many times he turned to the image of the Madonna (" Madonna del Magnificat », « Madonna with pomegranate », « Madonna with a book”), also worked in the portrait genre (“ Portrait of Giuliano Medici”, “Portrait of a young woman”, “Portrait of a young man”).

In the 1490s, during the period of social movements that shook Florence and the mystical sermons of the monk Savonarola, moralizing notes and drama appear in the art of Botticelli (“Slander”, “ Lamentation for Christ », « mystical christmas"). Under the influence of Savonarola, in a fit of religious exaltation, the artist even destroyed some of his works. In the mid-1490s, with the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent and the expulsion of his son Pietro from Florence, Botticelli lost his fame as a great artist. Forgotten, he quietly lives out his life in the house of brother Simon. In 1510 the artist died.

The exquisite art of Botticelli with elements of stylization (i.e. generalization of images using conventional techniques - simplification of color, shape and volume) is considered one of the pinnacles of the development of painting. Botticelli's art, unlike most of the early Renaissance masters, was based on personal experience. Exceptionally sensitive and sincere, Botticelli went through a difficult and tragic path of creative quest - from the poetic perception of the world in his youth to mysticism and religious exaltation in adulthood.

EARLY REVIVAL

EARLY REVIVAL

High Renaissance

The High Renaissance, which gave humanity such great masters as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giorgione, Titian, Bramante, covers a relatively short period of time - the end of the 15th and the first third of the 16th centuries. Only in Venice the flourishing of art continued until the middle of the century.

Fundamental shifts associated with the decisive events in world history, the successes of advanced scientific thought, endlessly expanded people's ideas about the world - not only about the earth, but also about space. perception of the world and human personality as if enlarged; V artistic creativity this was reflected not only in the majestic scale of architectural structures, monuments, solemn fresco cycles and paintings, but also in their content, expressiveness of images. The art of the High Renaissance is a lively and complex artistic process with dazzlingly bright ups and subsequent crises.

Donato Bramante.

Rome became the center of High Renaissance architecture, where, on the basis of previous discoveries and successes, a single classic style. Masters creatively used the ancient order system, creating structures, the majestic monumentality of which was in tune with the era. Donato Bramante (1444-1514) became the largest representative of High Renaissance architecture. Bramante's buildings are distinguished by monumentality and grandeur, harmonious perfection of proportions, integrity and clarity of compositional and spatial solutions, and free, creative use of classical forms. The highest creative achievement of Bramante is the reconstruction of the Vatican (the architect actually created a new building, organically including scattered old buildings in it). Bramante also authored the design of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. With his work, Bramante determined the development of architecture in the 16th century.

Leonardo da Vinci.

In the history of mankind it is not easy to find another equally brilliant personality, 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, sculptor, architect, scientist and engineer became clear only when scattered manuscripts from his legacy were examined, numbering over seven thousand sheets containing scientific and architectural projects, inventions and sketches. It is difficult to name the area of ​​​​knowledge that his genius would not have touched. The universalism of Leonardo is so incomprehensible that the famous biographer of the Renaissance figures, Giorgio Vasari, could not explain this phenomenon otherwise than by the intervention of heaven: “Whatever this man turns to, his every action bears the stamp of divinity.”

In his famous "Treatise on Painting" (1498) and other notes, Leonardo paid great attention to the study of the human body, information on anatomy, proportions, the relationship between movements, facial expressions and the emotional state of a person. Leonardo was also occupied with the problems of chiaroscuro, volumetric modeling, linear and aerial perspective. Leonardo paid tribute not only to the theory of art. He created a number of magnificent altarpieces and portraits. Leonardo's brush belongs to one of the most famous works of world painting - "Mona Lisa" ("La Gioconda"). Leonardo created monumental sculptural images, designed and built architectural structures. Leonardo remains one of the most charismatic personalities of the Renaissance to this day. A huge number of books are devoted to him, in the most detailed way studied his life. And, nevertheless, much in his work remains a mystery and continues to excite the minds of people.

Rafael Santi.

The art of Raphael Santi (1483-1520) also belongs to the heights of the Italian Renaissance. The idea of ​​sublime beauty and harmony is associated with the work of Raphael in the history of world art. It is generally accepted that in the constellation of brilliant masters of the High Renaissance, it was Raphael who was the main carrier of harmony. The relentless striving for a bright, perfect beginning permeates all of Raphael's work, makes up his inner meaning. His work is extraordinarily attractive in its natural elegance (" Sistine Madonna"). Perhaps that is why the master gained such extraordinary popularity with the public and had many followers among artists at all times. Raphael was not only an amazing painter, portrait painter, but also a muralist who worked in the fresco technique, an architect, and a decorator. All these talents were manifested with particular force in his paintings of the apartments of Pope Julius II in the Vatican (" School of Athens"). In the art of a brilliant artist, a new image of a Renaissance man was born - beautiful, harmonious, perfect physically and spiritually.

Michelangelo Buonarotti.

Contemporary Leonardo da Vinci and Rafael was their eternal rival - Michelangelo Buonarroti, the greatest master of the High Renaissance - sculptor, painter, architect and poet. This titan of the Renaissance began his career with sculpture. His colossal statues have become a symbol of a new man - a hero and a fighter ("David"). The master erected many architectural and sculptural structures, the most famous of which is the Medici Chapel in Florence. The splendor of these works is built on the colossal tension of the characters' feelings ( Sarcophagus of Giuliano de' Medici). But especially famous are the paintings by Michelangelo in the Vatican, in the Sistine Chapel, in which he proved himself to be a brilliant painter. Perhaps no one in the world of art, neither before nor after Michelangelo, has created characters so strong in body and spirit (“ Creation of Adam"). The huge, incredibly complex fresco on the ceiling was made by the artist alone, without assistants; to this day it remains an unsurpassed monumental work of Italian painting. But in addition to the murals of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the master, already in his old age, created the fiercely inspirational "Last Judgment" - a symbol of the collapse of the ideals of his great era.

Michelangelo worked a lot and fruitfully in architecture, in particular, he supervised the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral and the ensemble Capitol Square in Rome. The work of the great Michelangelo constituted an entire era and was far ahead of its time, it played a colossal role in world art, in particular, it influenced the formation of the principles of the Baroque.

Giorgione and Titian.

In the history of the art of the High Renaissance, Venice entered a bright page, where painting is at its peak. Giorgione is considered the first master of the High Renaissance in Venice. His art is very special. The spirit of clear harmony and some special intimate contemplation and reverie reigns in it. He often wrote delightful beauties, real goddesses. Usually this is a poetic fiction - the embodiment of a pipe dream, admiration for a romantic feeling and a beautiful woman. In his paintings there is a hint of sensual passion, sweet pleasure, unearthly happiness. With the art of Giorgione, Venetian painting acquired an all-Italian significance, asserting its artistic features.

Titian in went down in the history of Italian art as a titan and head of the Venetian school, as a symbol of its heyday. In the work of this artist, the breath of a new era was manifested with special force - stormy, tragic, sensual. Titian's work is distinguished by an exceptionally wide and versatile coverage of types and genres of painting. Titian was one of the founders of the monumental altar painting, the landscape as an independent genre, various types of portraits, including solemn-ceremonial ones. In his work, ideal images coexist with vivid characters, tragic conflicts with scenes of jubilant joy, religious compositions with mythological and historical paintings.

Titian developed a new painting technique, which had an exceptional influence on the further, up to the 20th century, the development of world fine arts. Titian belongs to the greatest colorists of world painting. His paintings shine with gold and a complex range of vibrating luminous tones of color. Titian, who lived for almost a century, survived the collapse of Renaissance ideals, the master's work belongs half to the Late Renaissance. His hero, who enters the fight against hostile forces, dies, but retains his greatness. The influence of Titian's large workshop affected all Venetian art.

HIGH REVIVAL

HIGH REVIVAL

Late Renaissance

In the second half of the XVI century. in Italy, the decline of the economy and trade was growing, Catholicism entered into a struggle with humanistic culture, art was in deep crisis. It strengthened anti-Renaissance tendencies, embodied in mannerism. However, mannerism almost did not affect Venice, which in the second half XVI century became the main focus of the art of the Late Renaissance. In line with the high humanistic Renaissance tradition, in the new historical conditions in Venice, the work of the great masters of the Late Renaissance, enriched with new forms, developed - Palladio, Veronese, Tintoretto.

Andrea Palladio

The work of the northern Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-80), based on a deep study of ancient and Renaissance architecture, is one of the pinnacles in the art of the Late Renaissance. Palladio developed the principles of architecture, which were developed in the architecture of European classicism of the 17th-18th centuries. and received the name of Palladianism. The architect outlined his ideas in the theoretical work Four Books on Architecture (1570). The buildings of Palladio (mainly urban palaces and villas) are full of graceful beauty and naturalness, harmonious completeness and strict orderliness, they are distinguished by clarity and expediency of planning and an organic connection with the environment ( Palazzo Chiericati). The ability to harmonize architecture with the surrounding landscape manifested itself with particular force in the Palladio villas, imbued with an elegiac and enlightened sense of nature and marked by classical clarity and simplicity of forms and composition ( Villa Capra (Rotonda)). Palladio created the first monumental theatrical building in Italy, the Teatro Olimpico. The influence of Palladio on the development of architecture in subsequent centuries was enormous.

Veronese and Tintoretto..

The festive, life-affirming nature of the Venetian Renaissance was most clearly manifested in the work of Paolo Veronese. A monumental artist, he created magnificent decorative ensembles of wall and ceiling paintings with many characters and entertaining details. Veronese created his own style: his spectacular, spectacular paintings are full of emotions, passion and life, and the heroes, the Venetian nobility, are usually located in patrician palaces or against the backdrop of luxurious nature. They are carried away by grandiose feasts or enchanting festivities (“Marriage at Cana”). Veronese was the master of merry Venice, its triumphs, the poet of its golden brilliance. Veronese had an exceptional gift as a colorist. His colors are permeated with light, intense and do not just endow objects with color, but they themselves turn into an object, turning into clouds, fabric, a human body. Because of this, the real beauty of figures and objects is multiplied by the beauty of color and texture, which produces a strong emotional impact on the viewer.

The complete opposite of Veronese was his contemporary Tintoretto (1518-94) - the last major master of the Italian Renaissance. The abundance of external artistic influences dissolved in the unique creative individuality of Tintoretto. In his work, he was a gigantic figure, the creator of volcanic temperament, violent passions and heroic intensity. His work was a huge success both among contemporaries and subsequent generations. Tintoretto was distinguished by a truly inhuman ability to work, tireless search. He felt the tragedy of his time more sharply and deeper than most of his contemporaries. The master rebelled against the established traditions in the visual arts - the observance of symmetry, strict balance, static; expanded the boundaries of space, saturated it with dynamics, dramatic action, began to express human feelings more vividly. 1590 . The art of Mannerism departs from the Renaissance ideals of the harmonious perception of the world. Man is at the mercy of supernatural forces. The world appears unstable, shaky, in a state of decay. Mannerist images are full of anxiety, restlessness, tension. The artist moves away from nature, strives to surpass it, following in his work the subjective " inner idea”, the basis of which is not the real world, but creative imagination; the means of performance is the "beautiful manner" as the sum of certain techniques. Among them are the arbitrary elongation of the figures, the complex serpentine rhythm, the unreality of fantastic space and light, and sometimes cold piercing colors.

Jacopo Pontormo (1494-1556) was the largest and most gifted master of mannerism, a painter of complex creative destiny. In his famous painting Descent from the Cross» the composition is unstable, the figures are pretentiously broken, the light colors are sharp. Francesco Mazzola, nicknamed Parmigianino (1503-40) loved to impress the viewer: for example, he wrote his " Self-portrait in a convex mirror". Deliberate deliberateness distinguishes his famous painting " Madonna with a long neck ».

The Medici court painter Agnolo Bronzino (1503-72) is known for his ceremonial portraits. They echoed the era of bloody atrocities and moral decline that gripped the highest circles of Italian society. The noble customers of Bronzino are, as it were, separated from the viewer by an invisible distance; the stiffness of their poses, the impassivity of their faces, the richness of their clothes, the gestures of their beautiful front hands - all this is like an outer shell that hides an inner flawed life. In the portrait of Eleanor of Toledo with her son (c. 1545), the inaccessibility of the cold, aloof image is reinforced by the fact that the viewer's attention is completely absorbed by the flat large pattern of the duchess's magnificent brocade clothes. The type of court portrait created by the Mannerists influenced the portrait art of the 16th-17th centuries. in many other European countries.

The art of Mannerism was transitional: the Renaissance was fading into the past, the time had come for a new all-European artistic style - baroque.

Art of the Northern Renaissance.

The countries of Northern Europe did not have their ancient past, but the Renaissance period stands out in their history: from the turnXV – XVIfor the second halfXVIIcentury. This time is distinguished by the penetration of Renaissance ideals into various spheres of culture and the gradual change in its style. As in the birthplace of the Renaissance, in the art of the Northern Renaissance, interest in real world changed the form of art. However, the art of the northern countries was not characterized by the pathos of Italian painting, glorifying the power of the man-titan. The burghers (the so-called wealthy townspeople) valued integrity, fidelity to duty and word, the sanctity of the marital vow and the hearth more. In burgher circles, their own ideal of a person was developing - a clear, sober, pious and businesslike. The art of the burghers poeticizes the ordinary average person and his world - the world of everyday life and simple things.

Renaissance masters in the Netherlands.

New features of Renaissance art appeared primarily in the Netherlands, which was one of the richest and most industrialized countries in Europe. Because of its extensive international connections, the Netherlands adopted new discoveries much faster than other Nordic countries.

Renaissance style in the Netherlands opened Jan Van Eyck(1390-1441). His most famous work is Ghent altarpiece, on which the artist began to work with his brother, and continued to work after his death on his own for another 6 years. The Ghent altar, created for the city cathedral, is a two-tier fold, on 12 boards of which are pictures of everyday, everyday life (on the outer boards, which were visible when the fold was closed) and festive, jubilant, transfigured life (on the inner doors, which appeared open during church holidays). This is a monument of art, glorifying the beauty of earthly life. Van Eyck's emotional feeling - "the world is like a paradise", every particle of which is beautiful - is expressed clearly and clearly. The artist relied on many observations from nature. All figures and objects have three-dimensional volume and weight. The Van Eyck brothers were among the first to discover the possibilities of oil painting; from this time, the gradual displacement of tempera by it begins.

In the second half of XVcentury, full of political and religious strife, in the art of the Netherlands, a complex, peculiar art stands out Hieronymus Bosch(1450?-1516). This is a very curious artist with an extraordinary imagination. He lived in his own scary world. In Bosch's paintings there is a condensation of medieval folklore representations, grotesque montages of the living and the mechanical, the terrible and the comic. In his compositions, which did not have a center, there is no main character. The space in several layers is filled with numerous groups of figures and objects: monstrously exaggerated reptiles, toads, spiders, terrible creatures in which parts of different creatures and objects are combined. The purpose of Bosch's compositions is moral edification. Bosch does not find harmony and perfection in nature, his demonic images remind of the vitality and omnipresence of world evil, of the cycle of life and death.

The man in Bosch's paintings is pathetic and weak. So, in the triptych Carriage of hay» the artist reveals the history of mankind. The left wing tells the story of the fall of Adam and Eve, the right one depicts Hell and all the horrors that await sinners here. The central part of the picture illustrates the folk proverb "The world is a haystack, everyone takes from it what he manages to grab." Bosch shows how people fight for a patch of hay, die under the wheels of a wagon, try to climb on it. On top of the wagon, renouncing the world, lovers sing and kiss. On one side of them is an angel, and on the other, the devil: who will win? Creepy creatures drag the cart to the underworld. Behind all the actions of people, God looks in bewilderment. An even more gloomy mood is imbued with the picture " Carrying the Cross”: Christ carries his heavy cross, surrounded by disgusting people with bulging eyes and gaping mouths. For their sake the Lord sacrifices himself, but his death on the cross will leave them indifferent.

Bosch had already died when another famous Dutch artist was born - Pieter Brueghel the Elder(1525-1569), nicknamed Muzhitsky for many paintings depicting the life of peasants. Brueghel took folk proverbs and everyday worries of ordinary people as the basis for many plots. The completeness of the images of the paintings " peasant wedding" And " peasant dance"carries the power of the people's elements. Even the pictures biblical stories Brueghel’s works are inhabited by the Dutch, and the events of distant Judea take place against the backdrop of snow-covered streets under the dim sky of his native country (“ Sermon of John the Baptist"). Showing seemingly unimportant, minor, the artist talks about the main thing in people's lives, recreates the spirit of his time.

A small canvas Hunters in the snow” (January) from the series “The Seasons” is considered one of the unsurpassed masterpieces of world painting. Tired hunters with dogs return home. Together with them, the viewer enters the hill, from which a panorama of a small town opens. Snow-covered banks of the river, thorny trees froze in the clear frosty air, birds fly, sit on tree branches and roofs of houses, people are busy with their daily activities. All these seemingly trifles, together with the blue of the sky, black trees, white snow, create in the picture a panorama of the world that the artist passionately loves.

Brueghel's most tragic painting Parable of the Blind"Written by the artist shortly before his death. It illustrates the gospel story "if the blind lead the blind, then both of them will fall into the pit." Perhaps this is an image of humanity, blinded by its desires, moving towards its death. However, Brueghel does not judge, but, comprehending the laws of the relationship of people with each other, with the environment, penetrating into the essence of human nature, reveals to people themselves, their place in the world.

Painting in Germany during the Renaissance.

Features of the Renaissance in the art of Germany appear later than in the Netherlands. The heyday of German humanism, secular sciences and culture falls on the first yearsXVIV. It was a brief period during which German culture gave the world the highest artistic value. First of all, they should include works Albrecht Dürer(1471-1528) - the most important artist of the German Renaissance.

Durer is a typical representative of the Renaissance, he was a painter, an engraver, a mathematician, and an engineer, he wrote treatises on fortification and art theory. On self-portraits he appears intelligent, noble, concentrated, full of deep philosophical reflections. In the paintings, Dürer is not content with formal beauty, but seeks to give a symbolic expression of abstract thoughts.

A special place in Dürer's creative heritage belongs to the Apocalypse series, which includes 15 large woodcuts. Dürer illustrates the predictions from the "Revelation of John the Theologian", for example, the sheet " four horsemen"symbolizes terrible disasters - war, pestilence, famine, unrighteous judgment. The foreboding of change, hard trials and disasters, expressed in engravings, turned out to be prophetic (the Reformation and the Peasant and religious wars that followed it soon began).

Another great artist of that time was Lucas Cranach the Elder(1472-1553). The Hermitage houses his paintings Madonna and Child under the Apple Tree" And " Female portrait". In them we see a woman's face, captured in many of the master's paintings (it is even called "Cranach"): a small chin, a narrow slit of eyes, golden hair. The artist carefully writes out jewelry and clothes, his paintings are a feast for the eyes. The purity and naivety of the images once again make you peer into these paintings. Cranach was a wonderful portrait painter, he created images of many famous contemporaries - Martin Luther (who was his friend), Duke Henry of Saxony and many others.

But the most famous portrait painter of the Northern Renaissance can undoubtedly be recognized as another German painter. Hans Holbein the Younger(1497-1543). For a long time he was the court painter of the English King HenryVIII. In his portrait, Holbein perfectly conveys the imperious nature of the king, who is unfamiliar with doubt. Small intelligent eyes on a fleshy face betray a tyrant in him. Portrait of Heinrich VIII was so reliable that he frightened people who knew the king. Holbein painted portraits of many famous people of that time, in particular the statesman and writer Thomas More, the philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam and many others.

The development of Renaissance culture in Germany, the Netherlands, and some other European countries was interrupted by the Reformation and the religious wars that followed it. Following this, the time came for the formation of new principles in art, which entered the next stage of its development.

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federal agency railway transport

Siberian State Transport University

Department of "Philosophy"

ARTISTIC IMAGES OF THE RENAISSANCE

Essay

In the discipline "Culturology"

Head Designed

Professor student gr. D-111

Bystrova A.N. ___________ Kamyshova E.V.

(signature) (signature)

08.12.2012

(date of inspection) (date of submission for inspection)

year 2012

Introduction

The Renaissance is considered one of the brightest periods in the history of the development of European culture. We can say that the revival is a whole cultural era in the process of transition from the Middle Ages to the new time, during which a cultural upheaval (a turning point, a shift) took place. Fundamental changes are associated with the eradication of mythology.

Despite the origin of the term Renaissance (fr. Renaissance, "Renaissance"), there was no revival of antiquity and could not be. Man cannot return to his past. The Renaissance, using the lessons of antiquity, introduced innovations. He did not bring back to life all ancient genres, but only those that were characteristic of the aspirations of his time and culture. The Renaissance combined a new reading of antiquity with a new reading of Christianity.

The relevance of the chosen topic is due to the connection between the modern era and the Renaissance - this is a revolution, first of all, in the system of values, in the assessment of everything that exists and in relation to it.

The main purpose of the work is to show the fundamental changes that have taken place in the worldview of the greatest figures of the era under consideration.

1. Culture of the Renaissance

XIII-XVI The centuries have been a time of great change in economics, politics and culture. The rapid growth of cities and the development of crafts, and later the transition to manufactory production, transformed the face of medieval Europe.

Cities came to the fore. Not long before this, the most powerful forces of the medieval world - the empire and the papacy - were in deep crisis. IN XVI century, the decaying Holy Roman Empire of the German nation became the scene of the first two anti-feudal revolutions - the Great Peasants' War in Germany and the Netherlands Uprising.

The transitional nature of the era, the process of liberation from the medieval paths taking place in all areas of life, at the same time, the still underdevelopment of capitalist relations that were becoming established, could not but affect the features artistic culture and aesthetic thought of the time.

According to A. V. Stepanov, all changes in the life of society were accompanied by a broad renewal of culture - the flourishing of the natural and exact sciences, literature on national languages, visual arts. Originating in the cities of Italy, this renewal then captured other European countries. The author believes that after the advent of printing, unprecedented opportunities opened up for the dissemination of literary and scientific works, and more regular and closer communication between countries contributed to the penetration of new artistic trends.

This did not mean that the Middle Ages receded before new trends: traditional ideas were preserved in the mass consciousness. The church resisted new ideas, using a medieval means - the Inquisition. The idea of ​​the freedom of the human person continued to exist in a society divided into classes. The feudal form of dependence of the peasants did not completely disappear, and in some countries (Germany, in Central Europe) there was a return to serfdom. The feudal system showed quite a lot of vitality. Each European country lived it out in its own way and within its own chronological framework. Capitalism existed for a long time as a way of life, covering only a part of production both in the city and in the countryside. However, the patriarchal medieval slowness began to recede into the past.

The great geographical discoveries played a huge role in this breakthrough. For example, in 1492. H. Columbus, in search of a way to India, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed near the Bahamas, discovering a new continent - America. In 1498 Spanish traveler Vasco da Gama, having rounded Africa, successfully brought his ships to the shores of India. WITH XVI V. Europeans are penetrating into China and Japan, of which they previously had only the most vague idea. From 1510, the conquest of America begins. IN XVII V. Australia was discovered. The idea of ​​the shape of the earth has changed: the round-the-world trip of F. Magellan confirmed the conjecture that it has the shape of a ball.

Contempt for everything earthly is now replaced by an avid interest in the real world, in man, in the consciousness of the beauty and grandeur of nature, which could be proved by analyzing the cultural monuments of the Renaissance. The primacy of theology over science, indisputable in the Middle Ages, is shaken by faith in the unlimited possibilities of the human mind, which becomes the highest measure of truth. Emphasizing the interest in the human as opposed to the divine, representatives of the new secular intelligentsia called themselves humanists, deriving this word from the concept of " studia humanitanis ”, meaning the study of everything connected with human nature and his spiritual world.

For the works and art of the Renaissance, the idea of ​​​​a free being with unlimited creative possibilities became characteristic. It is associated with anthropocentrism in the aesthetics of the Renaissance and the understanding of the beautiful, the sublime, the heroic. The principle of a beautiful artistic and creative human personality was combined by the theorists of the Renaissance with an attempt to mathematically calculate all kinds of proportions, symmetry, and perspective.

The aesthetic and artistic thinking of this era is based for the first time on human perception as such and on a sensually real picture of the world. Here, the subjectivist-individualistic thirst for life sensations is also striking, regardless of their religious and moral interpretation, although the latter, in principle, is not denied. The aesthetics of the Renaissance focuses art on the imitation of nature. However, in the first place here is not so much nature as the artist, who in his creative activity is likened to God.

E. Chamberlin considers pleasure to be one of the most important principles for the perception of works of art, because this indicates a significant democratic trend as opposed to the scholastic "learning" of previous aesthetic theories.

The aesthetic thought of the Renaissance contains not only the idea of ​​absolutization of the human individual as opposed to the divine personality in the Middle Ages, but also a certain awareness of the limitations of such individualism, based on the absolute self-affirmation of the individual. Hence the motives of tragedy, found in the works of W. Shakespeare, M. Cervantes, Michelangelo, and others. This is the contradictory nature of a culture that has departed from ancient medieval absolutes, but due to historical circumstances has not yet found new reliable foundations.

The connection between art and science is one of the characteristic features of culture. Artists sought support in the sciences, often stimulating their development. The Renaissance is marked by the emergence of artists-scientists, among whom the first place belongs to Leonardo da Vinci.

Thus, one of the tasks of the Renaissance is the comprehension by man of a world filled with divine beauty. The world attracts a person because he is spiritualized by God. But in the Renaissance, there was another trend a person's feeling of the tragedy of his existence.

2. The image of the world and man in the works of great masters renaissance

The term "Renaissance" (translation of the French term "Renaissance") indicates the connection of the new culture with antiquity. As a result of acquaintance with the East, in particular with Byzantium, during the era of the Crusades, Europeans became acquainted with ancient humanistic manuscripts, various monuments of ancient fine art and architecture. All these antiquities began to be partially transported to Italy, where they were collected and studied. But even in Italy itself there were many ancient Roman monuments, which also began to be carefully studied by representatives of the Italian urban intelligentsia. In Italian society, a deep interest arose in the classical ancient languages, ancient philosophy, history and literature. The city of Florence played a particularly important role in this movement. From Florence came a row eminent figures new culture.

Using the ancient ideology, created once in the most lively, in the economic sense, cities of antiquity, the new bourgeoisie reworked it in its own way, formulating its new worldview, sharply opposite to the worldview of feudalism that prevailed before. The second name of the new Italian culture - humanism just proves this.

Humanistic culture put the man himself (humanus - human) in the center of its attention, and not the divine, otherworldly, as was the case in medieval ideology. Asceticism no longer had a place in the humanistic worldview. The human body, its passions and needs were not seen as something "sinful" that had to be suppressed or tortured, but as an end in itself, as the most important thing in life. Earthly existence was recognized as the only real one. The knowledge of nature and man was declared the essence of science. In contrast to the pessimistic motives that dominated the worldview of medieval scholastics and mystics, optimistic motives prevailed in the worldview and mood of the people of the Renaissance; they were characterized by faith in man, in the future of mankind, in the triumph of human reason and enlightenment. A constellation of eminent poets and writers, scholars and artists of all kinds participated in this great new intellectual movement. The glory of Italy was brought by such wonderful artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgione, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian.

The undoubted achievement of the Renaissance was the geometrically correct construction of the picture. The artist built the image using the techniques he developed. The main thing for painters of that time was to observe the proportions of objects. Even nature fell under mathematical tricks.

In other words, artists in the Renaissance sought to convey an accurate image, for example, of a person against the backdrop of nature. If compared with modern methods of recreating a seen image on some kind of canvas, then, most likely, a photograph with subsequent adjustment will help to understand what the Renaissance artists were striving for.

Renaissance painters believed that they had the right to correct the flaws of nature, that is, if a person had ugly facial features, the artists corrected them in such a way that the face became sweet and attractive.

Depicting biblical scenes, Renaissance artists tried to make it clear that the earthly manifestations of a person can be depicted more clearly if biblical stories are used at the same time. You can understand what the fall, temptation, hell or heaven is, if you start to get acquainted with the work of artists of that time. The same image of the Madonna conveys to us the beauty of a woman, and also carries an understanding of earthly human love.

Thus, in the art of the Renaissance, the paths of scientific and artistic comprehension of the world and man were closely intertwined. Its cognitive meaning was inextricably linked with sublime poetic beauty; in its striving for naturalness, it did not descend to petty everyday life. Art has become a universal spiritual need.

Conclusion

So, the Renaissance, or the Renaissance, is an era in the life of mankind, marked by a colossal rise in art and science. The Renaissance proclaimed man the highest value of life.

In art, the main theme was a person with unlimited spiritual and creative possibilities.The art of the Renaissance laid the foundations of the European culture of the New Age, radically changed all the main types of art.

In architecture, new types of public buildings have developed.Painting was enriched with a linear and aerial perspective, knowledge of the anatomy and proportions of the human body.Earthly content penetrated the traditional religious themes of works of art. Increased interest in ancient mythology, history, everyday scenes, landscapes, portraits. A picture appeared, oil painting arose. The creative individuality of the artist took the first place in art.

In the art of the Renaissance, the paths of scientific and artistic comprehension of the world and man were closely intertwined.Art has become a universal spiritual need.

Undoubtedly, the Renaissance is one of the most beautiful eras in the history of mankind.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Kustodieva T.K. ITALIAN ART OF THE RENAISSANCE OF THE XIII-XVI CENTURIES (ESSAY-GUIDE) / Т.К. KUSTODIEVA, ART, 1985. 318 P.
2. IMAGES OF LOVE AND BEAUTY IN THE CULTURE OF THE RENAISSANCE / L.M. BRAGINA, M., 2008. 309 P.
3. Stepanov A.V. ART OF THE RENAISSANCE. ITALY XIV-XV CENTURIES / A.V. STEPANOV, M., 2007. 610 P.
4. Stepanov A.V. ART OF THE RENAISSANCE. NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, FRANCE, SPAIN, ENGLAND / A.V. STEPANOV, AZBUKA-CLASSICS, 2009. 640 P.
5. CHAMBERLIN E. THE AGE OF THE RENAISSANCE. LIFE, RELIGION, CULTURE / E. CHAMBERLIN, CENTERPOLYGRAPH, 2006. 240 P.