THE REBIRTH OF CLASSICAL ART

 

Warming-up

1. What is the meaning of the word " Renaissance"?

2. In what country did this style originate?

3. What do you know about the Renaissance in Russia?

 

Text 1.

Read the text and tell about the Renaissance in Italy and in Russia.

 

THE RENAISSANCE

The Renaissance began in Italy, where there was always a residue of clas­sical feeling in art.

Knowledge of the classical style in architecture was derived during the Renaissance from two sources: the ancient classical buildings, particularly in Italy but also in France and Spain and the treatise De architectura by the Roman architect Vitruvius. For classical antiquity and, therefore, for the Renaissance, the basic element of architectural design was the order, which was a system of traditional architectural units. During the Renais­sance five orders were used, the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite, with various ones prevalent in different periods. For example, the ornate, decorative quality of the Corinthian order was embraced dur­ing the early Renaissance, while the masculine simplicity and strength of the Doric was preferred during the Italian High Renaissance.

On the authority of Vitruvius, the Renaissance architects found a har­mony between the proportions of the human body and those of their ar­chitecture. There was even a relationship between architectural proportions and the Renaissance pictorial device of perspective.

The concern of these architects for proportion caused that clear, mea­sured expression and definition of architectural space and mass that dif- ferentiates the Renaissance style from the Gothic and encourages in the spectator an immediate and full comprehension of the building.

In the early 15th century an Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi for­mulated linear perspective, which was to become a basic element of Re­naissance art. At the same time, Brunelleschi investigated ancient Roman architecture and acquired the knowledge of classical architecture and or­nament that he used as a foundation for Renaissance architecture.

His brilliant vork, the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti (1419— 51) was the first building in the Renaissance manner; a very graceful ar­cade was designed with Composite columns, and windows with classical pediments were regularly spaced above each of the arches.

Donato Bramante's Tempietto San Pietro in Montorio (1502) symbol­ized the beginning of the High Renaissance style in Rome. Erected on the supposed site of the martyrdom of St. Peter, the Tempietto is circular in plan, with a colonnade of 16 columns surrounding a small cella, or enclosed in­terior sanctuary.

In 1505 Pope Julius II decided to rebuild St. Peter's, which was in a very poor condition. Bramante prepared plans for a monumental church and in 1506 the foundation stone was laid.

St. Peter's Cathedral is the largest church in the Christian world. It has 29 altars in addition to the high altar, interior length, 187m., width at front, 26, 5 m., length of transept, 137 m. The dome (diameter, 42 m., height, 123 m. to the top of the lantern) was built by Michelangelo.

In Russia the Renaissance is represented by the works of Italian mas­ters (the Moscow Kremlin, the 15th — 16th cc.) The cathedral of the As­sumption was built in 1475—1479 by Aristotile Fioravante on the site of an old church dating back to the reign of Ivan Kalita. By combining the char­acteristic features of the Vladimir-Suzdal and early-Moscow style with Ital­ian Renaissance decoration and construction methods Fioravante produced a masterpiece of lasting beauty. Another example is the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, designed by Alevisio Novi in 1505-1508.

The Granovitaya Palata Faceted Pulace (1487—91) was built by Russian craftsmen according to the design of Italian architects Marco Ruffo, Aloisio da Carcano, and Pietro Antonio Solari. Its eastern facade is faced with faceted white stones, hence the name.

 

Vocabulary

to embrace — воспользоваться, выбирать

masculine — мужской, мужественный

authority — (зд.) авторитетное мнение, утверждение

device — средство

to cause — вызывать, являться результатом

to encourage — ободрять, поощрять, поддерживать

immediate — непосредственный, прямой; немедленный

comprehension — понимание

to acquire — приобретать

graceful — грациозный, изящный

arcade — аркада, сводчатая галерея

pediment — фронтон

martyrdom — мученичество

enclosed — окруженный, огороженный

sanctuary — святилище

to lay — (зд.) заложить фундамент

lantern — фонарь верхнего света

assumption — (рел.) успение

hence — отсюда; следовательно

 

I. Complete the following sentences.

1. For the classical antiquity and for the Renaissance the... was the ba­sic element of architectural design.

a) order

b) asymmetry

c) the effect of illusionism

2. Clear measured expression and definition of architectural space and mass differentiates the Renaissance style from...

a) the Rococo

b) the Gothic

c) the Byzantine style

3. It was an Italian Renaissance architect perspective.

a) Filippo Brunelleschi

b) Donato Bramante

c) Pietro Lombardo

4. The first building in the Renaissance manner was

a) Tempietto San Pietro

b) Palazzo Medici-Riccardi

c) the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti

who formulated linear

5. The largest church in the Christian world is...

a) St. Paul's Cathedral

b) St. Peter's Cathedral

c) Gloucester Cathedral

6. The cathedral of the Assumption was built by...

a) Fioravante

b) Novi

c) Bernini

7. The eastern facade of the Faceted Palace is faced with

a) mosaics

b) glazed tile

c) faceted white stones

 

Read the text and speak on a typical example of the Renaissance style in England.

 

Text 2

The Renaissance style in England

The Renaissance style of architecture made a very timid appearance in England during the first half of the 16th century, and it was only from about 1550 that it became a positive style with local qualities. In fact, the Gothic style continued in many parts of England throughout most of the 16th cen­tury, and English Renaissance architecture was a very original fusion of the Tudor Gothic and classical styles.

The Renaissance style really begins in England in the middle of the 16th century in architecture built for the circle of the Lord Protector Somerset.

A typical example of the Renaissance style of England is to be found in the quadrangle that John Caius added to Gonville Hall at Cambridge.

The architecture of the new court was basically Tudor Gothic, but Caius planned three gateways in connection with the court, two of which were in Italian style. The three gates were to mark the progress of the student through the university. At the entrance was the Gate of Humility (1565), a modest doorway, now in the Master's garden. The Gate of Virtue (after 1565), opening into the new quadrangle, is a fine classical portal with Ionic pilasters, but with a Tudor Gothic many-centred arch for the opening. Fi­nally, the Gate of Honour (1573) is a separate tiny triumphal arch leading out toward the schools for the final disputation and degree.

 

 

BAROQUE AND ROCOCO

 

Warming-up

1. When did the Baroque flourish?

2. What world famous Baroque landmarks do you know?

3. Who brought the Baroque to Russia?

 

Text 1.

Read the text and tell about the main features of the Baroque.

 

BAROQUE

Baroque and late Baroque, or Rococo, are terms applied to European art of the period from the early 17th century to the mid-18th century.

" Baroque" was probably derived from the Italian word barocco. This term was used by philosophers during the Middle Ages to describe an ob­stacle in schematic logic. This word also described an irregular or imper­fectly shaped pearl.

During the Baroque period (c. 1600-1750), architecture, painting, and sculpture were integrated into decorative ensembles. Architecture and sculpture became pictorial, and painting became illusionistic. Baroque art was essentially concerned with vivid colours, hidden light sources, luxuri­ous materials, and elaborate, contrasting surface textures.

Baroque architects made architecture a means of propagating faith in the church and in the state. Baroque space, with directionality, movement, and positive molding, contrasted markedly with the static, stable, and de­fined space of the High Renaissance and with the frustrating conflict of unbalanced spaces of the preceding Mannerist period. Mannerism is the term applied to certain aspects of artistic style, mainly Italian, in the peri­od between the High Renaissance of the early 16th century and the begin­ning of Baroque art in the early 17th.

The Baroque rapidly developed into two separate forms: the strongly Roman Catholic countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Flanders, Bohemia, southern Germany, Austria, and Poland) tended toward freer and more active architectural forms and surfaces; in Protestant regions (England, the Netherlands, and the remainder of northern Europe) architecture was more restrained and developed a sober quiet monumentally impressive in its re­finement. In the Protestant countries and France, which sought the spirit through the mind, architecture was more geometric, formal, and precise — an appeal to the intellect.

Hardouin-Mansart's Dome des Invalides, Paris (c. 1675), is generally agreed to be the finest church of the last half of the 17th century in France. The correctness and precision of its form, the harmony and balance of its spaces, and the soaring vigour of its dome make it a landmark not only of the Paris skyline but also of European Baroque architecture.

Other greatest works of this style are the church of Santa Susanna (Mad-erno, c.1597), Versailles (Le Vau), National Palace in Madrid (Sacchelti, 1736), Royal Palace at Caserta (Vanvitelli, 1752).

 

Vocabulary

to apply — применять

to derive — происходить

the Middle Ages — Средние века, средневековье

obstacle — препятствие

pearl — жемчуг

vivid — яркий, ясный

hidden — скрытый

luxurious — роскошный

elaborate — тщательно разработанный, искусно сделанный

surface — поверхность

means — средство

faith — вера

preceding — предшествующий

rapidly — быстро

to tend — иметь тенденцию; направляться

the remainder — остальная часть

restrained — сдержанный

sober — трезвый, спокойный (о красках)

refinement — утонченность

to seek (sought) — искать; обращаться

spirit — дух

precise — точный

an appeal — призыв, обращение

 

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