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. Period High Renaissance- that's about 30 years! From the 1490s to 1527 From the beginning of the flowering of Leonardo's creativity. Before the sack of Rome.

The mirage of an ideal world quickly faded. 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. Landscape…

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 of noble people. Old and young. Sad. Mournful. Surprised. Various.

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 biblical stories into simple, understandable language. And they have become much more accessible to 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 a short life. He died, like his father, unexpectedly. At 27 years old.

However, he had many followers. Masters of the following 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 primarily in portraiture.

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.

About herself famous painting read the wizard 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 he was a 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 The 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. AT best traditions Ancient Greece. Like his David.

AT last years life are 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. External 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, sensual images are not the only strong point of 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 caught colds and medical errors. 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 an exclamation point after each sentence. 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.

Unlike Italy, the Renaissance came to France, Germany and the Netherlands later. Medieval traditions reluctantly gave way to the new, therefore, in art Northern Renaissance, limited by the first third of the XV-XVI centuries, the mystical attitude and the Gothic style combined with the classic trends of the new time. In the works of the artists of the Northern Renaissance, more sharply than in the painting of the Italians, an interest in the human personality and its environment was manifested. The idea of ​​Divine harmony was expressed very clearly in them; religiosity is noticeable even in the smallest details of the paintings of French, German and Dutch masters: it seems that they deify every leaf on a tree and every blade of grass on the ground. One of the characteristic features of Northern Renaissance painting is naturalism. Emphasizing individual features, the artists give the biblical characters a resemblance to the sitters. This is characteristic of the works of H. Baldung Green, J. van Eyck and A. Durer, who sought to combine Gothic naturalism and expressiveness with the idealization of classicism. In the works of many artists, naturalism sometimes took on crude and even repulsive forms. Another feature of the art of this period is expressiveness. The human figures in the paintings are very dynamic, often their proportions are deformed. Expression and tension are also characteristic of the landscape surrounding the heroes, draperies, and clothes. The mysticism and detachment inherent in the painting of the masters of Northern Europe are combined with elements of specificity: the artists dress the characters in modern clothes, carefully writing out their details. The founders of the Northern Renaissance are considered to be the Dutch painters brothers Jan van Eyck and Hubert van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, who worked in the 15th century. Somewhat later, their ideas and painting technique were picked up by German artists. In its style, the painting of the Northern Renaissance is heterogeneous: in the Netherlands it was distinguished by the features of pantheism and naturalism, in Germany it was characterized by mystical spiritualism (which is especially noticeable in the work of M. Grunewald), and in France - sensationalism.

The specificity of the development of the artistic style of the Netherlands in the Renaissance. The Northern Renaissance is a period in the cultural development of countries located north of the Alps - the Netherlands, Germany, France in the 1st third of the 15th-16th centuries. Sev. The renaissance originated under the influence of Italy. Gothic art was the soil on which the Ser. Renaissance. In Northern Europe on the rise new culture the greatest influence was not the ancient heritage, but Christianity. As in Wednesday. For centuries, and later, artists understood that God is in principle indescribable. It was believed that the image of God is most clearly imprinted in the surrounding world. Therefore, the subject of attention of the northern European artist of the Renaissance became heaven and sunlight, water and stones, plants and animals, the man himself, his dwelling. Northern European art interpreted the place of man in the universe differently than Italian art. In the art of Italy, a person endowed with unlimited creative possibilities, capable of transforming the world, was seen as the center of the universe. In the art of Sev. In Europe, man is not the pinnacle of creation, but only one of the numerous testimonies of the omnipotence of the Creator. For them, a person is both beautiful and majestic, but still no more than any stone or blade of grass.

Northern Renaissance - the images were not endowed with harmony (as in Italy), but copied the smallest details to naturalism. Hoods of the Northern Renaissance cared little for beauty human body, for them the gothic expressiveness, the violation of the proportion of figures, the folds of clothes in restless movement, the muscles and veins on the neck were more expressive. The art of that time was stylistically heterogeneous and manifested itself in different ways in the Netherlands, Germany, and France.

New features of Renaissance art appeared in the Netherlands. This country was one of the richest industrialized countries in Europe. It has its own ideal of a person - clear, sober, businesslike. Extensive connections made it possible to quickly perceive new directions. Artists copied every blade of grass in their landscape, the smallest details of everyday life, they saw the beauty in all this. In Dutch art, the features of folklore, fantasy, grotesque, sharp satire are strong, but its main feature is a deep sense of the national identity of life, folk forms culture, way of life, mores, types, as well as the display of social contrasts in the life of various strata of society. The Renaissance style in the Netherlands was discovered by Jan van Eyck. One of the most amazing works Ghent altarpiece. This is a two-tier fold, for 26 paintings. The paintings that make up the altar are combined into 2 pictorial cycles: everyday life (painting on the outside of the altar doors, accessible to the viewer when the altar is closed) and festive (internal). The picture of everyday life is instantly replaced by the spectacle of an earthly paradise. This is the glorification of the beauty of earthly life. Here you can see observations from nature, figures and objects in three-dimensional volume and weight. In another picture, the earthly and heavenly worlds meet face to face - "Madonna of Chancellor Rolin". Batya Van Eyck opened oil painting. The realistic content of Jan van Eyck's art manifested itself in the portrait genre. For the first time in Europe, a paired portrait was created "Portrait of the Arnolfine" against the background of the living room. Traits of an individual character are conveyed through copying the smallest details of everyday life, clothes, figures. The image of a person surrounded by concrete things. The transfer of perspective and the air environment is conveyed with the help of a mirror in which they are reflected, deepening the space.

Rogier van der Weyden adopted elements of a realistic depiction of reality from his teacher Jan van Eyck, but remained under the influence of Gothic. in the picture "Descent from the Cross" reflected his own expressive style. Signs of this style: a silhouette line, clear linear contours, large bright planar color spots and rich ornamental decor. Weiden was not attracted by the diversity of the world. He focused on the person, saw them as a source of beauty and spiritual perfection. That's why surrounding a person he conveys the environment without scrupulousness, this is the background. But the ornament and details are scrupulously written out in the spirit of Dutch naturalism. For example, an altarpiece "Adoration of the Magi" in Munich. The theme is religious, but due to the extreme realism in the transfer of figures, it acquired a secular sound. Therefore, it resembles a genre scene. Portraits created by the artist are distinguished by attention to complex world human feelings and moods.

The second half of the 15th century is political and religious strife. At this time, Hieronymus Bosch worked. His work stands apart in the art of the Netherlands. His painting is imbued with deep pessimism. In his work, a connection with popular beliefs and folklore emerges, a craving for the base, the ugly, for social satire, dressed in an allegorical, religious or gloomy fantastic form, is more clearly revealed. He penetrated the depths of the human psyche. He retained the medieval devastating appreciation of man that all the artists of the Netherlandish Renaissance abandoned. In his work, he castigates the vices of the weak-willed, powerless, mired in the sins of mankind. Bosch lived in his own, scary world. The plot of his paintings showed the negative phenomena of life. The earthly existence of people is sinful, for this there will be a Last Judgment. The image of the underworld has grown to grandiose proportions . "Garden pleasures ”, “The Last Judgment”, “Hay Cart”. In his compositions there is no center, no main actor. The space is filled with numerous figures and objects: exaggerated reptiles, toads, spiders, parts of different creatures and objects are connected in them. The purpose of Bosch's composition is moral edification. Even in everyday paintings, Bosch gives a low estimate to humanity. He is the founder genre painting. "Carrying the Cross", "Ship of Fools", "Prodigal Son"- here people are carriers of evil and madness. His work is characterized by a connection with folk traditions. The artist introduced landscape and genre motifs into his paintings. Bosch painted with transparent blue, pink, emerald colors, creating delicate color combinations.

A new upsurge in Netherlandish painting began in the 16th century. It was accompanied by a variety of quests, a painful breaking of old traditions, a struggle between new artistic trends. This led to the rejection of the artistic traditions of the 15th century. Artists turned to a more direct reflection of reality, modernity. In Netherlandish painting, the source of folk realistic art has grown stronger. By the middle of the 16th century. not only did the nature of religious painting change, but the themes devoted to life became more and more asserted populace- peasants, poor people, vagabonds, beggars - a monumental genre of everyday life, still life, individual and group portraits developed. “Grotesque realism” with its characteristic fairytale-laughing plots and folklore motives reaches a special flowering.

The pinnacle of the Dutch Renaissance was Pieter Brueghel the Elder, he can be called a crowd singer. He was nicknamed Muzhitsky for his love of folk themes. The paintings show the way of life and customs of their people in the middle of the 16th century. His art grew up on Dutch traditions and folklore. "Dutch Proverbs", "Children's Games" reflects the active senseless activity of people. They live according to the laws of the insane "inverted world". Brueghel's paintings were not created for peasants, they are for connoisseurs. He did not paint for public buildings, churches. The gloomy spirit of that time (oppression and execution by the Spaniards) was reflected in the paintings "Mad Greta" and "The Triumph of Death". The development of the landscape genre is associated with his name. He depicts many small figures in the vast expanses of nature. Feature compositions - view from above ( "Winter Landscape", "Hunters in the Snow",« The Fall of Icarus", "Children's Games"). Landscape and genre painting by Brueghel are his philosophical reflections. Created a series Seasons" where he first depicted a useful and meaningful human activity. Man is an integral part of nature, depends on it and seeks harmony with it. At the end of his life, Brueghel paints a picture "Blind"- an illustration of the gospel parable of the blind. Blindness here symbolizes blind fate. The artist in the form of cripples symbolizes the image of mankind, physically and spiritually blind.

With his work, Brueghel completed the search for the Dutch painters of the 15th-16th centuries. At the same time, he paved the way for the art of the 17th century, the art of Rubens and Rembrandt.

End of work -

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art At the heart of the flourishing of the art of Ancient Greece lies primarily the development in the Greek .. slave-owning cities of the states of free civil life Greek .. limited slave-owning democracy that ensured the interests of only the free and in the first place ..

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The progressive humanistic content of the culture of the Renaissance was vividly expressed in theater arts, experienced a significant impact of ancient drama. He is characterized by an interest in the inner world of a person endowed with features of a powerful individuality. Distinctive features theatrical art The Renaissance was the development of the traditions of folk art, life-affirming pathos, a bold combination of tragic and comic, poetic and buffoon-areal elements. Such is the theater of Italy, Spain, England. highest achievement Italian theater was the improvisational commedia dell'arte (XVI century). The greatest flourishing theater of the Renaissance reached in the works of Shakespeare.

During the Renaissance, professional music loses the character of purely church art and is influenced by folk music, imbued with a new humanistic worldview. Various genres of secular musical art appear - frottala and villanella in Italy, villancico in Spain, ballad in England, madrigal, which originated in Italy, but became widespread. Secular humanistic aspirations also penetrate cult music. New genres of instrumental music are emerging, and national schools of performance on the lute and organ are emerging. The Renaissance ends with the emergence of new musical genres - solo songs,

oratorios, operas.

However, the aesthetic and artistic ideal of the Renaissance was most fully expressed architecture, sculpture, painting. Note that in the system of arts during this period there is a movement

accents. Architecture has ceased to be the "conductor" of the orchestra of arts. Painting comes to the fore. And this is no coincidence. The art of the Renaissance sought to cognize and display the real world, its beauty, wealth, diversity. And painting in this regard had more opportunities than other arts. Our compatriot, a remarkable connoisseur of the Italian Renaissance P. Muratov wrote about it this way: “Humanity has never been so carefree in relation to the cause of things and has never been so sensitive to their phenomena. The world is given to man, and since it is a small world, everything in it is precious, every movement of our body, every curl of a grape leaf, every pearl in a woman's dress. For an artist's eye, there was nothing small and insignificant in the spectacle of life. Everything was for him the subject of knowledge ”(Muratov P. Images of Italy. - M., 1994. P.

In other words, the thirst for knowledge, which so distinguished the personality of the Renaissance, first of all resulted in the form of artistic knowledge. But in an effort to most fully reflect all natural forms, the artist turns to scientific knowledge. The close connection between science and art is a characteristic feature of Renaissance culture. Pursuing artistic creativity, artists went through perspective - into the field of optics and physics, through problems of proportions - into anatomy and mathematics, etc. This led the masters of the Renaissance even to identify science and art. Moreover, some of them, such as Leonardo da Vinci, considered art the most important science, since art gives the most accurate and flawless depiction of life. The union of science and art helped art solve many very important visual problems. A new system of artistic vision of the world is being developed, based on trust in human sensory perceptions, primarily visual ones. To portray as we see is the initial principle of Renaissance artists. And we see things not in isolation, but in unity with the environment where they are. The environment is spatial; objects, located in space, are seen in abbreviations.

Renaissance artists develop principles, discover the laws of direct linear perspective. The creators of the theory of perspective were Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci. With a perspective construction, the whole picture turns into a kind of window through which we look at the world. The space develops in depth smoothly, imperceptibly flowing from one plane to another. The opening of perspective had importance: she helped to expand the range of depicted phenomena, to include space, landscape, architecture in painting.

The combination of a scientist and an artist in one person, in one creative personality was possible in the Renaissance and will become impossible later. Renaissance masters are often called "titan-

mi", referring to their versatility. “It was an era that needed titans and gave birth in terms of strength of thought, passion and character, in terms of versatility and scholarship,” wrote F. Engels (Marx K., EngelsF.-Soch-.T.20. S. 346).

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a painter, sculptor, architect, writer, musician, art theorist, military engineer, inventor, mathematician, anatomist, and botanist. He explored almost all areas of natural science, foresaw many things that were not yet thought of at that time. When they began to analyze his manuscripts and countless drawings, they discovered the discoveries of the mechanics of the XIX century. Vasari wrote with admiration about Leonardo da Vinci: “... There was so much talent in him and this talent was such that no matter what difficulties his spirit turned to, he resolved them with ease ... His thoughts and daring were always regal and generous, and the glory of his name has grown so much that he was appreciated not only in his time, but also after his death ”(George Vasari. Lives of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects of the Renaissance.-S.-Pb., 1992.S.197).

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) - another great master of the Renaissance, a versatile, versatile person: sculptor, architect, artist, poet. Poetry was the youngest of Michelangelo's muses. More than 200 of them have come down to us.

poems.

Raphael Santi (1483-1520) is not only a talented, but also a versatile artist: an architect and muralist, a portrait master and a decorator.

Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) - the founder and largest representative of the German Renaissance, "northern Leonardo da Vinci", created several dozen paintings, more than a hundred engravings, about 250 woodcuts, many hundreds of drawings, watercolors. Dürer was also an art theorist, the first in Germany to create a work on perspective and to write Four Books on Proportions. These examples could be continued. Thus, universality, versatility, creative talent was a characteristic feature of the masters of the Renaissance.

3.1 Italian Renaissance

Renaissance culture originated in Italy. Chronologically, the Italian Renaissance is usually divided into 4 stages: Proto-Renaissance (Pre-Renaissance) - the second half of the XIII-XIV centuries; early Renaissance - XV century; High Renaissance - the end of the XV century. - first third of the 16th century; later Renaissance - late XVI in.

The Proto-Renaissance was a preparation for the Renaissance, it was closely connected with the Middle Ages, with Romanesque, Gothic, Byzantine traditions. And even in the work of artists-new-

Tori it is not easy to draw a clear line separating the old from the new. Start new era associated with the name of Giotto di Bondone (1266 - 1337). Renaissance artists considered him a reformer of painting. Giotto outlined the path along which its development went: the growth of realistic moments, the filling of religious forms with secular content, the gradual transition from flat images to three-dimensional and relief.

The largest masters of the Early Renaissance - F. Brunelleschi (1377-1446), Donatello (1386-1466), Verrocchio (1436-1488), Masaccio (1401-1428), Mantegna (1431-1506), S. Botticelli (1444-1510) . The painting of this period makes a sculptural impression, the figures in the paintings of artists resemble statues. And this is no coincidence. The masters of the Early Renaissance sought to restore the objectivity of the world, which had almost disappeared in medieval painting, emphasizing the volume, plasticity, clarity of form. Color problems receded into the background. Artists of the 15th century discovered the laws of perspective and built complex multi-figured compositions. However, they are mainly limited linear perspective and almost do not notice the air environment. And the architectural backgrounds in their paintings are somewhat like a blueprint.

In the High Renaissance, the geometrism inherent in the Early Renaissance does not end, but even deepens. But something new is added to it: spirituality, psychologism, the desire to convey the inner world of a person, his feelings, moods, states, character, temperament. An aerial perspective is being developed, the materiality of forms is achieved not only by volume and plasticity, but also by chiaroscuro. The art of the High Renaissance is most fully expressed by three artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo. They represent the main values ​​of the Italian Renaissance: Intelligence, Harmony and Power.

The term late Renaissance is usually applied to the Venetian Renaissance. Only Venice during this period (second half of the 16th century) remained independent, the rest of the Italian principalities lost their political independence. Renaissance to Venice had its own characteristics. She had little interest in scientific research and excavations of ancient antiquities. Her Renaissance had other origins. Venice has long maintained close trade ties with Byzantium, the Arab East, traded with India. Having reworked both Gothic and oriental traditions, Venice has developed its own special style, which is characterized by brilliance, romantic painting. For the Venetians, color problems come to the fore, the materiality of the image is achieved by color gradations. The largest Venetian masters High and late Renaissance - this is Giorgione (1477-1510), Titian (1477-1576), Veronese (1528-1588), Tintoretto (1518-1594).

3.2. Northern Renaissance

It had a peculiar character northern renaissance(Germany, Netherlands, France). The Northern Renaissance lags behind the Italian by a whole century and begins when Italy enters the highest stage of its development. In the art of the northern Renaissance, there is more of a medieval worldview, religious feeling, symbolism, it is more conventional in form, more archaic, less familiar with antiquity.

The philosophical basis of the Northern Renaissance was pantheism. Pantheism, without directly denying the existence of God, dissolves it in nature, endows nature with divine attributes, such as eternity, infinity, infinity. Since pantheists believed that in every particle of the world there is a particle of God, they concluded: every piece of nature is worthy of an image. Such representations lead to the emergence of the landscape as an independent genre. German artists - masters of landscape A. Dürer, A. Altdorfer, L. Cranach depicted the majesty, power, beauty of nature, conveyed its spirituality.

The second genre that was developed in the art of the northern Renaissance is portrait. An independent portrait, not associated with a religious cult, arose in Germany in the last third of the 15th century. The era of Dürer (1490-1530) was the time of his remarkable heyday. It should be noted that the German portrait differed from the portraiture of the Italian Renaissance. Italian artists in their worship of man created the ideal of beauty. German artists were indifferent to beauty, for them the main thing was to convey character, to achieve emotional expressiveness of the image, sometimes to the detriment of the ideal, to the detriment of beauty. Perhaps, this reflects the echoes of the "aesthetics of the ugly" typical of the Middle Ages, where spiritual beauty could be hidden in an ugly appearance. In the Italian Renaissance, the aesthetic side came to the fore, in the north - the ethical side. The largest masters of portrait painting in Germany are A. Durer, G. Holbein Jr., in the Netherlands - Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, in France - J. Fouquet, J. Clouet, F. Clouet.

The third genre that emerged and developed primarily in the Netherlands is household picture. The largest master of genre painting is Pieter Brueghel the Elder. He painted authentic scenes from peasant life, and he even placed biblical scenes in the rural setting of the Netherlands at that time. The Dutch artists were distinguished by their extraordinary virtuosity in writing, where every smallest detail was depicted with extreme care. Such a picture is very fascinating for the viewer: the more you look at it, the more interesting things you find there.

Giving a comparative description of the Italian and Northern Renaissance, one more significant difference between them should be highlighted. The Italian Renaissance is characterized by the desire to restore ancient culture, the desire for emancipation, liberation from church dogmas, and secular education. In the northern Renaissance, the main place was occupied by issues of religious improvement, renewal of the Catholic Church and its teachings. Northern humanism led to the Reformation and Protestantism.

LITERATURE

Batkin L. M. Italian Renaissance in search of individuality. - M., 1989. Bragina L. M. Italian humanism. Ethical teachings of the XIV-XV centuries. - M., 1977. Lazarev VN The beginning of the early Renaissance in Italian art. - M., 1970. Erasmus of Rotterdam. Philosophical works. - M., 1986. Aesthetics of the Renaissance. In 2 vols. - M., 1981.

Renaissance painting is the golden fund of not only European, but also world art. The Renaissance period replaced the dark Middle Ages, subordinated to the marrow of the bones to church canons, and preceded the subsequent Enlightenment and the New Age.

Calculate the duration of the period is depending on the country. The era of cultural flourishing, as it is commonly called, began in Italy in the 14th century, and only then spread throughout Europe and reached its climax by the end of the 15th century. Historians divide given period in art into four stages: Proto-Renaissance, early, high and late Renaissance. Of particular value and interest is, of course, italian painting of the Renaissance, but do not lose sight of the French, German, Dutch masters. It is about them in the context of the time periods of the Renaissance that the article will discuss further.

Proto-Renaissance

The Proto-Renaissance period lasted from the second half of the 13th century. by the 14th century It is closely connected with the Middle Ages, in the late stage of which it originated. The Proto-Renaissance is the forerunner of the Renaissance and combines Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic traditions. First of all, the trends of the new era appeared in sculpture, and only then in painting. The latter was represented by two schools of Siena and Florence.

The main figure of the period was the painter and architect Giotto di Bondone. The representative of the Florentine school of painting became a reformer. He outlined the path along which it further developed. Features of Renaissance painting originate precisely in this period. It is generally accepted that Giotto succeeded in overcoming in his works the style of icon painting common to Byzantium and Italy. He made space not two-dimensional, but three-dimensional, using chiaroscuro to create the illusion of depth. In the photo is the painting "Kiss of Judas".

Representatives of the Florentine school stood at the origins of the Renaissance and did everything to bring painting out of the long medieval stagnation.

The Proto-Renaissance period was divided into two parts: before and after his death. Until 1337, the brightest masters work and the most important discoveries take place. After Italy covers the plague epidemic.

Renaissance Painting: Briefly About the Early Period

The Early Renaissance covers a period of 80 years: from 1420 to 1500. At this time, it has not completely departed from past traditions and is still associated with the art of the Middle Ages. However, the breath of new trends is already felt, the masters are starting to turn to the elements of classical antiquity more often. Ultimately, the artists completely abandon the medieval style and begin to boldly use the best examples of ancient culture. Note that the process was rather slow, step by step.

Outstanding representatives of the early Renaissance

The work of the Italian artist Piero dela Francesca belongs entirely to the period of the early Renaissance. His works are distinguished by nobility, majestic beauty and harmony, accuracy of perspective, soft colors filled with light. In the last years of his life, in addition to painting, he studied mathematics in depth and even wrote two of his own treatises. Another student was famous painter, Luca Signorelli, and the style was reflected in the work of many Umbrian masters. In the photo above, a fragment of a fresco in the church of San Francesco in Arezzo "The History of the Queen of Sheba."

Domenico Ghirlandaio is another prominent representative of the Florentine school of Renaissance painting. early period. He was the founder of a famous artistic dynasty and the head of the workshop where the young Michelangelo started. Ghirlandaio was a famous and successful master, who was engaged not only in fresco paintings (Tornabuoni Chapel, Sistine), but also in easel painting (“Adoration of the Magi”, “Nativity”, “Old Man with his Grandson”, “Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni” - in the photo below).

High Renaissance

This period, in which there was a magnificent development of style, falls on the years 1500-1527. At this time, the center of Italian art moved to Rome from Florence. This is due to the ascension to the papal throne of the ambitious, enterprising Julius II, who attracted the best artists of Italy to his court. Rome became something like Athens in the time of Pericles and experienced an incredible rise and building boom. At the same time, there is harmony between the branches of art: sculpture, architecture and painting. The Renaissance brought them together. They seem to go hand in hand, complementing each other and interacting.

Antiquity is studied more thoroughly during the High Renaissance and reproduced with maximum accuracy, rigor and consistency. Dignity and tranquility replace coquettish beauty, and medieval traditions are completely forgotten. The pinnacle of the Renaissance is marked by the work of three of the greatest Italian masters: Rafael Santi (the painting “Donna Velata” in the image above), Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci (“Mona Lisa” - in the first photo).

Late Renaissance

The Late Renaissance covers the period in Italy from the 1530s to the 1590s-1620s. Art critics and historians reduce the works of this time to a common denominator with a high degree of conventionality. Southern Europe was under the influence of the Counter-Reformation that triumphed in it, which perceived with great apprehension any free-thinking, including the resurrection of the ideals of antiquity.

Florence saw the dominance of Mannerism, characterized by contrived colors and broken lines. However, in Parma, where Correggio worked, he got only after the death of the master. Venetian painting of the Renaissance of the late period had its own path of development. Palladio and Titian, who worked there until the 1570s, are its brightest representatives. Their work had nothing to do with the new trends in Rome and Florence.

Northern Renaissance

This term is used to characterize the Renaissance in all of Europe, which was outside of Italy in general and in particular in German-speaking countries. It has a number of features. The Northern Renaissance was not homogeneous and in each country was characterized by specific features. Art historians divide it into several areas: French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, English, etc.

The awakening of Europe went in two ways: the development and spread of a humanistic secular worldview, and the development of the ideas of renewal religious traditions. Both of them touched, sometimes merged, but at the same time were antagonists. Italy chose the first path, and Northern Europe the second.

The art of the north, including painting, was practically not influenced by the Renaissance until 1450. From 1500 it spread throughout the continent, but in some places the influence of the late Gothic was preserved until the onset of the Baroque.

The Northern Renaissance is characterized by a significant influence of the Gothic style, less close attention to the study of antiquity and human anatomy, and a detailed and meticulous writing technique. The Reformation had an important ideological influence on him.

French Northern Renaissance

The closest to Italian is French painting. The Renaissance for the culture of France was an important stage. At this time, the monarchy and bourgeois relations were actively strengthening, the religious ideas of the Middle Ages fade into the background, giving way to humanistic tendencies. Representatives: Francois Quesnel, Jean Fouquet (pictured is a fragment of the master's Melun diptych), Jean Cluz, Jean Goujon, Marc Duval, Francois Clouet.

German and Dutch Northern Renaissance

Outstanding works of the Northern Renaissance were created by German and Flemish-Dutch masters. Religion still played a significant role in these countries, and it strongly influenced painting. The Renaissance passed in the Netherlands and Germany in a different way. Unlike the work of the Italian masters, the artists of these countries did not put man at the center of the universe. Throughout almost the entire XV century. they portrayed him in the Gothic style: light and ethereal. The most prominent representatives of the Dutch Renaissance are Hubert van Eyck, Jan van Eyck, Robert Kampen, Hugo van der Goes, German - Albert Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Holbein, Matthias Grunewald.

In the photo, A. Dürer's self-portrait, 1498

Despite the fact that the works of northern masters differ significantly from the works of Italian painters, they are in any case recognized as priceless exhibits of fine art.

Renaissance painting, like all culture as a whole, is characterized by a secular character, humanism and so-called anthropocentrism, or, in other words, a paramount interest in man and his activities. During this period, there was a real flowering of interest in ancient art, and there was a revival of it. The era gave the world a whole galaxy of brilliant sculptors, architects, writers, poets and artists. Never before or since has cultural flourishing been so widespread.