Renaissance is a period in the history of culture in Western and Central Europe of 14-16 centuries, the disclosure of which was the establishment of a new "earthly" and secular in nature picture of the world, radically different from the medieval one. The new picture of the world was reflected in humanism, leading ideological current of the era, and natural philosophy, was evident in the art and science, that underwent revolutionary changes. The building blocks of the original building was the new culture of antiquity as it was a "reborn" to a new life - hence the name of the era - "Revival", or "Renaissance" (French style), given to it later. Born in Italy, a new culture in the late 15th century passes through the Alps, where the fusion of Italian and local traditions of national culture born the Northern Renaissance. In the Renaissance, the new culture coexisted with the culture of the late Middle Ages, which is especially true for countries lying to the north of Italy.
Northern Renaissance was prepared by the emergence in 1420 - 1430s of a new style of painting, so-called «ars nova», or New Art, on the basis of the late Gothic. Its spiritual basis, according to the researchers, was primarily the so-called "New piety" of the Northern Mystics of 15th century. The new style was characterized by a special realism: the transfer of three-dimensional space by means of prospects (although, as a rule, approximately), the pursuit of volume. The new art, deeply religious, was interested in individual experiences, the nature of man, valuing it above all humility, piety. To its aesthetics was not familiar Italian pathos of perfect in man, a passion for classical forms (those characters were not perfectly proportional, angular as Gothic). With special love, there wer depicted in detail the nature, life, things were carefully drawn, as a rule, with religious and symbolic meaning.
Actually Northern Renaissance art was born at the turn of 15-16 centuries as the interaction of national artistic and spiritual traditions of the countries beyond the Alps and Renaissance art, humanism in Italy, with the development of the own humanism. German Renaissance was the completion of the religious and social changes that lasted half a century and greatly changed the medieval Germany. The ''golden age'' of German painting is related to three artists - Grunewald (between 1470 and 1475-1528), Durer (1471-1528) and Holbein Jr (1497 or 1498-1543). Lacking the integrity of the Italian Renaissance, the German one developed during chronologically short period and had its logical continuation. An outstanding representative of the Renaissance in Germany, whose works defined the German art for a long time, was a painter and masterprint Durer. It is believed that Dürer was equally gifted as a painter, printmaker and draftsman; drawing and engraving took sometimes even leading role. Heritage of Dürer-painter, numbering more than 900 sheets, by the vastness and diversity can be compared only with the legacy of Leonardo da Vinci. He brilliantly mastered all the known graphic techniques - from the silver pin and reed pen to Italian pencil, charcoal. As for the masters of Italy, the figure was for him the most important stage of work on a composition comprising sketches, étude heads, hands, legs, draperies. This was a learning tool for characteristic types - peasants, elegant gentlemen, Nuremberg fashionistas. Dürer had a profound influence on the development of German art in the first half of the XVI century. The greatest master prints in Europe, Dürer became famous for his series of papers on the theme of "Apocalypse" (1498). Dürer's contemporaries were great masters of painting, such as Hans Holbein Jr, Grünewald and Lucas Cranach (1472-1553). Precise, accurate portraits of Holbein, his paintings on religious themes, engravings inherent realism, clarity and grandeur of Renaissance art, monumental integrity of the composition. Grunewald, whose life has been little studied, is another direction of the German Renaissance: feelings prevail over reason, a subjectivity - on an objective analysis. The genius of the artist embodied in the main work - "Isenheim Altarpiece" (1512-1515), where mystical images are side by side with the humanistic, enlightened. His work is associated with the ideology of the lower classes and heresies, enforced by dramatic power, voltage, dynamism. Among the talented artists of the German Renaissance there is Lucas Cranach, the court painter of Frederick the Wise and the friend of Martin Luther, thanks to whose work landscape receive new development. He initiated the school of landscape known as the Danube school.
The largest representative of the culture of the Renaissance in the Netherlands was Erasmus (1496-1536). The value of the great humanist and educator, including his famous "Praise of Folly", for the education of free, critical attitude towards scholasticism, superstition is truly invaluable. His satirical works have received wide recognition in Germany, France, Spain, England. Excellent shape, deep in content, they are now more than one century find its reader. Erasmus is credited with the implementation of early printed editions of the New Testament in Greek and translation into Latin. He created his own doctrine, the "philosophy of Christ," which was based on the idea of a personal relationship with God. Representative of the early Dutch Renaissance is Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516). His paintings are full of bizarre images of devilish creatures ("The Garden of Delights"), hit the sophistication of the imagination. Religious subjects depicts not saints, but ordinary people, their action as it moved to the Netherlands with exhibited caricatured human vices. The greatest painter of this time was Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569). His paintings of peasant life gave rise to the genre of painting. The artist drew themes of everyday life, ("Hunters on the snow", "Peasant wedding"). In his paintings often sounds the theme of suffering and death, the spirit generated by the contemporary era ("Blind", "Triumph of Death"). One of the paintings of Bruegel "Netherlands proverb" contains more than 100 illustrations of folk proverbs and sayings.
French Renaissance with wholly court character (in the Netherlands and Germany, the art was associated with burghers) was perhaps the most classic in the Northern Renaissance. New Renaissance art, gradually gained strength under the influence of Italy, reaches maturity in the middle - the second half of the century in the works of architects Lesсot, the creator of the Louvre, and Delorm, sculptors Goujon and Pilon, painters Clouet, Cousin elder. Great influence on the above painters and sculptors had a "school of Fontainebleau", based in France, with Italian artists Rosso and Primaticcio, who worked in the Mannerist style, but the French masters did not copy the mannerists, but apprehended, hidden under the Mannerist guise, classical ideal. Renaissance in French art ends in 1580's.
In England, the focus of humanistic ideas was Oxford University, where worked famous scientists of the time - Grosin, Linacre. Development of humanistic beliefs in social philosophy associates with the name of Thomas More (1478-1535), author of "Utopia", presented to the reader an ideal, in his opinion, of human society: all are equal, there is no private property, and the gold is not a value. The founder of English classics and modern English - Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340-1400). His most famous work is a collection of poems and prose novels "The Canterbury Tales", allegedly told by pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. In them, he proved himself as a subtle psychologist and a stylist. English Renaissance was famous not in painting and architecture, but in theater. It flourished at the end of XVI - early XVII century, reaching its peak in the works of William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The prestige of the theater increased; actors, comedians stray previously despised, were surrounded by all the attention, they enjoyed the patronage of patrons-nobles. In 1576 in London, opened the first public theater, in the middle of the 80s such theaters were several. Shakespeare troupe, received in 1589 the status of royal, changed not one scene, until finally in the 1598-1599 it got the permanent building, called Globe Theatre. Shakespeare became a co-owner of the theater. His plays (there are a total of 37) reflect the political and spiritual life of England of that era.
The first Shakespeare's comedies, in particular, "Much Ado About Nothing" (1598), imbued with optimism. However, at the turn of the XVI and XVII centuries his perception of the world changed. The last years of Elizabeth's reign were marked by popular unrest and economic decline, fell authority of the state and the Church. In tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" (1595), "Hamlet" (1601), "Othello" (1604), "King Lear" (1605) is showed a crisis of human values and morals. Heroes of Shakespeare are thinking, feeling and suffering individuals who are experiencing the loss of vital reference points, and the world is unable to help them find themselves.
Renaissance in Spain was more controversial than in other European countries: many humanists were not opposed Catholicism and the Catholic Church here. There were widespread jousting and the picaresque novel. In this genre, Fernando de Rojas, author of the tragicomedy "Celestina", was a pioneer. This line continued and developed the great Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). Its main product - the immortal novel is "Don Quixote", which organically combines realism, romanticism and heroism. Parody of romance, the writer created a comprehensive panorama of Spanish society. The founder of the Spanish national drama is the great Lope de Vega (1562-1635), author of more than 1,500 literary works, including such as "Dog in the Manger," "Dancing Master". Considerable success was achieved by Spanish painting, were special place belongs to El Greco (1541-1614). His paintings on religious subjects are full of emotional tension, the characters of his paintings are illuminated by the flickering light.
In the second half of the 16th century, the art of the Renaissance in Europe was gradually giving way to Mannerism and early Baroque.
Sources
Smith, Jeffrey Chipps. The Northern Renaissance. London: Phaidon, 2004. Print.
Campbell, Gordon. The Grove Encyclopedia of Northern Renaissance Art. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.
Heard, Kate, Lucy Whitaker, and Scotland Edinburgh. The Northern Renaissance: Dürer to Holbein. London: Royal Collection Publications :, 2011. Print.
Roberts, Keith. Bruegel. Rev. and Enl. ed. Oxford: Phaidon, 1982. Print.
Rowse, A. L. William Shakespeare: A Biography. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. Print.
