French Renaissance Art History. French Renaissance

The beginning of the French Renaissance dates back to the middle of the 15th century. It was preceded by the process of formation of the French nation and education nation state. On the royal throne, the representative of the new dynasty - Valois. Under Louis XI, the political unification of the country was completed. The campaigns of the French kings in Italy introduced the artists to the achievements of Italian art. Gothic traditions and Netherlandish tendencies in art are being supplanted Italian Renaissance. The French Renaissance had the character of a court culture, the foundations of which were laid by kings-patrons starting with Charles V.

Jean Fouquet (1420-1481), the court painter of Charles VII and Louis XI, is considered the greatest creator of the Early Renaissance. He is also called the great master of the French Renaissance.

He was the first in France to consistently embody the aesthetic principles of the Italian Quattrocento, which presupposed, first of all, a clear, rational vision of the real Zh world and comprehension of the nature of things through the knowledge of its internal laws. In 1475 it becomes

"King's painter". In this capacity, he creates many ceremonial portraits, including Charles VII. Most creative heritage Fouquet compiles miniatures from books of hours, in the performance of which his workshop sometimes took part. Fouquet painted landscapes, portraits, paintings on historical subjects. Fouquet was the only artist of his time who had an epic vision of history, whose greatness is commensurate with the Bible and antiquity. His miniatures and book illustrations were made in a realistic manner, in particular for the edition of the Decameron by G. Boccaccio.

At the beginning of the XVI century, France turns into the largest absolutist state Western Europe. The royal court becomes the center of cultural life, and the first connoisseurs and connoisseurs of beauty are the courtiers and the royal retinue. Under Francis I, an admirer of the great Leonardo da Vinci, Italian art becomes the official fashion. The Italian mannerists Rosso and Primaticcio, invited by Margherita of Navarre, sister of Francis I, founded the Fontainebleau school in 1530. This term is used to refer to the direction french painting, which arose in the XVI century in the castle of Fontainebleau. In addition, it is used in relation to works on mythological subjects, sometimes voluptuous, and to intricate allegories created by unknown artists and also dating back to mannerism. The Fontainebleau school became famous for creating majestic decorative paintings of the castle ensembles. The art of the Fontainebleau school, along with the Parisian art of the early 17th century, played a transitional role in the history of French painting: in it one can find the first symptoms of both classicism and baroque.

In the 16th century, the foundations of the French literary language and high style were laid. The French poet Joashen du Bellay (c. 1522-1560) in 1549 published a program manifesto "Protection and glorification of the French language." He and the poet Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585) were the most prominent representatives of the French poetic school of the Renaissance - "The Pleiades", which saw its goal in raising French on the same level with the classical languages ​​- Greek and Latin. The poets of the Pleiades focused on ancient literature. They are from

seemed to be from the traditions of medieval literature and sought to enrich the French language. The formation of the French literary language was closely connected with the centralization of the country and the desire to use a single national language for this.

Similar trends in the development of national languages ​​and literatures were also manifested in other European countries.

Among the prominent representatives of the French Renaissance was also the French humanist writer Francois Rabelais (1494-1553). His satirical novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" is an encyclopedic monument of French Renaissance culture. The work was based on folk books about giants common in the 16th century (the giants Gargantua, Pantagruel, the truth-seeker Panurge). Rejecting medieval asceticism, restriction of spiritual freedom, hypocrisy and prejudice, Rabelais reveals the humanistic ideals of his time in the grotesque images of his heroes.

point in cultural development France of the 16th century was set by the great humanist philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). Coming from a wealthy merchant family, Montaigne received an excellent humanistic education and, at the insistence of his father, took up law. The fame of Montaigne was brought by the “Experiments” (1580-1588) written in the solitude of the family castle of Montaigne near Bordeaux, which gave the name to a whole trend of European literature - essays (French essai - experience). The book of essays, marked by freethinking and a kind of skeptical humanism, represents a set of judgments about everyday mores and principles of human behavior in various circumstances. Sharing the idea of ​​​​pleasure as the goal of human existence, Montaigne interprets it in the Epicurean spirit - accepting everything that is released to man by nature.

French art of the XVI-XVII centuries. based on the traditions of the French and Italian Renaissance. Fouquet's paintings and drawings, Goujon's sculptures, castles from the time of Francis I, the Fontainebleau Palace and the Louvre, Ronsard's poetry and Rabelais's prose, Montaigne's philosophical experiments - everything bears the stamp of a classic understanding of form, strict logic, rationalism, a developed sense of grace.

Renaissance (Renaissance). Italy. XV-XVI centuries. early capitalism. The country is ruled by wealthy bankers. They are interested in art and science.

The rich and powerful gather the talented and wise around them. Poets, philosophers, painters and sculptors have daily conversations with their patrons. At some point, it seemed that the people were ruled by sages, as Plato wanted.

Remember the ancient Romans and Greeks. They also built a society of free citizens, where the main value is a person (not counting slaves, of course).

The Renaissance is not just copying the art of ancient civilizations. This is a mixture. Mythology and Christianity. Realism of nature and sincerity of images. Beauty physical and spiritual.

It was just a flash. The period of the High Renaissance is about 30 years! From the 1490s to 1527 From the beginning of the flowering of Leonardo's creativity. Before the sack of Rome.

Mirage ideal world faded quickly. Italy was too fragile. She was soon enslaved by another dictator.

However, these 30 years determined the main features of European painting for 500 years ahead! Up to .

Image realism. Anthropocentrism (when the center of the world is Man). Linear perspective. Oil paints. Portrait. Scenery…

Incredibly, in these 30 years, several brilliant masters worked at once. At other times they are born one in 1000 years.

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian are the titans of the Renaissance. But it is impossible not to mention their two predecessors: Giotto and Masaccio. Without which there would be no Renaissance.

1. Giotto (1267-1337)

Paolo Uccello. Giotto da Bondogni. Fragment of the painting “Five Masters of the Florentine Renaissance”. Beginning of the 16th century. .

XIV century. Proto-Renaissance. Its main character is Giotto. This is a master who single-handedly revolutionized art. 200 years before the High Renaissance. If not for him, the era that humanity is so proud of would hardly have come.

Before Giotto there were icons and frescoes. They were created according to the Byzantine canons. Faces instead of faces. flat figures. Proportional mismatch. Instead of a landscape - a golden background. As, for example, on this icon.

Guido da Siena. Adoration of the Magi. 1275-1280 Altenburg, Lindenau Museum, Germany.

And suddenly Giotto's frescoes appear. On them three-dimensional figures. faces noble people. Old and young. Sad. Mournful. Surprised. Different.

Frescoes by Giotto in the Scrovegni Church in Padua (1302-1305). Left: Lamentation of Christ. Middle: Kiss of Judas (detail). Right: Annunciation of St. Anne (Mary's mother), fragment.

The main creation of Giotto is a cycle of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. When this church opened to parishioners, crowds of people poured into it. They have never seen this.

After all, Giotto did something unprecedented. He translated the biblical stories into a simple, understandable language. And they have become much more accessible. ordinary people.

Giotto. Adoration of the Magi. 1303-1305 Fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy.

This is what will be characteristic of many masters of the Renaissance. Laconism of images. Live emotions of the characters. Realism.

Read more about the frescoes of the master in the article.

Giotto was admired. But his innovation was not further developed. The fashion for international gothic came to Italy.

Only after 100 years will a worthy successor to Giotto appear.

2. Masaccio (1401-1428)

Masaccio. Self-portrait (fragment of the fresco “Saint Peter in the pulpit”). 1425-1427 The Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy.

Beginning of the 15th century. The so-called Early Renaissance. Another innovator enters the scene.

Masaccio was the first artist to use linear perspective. It was designed by his friend, the architect Brunelleschi. Now the depicted world has become similar to the real one. Toy architecture is a thing of the past.

Masaccio. Saint Peter heals with his shadow. 1425-1427 The Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy.

He adopted the realism of Giotto. However, unlike his predecessor, he already knew anatomy well.

Instead of blocky characters, Giotto is beautifully built people. Just like the ancient Greeks.

Masaccio. Baptism of neophytes. 1426-1427 Brancacci Chapel, Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, Italy.
Masaccio. Exile from Paradise. 1426-1427 Fresco in the Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy.

Masaccio lived Not long life. He died, like his father, unexpectedly. At 27 years old.

However, he had many followers. Masters next generations went to the Brancacci Chapel to learn from his frescoes.

So the innovation of Masaccio was picked up by all the great artists of the High Renaissance.

3. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci. Self-portrait. 1512 Royal Library in Turin, Italy.

Leonardo da Vinci is one of the titans of the Renaissance. He greatly influenced the development of painting.

It was da Vinci who raised the status of the artist himself. Thanks to him, representatives of this profession are no longer just artisans. These are the creators and aristocrats of the spirit.

Leonardo made a breakthrough in the first place in portrait painting.

He believed that nothing should distract from the main image. The eye should not wander from one detail to another. So it appeared famous portraits. Concise. Harmonious.

Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with an ermine. 1489-1490 Chertoryski Museum, Krakow.

The main innovation of Leonardo is that he found a way to make images ... alive.

Before him, the characters in the portraits looked like mannequins. The lines were clear. All details are carefully drawn. A painted drawing could not possibly be alive.

Leonardo invented the sfumato method. He blurred the lines. Made the transition from light to shadow very soft. His characters seem to be covered in a barely perceptible haze. The characters came to life.

. 1503-1519 Louvre, Paris.

Sfumato will enter the active vocabulary of all the great artists of the future.

Often there is an opinion that Leonardo, of course, a genius, but did not know how to bring anything to the end. And he often didn't finish painting. And many of his projects remained on paper (by the way, in 24 volumes). In general, he was thrown into medicine, then into music. Even the art of serving at one time was fond of.

However, think for yourself. 19 paintings - and he - greatest artist all times and peoples. And someone is not even close to greatness, while writing 6,000 canvases in a lifetime. Obviously, who has a higher efficiency.

Read about the most famous painting of the master in the article.

4. Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Daniele da Volterra. Michelangelo (detail). 1544 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor. But was universal master. Like his other Renaissance colleagues. Therefore, his pictorial heritage is no less grandiose.

He is recognizable primarily by physically developed characters. He depicted a perfect man in whom physical beauty means spiritual beauty.

Therefore, all his characters are so muscular, hardy. Even women and old people.

Michelangelo. Fragments of the Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican.

Often Michelangelo painted the character naked. And then I added clothes on top. To make the body as embossed as possible.

He painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel alone. Although this is a few hundred figures! He didn't even let anyone rub the paint. Yes, he was unsociable. He had a tough and quarrelsome personality. But most of all, he was dissatisfied with ... himself.

Michelangelo. Fragment of the fresco "Creation of Adam". 1511 Sistine Chapel, Vatican.

Michelangelo lived a long life. Survived the decline of the Renaissance. For him it was a personal tragedy. His later works are full of sadness and sorrow.

Just do creative way Michelangelo is unique. His early works are the praise of the human hero. Free and courageous. In the best traditions of Ancient Greece. Like his David.

IN last years life is tragic images. A deliberately rough-hewn stone. As if before us are monuments to the victims of fascism of the 20th century. Look at his "Pieta".

Sculptures by Michelangelo at the Academy fine arts in Florence. Left: David. 1504 Right: Pieta of Palestrina. 1555

How is this possible? One artist went through all the stages of art from the Renaissance to the 20th century in one lifetime. What will the next generations do? Go your own way. Knowing that the bar has been set very high.

5. Raphael (1483-1520)

. 1506 Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

Raphael has never been forgotten. His genius was always recognized: both during life and after death.

His characters are endowed with sensual, lyrical beauty. It is he who is rightfully considered the most beautiful female images ever created. Outer beauty reflects the spiritual beauty of the heroines. Their meekness. Their sacrifice.

Raphael. . 1513 Old Masters Gallery, Dresden, Germany.

The famous words “Beauty will save the world” Fyodor Dostoevsky said precisely about. It was his favorite picture.

However, sensory images are not the only forte Raphael. He thought very carefully about the composition of his paintings. He was an unsurpassed architect in painting. Moreover, he always found the simplest and most harmonious solution in the organization of space. It seems that it cannot be otherwise.

Raphael. Athens school. 1509-1511 Fresco in the rooms of the Apostolic Palace, Vatican.

Rafael lived only 37 years. He died suddenly. From a caught cold and medical error. But his legacy cannot be overestimated. Many artists idolized this master. And they multiplied his sensual images in thousands of their canvases..

Titian was an unsurpassed colorist. He also experimented a lot with composition. In general, he was a daring innovator.

For such a brilliance of talent, everyone loved him. Called "the king of painters and the painter of kings."

Speaking of Titian, I want to put after each sentence Exclamation point. After all, it was he who brought dynamics to painting. Pathos. Enthusiasm. Bright color. Shine of colors.

Titian. Ascension of Mary. 1515-1518 Church of Santa Maria Gloriosi dei Frari, Venice.

Towards the end of his life, he developed an unusual writing technique. The strokes are fast and thick. The paint was applied either with a brush or with fingers. From this - the images are even more alive, breathing. And the plots are even more dynamic and dramatic.

Titian. Tarquinius and Lucretia. 1571 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England.

Doesn't this remind you of anything? Of course, it's a technique. And technique artists of the 19th century: Barbizon and. Titian, like Michelangelo, will go through 500 years of painting in one lifetime. That's why he's a genius.

Read about the famous masterpiece of the master in the article.

Renaissance artists are the owners of great knowledge. To leave such a legacy, it was necessary to study a lot. In the field of history, astrology, physics and so on.

Therefore, each of their images makes us think. Why is it shown? What is the encrypted message here?

They are almost never wrong. Because they thoroughly thought out their future work. They used all the baggage of their knowledge.

They were more than artists. They were philosophers. They explained the world to us through painting.

That is why they will always be deeply interesting to us.

The beginning of the French Renaissance dates back to the middle of the 15th century. It was preceded by the process of formation of the French nation and the formation of a national state. On the royal throne, the representative of the new dynasty - Valois. The campaigns of the French kings in Italy introduced the artists to the achievements of Italian art. Gothic traditions and Netherlandish art tendencies are supplanted by the Italian Renaissance. French Renaissance had the character of a court culture, the foundations of which were laid by the kings-patrons starting with Charles V.

Jean Fouquet (1420-1481), the court painter of Charles VII and Louis XI, is considered the greatest creator of the Early Renaissance. He is also called the great master of the French Renaissance. He was the first in France to consistently embody the aesthetic principles of the Italian Quattrocento, which presupposed, first of all, a clear, rational vision. real world and comprehension of the nature of things through the knowledge of its internal laws. Most of Fouquet's creative legacy is made up of miniatures from the books of hours. In addition, he painted landscapes, portraits, paintings on historical subjects. Fouquet was the only artist of his time who had an epic vision of history, whose greatness is commensurate with the Bible and antiquity.

At the beginning of the 16th century, France turned into the largest absolutist state in Western Europe. Center cultural life the royal court becomes, and the first connoisseurs and connoisseurs of beauty are those close and the royal retinue. Under Francis I, an admirer of the great Leonardo da Vinci, Italian art becomes the official fashion. The Italian mannerists Rosso and Primaticcio, invited by Margherita of Navarre, sister of Francis I, founded the Fontainebleau school in 1530. This term is usually called the direction in French painting, which arose in the 16th century in the castle of Fontainebleau. In addition, it is used in relation to works on mythological subjects, sometimes voluptuous, and to intricate allegories created by unknown artists and also dating back to mannerism. The Fontainebleau school became famous for creating majestic decorative paintings of the castle ensembles.

In the 16th century, the foundations of the French literary language and high style were laid. The French poet Joashen du Bellay (c. 1522-1560) in 1549 published a program manifesto "Protection and glorification of the French language." He and the poet Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585) were the most prominent representatives French poetic school of the Renaissance - "Pleiades", which saw its goal in raising the French language to the same level with the classical languages ​​\u200b\u200b- Greek and Latin. The poets of the Pleiades focused on ancient literature.

Among the prominent representatives of the French Renaissance was also the French humanist writer Francois Rabelais (1494-1553). His satirical novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" is an encyclopedic monument of French Renaissance culture. The work was based on the common in the 16th century folk books about giants (the giants Gargantua, Pantagruel, the truth-seeker Panurge). Rejecting medieval asceticism, restriction of spiritual freedom, hypocrisy and prejudice, Rabelais reveals the humanistic ideals of his time in the grotesque images of his heroes.

The great humanist philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) put an end to the cultural development of France in the 16th century. The book of essays, marked by freethinking and a kind of skeptical humanism, represents a set of judgments about everyday mores and principles of human behavior in various circumstances. Sharing the idea of ​​​​pleasure as the goal of human existence, Montaigne interprets it in the Epicurean spirit - accepting everything that is released to man by nature.

French art of the XVI-XVII centuries. based on the traditions of the French and Italian Renaissance. Fouquet's paintings and drawings, Goujon's sculptures, castles from the time of Francis I, the Fontainebleau Palace and the Louvre, Ronsard's poetry and Rabelais's prose, Montaigne's philosophical experiments - everything bears the stamp of a classic understanding of form, strict logic, rationalism, and a developed sense of grace.

Section "Art of France". General history of arts. Volume III. Renaissance art. Authors: A.I. Venediktov (architecture), M.T. Kuzmina (fine arts); under the general editorship of Yu.D. Kolpinsky and E.I. Rotenberg (Moscow, Art State Publishing House, 1962)

The Renaissance is a brilliant stage in the development of French culture and art. It corresponds to the historical period of the formation of bourgeois relations, the formation and strengthening of the absolutist state in France. At this time, a new, humanistic worldview triumphed over the medieval religious ideology, secular culture and art, rooted in the depths, were widely spread. folk art. Communication with science, appeal to ancient images, realism and life-affirming pathos bring him closer to the art of the Italian Renaissance. At the same time, the art of the Renaissance in France was deeply peculiar. Life-affirming humanism is combined in it with the features of tragedy, generated by the contradictory complexity of the emergence of a new historical stage, characteristic of France.

Compared with the Italian Renaissance, the French Renaissance is almost a century and a half late (the beginning of the French Renaissance falls in the middle of the 15th century). Even more significant is the fact that in Italy Gothic and its traditions did not play any decisive role in the emergence of Renaissance art, on the contrary, the early Renaissance in France was largely formed in the process of rethinking realistic tendencies and resolutely overcoming the mystical basis of Gothic art.

At the same time, along with the processing and development of the realistic elements of the Gothic heritage in relation to the new social and aesthetic requirements of the time, an appeal to the experience of Italian art, which had already reached a high degree of maturity, also played an important role in France from the end of the 15th century.

Naturally, the existence of Italian art, artistically perfect and possessing extraordinary prestige throughout Europe, predetermined throughout the first half of the 16th century. wide appeal of the culture of Renaissance France to his experience and achievements. However, the young, vibrant culture of France rethought the achievements Italian culture in accordance with those national tasks that faced the culture and art of the national French monarchy.

An external impetus to this broad appeal to the Italian experience, which included the invitation to France of a number of major masters of the High and late Renaissance, served as the military campaigns in Italy that began in 1494. The real reasons lay much deeper. Campaigns in Italy by the French kings Charles VIII, and later Francis I, became possible due to the growth of the economic and political power of the country, the successes achieved on the path to creating a centralized monarchy.

Transition from early to High Renaissance, which took place during the first third of the 16th century, was associated with the creation of a culture of a large centralized noble monarchy, the creation of a single national state.

Naturally, under these conditions, art, closely connected with the traditions of individual regions of the country, had to give way to art not only properly secular, but relatively free from influence. local traditions. Such art, which in principle had a national character and at the same time bears the imprint of court culture, was created during these years. This courtly connotation was inevitable at a time when the power of the monarch tended to become a symbol of the country's national unity.

The establishment of a new historical stage in the development of French society and its culture proceeded in a tense and cruel struggle. The anti-feudal and anti-Catholic actions of the masses, used and then suppressed by the royal power and the nobility behind it, received their indirect reflection in the most progressive and democratic currents of French humanism.

Powerful people's breath, inexhaustible Gallic zest for life, faith in man and his abilities, merciless hatred of all manifestations of medieval scholasticism permeate the work of one of the greatest masters of realism of the late Renaissance - Francois Rabelais.

By the middle of the 16th century. the activity of the poets of the Pleiades, headed by Ronsard, which played an enormous role in the development of national poetry, unfolds. The most striking monument to the advanced social thought of the era was the "Experiments" of Montaigne, one of the founders of the rationalistic and anti-clerical tradition of Western European culture.

IN fine arts and architecture, the progressive content of the era was affirmed mainly within the framework of the noble and noble-bourgeois culture of the new monarchy. And yet, the historical and artistic significance of such achievements as the castle architecture of the Loire, the activities of the remarkable painters Jean Fouquet, the Clouet family, the sculptors Jean Goujon, Germain Pilon, the architects and theorists of architecture Pierre Lescaut and Philibert Delorme, significantly outgrows this framework, forming the basis further development progressive trends in French art.

The Renaissance is a phenomenal phenomenon in the history of mankind. Never again has there been such a brilliant flash in the field of art. Sculptors, architects and artists of the Renaissance (the list is long, but we will touch on the most famous), whose names are known to everyone, gave the world priceless. Unique and exceptional people showed themselves not in one field, but in several at once.

Early Renaissance painting

The Renaissance has a relative time frame. It first began in Italy - 1420-1500. At this time, painting and all art in general is not much different from the recent past. However, elements borrowed from classical antiquity begin to appear for the first time. And only in subsequent years, sculptors, architects and artists of the Renaissance (the list of which is very long) were influenced by modern conditions life and progressive trends finally abandon medieval foundations. They boldly adopt the best examples ancient art for their works, both in general and in individual details. Their names are known to many, let's focus on the brightest personalities.

Masaccio - the genius of European painting

It was he who made a huge contribution to the development of painting, becoming a great reformer. The Florentine master was born in 1401 into a family of artistic artisans, so the sense of taste and the desire to create were in his blood. At the age of 16-17 he moved to Florence, where he worked in workshops. Donatello and Brunelleschi, the great sculptors and architects, are considered to be his teachers. Communication with them and the acquired skills could not but affect young painter. From the first Masaccio borrowed a new understanding human personality characteristic of sculpture. At the second master - the basis The researchers consider the Triptych of San Giovenale (in the first photo) to be the first reliable work, which was discovered in a small church near the town in which Masaccio was born. The main work is the frescoes dedicated to the history of the life of St. Peter. The artist participated in the creation of six of them, namely: "The Miracle with the Stater", "The Expulsion from Paradise", "The Baptism of Neophytes", "The Distribution of Property and the Death of Ananias", "The Resurrection of Theophilus' Son", "St. Peter Heals the Sick with His Shadow" and "Saint Peter in the Pulpit".

Italian artists of the Renaissance are people who devoted themselves entirely to art, not paying attention to ordinary everyday problems, which sometimes led them to a poor existence. Masaccio is no exception: the brilliant master died very early, at the age of 27-28, leaving behind great works and a large number of debts.

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506)

This is a representative of the Padua school of painters. He received the basics of skill from his adoptive father. The style was formed under the influence of the works of Masaccio, Andrea del Castagno, Donatello and Venetian painting. This determined the somewhat harsh and harsh manner of Andrea Mantegna compared to the Florentines. He was a collector and connoisseur of cultural works of the ancient period. Thanks to his style, unlike any other, he became famous as an innovator. His most famous works are: "Dead Christ", "Caesar's Triumph", "Judith", "Battle of the Sea Gods", "Parnassus" (pictured), etc. From 1460 until his death, he worked as a court painter in the family of the Dukes of Gonzaga.

Sandro Botticelli(1445-1510)

Botticelli is a pseudonym, the real name is Filipepi. He did not immediately choose the path of an artist, but initially studied jewelry making. First independent work(several "Madonnas") the influence of Masaccio and Lippi is felt. In the future, he also glorified himself as a portrait painter, the bulk of the orders came from Florence. The refined and refined nature of his work with elements of stylization (generalization of images using conventional techniques - simplicity of form, color, volume) distinguishes him from other masters of that time. A contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and the young Michelangelo left a bright mark on world art (“The Birth of Venus” (photo), “Spring”, “Adoration of the Magi”, “Venus and Mars”, “Christmas”, etc.). His painting is sincere and sensitive, and life path complex and tragic. The romantic perception of the world at a young age was replaced by mysticism and religious exaltation in maturity. The last years of his life, Sandro Botticelli lived in poverty and oblivion.

Piero (Pietro) della Francesca (1420-1492)

An Italian painter and another representative of the early Renaissance, originally from Tuscany. The author's style was formed under the influence of the Florentine school of painting. In addition to the talent of the artist, Piero della Francesca had outstanding abilities in the field of mathematics, and devoted the last years of his life to her, trying to connect her with high art. The result was two scientific treatises: "On Perspective in Painting" and "The Book of Five Correct Solids". His style is distinguished by solemnity, harmony and nobility of images, compositional balance, precise lines and construction, soft range of colors. Piero della Francesca had amazing knowledge for that time technical side painting and features of perspective, which earned him high prestige among his contemporaries. The most famous works: "The History of the Queen of Sheba", "The Flagellation of Christ" (pictured), "The Altar of Montefeltro", etc.

High Renaissance painting

If Proto-Renaissance and early era lasted almost a century and a half and a century, respectively, then this period covers only a few decades (in Italy from 1500 to 1527). It was a bright, dazzling flash that gave the world a whole galaxy of great, versatile and brilliant people. All branches of art went hand in hand, so many masters are also scientists, sculptors, inventors, and not just Renaissance artists. The list is long, but the pinnacle of the Renaissance was marked by the work of L. da Vinci, M. Buanarotti and R. Santi.

The Extraordinary Genius of Da Vinci

Perhaps this is the most extraordinary and outstanding personality in the history of the world artistic culture. He was a universal person in the full sense of the word and possessed the most versatile knowledge and talents. Artist, sculptor, art theorist, mathematician, architect, anatomist, astronomer, physicist and engineer - all this is about him. Moreover, in each of the areas, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) showed himself as an innovator. So far, only 15 of his paintings, as well as many sketches, have survived. With amazing life energy and thirst for knowledge, he was impatient, he was fascinated by the very process of knowledge. At a very young age (20 years old) he qualified as a master of the Guild of St. Luke. His most important works were the fresco " The Last Supper”, paintings “Mona Lisa”, “Madonna Benois” (pictured above), “Lady with an Ermine”, etc.

Portraits by Renaissance artists are rare. They preferred to leave their images in paintings with many faces. So, around the self-portrait of da Vinci (pictured), disputes do not subside to this day. Versions are put forward that he made it at the age of 60. According to the biographer, artist and writer Vasari, the great master was dying in the arms of his close friend King Francis I in his castle of Clos Luce.

Raphael Santi (1483-1520)

Artist and architect originally from Urbino. His name in art is invariably associated with the idea of ​​sublime beauty and natural harmony. For enough short life(37 years old) he created many world-famous paintings, frescoes and portraits. The plots that he portrayed are very diverse, but he was always attracted by the image of the Mother of God. Absolutely justifiably Raphael is called the "master of the Madonnas", those that he painted in Rome are especially famous. In the Vatican, he worked from 1508 until the end of his life as an official artist at the papal court.

Comprehensively gifted, like many other great artists of the Renaissance, Raphael was also an architect, and also engaged in archaeological excavations. According to one version, the last hobby is in direct correlation with premature death. Presumably, he contracted Roman fever during the excavations. The great master is buried in the Pantheon. The photo is of his self-portrait.

Michelangelo Buoanarroti (1475-1564)

The long 70-year-old of this man was bright, he left to his descendants imperishable creations not only of painting, but also of sculpture. Like other great Renaissance artists, Michelangelo lived in a time full of historical events and shocks. His art is a beautiful final note of the entire Renaissance.

The master put sculpture above all other arts, but by the will of fate he became an outstanding painter and architect. His most ambitious and unusual work is the painting (pictured) in the palace in the Vatican. The area of ​​the fresco exceeds 600 square meters and contains 300 human figures. The most impressive and familiar is the scene of the Last Judgment.

Italian Renaissance artists were multifaceted talents. So, few people know that Michelangelo was also a great poet. This facet of his genius was fully manifested at the end of his life. About 300 poems have survived to this day.

Late Renaissance painting

The final period covers the time period from 1530 to 1590-1620. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Renaissance as a historical period ended with the fall of Rome in 1527. Around the same time in Southern Europe The Counter-Reformation won. The Catholic movement looked with apprehension at any free-thinking, including the glorification of beauty. human body and the resurrection of the art of the ancient period - that is, everything that was the pillars of the Renaissance. This resulted in a special trend - mannerism, characterized by the loss of harmony between the spiritual and the physical, man and nature. But even during this difficult period, some famous artists Renaissance created their masterpieces. Among them are Antonio da Correggio, (considered the founder of classicism and Palladianism) and Titian.

Titian Vecellio (1488-1490 - 1676)

He is rightfully considered a titan of the Renaissance, along with Michelangelo, Raphael and da Vinci. Even before he was 30 years old, Titian was known as the "king of painters and painter of kings." Basically, the artist painted pictures on mythological and biblical themes, besides, he became famous as a magnificent portrait painter. Contemporaries believed that being imprinted with the brush of a great master means gaining immortality. And indeed it is. Orders to Titian came from the most revered and noble persons: popes, kings, cardinals and dukes. Here are just a few, the most famous, of his works: "Venus of Urbino", "The Abduction of Europe" (pictured), "Carrying the Cross", "Coronation with Thorns", "Pesaro Madonna", "Woman with a Mirror", etc.

Nothing is repeated twice. The era of the Renaissance gave mankind brilliant, extraordinary personalities. Their names are inscribed in world history art gold letters. Architects and sculptors, writers and artists of the Renaissance - their list is very long. We touched only on the titans who made history, brought the ideas of enlightenment and humanism to the world.