Development of Europe during the Renaissance. Renaissance

N.A. Figurovsky, "Essay on the general history of chemistry. From ancient times to the beginning of the 19th century." Publishing house "Science", Moscow, 1969
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RENAISSANCE IN EUROPE

The development of crafts and trade, the rise of the role of cities, as well as political events in Western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. entailed significant changes in the entire way of life of European peoples. In the 16th century In Europe, the unification of small feudal principalities began, and large independent states emerged (England, France and Spain). Several republics and principalities were formed on the territory of modern Germany and Italy.
In the process of merging small feudal estates, the tendency of the united states to emancipate from the political power of the papacy was clearly evident. In the 13th century. The Roman Catholic Church was a huge pan-European “state above states.” Popes actively intervened in the affairs of governing European states, installed and crowned kings, removed kings and even emperors they did not like. Through its system of centralized spiritual administration, the Vatican siphoned enormous funds from Western European countries.
The shameless greed of the highest clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, the luxurious life of popes and cardinals caused spontaneous protests among believers and the lower clergy. In various European countries, a movement of the so-called reformation (changes in church government) arose, and a series of uprisings broke out against the dominance of popes (indulgences), bishops and monasteries. At the beginning of the 15th century, the famous uprising against the power of the Vatican began in the Czech Republic under the leadership of Jan Hus, a prominent preacher, professor and rector of the University of Prague (founded by Charles IV in 1349).
In an atmosphere of general indignation at the greed of the Roman Catholic clergy in various European countries, doubts began to be openly expressed not only about the legitimacy of the temporal power of the popes, but also about the validity of some religious dogmas and scholastic philosophy that constitute the ideological foundations of Catholicism. Dissatisfaction with religious scholasticism and the search for new ways to solve ideological issues significantly revived the intellectual life of Europe.
In the educated environment of European society, interest arose in the works of ancient Greek and Roman “pagan” philosophers and writers, whose works were prohibited by the church. In the rich Italian republics - Florence, Venice, Genoa, as well as in Rome itself, circles of lovers of ancient literature were formed. Numerous lists of works by ancient authors have appeared. Interest in ancient examples of literary creativity soon spread to the areas of art, architecture and philosophy. The Renaissance of ancient literature, art and architecture (Renaissance) began in Europe, marking the beginning of a new time in social history.
Based on the unsurpassed examples of literary creativity of ancient Greek and Roman authors, a new direction in oratory and literature arose, the so-called humanism (humanitas - “human perfection”). Writers and poets of a new type appeared, such as Dante (1265-1321), Petrarch (1304-1374), Boccaccio (1313-1375), etc.
Subsequently, new trends were especially pronounced in art and architecture. A return to the models of ancient builders and sculptors inspired the great artists of the Renaissance - Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo (1475-1564), Raphael (1483-1520), Durer (1471-1528), Titian (1477-1576) etc. Wonderful architectural structures appeared, especially in Italy.
The most important achievement in cultural history during the Renaissance was the invention of printing (1440). Until the middle of the 15th century. Only handwritten books were in use. They circulated in a small number of lists and were quite expensive. The introduction of printing made it possible to reproduce books in a large number of copies, which greatly contributed to the dissemination of knowledge.
During the Renaissance, great geographical discoveries were made. Back at the end of the 13th century. Marco Polo (1254-1324) traveled through the countries of Middle Asia to China, and spent more than 20 years in Asian countries. The description of his journey had a great influence on subsequent generations of geographers and travelers who were looking for a way to fabulous India. In the XIV and XV centuries. The Portuguese and Spaniards undertook many long-distance sea expeditions. Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) at the end of the 15th century, having circumnavigated Africa from the south, opened a sea route to India, simultaneously making many important geographical discoveries. Christopher Columbus (1450-1506) at the end of the 15th century. crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the West Indies and then South America. Magellan (1480-1521) made the first sea voyage around the world.
In the field of natural sciences, the Renaissance was marked by the emergence of a number of innovative scientists, who for the first time, with their works, shook the foundations of Peripatetic and scholastic philosophy. In 1542, Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) overthrew the old geocentric system of Ptolemy (2nd century), supported by the authority of the church, and developed a new heliocentric system. The teachings of Copernicus were further developed in the discoveries of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), who laid the foundations of theoretical astronomy. Mechanics, mathematics and other sciences achieved noticeable success in this era.
The driving forces behind the greatest scientific discoveries and achievements of the Renaissance were profound transformations in the nature and scale of production. Already in the 15th century. The process of transition from craft methods of production, characteristic of the era of feudalism, to manufacture began. This process, which marked the beginning of the capitalist production system, caused profound socio-economic changes in the life of society.
All the new economic, political and social phenomena of the Renaissance led to the formation of a new bourgeois worldview that rejected the religious scholasticism of past centuries. The emergence of elements of a new worldview had a beneficial effect on the development of natural sciences and, in particular, chemistry. Characterizing this important period in the history of culture and science, F. Engels wrote that it was an era “that needed titans and which gave birth to titans in strength of thought, passion and character, in versatility and scholarship. The people who founded the modern rule of the bourgeoisie were everything, but not bourgeois-limited people.”
One of the largest representatives of science and art of the Renaissance was the Italian Leonardo da Vinci. Being a remarkable mechanic, mathematician, design engineer, anatomist and artist, Leonardo da Vinci was also interested in some issues of chemistry. He himself, for example, invented and prepared paints for his paintings. His views reflected the new trends of the Renaissance. Here is what Leonardo da Vinci writes about the role of air in the combustion process: “Elemental fire continuously destroys the air that partially feeds it. And he would have found himself in contact with the void if the inflowing air had not come to the rescue by filling it.”
Such innovative thoughts, as will be seen, were characteristic of many Renaissance chemists.

Each period of human history has left something of its own - unique, unlike others. Europe was luckier in this regard - it experienced numerous changes in human consciousness, culture, and art. The decline of the ancient period marked the advent of the so-called “dark ages” - the Middle Ages. Let's admit, it was a difficult time - the church subjugated all aspects of the life of European citizens, culture and art were in deep decline.

Any dissent that contradicted the Holy Scriptures was strictly punished by the Inquisition - a court specially created to persecute heretics. However, any trouble sooner or later recedes - this is what happened with the Middle Ages. The darkness was replaced by light - the Renaissance, or the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic "rebirth" after the Middle Ages. He contributed to the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.

Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history created during this era. Discoveries were made in science and geography, and the world was explored. This period, blessed for scientists, lasted almost three centuries from the 14th to the 17th centuries. Let's talk about it in more detail.

Renaissance

The Renaissance (from the French Re - again, again, naissance - birth) marked a completely new round in the history of Europe. It was preceded by medieval periods, when the cultural education of Europeans was in its infancy. With the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 and its division into two parts - Western (with its center in Rome) and Eastern (Byzantium), ancient values ​​also fell into decay. From a historical point of view, everything is logical - the year 476 is considered the end date of the ancient period. But culturally, such a heritage should not just disappear. Byzantium followed its own path of development - the capital Constantinople soon became one of the most beautiful cities in the world, where unique architectural masterpieces were created, artists, poets, writers appeared, and huge libraries were created. In general, Byzantium valued its ancient heritage.

The western part of the former empire submitted to the young Catholic Church, which, fearing to lose influence over such a large territory, quickly banned both ancient history and culture and did not allow the development of a new one. This period became known as the Middle Ages, or Dark Times. Although, in fairness, we note that not everything was so bad - it was at this time that new states appeared on the world map, cities flourished, trade unions appeared, and the borders of Europe expanded. And most importantly, there is a surge in technology development. More objects were invented during the Middle Ages than in the previous millennium. But, of course, this was not enough.

The Renaissance itself is usually divided into four periods - Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the 13th century - 15th century), Early Renaissance (entire 15th century), High Renaissance (end of the 15th century - first quarter of the 16th century) and Late Renaissance ( mid 16th century – end of 16th century). Of course, these dates are very arbitrary - after all, each European state had its own Renaissance according to its own calendar and time.

Emergence and development

Here it is necessary to note the following curious fact - the fatal fall in 1453 played a role in the emergence and development (to a greater extent in the development) of the Renaissance. Those who were lucky enough to escape the invasion of the Turks fled to Europe, but not empty-handed - people took with them many books, works of art, ancient sources and manuscripts, hitherto unknown to Europe. Italy is officially considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, but other countries also came under the influence of the Renaissance.

This period is distinguished by the emergence of new trends in philosophy and culture - for example, humanism. In the 14th century, the cultural movement of humanism began to gain momentum in Italy. Among its many principles, humanism promoted the idea that man was the center of his own universe, and that the mind had incredible power that could turn the world upside down. Humanism contributed to a surge of interest in ancient literature.

Philosophy, literature, architecture, painting

Among the philosophers there appeared such names as Nicholas of Cusa, Nicolo Machiavelli, Tomaso Campanella, Michel Montaigne, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Martin Luther and many others. The Renaissance gave them the opportunity to create their own works, according to the new spirit of the times. Natural phenomena were studied more deeply, and attempts were made to explain them. And at the center of all this, of course, was man - the main creation of nature.

Literature is also undergoing changes - authors create works glorifying humanistic ideals, showing the rich inner world of man and his emotions. The founder of the literary Renaissance was the legendary Florentine Dante Alighieri, who created his most famous work “Comedy” (later called “The Divine Comedy”). In a rather free manner, he described hell and heaven, which the church did not like at all - only she should know this in order to influence the minds of people. Dante got off easy - he was only expelled from Florence, forbidden to return back. Or they could have been burned as a heretic.

Other authors of the Renaissance include Giovanni Boccaccio (“The Decameron”), Francesco Petrarch (his lyrical sonnets became a symbol of the early Renaissance), (needs no introduction), Lope de Vega (Spanish playwright, his most famous work is “Dog in the Manger” "), Cervantes (Don Quixote). A distinctive feature of the literature of this period were works in national languages ​​- before the Renaissance, everything was written in Latin.

And, of course, one cannot fail to mention a technical revolutionary thing - the printing press. In 1450, the first printing press was created in the workshop of printer Johannes Gutenberg, which made it possible to publish books in larger volumes and make them accessible to the masses, thereby increasing their literacy. To their own detriment, as more people learned to read, write, and interpret ideas, they began to scrutinize and criticize religion as they knew it.

Renaissance painting is known throughout the world. Let's name just a few names that everyone knows - Pietro della Francesco, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Rafael Santi, Michelandelo Bounarrotti, Titian, Pieter Bruegel, Albrecht Durer. A distinctive feature of the painting of this time is the appearance of a landscape in the background, giving the bodies realism and muscles (applies to both men and women). The ladies are depicted “in the body” (remember the famous expression “Titian’s girl” - a plump girl in the very juice, symbolizing life itself).

The architectural style is also changing - Gothic is being replaced by a return to the Roman antique type of construction. Symmetry appears, arches, columns, and domes are erected again. In general, the architecture of this period gives rise to classicism and baroque. Among the legendary names are Filippo Brunelleschi, Michelangelo Bounarrotti, Andrea Palladio.

The Renaissance ended at the end of the 16th century, giving way to a new Time and its companion - the Enlightenment. Over the course of all three centuries, the church fought science as best it could, using everything it could, but it was never completely defeated - culture still continued to flourish, new minds appeared that challenged the power of the churchmen. And the Renaissance is still considered the crown of European medieval culture, leaving behind monuments that testify to those distant events.

Renaissance in Western Europe

The 15th and 16th centuries were a time of great changes in the economy, political and cultural life of European countries. The rapid growth of cities and the development of crafts,and later the emergence of manufacturing, the rise of world trade,drawing into its orbit more and more remote areas, the gradual placement of the main trade routes from the Mediterranean to the north, which ended after the fall of Byzantium and the great geographical discoveriesendXVAndbeginning of the 16th century, transformed the appearance of medieval Europe.Almost everywhere they are now advancing tofirst plan of the city.
All changes in the life of society were accompanied by a widerenewal of culture - the flourishing of natural and exact sciences,literature in national languages ​​and, in particular, fine arts. Originating incitiesItaly,this renewal then spread to other European countries. The advent of printing opened up unprecedented opportunities fordistributionliterary and scientific works,and more regular and closer communication between countries contributed to the widespread penetration of new artistic movements.

The term “Renaissance” (Renaissance) appeared in the 16th century of antiquity

This concept arose on the basis of the then widespreadtimehistorical concept,according towhichThe Middle Ages was a period of hopeless barbarism and ignorance that followed the death of the brilliantcivilizationclassical culture,historians of the timebelievedthat art, which once flourished in the ancient world, was first revived in their time to a new life.The term “Renaissance” originally meant not so much the name of the entire era, but the very moment of the emergence of a new art, which usually coincided with the beginning of the 16th century.Only later did this concept acquire a broader meaning and began to designate an era

The connection between art and science is one of the most characteristic features of the culture of the Renaissance.True imagepeaceAndthe person should havelean onfor their knowledgetherefore, the cognitive principle played a particularly important role in the art of this timerole.Naturally, artists sought support in the sciences, often stimulating their development. The Renaissance was marked by the appearance of a whole galaxy of artists-scientists,among which the first place belongs toLeonardo da Vinci.

Art of antiquityamounts toonefromfoundations of the artistic culture of the Renaissance.

Artists' works become signatures,that is, emphasized by the author. Allmore self-portraits appear.An undoubted sign of a new self-awareness is thatthat artists are increasinglythey shy away from direct orders, devoting themselves to work out of internal motivation. By the end of the 14th century, the external position of the artist in society also changed significantly.

Artists beginreceive all kinds of public recognition, positions, honorary and monetary sinecures. A. Michelangelo, for example, is exaltedto such a heightthat without fear of offending the crown bearers, he refuses the high honors offered to him.The nickname “divine” is enough for him.He insists that in letters to him any titles should be omitted,but they simply wrote “Michelangelo Buonarotti.

In architecture, circulation played a particularly important roleToclassical tradition.It manifested itself not only in the rejection of Gothic forms and the revival of the ancient order system, but also in the classical proportionality of proportions,in the development in temple architecture of a centric type of building with an easily visible interior space. Especially a lot of new things were created in the field of civil architecture.During the Renaissance they get more elegantmulti-storey urban appearance building (town halls, houses of merchant guilds, universities, warehouses, markets, etc.), a type of city palace (palazzo) emerged - the home of a wealthy burgher, as well as a type of country villa. Issues related to planning are resolved in a new way cities, urban centers are being reconstructed.

ABOUT common feature is the desire for the truthfulreflection of reality.

1. The Renaissance and its socio-economic prerequisites
Renaissance: translated from ItalianlanguageRinascimentoor from FrenchRenaissance.

In the history of Renaissance culture, three stages can be distinguished:

1. Early Renaissance - XV century.

2. High Renaissance - first third of the 16th century.

3. Late Renaissance - mid and late 16th century.

The revival begins with criticism of the previous medieval culture as barbaric. The Renaissance gradually begins to criticize the entire culture that preceded it as “dark”, decadent

The second stage is characterized by the appearance of great cultural figures, the “titans” of the Renaissance: Raphael Santi, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Leonardo da Vinci, etc. And indeed, which of our contemporaries could, like Leonardo da Vinci, be an engineer-inventor, writer, artist, sculptor , anatomist, architect, fortifier? And in every activity Leonardo leaves behind the greatest creations of his genius: an underwater vehicle, helicopter drawings, anatomical atlases, sculptures, paintings, diaries. But the time when a person could create freely because of his talent and calling is quickly ending.

A tragic period begins in the history of the Renaissance: the dictatorship of the church is reaffirmed, books are being burned, the Inquisition is raging. Artists prefer to create forms for the sake of forms, avoiding social and ideological themes, restoring the shaken dogma, authority, and tradition. Renaissance principles in culture are fading, but life does not stand still. Another tendency takes over, which determines the face of the new cultural era - Absolutism and Enlightenment.

Characteristics and features of the Renaissance culture.

Usually, when characterizing the culture of the Renaissance, the following features are also identified: humanism, the cult of Antiquity, anthropocentrism, individualism, appeal to the earthly, carnal principle, glorification of the individual. Other researchers add a number of characteristic features: artistic realism, the emergence of science, a passion for magic, the development of the grotesque, etc.

Achievements and values ​​of Renaissance culture.

The close interest that the Renaissance showed in the past, in antiquity, led to the fact that the cultural monuments themselves became valuable. It is the revival that opens up collecting, collecting, and preserving cultural monuments, especially artistic ones.

But in the culture of the Renaissance, the center of perception of the world shifted. Now man is the starting point. This means that his illusions and misconceptions are reality, given. This means that we must depict the world as it appears to humans. The familiar “natural” “direct” perspective, “perspective” painting, which is familiar to us, appears. Italian artist of the 15th century.Piero della Francescain his “Treatise on Pictorial Perspective” he wrote: “Painting is nothing more than the showing of surfaces and bodies, reduced or enlarged on a boundary plane so that real things, visible to the eye from different angles, appear on the said boundary as if they were real, and so how with every magnitude one part is always closer to the eye than the other, and the closer one always appears to the eye at the intended boundaries at a greater angle than the more distant one, and since the intellect itself cannot judge their size, that is, what Which one is closer and which one is further, that’s why I say that perspective is necessary.” The culture of the Renaissance, thus, returns value to the sensory knowledge of man, puts man at the center of the world, and not the idea, God, like the Middle Ages.

The symbolism of the Middle Ages gives way to an open interpretation of images: the Virgin Mary is both the Mother of God and simply an earthly mother nursing a child. Although duality remains, the secular meaning of its existence, human, and not sacred, comes to the fore. The viewer sees an earthly woman, and not a divine character. Although the symbolism is preserved in the colors, the robe of the Virgin Mary is traditionally colored red and blue. The range of colors is increasing: in the Middle Ages, restrained, dark colors were present and dominated - burgundy, purple, brown. Giotto's colors are bright, rich, and clean. Individualization appears. In medieval painting, the main thing is to depict the divine essence of the characters, and it is the same for everyone. Hence the typicality, the similarity of the images to each other. In Giotto, each figure is endowed with its own character, it is unique, unlike the other. There is a “decrease” in biblical content, miraculous phenomena are reduced to everyday life, to everyday details, to the home and household. So, an angel appears in an ordinary room. In the Middle Ages, the details of the landscape and human figures depend not on perspective - they are located further or closer to us, not on physical space, but on the sacred, divine weight of the figures. In Giotto this is still preserved - larger sizes are given to more significant figures, and this brings him closer to the Middle Ages.

Renaissance culture is rich in names, the names of artists are especially famousMichelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564), Raphael Santi (1483-1520), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Titian Vecellio (1488-1576), El Greco (1541-1614), etc. Artists strive to generalize the ideological content, synthesis, their embodiment in images. At the same time, they are distinguished by the desire to highlight the main thing, the main thing in the image, and not the details, particulars. In the center is the image of a person - a hero, and not of divine dogma taking on human form. The idealized person is increasingly interpreted as a citizen, a titan, a hero, that is, as a modern, cultured person. We do not have the opportunity to consider the features of the activities of Renaissance artists, but it is simply necessary to say a few words about the work of Leonardo da Vinci. The most famous were his paintings such as “The Annunciation”, “Madonna with a Flower” (Benois Madonna), “Adoration of the Magi”, “Madonna in the Grotto”. Before Leonardo da Vinci, artists usually depicted large groups of people, with prominent faces in the foreground and background. The painting “Madonna in the Grotto” for the first time depicts four characters: Madonna, an angel, little Christ and John the Baptist. But each figure is a generalized symbol. "Renaissance" knew two types of images. These were either a static image of a solemn ceremony, or a story, a narration on some topic. In “Madonna...” there is neither one nor the other: this is neither a story nor a foreshadowing, it is life itself, a piece of it, and here everything is natural. Typically, artists depicted figures against the backdrop of a landscape, in front of nature. In Leonardo, they are in nature, nature surrounds the characters, they live in nature. Da Vinci moves away from lighting techniques and sculpting images with the help of light. It does not have a sharp border between light and shadow; the border seems to be blurred. This is his famous, unique “sfumato”, haze.

When In 1579, Giordano Bruno, fleeing the Inquisition, arrived in Geneva; he encountered the same oppression here as in his homeland, Italy. Bruno was accused by Calvinists of trying to challenge the doctor of theology Delafeu, a friend of the dictator Theodore Beze, who inherited the post of John Calvin. J. Bruno was excommunicated. Under the threat of the fire, he was forced to repent. In neighboring Braunschweig (Germany) he was also excommunicated. At the same time, they did not take into account that he was neither a Calvinist nor a Lutheran. After long wanderings around Europe, G. Bruno fell into the clutches of the Inquisition and on February 17, 1600, he was burned at the stake in the Square of the Flowers in Rome. This is how the Renaissance ended. But the new, coming era continued to fill the darkest pages of history: in 1633, Galileo Galilei was convicted. The indictment of the Inquisition said: “To consider the Earth not the center of the Universe and not motionless is an absurd opinion, philosophically false and, from a theological point of view, also contrary to the spirit of the times.”

These are the features of the era, which is commonly called the “Renaissance”.

The music of the Northern Renaissance is also interesting. By the 16th century. There was a rich folklore, primarily vocal. Music was heard everywhere in Germany: at festivals, in church, at social events and in a military camp. The Peasant War and the Reformation caused a new rise in folk song creativity. There are many expressive Lutheran hymns whose authorship is unknown.Choral singing became an integral form of Lutheran worship. The Protestant chorale influenced the later development of all European music. But first of all, on the musicality of the Germans themselves, who even today consider music education to be no less important than natural science education - otherwise how can one participate in a polyphonic choir?

Renaissance or Renaissance (Italian Rinascimento, French Renaissance) - restoration of ancient education, revival of classical literature, art, philosophy, ideals of the ancient world, distorted or forgotten in the “dark” and “backward” period of the Middle Ages for Western Europe. It was the form that the cultural movement known under the name of humanism took from the mid-14th to the beginning of the 16th centuries (see the brief and articles about it). It is necessary to distinguish humanism from the Renaissance, which is only the most characteristic feature of humanism, which sought support for its worldview in classical antiquity. The birthplace of the Renaissance is Italy, where the ancient classical (Greco-Roman) tradition, which had a national character for the Italian, never faded. In Italy the oppression of the Middle Ages was never felt particularly strongly. The Italians called themselves "Latins" and considered themselves descendants of the ancient Romans. Although the initial impetus for the Renaissance came partly from Byzantium, the participation of the Byzantine Greeks in it was negligible.

Renaissance. Video

In France and Germany, the antique style was mixed with national elements, which in the first period of the Renaissance, the Early Renaissance, appeared more sharply than in subsequent eras. The late Renaissance developed ancient examples into more luxurious and powerful forms, from which Baroque gradually developed. While in Italy the spirit of the Renaissance almost uniformly penetrated all the arts, in other countries only architecture and sculpture were influenced by ancient models. The Renaissance also underwent national processing in the Netherlands, England and Spain. After the Renaissance degenerated into rococo, a reaction came, expressed in the strictest adherence to ancient art, Greek and Roman models in all their primitive purity. But this imitation (especially in Germany) finally led to excessive dryness, which in the early 60s of the XIX century. tried to overcome it by returning to the Renaissance. However, this new reign of the Renaissance in architecture and art lasted only until 1880. From that time on, Baroque and Rococo began to flourish alongside it again.

Renaissance, Italian Rinascimento) is an era in the cultural history of Europe that replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of modern times. The approximate chronological framework of the era is the XIV-XVI centuries.

A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in man and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its “revival,” as it were, occurs - and this is how the term appeared.

Term Renaissance already found among Italian humanists, for example, Giorgio Vasari. In its modern meaning, the term was introduced into use by the 19th century French historian Jules Michelet. Currently the term Renaissance developed into a metaphor for cultural flourishing: for example, the 9th-century Carolingian Renaissance.

general characteristics

A new cultural paradigm arose as a result of fundamental changes in social relations in Europe.

The growth of city-republics led to an increase in the influence of classes that did not participate in feudal relations: artisans and craftsmen, merchants, bankers. The hierarchical system of values ​​created by the medieval, largely ecclesiastical culture and its ascetic, humble spirit were alien to all of them. This led to the emergence of humanism - a socio-philosophical movement that considered a person, his personality, his freedom, his active, creative activity as the highest value and criterion for evaluating public institutions.

Secular centers of science and art began to emerge in cities, the activities of which were outside the control of the church. The new worldview turned to antiquity, seeing in it an example of humanistic, non-ascetic relations. The invention of printing in the middle of the century played a huge role in the spread of ancient heritage and new views throughout Europe.

Periods of the era

Early Renaissance

The period of the so-called “Early Renaissance” covers time from year to year in Italy. During these eighty years, art has not yet completely abandoned the traditions of the recent past, but has tried to mix into them elements borrowed from classical antiquity. Only later, and only little by little, under the influence of increasingly changing conditions of life and culture, do artists completely abandon medieval foundations and boldly use examples of ancient art both in the general concept of their works and in their details.

While art in Italy was already resolutely following the path of imitation of classical antiquity, in other countries it long adhered to the traditions of the Gothic style. North of the Alps, and also in Spain, the Renaissance begins only at the end of the 15th century, and its early period lasts until approximately the middle of the next century, without producing anything particularly remarkable.

High Renaissance

The second period of the Renaissance - the time of the most magnificent development of his style - is usually called the “High Renaissance”, it extends in Italy from approximately to 1580. At this time, the center of gravity of Italian art from Florence moved to Rome, thanks to the accession to the papal throne of Julius II, an ambitious, courageous and enterprising man, who attracted the best artists of Italy to his court, occupied them with numerous and important works and gave others an example of love for the arts . Under this pope and his immediate successors, Rome becomes, as it were, the new Athens of the time of Pericles: many monumental buildings are created in it, magnificent sculptural works are executed, frescoes and paintings are painted, which are still considered the pearls of painting; at the same time, all three branches of art harmoniously go hand in hand, helping one another and mutually influencing each other. Antiquity is now studied more thoroughly, reproduced with greater rigor and consistency; calmness and dignity are established instead of the playful beauty that was the aspiration of the previous period; memories of the medieval completely disappear, and a completely classical imprint falls on all creations of art. But imitation of the ancients does not drown out their independence in artists, and they, with great resourcefulness and liveliness of imagination, freely rework and apply to their work what they consider appropriate to borrow from Greco-Roman art.

Northern Renaissance

The Renaissance period in the Netherlands, Germany and France is usually identified as a separate style movement, which has some differences with the Renaissance in Italy, and is called the “Northern Renaissance”.

The most noticeable stylistic differences are in painting: unlike Italy, the traditions and skills of Gothic art were preserved in painting for a long time, less attention was paid to the study of ancient heritage and knowledge of human anatomy.

Renaissance Man

The science

In general, the pantheistic mysticism of the Renaissance prevailing in this era created an unfavorable ideological background for the development of scientific knowledge. The final formation of the scientific method and the subsequent Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. associated with the Reformation movement opposed to the Renaissance.

Philosophy

Renaissance philosophers

Literature

The literature of the Renaissance most fully expressed the humanistic ideals of the era, the glorification of a harmonious, free, creative, comprehensively developed personality. The love sonnets of Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) revealed the depth of man's inner world, the richness of his emotional life. In the XIV-XVI centuries, Italian literature experienced a heyday - the lyrics of Petrarch, the short stories of Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the political treatises of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), the poems of Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) and Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) brought it forward among the “classical” (along with ancient Greek and Roman) literatures for other countries.

The literature of the Renaissance was based on two traditions: folk poetry and “book” ancient literature, so it often combined the rational principle with poetic fiction, and comic genres gained great popularity. This was manifested in the most significant literary monuments of the era: Boccaccio's Decameron, Cervantes' Don Quixote, and Francois Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel.

The emergence of national literatures is associated with the Renaissance - in contrast to the literature of the Middle Ages, which was created mainly in Latin.

Theater and drama became widespread. The most famous playwrights of this time were William Shakespeare (1564-1616, England) and Lope de Vega (1562-1635, Spain)

art

Painting and sculpture of the Renaissance are characterized by the rapprochement of artists with nature, their closest penetration into the laws of anatomy, perspective, the action of light and other natural phenomena.

Renaissance artists, painting pictures of traditional religious themes, began to use new artistic techniques: constructing a three-dimensional composition, using a landscape in the background. This allowed them to make the images more realistic and animated, which showed a sharp difference between their work and the previous iconographic tradition, replete with conventions in the image.

Architecture

The main thing that characterizes this era is the return to tsui

To the principles and forms of ancient, mainly Roman art. Particular importance in this direction is given to symmetry, proportion, geometry and the order of its component parts, as clearly evidenced by surviving examples of Roman architecture. The complex proportions of medieval buildings are replaced by an orderly arrangement of columns, pilasters and lintels; asymmetrical outlines are replaced by a semicircle of an arch, a hemisphere of a dome, niches, and aedicules.

Renaissance architecture experienced its greatest flourishing in Italy, leaving behind two monument cities: Florence and Venice. Great architects worked on the creation of buildings there - Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Donato Bramante, Giorgio Vasari and many others.

Music

In the era of the Renaissance (Renaissance), professional music loses the character of a purely church art and is influenced by folk music, imbued with a new humanistic worldview. The art of vocal and vocal-instrumental polyphony reaches a high level in the work of representatives of “Ars nova” (“New Art”) in Italy and France in the 14th century, in new polyphonic schools - English (XV centuries), Dutch (XV-XVI centuries. ), Roman, Venetian, French, German, Polish, Czech, etc. (XVI century).

Various genres of secular musical art appear - frottola and villanelle in Italy, villancico in Spain, ballad in England, madrigal, which originated in Italy (L. Marenzio, J. Arkadelt, Gesualdo da Venosa), but became widespread, French polyphonic song (K . Janequin, C. Lejeune). Secular humanistic aspirations also penetrate into religious music - among the Franco-Flemish masters (Josquin Depres, Orlando di Lasso), in the art of composers of the Venetian school (A. and G. Gabrieli). During the period of the Counter-Reformation, the question of expelling polyphony from the religious cult was raised, and only the reform of the head of the Roman school, Palestrina, preserves polyphony for the Catholic Church - in a “purified”, “clarified” form. At the same time, some valuable achievements of secular music of the Renaissance were reflected in Palestrina’s art. New genres of instrumental music are emerging, and national schools of performing the lute, organ, and virginel are emerging. In Italy, the art of making bowed instruments with rich expressive capabilities is flourishing. The clash of different aesthetic attitudes is manifested in the “struggle” of two types of bowed instruments - the viol, which was common in the aristocratic environment, and