Western European culture of the 19th century. Culture of Western Europe XVIII to Culture of Europe in the 18th century

"Culture of Europe in the XVII-XVIII centuries"

1. Spiritual life

In history Europe XVII century marked by the triumph of the new baroque style in art and skepticism in the spiritual life of society. After filled with enthusiasm and faith in the abilities of a Renaissance man, comes disappointment, despair and the tragic discord of an individual with the outside world. A man, accustomed since the Middle Ages to feel himself in the center of the universe, suddenly found himself lost on a huge planet, the size of which became known to him. The starry sky overhead ceased to be a reliable dome and turned into a symbol of the boundlessness of space, which beckoned and at the same time repulsed and frightened. Europeans had to rediscover themselves and adapt to the greatly changed world around them.

At the beginning of the 18th century in continental Europe, the skepticism and rationalism of the Baroque was replaced by the Age of Enlightenment and the art of the Rococo. The main idea of ​​the Enlightenment was optimism and a firm belief that humanity can be changed by increasing its education (hence the name of this movement). Enlightenment originated in France, which breathed a sigh of relief after the death of Louis XIV and looked to the future with hope.

A huge role in the dissemination of the ideas of the Enlightenment was played by the secret society of Freemasons - Freemasons. The origin of Freemasonry is still a mystery. The Freemasons themselves consider themselves the successors of the Knights Templar, who survived the massacre at the beginning of the XIV century, whose members founded the first lodge - the secret section. Scientists believe that Masons as a political organization arose at the beginning of the 18th century on the basis of craft unions of builders. Members of Masonic lodges advocated building a new world on the basis of universal equality and fraternity and fought against the Catholic Church, for which they were repeatedly anathematized.

2. Baroque and Rococo art

At the end of the 16th century, mannerism gradually began to give way to baroque, the high style of the established absolute power of monarchs who survived the crisis of Catholicism and defended the right to exist for Protestantism. The highest flowering of baroque fell on the 2nd half of XVII century, when Europe successfully overcame the cataclysms of religious wars.

Baroque architecture was characterized by lavish decorative finishes with many details, multi-color molding, an abundance of gilding, carvings, sculptures, and picturesque plafonds that create the illusion of opening vaults going up. This is the time of the dominance of curves, intricately curved lines flowing into each other, the solemn facades of buildings and majestic architectural ensembles. The ceremonial portrait dominates in painting, the canvases are filled with allegories and virtuoso decorative compositions.

Despite the dominance of the Baroque, this era was not uniform in terms of style. In France, where the tendencies of strict classicism were strong, they tried to follow antique patterns. In the Netherlands, they were more inclined towards a naturalistic style.

Baroque as a style originated in Italy, from where it was supposed to bring the light of a revived Catholicism to Europe. Lorenzo Bernini was one of the most prominent architects of the Baroque. He was appointed chief architect of St. Paul's Cathedral - the main Catholic church in Rome. According to his project, in 1623-1624, a huge bronze canopy was built over the altar of the cathedral, as a material for which, by order of Pope Urban VIII, the antique roof of the Pantheon was used. Also in 1656-1665, Bernini built a grandiose oval colonnade in front of the facade of the cathedral. In 1658, the architect erected the church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, in 1663-1666 - the "Royal Staircase" in the Vatican. The brilliant skill of Bernini manifested itself in the construction of the famous Roman fountains - the Triton Fountain and the Four Rivers Fountain. In addition to a brilliant architectural gift, Bernini had a brilliant ability as a sculptor. He is the author of the tombs of Pope Urban VIII and Alexander VII in St. Peter's Cathedral, sculptures "David" (1623), "Apollo and Daphne" (1622-1625), numerous busts. In particular, during a trip to France in 1665, Bernini created a bust of Louis XIV.

The main school of painting in Italy of the Baroque era was the Bologna school, founded by three artists: Aodovico Carracci and his cousins ​​Annibale and Agostino. In 1585, they founded a workshop in Bologna, called the "Academy of those who entered the right path", in which they developed the basic principles of baroque painting. In 1597, Annibale and Agostino moved to Rome, where they received an order to paint the gallery of the Palazzo Farnese. According to Carracci, reality is too rough, so it should be ennobled by creating ideal images on the canvas.

Another prominent Italian Baroque artist, Caravaggio Michelangelo, on the contrary, strove for maximum realism. Creating paintings on biblical subjects, the artist specifically tried to make them as democratic and simple as possible. These are his canvases "The Conversion of Saul" (1600-1601), "The Entombment" (1602 - 1604) , "The Death of Mary" (1606). In addition, he turned the still life into independent genre painting.

The Baroque style in Spain turned the 17th century into the "golden age" of the national culture of this country. King Philip IV patronized the painters in every possible way, creating the best conditions for them and generously paying for their work.

Jusepe Ribera is considered the first major Spanish Baroque artist, despite the fact that he left for Italy when he was young, where he lived for the rest of his life. His work was influenced by Caravaggio, and the artist tried to make his characters as realistic as possible. Most famous works Ribera are "St. Jerome" (1626), "The Torment of St. Bartholomew" (1630), "The Lame" (1642).

The greatest painter of Spain of the 17th century was Diego De Silva Velazquez, since 1623 - the court painter of Philip IV. Velázquez's manner was distinguished by underlined Realism, some rigidity of writing and striking truth of life. In his younger years, he created a whole gallery of bright folk types, in his mature years, living at court, he preferred aristocrats, members of the royal family, as well as mythological subjects. These are Bacchus (1628-1629), Venus with a Mirror (1651), Meninas (1656).

The Spanish Baroque had a profound effect on Flanders, where the same style took hold. The pinnacle of the Flemish Baroque was the work of the artist Peter Paul Rubens. Like many other painters, in his youth, Rubens traveled to Italy, where he studied the monuments of antiquity and the work of Renaissance masters. Returning to his homeland, he created the classical image of the monumental baroque altar image - "Exaltation of the Cross" and "Descent from the Cross" (1610-1614). Rubens is characterized by powerful and lush human bodies, full of vitality, large decorative span. The theme of his paintings were mythological and biblical subjects, historical scenes. He became the creator of the ceremonial baroque portrait. Most famous paintings Rubens are: "The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus" (1619-1620), "Perseus and Andromeda" (1621), "Bathsheba" (1636), "Fur Coat" (1638).

Rubens' student was the artist Anthony van Dyck, the court painter of Charles I. A successor to the ideas of the Flemish school, Van Dyck worked for a long time in Genoa, Antwerp, and in 1631 moved to London forever. There he became a favorite portrait painter of the royal family and received such a number of orders that he was forced to distribute work among his students, creating something like an artistic manufactory. Portraits belong to his brushes: "Charles I on the hunt" (1633), "Family portrait" (1621).

In France, where the classical tradition competed with the Baroque, the most prominent representative The national school of painting was Nicolas Poussin. Poussin considered his teachers Raphael and Titian, whose work he studied during a visit to Italy. The artist preferred to depict mythological and biblical scenes using a large number of characters and allegories. Vivid examples of classicism were his paintings "Inspiration of the Poet" (1629-1635), "The Kingdom of Flora" (1632), "The Rape of the Sabine Women" (1633), "Bacchanalia".

The reign of Louis XIV was a whole era in the development french art. Artists and architects were merged into the Academy of Painting and Sculpture and the Academy of Architecture. They were called upon to glorify the greatness of the "Sun King" and, through joint efforts, based on a compromise between baroque and classicism, created a new trend, which was called the style of Louis XIV. The grandiose palaces and park ensembles were supposed to visually embody the idea of ​​the omnipotence of the absolute monarch and the power of the French nation.

Guided by these principles, the architect Claude Perrault in 1667 began the construction of the eastern facade of the Louvre, the so-called "Colonnade". According to the project of Liberal Bruant and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the Les Invalides was built - a hostel for war veterans and a cathedral. The pinnacle of French architecture of this era was the construction of Versailles (1668-1689). The construction of the Palace of Versailles and the park ensemble was led by the architects Louis Levo and Jules Hardouin-Mansart. In Versailles, the severity of the lines of the palace building, characteristic of classicism, is combined with the magnificent baroque decoration of the halls. In addition, the park itself, decorated with numerous fountains, is a product of the Baroque style.

Unlike Italy, Spain, England and France, where painters received huge sums of money for their canvases, in Holland artists were paid very little. A good landscape could be bought for a couple of guilders, a good portrait, for example, cost only 60 guilders, and Rembrandt, being at the peak of his fame, got for " The night Watch» only 1600guilders. For comparison, Rubens' fees amounted to tens of thousands of francs. The Dutch masters lived in very modest prosperity, sometimes in poverty in small workshops. Their art reflected the daily life of the country and was not aimed at glorifying the monarchy or the glory of the Lord, but at revealing the psychology of an ordinary person.

The first great master of the Dutch school of painting was Frans Hals. The vast majority of his paintings are portraits. He had a large workshop, had 12 children who, following their father, became artists, many students, led a bohemian lifestyle, was burdened with numerous debts and died in complete poverty.

The most significant works of early Dutch painting were group portraits by Hals. The customers were members of the guilds who asked to portray them during a feast or meeting. These are the "Officers of the Rifle Company of St. George" (1616), "Arrows of the Guild of St. Adrian in Haarlem" (1627). The art of Hals is devoid of deep concentration and psychological collisions. In his paintings, which reflect the character of the artist himself, people almost always laugh. Hals created a gallery of simple Dutch people, a little rude, but frank in their feelings - "Gypsy", "Malle Babbe", "Boy-fisherman", "Jester".

A student of Hals, the artist Adrian van Ostade worked in the domestic genre. His scenes from rural and urban life are imbued with humor and a good-natured grin. Tako you are "Fight", "In a village tavern", "Artist's workshop". Jan van Goyen became a classic of the Dutch landscape, who used the principles of aerial perspective in his works. His best canvas is "View of Dordrecht" (1648).

The second great painter of Holland, whose work is on a par with Hals, was Jan Vermeer of Delft. He preferred everyday lyrical compositions depicting one or two women at home - "Girl reading a letter", "Woman at the window", "Woman trying on a necklace", "Glass of wine", "Lacemaker". Vermeer managed to show the personal life of the townspeople, as well as a person in unity with the environment, with great emotional force. He managed to amazingly truthfully convey the silver daylight, playing on his canvases with many highlights.

The pinnacle of the Dutch school was the work of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, with its deep psychologism and unique golden brown hues. Like Hals, Rembrandt experienced a period of popularity, but then went bankrupt and ended his life in appalling poverty.

Rembrandt painted mostly portraits, both individual and group, as well as paintings on mythological and biblical subjects. The artist was a master of chiaroscuro, and his characters seem to be snatched out of the darkness by a ray of light. His canvases "Danaë", "Holy Family", "The Return of the Prodigal Son" are rightfully considered unsurpassed masterpieces. From group portraits the most famous are Doctor Tulip's Anatomy Lesson and Night Watch. Spirituality and amazing emotional depth distinguishes "Portrait of an Old Man in Red".

From Italy, baroque architecture spread not only to the north, but also to the east. After the end of the Thirty Years' War in southern Germany under the leadership of Italian masters Numerous baroque buildings were erected. At the end of the 17th century, their own masters appeared in the German lands, who worked in the Baroque style.

The Prussian architect Andreas Schlüter built the Royal Palace and the arsenal building in Berlin. If Schluter was guided by the Italian sculptor Lorenzo Bernini and French models, then the work of Daniel Peppelman is completely original. According to his project, the famous Zwinger palace complex was erected in Dresden for Augustus II the Strong. Also, by order of August, the architect Peppelman erected the Royal Palace in Grodno.

The spread of the Baroque style in the Commonwealth was caused by the penetration of the Jesuits into the country. The first baroque monument in Belarus and in Europe in general outside of Italy was the Jesuit church built at the end of the 16th century by the Italian architect Bernardoni for Prince Radziwill in Nesvizh. This style reached its true heyday in the 2nd half of the 17th century, when, having acquired national features, it took shape in the Belarusian, or Vilna baroque. Numerous churches and urban developments in Vilna, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, Brest, Slonim, Pinsk, Polotsk St. Sophia Cathedral rebuilt after the explosion, monasteries in Golypany, Baruny, Berezveche, palace complexes in Nesvizh and Ruzhany.

At the end of the 17th century, Baroque penetrated from Belarus to Russia, where it was first called the Naryshkin style. An example of this trend is the Church of the Intercession in Fili and the Church of the Sign in Dubrovitsy. With the beginning of the reforms of Peter I, the baroque finally triumphed in Russian architecture, which was primarily manifested during the construction of St. Petersburg. The pinnacle of baroque development in Russia was the work of the Italian architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli. He rebuilt the palaces in Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo, built the complex of the Smolny Monastery and the famous Winter Palace in the capital.

At the beginning of the 18th century, a new style of art, rococo, was born in France. Unlike Baroque, which was exclusively a court style, Rococo was the art of the aristocracy and the upper strata of the bourgeoisie. Now the main goal of the master was not the glorification of anyone or anything, but convenience and pleasure. specific person. If the baroque looked high up, then the rococo descended from the heavenly heights to the sinful earth and turned its gaze to the people standing around. Sometimes the Rococo style is called art for art's sake. It would be more correct to call this style art for a person.

Rococo architects began to take care of human comfort. They abandoned the pomposity of majestic Baroque buildings and tried to surround a person with an atmosphere of convenience and grace. Painting also abandoned "great ideas" and became simply beautiful. Freed from the turbulent emotions of the Baroque, the paintings were filled with cold light and subtle halftones. Rococo was perhaps the first almost entirely secular style in the history of European art. Like the philosophy of the Enlightenment, so did Rococo art separate from the church, pushing religious themes far into the background. Henceforth, both painting and architecture were to be light and pleasant. The gallant society of the 18th century was tired of moralizing and preaching, people wanted to enjoy life, getting the most out of it.

The greatest Rococo master was François Boucher, who turned his paintings into decorative panels to decorate the wall. Such are the canvases "The Bathing of Diana", "The Triumph of Venus", "Shepherd's Scene".

Maurice-Kanter Larut was able to create the Rococo portrait genre. The people depicted in his paintings, in full accordance with the requirements of the century, kindly and gallantly look at the viewer, trying to arouse in him not admiration, but a feeling of sympathy. The true characters of the characters are hidden under the mask of secular courtesy.

The paintings of Honore Fragonard are full of a sincere feeling of the fullness of life, which takes place in carefree enjoyment. An example of this is the canvas "Swing" (1766), "Kiss furtively" (1780).

The rococo style came to Germany in the 30s of the 18th century, and remained in the north, since baroque reigned supreme in the southern German lands until the end of the century.

In 1745, the Prussian architect Georg Knobelsdorff began construction of the Sanssouci Palace and Park Ensemble near Potsdam. Its very name (translated from French as “without worries”) reflected the spirit of the Rococo era. By order of Frederick II, a modest one-story palace was built on the grape terrace. However, quite soon the Rococo was supplanted by the growing strength of classicism.

English art XVIII century was so peculiar that it defies the classifications adopted in continental Europe. There is a bizarre interweaving of all styles and trends, among which classicism gradually takes the first place.

William Hogarth became the founder of the national English school of painting. In full accordance with the spirit of the English society of that time, he devoted his work to political and social satire. The series of paintings "Mot's Career", "Fashionable Marriage", "Elections" brought true fame to the artist. In order to introduce his work to as many viewers as possible, Hogarth himself made engravings of all his works in oil and distributed them. large circulations.

The artist Joshua Reynolds went down in history as an art theorist, the first president of the Royal (London) Academy of Arts and an outstanding portrait painter. His portraits are filled with the pathos of glorifying the heroes who have become worthy to be imprinted on the canvas forever.

If Reynolds was distinguished by a rational approach to painting, then the work of Thomas Gainsborough was more emotional. His portraits are distinguished by a poetic perception of human nature.

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By the beginning of the 17th century, the Renaissance in artistic culture Western Europe exhausted its vitality, and progressive society turned to a new type of art. The transition from the poetic-holistic perception of the world, which was characteristic of scientists and thinkers of the Renaissance, to the scientific method of cognizing reality, finally took shape. “The only authority should be reason and free research” - this is the motto of this era, proclaimed by Giordano Bruno on the eve of new achievements. “... the nature of the European cultural process in the 17th century. was extremely complex, heterogeneous and .... contradictory.”

At that time, the artistic culture of five countries came to the fore: Italy, Flanders, Holland, Spain and France. The art of each of the five national schools was characterized only by it. distinctive features. However, they were united by many things and made close, which allows us to speak of the 17th century as an integral stage in the history of art in Western Europe. Masters of different levels of economic and social development countries solved in their works sometimes common tasks for this time.

The art of the Renaissance embodied humanistic ideals and affirmed the cult of the beauty and superiority of man. This concerned both the content and the form of the works of the era. The artists of the 17th century faced completely different tasks. Reality appeared before them in all its diversity with many acute and sometimes insoluble social conflicts. The picture of the development of Western European art during this period is particularly complex. The works of art of the designated era are replete with all sorts of manifestations of the reality contemporary to the authors. The plots of the paintings on biblical and mythological themes have acquired the features of life specifics, hitherto unpopular images have also become widespread Everyday life a private person and the world of things surrounding him, the real motives of nature. According to the general trend, a new system was formed artistic genres. The leading position in it still belonged to the biblical-mythological genre, however, in some national art schools, genres directly related to reality began to develop intensively. Among them were portraits of people of various classes, episodes from the life of burghers and peasants, modest, unadorned landscapes, various types of still lifes.

In the works of the masters of the 17th century, the transfer of the human environment received a new sound. From now on, the background was not just a filling of the picture plane, but acquired the status of an additional characteristic of the hero or heroes of the picture. In addition to this, there was new tradition transmission of images and phenomena - in motion and change.

Such a large-scale expansion of the artistic reflection of reality, as well as diversity, served as an impetus for the emergence of new trends in the artistic culture of Western Europe, the birth of two neighboring styles - baroque and classicism. The Baroque style dominated European art between Mannerism and Rococo from about 1600 until the beginning of the 18th century. From Mannerism, the new style inherited dynamism and deep emotionality, and from the Renaissance - solidity and splendor, and the features of both styles harmoniously merged into a single whole. Classicism absorbed the ideas of rationalism, turning to forms for inspiration. ancient art. Classical works declared harmony and consistency of the universe. This style developed in parallel with the Baroque and lasted until the beginning of the 19th century. While the Italian cities of Rome and Florence are considered to be the birthplace of the first, the second has developed into an integral stylistic system precisely in French artistic culture. Realism was another new form of artistic reflection of reality, but it is not customary to single it out as a hotel style within the framework of the development of the fine arts of Western Europe in the 17th century.

In general, the evolution of the art of the 17th century can be represented in the form of several main stages. The beginning of the century was the time of the assertion of progressive tendencies, the struggle of the artists of the new formation with the remnants of mannerism. The leading Italian painter of the era of Caravaggio played a leading role in establishing new, progressive principles. In his work, the beginnings of new principles of realistic reflection of the picture of the world have already appeared. His innovative ideas soon penetrated the art of various national schools. Parallel to this process, at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, the formation and dissemination of the principles of baroque art took place.

The first half and the middle of the 17th century is a picture of the highest achievements in the art of the countries of Western Europe at that time. During this period, progressive trends acquired a leading role in all national art schools with the exception of Italy. In the art of Italy, the highest achievements in sculpture and architecture, associated with the names of Bernini and Borromini, belong to this time.

In the second half of the 17th century, a turning point occurred. In the art of Italy and Spain, the reactionary-Catholic line occupied a dominant position, in France - the official court trend, and the art of Flanders and Holland fell into a state of deep decline and stagnation. The degree of unity inherent in everything art XVII century, not least associated with the intensive artistic exchange characteristic of this era. The rapid spread of new creative ideas in neighboring art schools was facilitated by educational trips of young artists to Italy and large foreign orders that artists of the corresponding level received.

Rome, which has always attracted artists with the treasures of the classical art of antiquity and the Renaissance, has become a kind of international art center, where entire colonies of painters of various European countries. In addition to the fact that Rome was the main center of the formation of baroque art and at the same time the center where the revolutionary method of Caravaggio unfolded in all its might, it could also serve as a stronghold for the ideas of classicism - Poussin and Claude Lorrain spent most of their lives here. In Rome, the German master Elsheimer worked, who made a significant contribution to the formation of individual genres of painting of the 17th century, and here a peculiar direction was formed in everyday picture, presented by a group of Dutch and Italian craftsmen ("bamboch chanty").

Throughout the 17th century, art developed under the sign of the struggle, which was expressed in the confrontation between conservative artistic canons receding into the background and new artistic principles. This struggle manifested itself in the internal contradictions inherent in the work of one or another master, in conflicts between artists of different stripes, or even in a clash between Poussin and French court masters.

Founded in 1634 on the initiative of A. de Richelieu, the French Academy codified literary language and promoted the norms of the poetics of classicism, the first "officially approved" artistic and aesthetic system. This was done with the aim of subordinating various social institutions and the sphere of culture to the monarchical power as much as possible. But such a manifestation of the already increased power of the king met an extremely negative response among the French nobility and gave rise to open opposition to the monarch from the feudal lords. Later it developed into an uprising of 1648-1653.

The 17th century was a century of grandiose discoveries and upheavals in science (especially in astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, algebra and geometry). At the same time, it became the era of the rapid development of art, the rapid flourishing of literature, painting, architecture, arts and crafts and landscape gardening art, the appearance of the first operas and ballets, the liberation of the theater from the elements of the "urban culture" of the Middle Ages. This period in the history of world culture is marked by active cooperation and exchange of experience between representatives of science and art, between philosophers and artists.

In the eighteenth century, France became the center of the enlightenment movement. This intellectual and spiritual movement, which was a natural continuation of the humanism of the Renaissance and the rationalism of the early modern times, originated in England as early as the 17th century, and a century later ended up in Europe.

This century saw the flowering of the materialistic philosophy of the Enlightenment in France and England. In Germany, a school of classical idealistic philosophy. In Italy, Giovanni Battista Vico made the first attempts to introduce the dialectical method into the philosophy of modern times. The natural sciences, which became closer to production and technology, received accelerated development. The transition to the industrial age foreshadowed the creation of new machines. Of particular importance was the exchange of philosophical, scientific and aesthetic ideas between countries.

The Age of Enlightenment brought rapid development and brought music and literature to the forefront of the cultural arena. Prose writers became interested in the fate of one single character and sought to tell the world about the complex relationship of man with the environment. Music has acquired the status of an independent art form. The works of Bach, Mozart and Gluck served the purpose of conveying the whole spectrum of human passions. This time is characterized by the study of the nature of acting, the ethics of the theater and its social functions.

Artistic progress had a somewhat ambiguous effect on the fine arts. A subtle sense of masterfully captured moment is inherent in all portraiture and genre painting era.

The 18th century entered the history of arts as the century of the portrait, which had already taken shape at a new stage in the formation of artistic culture. Portraits of Latour, Gainsborough and Houdon vividly illustrate the trends of the era. They are characterized by sensitive observation of the author, intimacy and lyricism. Genre scenes Watteau miraculously convey all the nuances of different moods, as well as Chardin's paintings on everyday topics or Guardi's urban landscapes. However, painting has lost that fullness of coverage of the spiritual life of man, which was characteristic of the paintings of Rubens, Poussin, Rembrandt and Velasquez.

Formation new culture was uneven in different countries. So, in Italy, the traditions of the previous century continued to develop. In France, the appearance of the fine art of Watteau corresponded to its beginning, and by the end of the 18th century, the revolutionary pathos of David's paintings became characteristic. The Spaniard Goya informed his work of interest in the bright and expressive aspects of life. In some areas of Germany and Austria, this phenomenon was reflected in the field of palace and garden architecture. The volume of civil construction has increased sharply. The architecture was characterized by the Baroque style.

The architectural image of a single mansion was now decided in a more comfortable and elegant sound. Thus, the principles of a new style in art - rococo - were formed, less pretentious and more chamber than baroque. The new style manifested itself in architecture mainly in the field of decor, flat, light, whimsical, whimsical, refined. Rococo was not the leading style of the era, but it became the most characteristic stylistic trend in the artistic culture of the leading countries of Western and Central Europe in the first half of the 18th century.

The newly formed painting and sculpture had a purely decorative function and served as interior decoration. This art was designed for a sensitive and insightful viewer, it avoided excessive dramatization of the plot and was exclusively hedonistic.

Painting and sculpture of the second half of the 18th century are characterized by genuine vitality of images. The classicism of the 18th century was qualitatively different from the classicism of the 17th century. It, having originated along with the Baroque, not only existed in parallel with it, but developed in confrontation with this style, overcoming it.

European culture of the 18th century not only continues cultural development previous (XVII) century, but also differs from it in style, color, tone.

17th century - the age of the formation of rationalism. XVIII- Age of Enlightenment, when the rationalistic paradigms of culture received their more concrete social address: they became the mainstay of "third estate" in his first ideological and then political struggle against the feudal, absolutist system.

Voltaire and Rousseau in France, Goethe and Schiller in Germany, Hume in England, Lomonosov and Radishchev in Russia - all the great humanist enlighteners of the 18th century acted as convinced supporters and defenders of human freedom, broad and universal development of the individual, implacable opponents of slavery and despotism. In France, where contradictions public life experienced especially acutely, the ideology of the Enlightenment, materialistic and atheistic for the most part, became a theoretical, spiritual premise great revolution 1789-1793, and then the beginning of a broad reformist movement on the continent. A decade earlier, on the ideas of the Enlightenment, the state of the North American United States was created.

The American War of Independence, the French political revolution and the industrial revolution in England summed up the long, intense pan-European development since the Reformation. The result was education modern type society - an industrial civilization. Violated not only the feudal natural system economy. The consciousness inherent in him “broke” - the servility of the vassal to the “signor” and “suzerain”, although in this breakdown not only “high”, but also “low” (the terms are borrowed from Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit) consciousness of the era was born - cynicism and nihilism those social strata and classes that perceived what was happening only as a crisis and decay and were themselves not capable of social creativity.

Understand the 18th century means to comprehend its contrasts and paradoxes. Refinement, the elegance of classicism, the splendor of the Louvre and Versailles, the grandeur of the Prado and Westminster Abbey coexisted with superstition, the darkness and illiteracy of the masses, with the lack of rights and poverty of the peasantry, with the degradation and savagery of urban lumpen. Brilliance and poverty further strengthened and set off each other.

The moral crisis also engulfed the "educated" strata of society. A classic monument of the magnificent and pompous era of Louis XV was the hero of Diderot's famous dialogue "Ramo's Nephew" - the forerunner of future nihilists and Nietzscheans (The dialogue was written in 1762. His character is a real person, the nephew of the famous French composer). In the image of an outstanding, but immoral cynic and adventurer, the author of the dialogue brought out a type of person who did not find himself in his time, and therefore socially dangerous.

The "low", "torn" consciousness of timelessness, its destructive and corrupting power was opposed by the power of creation and creativity - culture. The main vector of its development was the gradual but steady overcoming of the one-sided, "monochromatic" vision of man and the world, the transition from mechanical to organic, i.e. holistic, multi-qualitative perception of reality.

In production in the basic structure of society, there was a transition from manufactory to more developed and complex technologies, to the development of new types of raw materials and energy sources - to the use of natural forces not in their original, but in a qualitatively altered, transformed form.

In science the monopoly of mechanical and mathematical knowledge gave way to the promotion - along with them - of experimental and descriptive disciplines: physics, geography, biology. Naturalists - naturalists (D.Getton, K.Linney etc.) collected, systematized a great variety of phenomena and formations of nature. Quality and quantity have now taken an equivalent, comparable place in the logic, language and thinking of the theoretician.

Not only scientific but also mass consciousness 18th century acquired features that were not characteristic of the rational and rational XVII century, when there was only “black and white”, a one-dimensional distinction of opposites into “yes” and “no”, truth and falsehood, good and evil, right and wrong. 18th century already began to notice halftones, recognizing a person's right to change, improve his nature, i.e. the right to "enlightenment" and education as processes that require and involve time. Belief in the possibility of transforming the world on a reasonable basis and the moral perfection of the individual already assumed elements of historicism in the consciousness and self-awareness of the era.

This theme - the constancy and variability of human Nature, its dependence and independence on external conditions or "environment", - born in the mass experience of people who are waiting for changes and practically preparing with their activities an unprecedented renewal of life, has become one of the central topics. philosophical reflection. That which was only anticipated and foreseen among the masses, philosophy raised to the level of criticism. Both the social (state) system and the ideology of this system - religion - became its object.

In France, where social contradictions have reached the most acute and open forms of class confrontation. Religion (Catholicism) was criticized from radical, atheistic positions. According to Holbach, religion is a lie and delirium, a "sacred infection", without putting an end to which it is impossible to deal with the violence and despotism of the feudal lords. Englishman Hume and German Kant were far from such rationalism. But their criticism of feudal ideology also aimed at its epicenter: contrary to the Old and New Testaments human personality and public morality were declared autonomous in relation to religion, which itself was now derived from the requirements and interests of morality, instead of becoming its support and source. In "Criticism pure mind Kant rejected all possible evidence of the existence of God and personal immortality, and this, according to Heinrich Heine, was then a real "storming of heaven."

But even in the homeland of the revolution - in France - the ideas of the Enlightenment were not homogeneous, having undergone a significant evolution - from reformism (in the first half of the century) to openly revolutionary programs of action (in the 60-80s of the XVIII century). So, if the representatives of the older generation of enlighteners - Montesquieu and Voltaire, expressing the interests and mindsets of the upper strata of the pre-revolutionary French bourgeoisie, the idea of ​​gradually bourgeoisizing feudal society along the lines of neighboring England, which had long since established a constitutional monarchy, prevailed, then the ideologists next generation anti-feudal thinkers La Mettrie, Diderot, Helvetia, Holbach- a different mood was already traced: a resolute denial of landlord property and estate privileges, an open call for the overthrow of despotic power.

In the largest countries of Europe by the middle of the XVIII century. the royal power no longer needed to flirt with the "third estate", no longer looked for an ally in it in the fight against the feudal freemen. It now became more important for her to strengthen her alliance with the church and the highest nobility. In the face of the main threat, to suppress peasant unrest and hungry riots of the townspeople, all the forces of the old society united, forgetting the previous strife. Having declared war on its own people, the absolutist regime also extended it to the sphere of culture: "impious" and "rebellious" books were publicly burned, and their authors were awaited by the Château de Vincennes or the Bastille. However, all this did not put off, but brought closer the people's explosion, the revolution.

The spirit, the attitude of the era in the most vivid and expressive way imprinted itself in art. Most greatest artists century: Bach, Goethe, Mozart, Swift spoke with contemporaries and future generations of people in the language of eternity, without constraining and not fettering themselves with any conventions and artificial rules of "style".

But this does not mean that the XVIII century. did not know his own, characteristic artistic styles. The main one was Baroque - a style that combined old traditions (Gothic) with new trends - the ideas of democratic freethinking. Combining the aristocracy of form with an appeal to the "folk", i.e. bourgeois taste, painting, sculpture, and especially Baroque architecture, is an imperishable monument to the dualism of the era, a symbol of the continuity of European culture, but also the uniqueness of historical time (an example of which is Bernini's sculpture, Rastrelli's architecture, Giordano's painting, Calderon's poetry, Lully's music and others).

During the first three quarters of the 18th century along with the baroque in Western European art, another style has spread quite widely - rococo: he received such a name for pretentiousness, mannerism, deliberate "dissimilarity" of works of art made in this style with a rough, unvarnished nature. Decorative theatricality, fragility and conventionality of images are the complete opposite of the “frivolous” Rococo to the heavy solemnity of the Baroque. The slogan of Rococo aesthetics - “art for enjoyment” - expressed quite accurately and eloquently the worldview of the pre-revolutionary aristocracy, who lived “one day”, according to the famous motto of Louis XV: "After us - even a flood."

But the majority of the nation did not expect a flood, but a cleansing storm. By the middle of the century, all educated, thinking France, then the rest of Europe (up to Russia) lived on the ideas and ideals of the Enlightenment. Voltaire and Rousseau became the flag of the struggle. But Voltairianism and Rousseauism are still different, in many respects dissimilar programs and goals, two rather distant poles of intense social life, two centers of concentration of anti-feudal, anti-serfdom forces. During their lifetime (both thinkers died in the same year - 1778), Voltaire and Rousseau treated each other sharply critically, even hostilely. Voltaire was disgusted by the plebeian democracy of the Genevan philosopher, his calls to abandon the benefits and achievements of civilization in the name of the mythical "return" of man to primitive and primordial nature. Rousseau, for his part, could not share the aristocratic arrogance of his older contemporary towards the common people, as well as the deistic free-thinking of the Voltairians, their excessive, as he believed, and even dangerous rationalism.

Historical time softened and smoothed out these contradictions. In the eyes of posterity, the great figures of the Enlightenment, from whatever position they criticized the ideology and practice of the obsolete system, did one thing, a common thing. But in the actual experience of contemporaries aristocratic and democratic the paths of struggle for the reorganization of society were more than two equivalent and equivalent, equally possible variants of progress. Each of them not only expressed the historical experience of the past in its own way (due to the long-standing and continuing divergence in the culture of material and spiritual, moral and mental development), but was also continued in its own way in the future - in the European history of the next, XIX century.

The path of Voltaire is the path of spiritual and social revolutions “from above”: from the freethinking of the Voltairians to the romanticism and freedom-loving “Storm and Onslaught”, to the rebellious restlessness of Byronism, and then to the Russian Decembrism of 1825. European and our domestic literature captured the heroes of aristocratic rebellion: Childe Harold and Karl Moor, Chatsky and Dubrovsky. Their intellectual and moral superiority in relation to their contemporaries was undeniable. But just as obvious was the doom of these people to loneliness, to a great, difficult to overcome distance from the people.

The fate of Rousseau's ideas and teachings is even more complex and unusual. From them slogans were born French Revolution: freedom, equality, fraternity and in the name of freedom appeared contrary to logic - the imperatives and programs of the Jacobin dictatorship, justifying not only the theory, but also the practice of mass, exterminating terror (which the philosopher himself, who died 10 years before the revolution, of course, did not even think of ).

This was the first major metamorphosis of humanism in the culture of modern times. " Absolute freedom and horror "- so in the Hegelian "Phenomenology of Spirit" a paragraph is named where revolution and dictatorship are derived as a practical result of the theoretical ideas and principles of the Enlightenment, and political terror is evaluated as an absolute point of alienation. The great dialectician not only turned out to be deeply right in comprehending his own modernity based on the experience of the French Revolution, but he also looked far-sightedly into our twentieth century when he pointed out the one-sidedness of the Jacobin (thus any left-radical) principle of “absolute equality”. Calling such equality "abstract", Hegel wrote that its only result can only be "the coldest, most vulgar death, which is no more important than if you cut a head of cabbage or swallow a sip of water" (Marx K., Engels F. Soch. 2nd ed. T. 12. S. 736).

But Rousseau was not only (and not so much) the forerunner of Robespierre and Marat. The name of the Genevan sage stands at the origins of another spiritual trend, which in general can be characterized as romantic-patriarchal and anti-technocratic. (100 years after him, these same ideas were defended in Russia by Leo Tolstoy.) Rousseau, Tolstoy, their associates and followers protested the broad masses (Rousseau - the urban lower classes, Tolstoy - the peasantry) against the heavy tread of civilization, which was carried out not for but at the expense of the people. At the dawn of the first industrial revolution, Rousseau did not let himself be seduced by the ripe fruits of material progress, warning about the danger of uncontrolled human impact on nature, loudly declaring the responsibility of scientists and politicians not only for the immediate, but also for the long-term consequences of their decisions.

But nothing could then dissuade a European from the fact that it was on his land in his age that great, turning points in world history were taking place or were about to take place. The rest of the world was still “unpromised” for Europe, and foreigners were “natives”. European expansion no longer assumed an accidental (as in the 16th-17th centuries), but a systematic, organized character. On the other side of the Atlantic (in the East of America), European settlers developed new territories for themselves, pushing them to the center of the mainland indigenous people continent. Africa, Asia, Oceania continued to be plundered predatorily. "The Fifth Continent"(Australia) has been identified by the British government as the most remote, and therefore the most brutal exile of the most important, incorrigible criminals.

Europeans, even if they fought among themselves (Austrians and Italians, Germans and French), recognized each other as equals and observed unwritten rules of conduct even in the most acute and bitter disputes (the winners could not turn the defeated into slaves, armies fought, but not peacefully population, etc.). But in non-European, "non-Christian" countries, there were no longer any norms and prohibitions for the British and French, Spaniards and Portuguese. It was supposed not to trade with the "natives" and not even to fight; their had to be conquered and destroyed. (Even if it was a country so high and ancient culture like India.)

The European Enlightenment entered the history of culture as an era of proud and arrogant consciousness. Its contemporaries were proud of themselves and their time. Poet of the century – Goethe – with Olympian grandeur and deep satisfaction, he looked at the course of world events, which - it seemed then - fully confirmed the reasonableness and moral justification of reality.

"Everything that is reasonable is real." This is not a random phrase dropped by a philosopher. This is the self-consciousness of the era. But the following centuries made people doubt this.

The 18th century entered the history of Europe, and indeed of the whole world, under the name of the century Enlightenment. The concept of "Enlightenment" was first used by the French philosopher Voltaire in 1734. In a general sense, enlightenment is understood as the process of spreading scientific knowledge, the source of which is the human mind, free from dogmatic thinking. It was in the XVIII century that the leading European thinkers realized the need for such a spread and actively solved this problem.

The Age of Enlightenment was prepared by the achievements of the Renaissance and scientific revolution XVII century, in which such English thinkers as Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes played a special role.

The ideas of the Enlightenment were most developed in France. Both the English scientists of the 17th century and the French Enlightenment of the 18th century were characterized by an initial orientation towards sensationalism as a method of knowing the world through sensory perception - observing nature with the help of the senses. Then it was supplemented by an emphasis on rationalism , on the mind as the main source and criterion of the truth of scientific knowledge. Enlighteners believed that the world is arranged rationally, and also that a person with his mind is able to cognize the world around him, comprehending the information that he received through the senses.

Faith in unlimited possibilities human mind in the knowledge of the world, and in the ability of science to resolve any contradictions that the human community faces, has become feature Enlightenment, which is why the 18th century is often called Age of Reason.

Increased attention was paid to the problems of social organization. Enlighteners were characterized by attempts to determine the laws of development of society and create an ideal model on the basis of these laws, or at least correct the shortcomings of the social system of their time. At the same time, the enlighteners relied on the concept of "natural law", assuming that all people from birth have certain rights arising from the very nature of man. These rights were violated in the course of historical development, which led to the creation of unfair, detrimental social relations. The challenge now is to restore these rights and build a society based on "natural principles". Enlighteners believed that this would provide highest level cultural development. Therefore, the definition of the "natural components" of man and society was one of the main questions asked by the enlighteners. They paid much attention to the study of concrete experience. community development. And in this regard, they recognized the most advanced social system in Europe in England (a constitutional monarchy with broad parliamentary rights). English parliamentarism was considered by the enlighteners as a role model.

The leaders of the French Enlightenment chose the feudal order and the Catholic Church as the main target for criticism. Already the immediate predecessor of the enlighteners, the priest Jean Mellier He became widely known because in his "Testament" he harshly criticized the Catholic Church and the feudal institutions of secular power. In the same way, they are widely known Charles Montesquieu And Voltaire the first major figures of the French Enlightenment.

Sharply criticizing the church, not all enlighteners were ready to oppose religion as such. Like the scientists of the 17th century, the French enlighteners on the question of the role of God basically stood on the positions deism: God was considered only as the "Great Architect" who created the world and established the laws by which this world exists. The further development of the world proceeded according to these laws without divine intervention. Some enlighteners shared positions pantheism, in which God was dissolved in nature and identified with it. A number of educators, among whom were La Mettrie, Diderot, Condillac, turned to materialism, considering spiritual consciousness as one of the properties of matter. This approach carried hidden atheistic beginnings. However, in open atheism(denying the existence of supernatural forces in general and God in particular) were solved by a few. Baron became the first representative of atheism P. Holbach. Materialists were also very uncompromising towards religion and the church. Diderot And D'Alembert. From their point of view, religion arose on the soil of ignorance and helplessness of man before the forces of nature, and the church organization serves to support this ignorance, preventing the spiritual and social liberation of people.

In practical terms, the main thing for the figures of the French Enlightenment was the educational activity itself. They believed that history had entrusted them with a special mission: to disseminate and promote scientific knowledge and faith in the triumph of reason, in the possibility and regularity of social progress. Progress was conceived as an irreversible course of history from the darkness of ignorance into the realm of reason.

Among the first enlighteners it should be noted Charles Montesquieu(1689-1755). ABOUT He became widely known by releasing the anonymous work "Persian Letters", in which, in the form of correspondence of rich Persians, he sharply criticized modern French orders. Then in the essay "On the Spirit of Laws" he on bright historical examples showed the existence of different customs and principles of the political system among different peoples and spoke out with the condemnation of despotism, propaganda of the ideas of religious tolerance, civil and personal freedom of people. At the same time, the author did not call for a revolution, but spoke of gradualness and moderation in carrying out the necessary changes. Montesquieu made an important contribution to the development of cultural theory. He concluded that the social system, customs and peoples themselves are largely products of the influence of the surrounding geographical environment (climate, rivers, soils, etc.). This approach was clearly materialistic in nature and was called "geographical determinism".

The most prominent representative of the Enlightenment was a French writer and philosopher Voltaire (1694 - 1778). Hundreds of literary, philosophical, historical works of various genres belonged to his talented pen, from satirical poems to serious philosophical treatises, in which he opposed feudal institutions, mercilessly denounced the Bible, fictions about miracles and other religious prejudices. Voltaire owns the famous call "Crush the vermin!" directed against the Catholic Church. At the same time, Voltaire did not oppose religion as such and considered it necessary as a way to subjugate the dark masses: "If God did not exist, he would have to be invented!" Voltaire combined sharp criticism of the church and feudal orders with moderate practical recommendations. So, he did not consider it possible in contemporary France to fight for a republican system. He was distrustful of the lower classes of society, considering them too dark. Voltaire paid great attention to the study of the peculiarities of the culture of different nations. In this regard, he wrote the work "Essays on the General History, Customs and Character of Nations" (1756).

An important contribution to the ideology of the Enlightenment was made by J.A. Condorcet(1743-94), who in his work "Sketch of the historical picture of the progress of the human mind" (1794) presented world history as a process of development of the human mind. He divided the history of mankind into 9 eras, the beginning of which he associated with one or another major invention.

Along with the prevailing optimistic view of culture, a pessimistic attitude towards culture as a means of enslaving and oppressing people appeared in the Enlightenment. So, a special place in the French Enlightenment was occupied by a native of Geneva Jean Jacques Rousseau gained fame in 1749, when he published the famous "Reasoning" that "enlightenment is harmful and culture itself is a lie and a crime." Rousseau saw the root of the evil and misery of mankind in inequality, arguing that the main cause of inequality was the emergence of private property, which divided people into rich and poor. Inequality is protected by the state, and religion, art and even science, contribute to the preservation of inequality, hinder the happy life of people. It is obvious that Rousseau absolutized those specific forms and institutions of culture that in his contemporary society really hindered the development of democracy and socially just social relations.

Rousseau developed questions of pedagogy and "social contract" theory according to which the state is a product of the agreement of citizens and if the state does not suit them, then they have the right to change it. Rousseau's views largely contributed to the ideological preparation of the Great French Revolution at the end of the century.

The quintessence of all the ideas of the French Enlightenment was the famous "Encyclopedia" edited by Denis Diderot, which became a kind of Bible of the enlighteners. The articles in the encyclopedia were written by the best minds of Europe and explained the whole structure of the world from a rational point of view. Enlighteners considered the Encyclopedia as a tool with which they will open access to knowledge to a wide range of people.

Since the views of the enlighteners diverged from the official ideology, their activities often provoked a harsh reaction from secular and especially spiritual authorities. Many educators were persecuted, they were arrested, deported, already printed works were banned and confiscated.

Nevertheless, the ideas of the Enlightenment were widely disseminated and penetrated even into those sections of society that were themselves the target of their criticism. Therefore, many figures of the French Enlightenment had high-ranking patrons who gave them protection. For example, the release of the "Encyclopedia" was made possible thanks to the support of Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV, who herself was the target of criticism of the Enlightenment.

None of the leaders of the Enlightenment set the goal of preparing a revolution - on the contrary, they all feared it and strove for a gradual transformation of society, through the spread of the light of knowledge, which should dispel the darkness of ignorance. Nevertheless, under the influence of enlightenment ideas, secret societies arise in Europe. The first such society was the Bavarian Order of the Illuminati, but the Order of Freemasons was the most famous. The secret societies produced and distributed a variety of popular literature accessible to the average reader. It was with the help of such literature that the ideas of the Enlightenment spread throughout Europe.

IN Germany the Enlightenment movement was not as radical as in France. The attention of German enlighteners was attracted not by socio-political problems, but by questions of philosophy, morality, aesthetics and education. Considerable attention was paid to the development of culture.

The concept of cultural development was developed G. Lessing, who held the idea that humanity goes through a series of stages of organic development, and the dominance of religion and faith in divine revelation testify to the immaturity of society.

Much attention was paid to the problems of culture by the German philosopher Johann Herder(1744-1803), who called his main 20-volume work Ideas for the Philosophy of the History of Mankind (1791). Having dealt with the question of the origin of language, he rejected the thesis about the "God-givenness" of the latter and put forward the thesis about the natural-historical development of not only nature, but also language, thinking and human culture generally. Herder is a pantheist, he dissolved God in nature and saw the history of the development of nature as a progressive development from inorganic matter to the world of plants and animals, and then to man. In the history of society, he saw the process of growing humanism, which he understood as the improvement of living conditions and the harmonious development of each individual. Herder paid special attention to the national identity of the culture of different peoples and came up with the idea of ​​the equivalence of different cultures and different eras in the development of the culture of a particular people, seeing in them natural-historical stages that are equally valuable and necessary in the general process of progressive development. The special attention that Herder paid to the problems of culture, and wide circle posed by him cultural questions, give every reason to consider this scientist one of the founders of cultural studies as a science.

A significant contribution to the development of the theory of culture was made by Immanuel Kant(1724-1804), founder of German classical philosophy. He viewed culture as an artificial world created by man. The main feature of Kant's culturological concept was the idea that culture acts as a tool for the liberation of man from the natural world. The philosopher contrasted the world of nature and the world of freedom and connected the second world with the world of culture. He noted that the harsh laws of zoology dominate in nature, and man, as a product of nature, is deprived of freedom. Man-made culture frees him from the unfreedom and evil of the natural world, and morality plays the most important role in this matter: the force of moral duty defeats the harsh laws of zoology. Thus, Kant emphasized the leading role of morality in the system of cultural values. At the same time, Kant pointed out that the world of nature and the world of freedom are connected by the great power of Beauty, and believed that culture in its highest forms is associated with the aesthetic principle, with artistic creativity - with art.

IN Italy Enlightenment had its deep roots leading back to the Renaissance, but due to the rigid position of the church, the enlightenment movement developed slowly and was of a moderate nature. At the beginning of the XVIII century. An important role in social thought in Italy was played by G. Vico (1668-1744), who creates a cyclical theory of history without breaking with the traditional Christian concept of Providence (divine Plan). According to Vico's concept, divine Providence leads humanity step by step from barbarism to civilization, then the era of barbarism comes again and the cycle repeats. Vico made this conclusion based on an analysis of the history known to him, in which two accomplished cycles were clearly distinguished: from ancient times to the decline of Rome and again from the “new barbarism” of the early Middle Ages to the Enlightenment. The hand of Providence thesis places Vico in the ranks of the theists, but the idea of ​​repeating historical cycles did not fit well with the traditional Christian idea of ​​the second coming of Christ and the establishment of "the kingdom of God on Earth as in Heaven." Vico believed that all nations develop in cycles consisting of 3 epochs: the Age of the Gods (a stateless state, subjection to priests as servants of the gods), the Age of Heroes (an aristocratic state that oppresses ordinary people) and the Age of People (ordinary people rebel against the aristocracy and achieve equality, establishing a republic; however, in the course of further development, the disintegration of society occurs and the era of barbarism begins again). It should be noted that within the framework of this cyclical theory, the idea of ​​the progressive development of the political culture of human society is clearly contained. Vico was one of the first to express the idea of ​​the class struggle as a factor in social development.

In the 2nd floor. 18th century the main center of educational ideas was Milan, where the brothers Vierri. Another center of the Italian Enlightenment is Naples, where he lectured Antonio Genovesi who studied the possibilities of regulating economic relations with the help of the laws of reason.

Enlightenment in Spain It was distinguished by the restrained attitude of Spanish thinkers towards their French colleagues, which was a kind of defensive reaction to the negative assessments by the French Enlightenment of the role of Spain in the history of Europe. The leading role among the Spanish educators was played by a number of highly educated representatives of the aristocracy, such as Pedro Rodriguez de Campomanes, Count Floridablanca, Count Aranda, Gaspar Melchior de Jovellanos y Ramirez, who advocated the gradual reform of feudal society. Their activities contributed to the implementation of reforms in Spain in the spirit of "enlightened absolutism".

England . Almost all English thinkers of the 18th century, such as Henry Bolingbroke, James Addison, A. Shaftesbury and F. Hutchison, were religious people and were distinguished by moderate views, especially in matters of political and social order. Their ideal was a political compromise, and the right to property was reckoned among the inalienable natural rights of a person. With the name of a Scot Adam Smith connected with the beginning of classical political economy.

The English materialists of the 18th century - Hartley, Priestley and others - recognized thinking as a product of matter. They were opposed by the idealistic direction represented by by George Berkeley(1685-1753), who set himself the goal of refuting materialism and substantiating the inviolability of religion. Taking Locke's doctrine of sensations as a starting point, Berkeley made an extreme idealistic conclusion that the real world exists only insofar as it is perceived by us through the combination of various sensations. The views of the Scottish philosopher and scientist were consonant with the ideas of Berkeley. David Hume, who postulated the impossibility of objective knowledge of the world ( agnosticism).

The aggravation of social contradictions connected with the development of capitalist relations rather early provoked criticism of bourgeois society in England. In the first place here you can put Jonathan Swift with his brilliant satirical novel Gulliver's Travels (1726). Disappointment in the realities of British bourgeois society with a parliamentary system gave rise to disbelief in the possibility of creating a perfect society on the basis of reason. This contributed to an increase in interest in the inner world of a person, in his feelings and experiences. In the middle of the 18th century, this need was reflected in a new literary direction - sentimentalism. The leading representative of this direction was Laurence Stern, whose novel "Sentimental Journey" and gave.

From England, the ideas of the Enlightenment were transferred across the ocean to its North American colonies. American Enlighteners were more practical than thinkers, and tried to apply new scientific knowledge to the arrangement of their country. Most of all they were interested in the problems of relations between society, the individual and the state. At the same time, American thinkers believed that citizens can change their political system if they find it useful. This concept was most actively advocated by Thomas Paine in the pamphlet Common Sense. The activity of the American enlighteners ideologically prepared the American Revolution and the declaration of independence of the North American colonies. The most famous representatives of the American enlightenment, such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, became the leaders of the American Revolution and the "founding fathers" of the United States - the first state whose constitution reflected many of the important ideas of the Enlightenment.

Knowledge of the world. The 18th century was a time of rapid development of science. It was based on the achievements of the scientific revolution of the 17th century. At the turn of the century, scientific institutions appeared in most European countries - the Academy of Sciences. Scientific knowledge is becoming more and more systematic and precise. Scientists focused on the practical use of their achievements in the interests of economic and social development.

character is changing sea ​​voyages. If earlier the expeditions were predominantly military and commercial, now they specially include scientists who are engaged in the search and exploration of new lands. Thanks to the invention of more advanced navigational instruments, such as the sextant (1730) and the chronometer (1734), sea travel becomes safer. Three expeditions of the Englishman J. Cook(1768-1771), as well as the voyages of French captains L.A. Bougainville(1766-1769) and J.F. La Perouse(1785–1788) marked the beginning of a systematic study and practical development of the Pacific region.

In development botany And biology a huge contribution was made by the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus(1707–1778). He developed the system of classification of living beings still used today, in which he put man.

French explorer J.-B. Lamarck(1744–1829) put forward the first theory of biological evolution, which in many respects anticipated the ideas of Charles Darwin.

In area exact sciences Johann Bernoulli and his students Leonhard Euler And Jean D'Alembert complete the development of systems of differential and integral calculus and create the theory of differential equations. With its help, they began to calculate the movement of comets and other celestial bodies, and she found her completion in the famous book JosephLagrange"Analytical Mechanics" (1788).

French scientist Pierre Laplace(1749-1827), masterfully applying mathematical analysis, proved the stability of the orbits of the planets of the solar system, and also completely described their movement, thereby refuting the opinion that maintaining the present form of the solar system requires the intervention of some extraneous supernatural forces.

IN physics the opinion is affirmed that all physical processes are manifestations of the mechanical motion of matter. The invention of the thermometer by the Dutchman Fahrenheit at the beginning of the 18th century and the subsequent appearance of the Réaumur (1730) and Celsius (1742) temperature scales made it possible to measure temperature and led to the emergence of the doctrine of heat.

In chemistry the theory of phlogiston (fiery substance) was created, generalizing the knowledge concerning the processes of combustion and roasting of metals. Attempts to detect and isolate phlogiston stimulated the study of gaseous combustion products and gases in general. As a result, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and the phenomenon of photosynthesis were discovered. In 1777 Antoine Lavoisier created the oxygen theory of combustion.

Study begins electrical and magnetic phenomena. In the course of it, the phenomenon of electrical conductivity was discovered, an electrometer was created. B. Franklin and M. V. Lomonosov lightning rod was invented. The Frenchman A. Coulomb discovered Coulomb's law, which became the basis for the subsequent development of knowledge about electricity.

The main result of the development of science in the XVIII century. was the creation of a full-fledged scientific picture of the world that does not require theological justification.

Eighteenth century Western Europe final stage long transition from feudalism to capitalism. In the middle of the century, the process of primitive accumulation of capital was completed, a struggle was waged in all spheres of social consciousness, revolutionary situation. Later, it led to the dominance of the classical forms of developed capitalism. Over the course of a century, a gigantic breakdown of all social and state foundations, concepts and criteria for evaluating the old society was carried out. A civilized society arose, a periodical press appeared, political parties were formed, a struggle was going on for the emancipation of man from the shackles of a feudal-religious worldview.

In the visual arts, the importance of a directly realistic depiction of life increased. The sphere of art expanded, it became an active spokesman for liberation ideas, filled with topicality, fighting spirit, denounced the vices and absurdities of not only feudal, but also the emerging bourgeois society. It also put forward a new positive ideal of an unfettered personality of a person, free from hierarchical ideas, developing individual abilities and at the same time endowed with a noble sense of citizenship. Art became national, appealed not only to the circle of refined connoisseurs, but to a broad democratic environment.

The main trends in social and ideological development Western Europe of the 18th century in different countries manifested themselves unevenly. If in England the industrial revolution that took place in the middle of the 18th century consolidated the compromise between the bourgeoisie and the nobility, then in France the anti-feudal movement had a more massive character and was preparing a bourgeois revolution. Common to all countries was the crisis of feudalism, its ideology, the formation of a broad social movement - the Enlightenment, with its cult of the primary untouched Nature and Reason protecting it, with its criticism of the modern corrupted civilization and the dream of the harmony of beneficent nature and a new democratic civilization gravitating towards the natural. condition.

The eighteenth century is the age of Reason, all-destroying skepticism and irony, the age of philosophers, sociologists, economists; the exact natural sciences, geography, archeology, history, and materialistic philosophy, connected with technology, developed. Invading the mental life of the era, scientific knowledge created the foundation for accurate observation and analysis of reality for art. Enlighteners proclaimed the goal of art to imitate nature, but ordered, improved nature (Didero, A. Pope), cleared by reason from the harmful effects of a man-made civilization created by an absolutist regime, social inequality, idleness and luxury. The rationalism of the philosophical and aesthetic thought of the 18th century, however, did not suppress the freshness and sincerity of feeling, but gave rise to a striving for proportionality, grace, and harmonious completeness of the artistic phenomena of art, from architectural ensembles to applied art. Enlighteners attached great importance in life and art to feeling - the focus of the noblest aspirations of mankind, a feeling that longs for purposeful action, containing a force that revolutionizes life, a feeling capable of reviving the primordial virtues of a “natural person” (Defoe, Rousseau, Mercier), following natural laws. nature.

Rousseau's aphorism "A man is great only in his feelings" expressed one of the remarkable aspects of the social life of the 18th century, which gave rise to an in-depth, refined psychological analysis in a realistic portrait and genre, the lyrical landscape is imbued with poetry of feelings (Gainsborough, Watteau, Bernay, Robert) "lyrical novel", " poems in prose" (Rousseau, Prevost, Marivaux, Fielding, Stern, Richardson), it reaches its highest expression in the rise of music (Handel, Bach, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Italian opera composers). On the one hand, “little people” became the heroes of artistic works of painting, graphics, literature and theater of the 18th century - people, like everyone else, placed in the usual conditions of the era, not spoiled by prosperity and privileges, subject to ordinary natural movements of the soul, content with modest happiness. Artists and writers admired their sincerity, naive immediacy of the soul, close to nature. On the other hand, the focus is on the ideal of an emancipated civilized intellectual man, generated by the enlightenment culture, an analysis of his individual psychology, contradictory mental states and feelings with their subtle nuances, unexpected impulses and reflective moods.

Acute observation, a refined culture of thought and feeling are characteristic of all artistic genres of the 18th century. Artists sought to capture a variety of shades of ordinary life situations, original individual images, gravitated towards entertaining narratives and enchanting spectacle, sharp conflict actions, dramatic intrigues and comedic plots, sophisticated grotesque, buffoonery, graceful pastorals, gallant festivities.

New problems were also put forward in architecture. The importance of church building has decreased, and the role of civil architecture has increased, exquisitely simple, updated, freed from excessive impressiveness. In some countries (France, Russia, partly Germany) the problems of planning the cities of the future were solved. Architectural utopias were born (graphic architectural landscapes - Giovanni Battista Piranesi and the so-called "paper architecture"). The type of private, usually intimate residential building and urban ensembles of public buildings became characteristic. At the same time, in the art of the 18th century, in comparison with previous eras, the synthetic perception and completeness of the coverage of life decreased. The former connection of monumental painting and sculpture with architecture was broken, the features of easel painting and decorativeness intensified in them. The subject of a special cult was the art of everyday life, decorative forms. At the same time, the interaction and mutual enrichment of various types of art increased, the achievements acquired by one type of art were more freely used by others. Thus, the influence of the theater on painting and music was very fruitful.

The art of the 18th century went through two stages. The first lasted until 1740–1760. It is characterized by the modification of late baroque forms into the decorative rococo style. The originality of the art of the first half of the 18th century - in a combination of witty and mocking skepticism and sophistication. This art, on the one hand, is refined, analyzing the nuances of feelings and moods, striving for elegant intimacy, restrained lyricism, on the other hand, gravitating towards the “philosophy of pleasure”, towards fabulous images of the East - Arabs, Chinese, Persians. Simultaneously with Rococo, a realistic trend developed - for some masters it acquired a sharply accusatory character (Hogarth, Swift). The fight was open artistic directions within national schools. The second stage is associated with the deepening of ideological contradictions, the growth of self-consciousness, the political activity of the bourgeoisie and the masses. At the turn of the 1760s-1770s. The Royal Academy in France opposed Rococo art and tried to revive the ceremonial, idealizing style of academic art of the late 17th century. The gallant and mythological genres gave way to the historical genre with plots borrowed from Roman history. They were called upon to emphasize the greatness of the monarchy, which had lost its authority, in accordance with the reactionary interpretation of the ideas of "enlightened absolutism."

Representatives of advanced thought turned to the heritage of antiquity. In France, the comte de Caylus opened the scientific era of research in this area ("Collection of Antiquities", 7 volumes, 1752-1767). In the middle of the 18th century, the German archaeologist and art historian Winckelmann (History of the Art of Antiquity, 1764) urged artists to return to "the noble simplicity and calm grandeur of ancient art, bearing in itself a reflection of the freedom of the Greeks and Romans of the era of the republic." The French philosopher Diderot found plots in ancient history that denounced tyrants and called for an uprising against them. Classicism arose, which contrasted the decorativeness of Rococo with natural simplicity, the subjective arbitrariness of passions - knowledge of the laws of the real world, a sense of proportion, nobility of thought and deeds. Artists first studied ancient greek art on again open monuments. The proclamation of an ideal, harmonious society, the primacy of duty over feeling, the pathos of reason are common features of classicism of the 17th and 18th centuries. However, the classicism of the 17th century, which arose on the basis of national unification, developed in the heyday of noble society. Classicism of the 18th century is characterized by anti-feudal revolutionary orientation. It was intended to unite the progressive forces of the nation to fight against absolutism. Outside of France, classicism did not have the revolutionary character that it had in the early years of the French Revolution.