Painting: the Renaissance. Creativity of the Italian artists of the Renaissance

Renaissance - translated from French means "Revival". This is the name of the whole era, which symbolizes the intellectual and artistic flowering of European culture. Revival originated in Italy at the beginning of the fourteenth century and reached its peak in the 16th century, announcing the extinction of an era of cultural decadence and stagnation (the Middle Ages), based on barbarism and ignorance.

For the first time about the Renaissance, a historiographer of Italian origin, painter and author of works on the life of famous artists, sculptors and architects Giorgio Vasari in the beginning of the XVI century wrote.

Originally the term "Revival" meant a certain period (the beginning of the XIV century) of the formation of a new wave of art. But after a while this concept acquired a broader interpretation and began to denote the whole era of development and formation of culture, the opposite of feudalism.

The Renaissance period is closely connected with the emergence of new styles and techniques of painting in Italy. There is interest in antique images. Secularism and anthropocentrism are inherent features that fill the sculptures of that time and painting. The Age of Renaissance supplants asceticism, which characterizes the medieval era. Interest comes to all worldly, boundless beauty of nature and, of course, to man. Renaissance artists approach the vision of the human body from a scientific point of view, try to work out everything to the smallest detail. The pictures become realistic. Painting is full of unique style. She established the basic canons of taste in art. A new concept of worldview is widely spread, called "humanism", according to which a person is considered the highest value.

The artistic culture of the Renaissance period

The spirit of flourishing has a wide expression in the paintings of that time and fills with special sensuality painting. The Renaissance era connects culture with science. Artists began to view art as a branch of knowledge, studying thoroughly the physiology of man and the surrounding world. This was done in order to more realistically reflect the truth of God's creation and the events taking place on their canvases. Much attention was paid to the depiction of religious subjects, which acquired earthly content through the skill of geniuses, such as Leonardo da Vinci.

There are five stages in the development of Italian Renaissance art.

International (court) gothic

Originated in the beginning of the XIII century, the court gothic (ducento) is characterized by excessive color, pomposity and pretentiousness. The main type of paintings is a miniature depicting altar plots. Artists use tempera colors, creating their own painting. The Renaissance is rich in famous people of the period, for example, Italian painters Vittore Carpaccio and Sandro Botticelli.

Pregnancy Period (Protre-Renaissance)

The next stage, which is believed to have anticipated the Renaissance, is called the Proto-Renaissance (trecento) and falls at the end of the 13th - the beginning of the 14th century. In connection with the rapid development of the humanistic worldview, the painting of this historical period reveals the inner world of man, his soul, has a deep psychological meaning, but at the same time has a simple and clear structure. Religious subjects recede into the background, and the secular ones become leaders, and the person with his feelings, facial expressions and gestures acts as the protagonist. Appear the first portraits of the Italian Renaissance, taking the place of icons. Famous artists of this period are Giotto, Pietro Lorenzetti.

Early Renaissance

At the beginning of the XIV century the early Renaissance (quattrocento) begins, symbolizing the flowering of painting with the absence of religious subjects. Faces on icons acquire a human form, and the landscape, as a genre in painting, occupies a separate niche. The founder of the artistic culture of the early Renaissance is Mozáčcho, whose basis is intellectual. His paintings are of high realism. Great masters explored the linear and air perspective, anatomy and used the knowledge in their creations, where one can see the correct three-dimensional space. Representatives of the early Renaissance are Sandro Botticelli, Piero della Francesca, Pollayolo, Verocchio.

High Renaissance, or "Golden Age"

From the end of the 15th century the stage of the high Renaissance (cinquecento) began and lasted for a relatively short time, until the beginning of the 16th century. Its center was Venice and Rome. Artists expand their ideological horizons and are interested in the cosmos. Man appears in the image of a hero, committed both spiritually and physically. The actors of this era are Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael, Titian Vecellio, Michelangelo Buonarrotti and others. The great artist of the Italian revival, Leonardo da Vinci, was a "universal man" and was in constant search of truth. Engaged in sculpture, dramaturgy, various scientific experiments, he managed to find time for painting. The creation of the "Madonna in the rocks" graphically depicts the style of chiaroscuro created by the painter, where the combination of light and shadow creates the effect of volume, and the famous "Gioconda" is made using the "smuffato" technique, creating the illusion of haze.

Later, the Renaissance

During the late Renaissance, which occurs at the beginning of the XVI century, there was a seizure and pillage of the city of Rome by German troops. This event marked the beginning of the era of extinction. The Roman cultural center has ceased to be the patron of the most famous figures, and they were forced to travel to other cities in Europe. As a result of growing discrepancies between the views of the Christian faith and humanism at the end of the XV century Mannerism becomes the predominant style that characterizes painting. The Renaissance is gradually coming to an end, as the basis of this style is considered a beautiful manner, which overshadows the concept of harmony of peace, truth and the omnipotence of the mind. Creativity becomes complex and acquires features of confrontation of various directions. Brilliant works belong to such famous artists as Paolo Veronese, Tinoretto, Jacopo Pontormo (Carrucci).

Italy became a cultural center of painting and presented the world with brilliant artists of this period, whose pictures still cause emotional delight to this day.

In addition to Italy, the development of art and painting had an important place in other European countries. This current was called the Northern Renaissance. Especially it is worth noting the painting of France of the Renaissance, which grew on its own soil. The end of the Hundred Years War caused the growth of universal self-awareness and the development of humanism. In French art, there is realism, a connection with scientific knowledge, a tendency toward images of antiquity. All these features bring him closer to the Italian, but the presence of a tragic note in the canvases is a significant difference. Famous artists of the Renaissance in France - Angerran Sharonton, Nicola Froman, Jean Fouquet, Jean Clouet the Elder.