Picturesque medieval ruins: the poetics of ruins. Lost history: Ruins of an ancient civilization in ancient paintings Ruins of a painting

Capriccio (Italian capriccio, literally “whim”) is a genre of landscape painting, popular in the 17th-18th centuries. The paintings of this genre depicted architectural fantasies, mainly the ruins of fictitious ancient structures.

Robert Hubert, French painter (1733-1808). He is known for his pictorial fantasies, whose main motif is parks and real, majestic ruins, for which he made many sketches during his stay in Italy. Robert's paintings were highly valued by his contemporaries. His paintings are presented in the Louvre, the Carnival Museum, the St. Petersburg Hermitage and other palaces and estates in Russia, in many major museums in Europe, the USA, Canada, and Australia. What the painter depicted on his canvases raises many questions, but historians did not bother, summing up that it was only the author’s “imagination” that considered the topic closed.

"Capriccio with Pyramids"

"Architectural landscape with a canal"

The artist traveled a lot throughout Europe and left us very interesting paintings, from which we can get some idea of ​​the past.

"Ruins of a Doric Temple"

"Ruins of a terrace in Marly Park"

This is the Sanssouci palace and park complex in Potsdam, built in 1745-1747 according to the design of King Frederick the Great himself. The building, it turns out, was completely new at that time, but for some reason the artist is drawn to paint its imaginary ruins.

"Ancient ruins serving as a public bath"

"Villa Madama near Rome"

From Wikipedia: "The later name of the unfinished country villa of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the future Pope Clement VII, in the 16th century. Built on the slope of Monte Mario on the west bank of the Tiber River north of the Vatican." But in my opinion these are the ruins of a structure that is much older.

"Washwomen Among the Ruins"

His paintings clearly show that the people depicted in them live among the ruins of former civilizations and are absolutely unable to even bring them into decent shape, not to mention some kind of restoration.

"The Forgotten Statue"

"Stable in the ruins of Villa Giulia"

The appearance of the people depicted does not at all correspond to the grandiose buildings and look like swarming mice among these ruins of their former greatness.

"A hermit prays among the ruins of an ancient temple"

"Staircase with Columns"

"Old Bridge"

"Porch of a country mansion"

"Tomb of Caecilia Metella in Rome"

"Interior of the Temple of Diana in Nîmes"

"Pont du Gard"

"View of the port of Ripetta in Rome"

"Coliseum"

"Pezage at the Obelisk"

"Landscape with the arch and dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome"

"Ruin"

"Italian Park"

Guardi Francesco Lazzaro(1712-1793) - Italian painter, representative of the Venetian school of painting. He is also a great dreamer, otherwise how can one explain such absolutely fantastic views of Venice?

"Capriccio with a pyramid"

"Arcade in front of a city with towers"

"Capriccio"

"Capriccio"

"Capriccio with Bridge, Ruins and Lagoon"

"Venice"

Giovanni Paolo Panini(1691 - 1765) - one of the founders of the architectural ruin landscape. The artist populated his architectural views and interiors with small human figures, playing on the favorite theme of the 18th century - the juxtaposition of the grandeur of the ancient past and the triviality of the present. As an artist, Panini is best known for his paintings of the sights of Rome, in which he paid great attention to its antiquity.

Rome lay in ruins, living among the grandiose remains of its history. The ruins were the Colosseum, temples, baths, which were part of everyday life, they were inhabited. Attaching huts to stone walls, boarding up palace windows, attaching wooden ladders to marble, covering ancient vaults with thatch. And among those ruins, artists and architects swarmed with their albums and tape measures, again and again trying to extract from them the secrets of eternal beauty...

"Architectural Capriccio"

"Pantheon"

"Interior of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome"

"Capriccio of Classical Ruins"

"Interior view of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome"

Giovanni Antonio Canaletto(1697 - 1768) Italian artist, head of the Venetian Vedutist school, master of city landscapes in the academic style, also painted canvases in the style of architectural romanticism. Giovanni Paolo Panini had a great influence on his work.

"Architectural Capriccio"

"Arch of Constantine in Rome"

"Piazza Navona in Rome"

"Capriccio with ruins and the Portello of Padua"

Alessandro Magnasco(1667-1749). Italian painter, representative of the romantic movement in Baroque art. Born in Genoa. Alessandro Magnasco wrote genre scenes marked with “demonic” sarcasm from the life of gypsies, soldiers, monks, in many of which human figures are lost among the grandiose ancient ruins.

"Bacchanalia"

"Bandits' Rest"

"Architectural capriccio with a musician and peasants at the small altar of St. Anthony of Padua"

Nicholas Peters Berchem(1620-1683) - Dutch painter, graphic artist and engraver. This master traveled a lot in Italy and also painted quite a lot of landscapes, in which the main characters are undoubtedly picturesque ruins, as well as peasants with their livestock against their background.

"Landscape with aqueduct ruins"

"Shepherds with a flock among the ruins"

"Italian landscape with ruins"

"Italian landscape"

"Peasants with livestock at an ancient Roman spring"

"Return from the Hunt"

"Landscape with a waterfall and the Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli"

Check out the work of these three artists. According to official opinions, they all wrote in the style of “Architectural Fantasy”, “Catastrophism”, architectural romanticism and surrealism. This could still be allowed if it were not for the complete coincidence with many cultural heritage objects that actually existed before and now. Many matches were shown in this article:

Here are these selections from artists who, most likely, found all this desolation and ruins of majestic buildings:

Secrets of past civilizations. Part 1(click to view)

The French artist Hubert Robert (1733-1808) traveled extensively throughout Europe and left us with very interesting paintings from which we can unearth something about our past. It is believed that Hubert had a good imagination and he painted many of his canvases only from his many fantasies about majestic ruins, but is this really so? Is this even possible? The paintings clearly show that the people depicted in them live among the ruins of former civilizations and are absolutely unable to even bring them into decent shape, not to mention some kind of restoration. Either people were very lazy, or they could not work on such a scale and using technology unknown to them. Unfortunately, due to the ignorance of our ancestors, not many remnants of past civilizations have reached our times, but existing specimens pose quite a lot of uncomfortable questions to our historians, who either modestly remain silent or speak complete nonsense, thereby polluting the historical memory of great civilizations.

Secrets of past civilizations. Part 2(click to view)

Charles Louis Clerisseau (1721-1820) is a very interesting artist, or rather his paintings are very interesting. It is believed that Charles worked in the so-called “Architectural Fantasy” style, since historians believe that everything depicted in the artist’s pictures is fiction, imaginary objects and did not exist in reality. We can agree with this, but we can also argue. There is quite a lot of room left for everyone to think for themselves. For our part, we only want to be surprised if all these exquisite architectural solutions with high detail and drawing are just the imagination of the artist, and not traces of past advanced civilizations.

Secrets of past civilizations. Part 3(click to view)

Works by Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Giovanni, like his fellow artists Hubert Robert and Charles Louis Clerisseau, he painted in the style of architectural romanticism and surrealism, that is, everything that he depicted on the canvases was the fruit of his imagination. This is what official history tells us. But is this even possible? The paintings clearly show that the people depicted in them live among the ruins of former civilizations and are absolutely unable to even bring them into decent shape, not to mention some kind of restoration. Either people were very lazy, or they could not work on such a scale and using technology unknown to them. The people depicted generally do not fit into the grandiose buildings in scale. That is, either Giovanni is a genius of fantasy, or he drew from life, which could well have been the case in reality. Let's look at the engravings from the point of view of the reality of the events and views depicted on them.

They haven't completely stood the test of time, have they? Otherwise they would not be called ruins. But, despite the obvious traces of deterioration, despite the loss of the complete appearance once conceived by unknown geniuses, there is still a lot of beauty left in them. Yes. Despite the fact that, looking at them, you feel the burden of centuries... They are witnesses to the flourishing of civilization, how many generations feasted or prayed in these ruins, which were once beautiful palaces and temples!
Are we watching?

Machu Picchu (Cusco, Peru)

Photo Boris G
... The city of ancient America, Machu Picchu, in the country of modern Peru, on the top of a mountain range at an altitude of 2450 meters above sea level, it dominates the valley of the Urubamba River.

Chichen Itza (Tinum, Mexico)

Photo Ted Van Pelt

Pre-Columbian Mayan city of Chichen Itza​​ visited by more than 1.2 million people annually. It is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico. One of the most legendary and mysterious…

Stonehenge (Wiltshire, England)

And this one? Do you recognize? Romantic building... A sanctuary built in an incomprehensible manner. How did the ancients lift these stones?
Surrounded by hundreds of graves, Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England. Archaeologists claim that it was built between 3000 and 2000 BC.

Ta Prohm (Siem Reap, Cambodia)

Made even more famous by the filming of the blockbuster Lara Croft Tomb Raider, overrun by trees and suffocating vines, Ta Prohm retains the mysterious atmosphere of the past and has become for many the highlight of a visit to the Angkor complex.

The Council of the French School of the Far East decided not to carry out a full-scale restoration in the temple, although, on the one hand, the trees were slowly destroying the monument, on the other, they had become so fused with the ancient walls that they became one with them.

Created by Jayavarman VII for his mother, and consecrated in 1186, Ta Prohm Temple became the centerpiece of the city, as well as an active Buddhist monastery.

"Stone caves at the Dragon Gate ( Longmen)

Longmen (literally "Stone Caves at the Dragon Gate") is a complex of Buddhist cave temples in the Chinese province of Henan, 12 km south of Luoyang. Along with Mogao and Yungang, it is considered one of the three most significant cave temple complexes in China. Included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Luxor Temple (Luxor, Egypt)

Ancient people called Luxor in Egypt (then Thebes) "the city of palaces." Indeed, several magnificent temples have been preserved in Lukosra and its environs.

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall stretches across northern England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. The wall was assembled from stones, peat and turf with a height of 5-6 ... Fortresses of Hadrian's Wall. The best preserved ruins of fortifications can be seen in the counties of Cumbria and Northumberland.

Baalbek (Bekaa, Lebanon)

Already in the 16th century, Europe became aware of the presence of grandiose ruins here, which became a must-see for European travelers of the 19th century. Flaubert, Twain and Bunin left interesting descriptions of their impressions of Baalbek.

And this is the largest processed stone. The mystery is how did the ancients succeed?

Among all the wonders of antiquity, the Baalbek veranda (Baalbek terrace) occupies a special position.
From the guidebook:
There is an almost mystical history associated with this city: when it was “rediscovered” by archaeologists, many came to the conclusion that it was the fruit of the construction of extraterrestrial civilizations that explored the solar system in ancient times. It was hard to believe that the huge blocks of the Baalbek terrace were the result of only human labor without the use of any high-tech mechanisms.

Coba (Quintana Roo, Mexico)

In the first millennium AD, Coba was the largest Mayan city with a population of 50 thousand people. After the Spanish conquistadors came to Yucatan, the Indians left the city, and the buildings gradually collapsed and were overgrown with jungle. The ruins of Koba were discovered at the end of the 19th century, but excavations are still ongoing.

Either your dogs are barking, or your ruins are talking.”

V.S.Vysotsky

Jean-Christophe Miville "Ruins on the Seashore".

To begin with, a short preface. So that the course of my thoughts would be clear, and they themselves would not seem so incredible.

Every morally and physically healthy person sooner or later comes to the realization that all life is a continuous run in a circle. Well, or a zebra, as you like. Nevertheless, the essence is the same: One day you wake up in the morning and realize that you have spent a lot of vital energy pouring from empty to empty. You start to do everything anew, taking into account previous experience, and in the end, another morning comes when you have to rethink everything once again.

And it turns out that many people are unable to admit that what they considered unshakable is actually a delusion or a lie. We were taught perseverance, right? We are convinced that there must be some truths that must remain the basis of everything, without the existence of which chaos will begin. Therefore, a person who renounces his beliefs does not command anyone’s respect. The “steadfast tin soldiers” are respected. And this is the main problem. It is very difficult to grasp that fine line between truth and error.

And time flows... And everything around is changing rapidly. You cannot stupidly follow outdated instructions. But at the same time, one cannot deviate from moral norms, otherwise a “spin into a tailspin” is inevitable, which leads to disaster. The Bible describes the death of Sodom and Gomorrah, and this is precisely about those who decided that moral standards were outdated and not mandatory. I hope to live to see the times when the new, current sodomite lands will receive what they deserve, in order to be convinced that at least these truths are truly unshakable. Otherwise, we will have to admit that HELL exists, and that is where we are.

So, let’s try to deviate from dogma, but at the same time, not cross the line and not slide into mysticism. Here are some striking paintings by various artists who are less famous than the works of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, but which are united not only by their era, but also by their content.

01.

Unknown artist of the second half of the 18th century.

02.

Pierre Patel the Elder.

03.

Francesco Guardi.

04.

Antonio Canaletto.

05.

Dresden. Antonio Canaletto.

06.

Alessandro Magnasco.

07.

Jacob Van Ruisdael.

08.

Nicholas Peters Berchem.

This master (Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem), painted quite a lot of landscapes in which the main characters are undoubtedly ruins. I called him Nikolai Petrovich Medvedev, and this is not exactly a joke, as many people understand.

A reasonable question: “What do they have in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries?” there are no undestroyed buildings left? There is a reasonable explanation from historians and art critics for this. The explanation is actually simple and logical, and to question it is real madness. At first glance, there really is no need to “fence the garden”; it’s just a cultural trend, fashion, or as it has now become fashionable to say among patriots: “the trend of the times.”

Yes. Fashion and style are subject to the tastes and moods, thoughts and feelings of millions. We all see this “monkeying” around us everywhere. As soon as some famous idiot appears on camera skiing, hundreds of thousands of idiots begin to sweep away ski equipment from store shelves, and secretly admit to each other that since childhood they have only dreamed of getting on skis, when... Well, you know the rest. What? Did you succumb to the epidemic yourself? Is it hard to fly with Siberian Cranes?

Okay, let's get back to our sheep. And also to bulls, sheep and goats, against the backdrop of “ancient” ruins. This is also a “trend”. The same as the shepherds and washerwomen in the landscapes of those years. Did this “current” affect Russia? Do not doubt. Although the memory of Russian ruins was carefully erased in the 19th and even in the 20th century, something still remained. I will show only two works that I have not shown before:

14.

Kyiv Detinets. Unknown artist.

15.

Tower-Ruin in Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo.

Now she looks like she should. Nice expensive Tajik European-quality renovation, gloss and glamor. But more recently it seemed to be in line with the European "trend" of the 18th century. Noteworthy is the pebble with a European date, but depicted in Russian numerals.

16.

"Gone" means the number 1762.

To be honest, the reliability of this plate seems very doubtful to me. For many reasons. See for yourself.

But not surprising. The scale of the “cleansing” of the true history of Russia is such that it’s hard to imagine how all this could have been accomplished. After all, everything that we were able to learn about the pre-Romanov empire was gleaned from sources that were outside the “cleansing” zone, namely in Western universities and libraries.

This fact leaves no doubt about who exactly “cleared” history. Of course the winner. And this winner is clearly not one of our ancestors, otherwise we would be writing the history of the Anglo-Saxons, and not they for us. Although... This is not our method. We are not against the great past of ancient European civilization, which, of course, was one hundred thousand miles of guilders better than our savage one.

Of course, I do not assume that hordes of Germans walked through forests and fields and bulldozed all the ancient buildings on the territory of Tartary. No. It was enough to spit on all this “junk” and not worry about preservation, that’s all. And written sources were destroyed in a similar way. And not only this way, but also deliberately, purposefully.

Both under Peter and Catherine, books, under the pretext of preservation, were taken from the peasants, and whole convoys were taken to Moscow and St. Petersburg, after which their trace was lost in the darkness. It is clear that the “Old Believer heresy” was simply burned.

The Bolsheviks did exactly this in the twenties with the archives of the Romanovs themselves. No wonder they say: “Don’t spit in someone else’s well...”

Well, God is their judge. Let's look at the paintings of another bright representative of the “ruinistic” trend in European painting - Giovanni Paolo Pannini, or as I call him, Ivan Pavlovich Panov.

As you can see for yourself, the main character of the creations is ancient ruins. Nothing new, only in the ruins there were no cattle with cattle, but “normal Europeans”. Middle class and nobility. But this does not change the essence. Some ruins still exist today in the form of restored structures, or outright remakes. But most of what surrounded people just recently has been irrevocably stolen and stolen for urgent economic needs.

These subjects are also united by the fact that the artist photographically captured reality, without thinking about the subsequent interpretation of their creations by descendants. And the descendants turned out to be ungrateful, they considered their great-great-great-grandfathers to be half-witted, dark, uneducated dreamers, inclined to exaggerate, embellish, and generally suck things up.

This is what all modern encyclopedias and reference books write about “ruinistic” painting: - “___ SUBMIT IN THIS PLACE THE NAME OF ANY OF THE ABOVE ARTISTS____ - And is known for his picturesque fantasies, whose main motif is parks and real, and more often imaginary, “majestic ruins” (in the words Diderot ), many sketches for which he made during his stay in Italy."

And are we supposed to believe this? Because the authority said it? And if I don’t want to take his word for it, and seeing all this splendor, I can’t believe that the artist reproduced those buildings that have survived to this day with photographic accuracy, and those that are no longer there, he simply took from his head! Why is this happening all of a sudden!?

The truth is that the artists did not invent anything, they documented the world around them, and we see that in the 18th century, by historical standards - YESTERDAY - the civilization of European peasants and cattle breeders, controlled by a handful of those who had more expensive rags on their bodies, existed on the ruins of gigantic megalithic structures that they clearly did not build themselves.

Famous ruin artists such as Piranesi, Hubert Robert, Panini are officially considered dreamers. Explaining their ruins in the paintings as a mixture of real architectural objects and those invented by them. But to better understand this, you can compare paintings and engravings with real ruins that you can touch with your hands. I was able to visit Rome and find some objects that struck me in Piranesi's engravings and paintings by other artists. Why did you want to take it apart? Because he was very attentive to detail and depicted everything he saw with photographic accuracy.

Everything is neglected, people in rags are grazing cattle. There is a layer of earth on the ground and on top of the arch. Very similar to traces of flooding.
Now:


Everything is like in the engraving. Up close you can see how well the blocks are processed, how the joints are adjusted, how the patterns move from block to block.
It is simply impossible to chisel it with the help of a crowd of slaves. And those people in the engraving clearly have nothing to do with such buildings.

Quite by accident I came across this arch and recognized it immediately.


Now she is huddled among residential buildings:


How many centuries will it last? Equally skillfully made from carved stone blocks.
Obviously, it was spoiled by some powerful force: an earthquake or a flood, or all together.

One of the pyramids that were in Rome. Judging by the pictures, there were several of them. Apparently the cultures of Rome and Egypt were in close contact and influenced each other, since in addition to the pyramids, obelisks with Egyptian symbols still survive in Rome. The obelisks have been in their places for a long time, because... also appears in the paintings of the “ruinists” in the same places as now.


Now:

I have long dreamed of seeing this pyramid, so I couldn’t resist posting a few photos, in case someone is interested in the details.
As you can see, the current level of the ground is much higher than that on which the pyramid and the wall adjacent to it stand.
Almost all the ruins in Rome are buried in a layer of earth. They were already immersed to such depths at the time they were depicted by artists.

I wonder how the barbarians could destroy such a grandiose structure with their hands? The textbooks didn’t tell us about this.


That is, someone designed using drawing tools, calculated all the elements, loads, organized production and delivery
building materials, then, according to all the rules, with all the patterns, they built a huge building out of brick. And then the barbarians came with their hands and sticks
did they dig through everything and beat off pieces of several tons with their feet?
When you stand next to these thick, perfectly smooth, patterned walls, you absolutely do not believe the official story.

These people on Capitol Hill look like strangers here, strangers. Weak, sick, dressed in rags.

Pay attention to the height of the people in pointed hats: the horses are up to their chests. Maybe they made such high doorways for them?

My, and not only my conclusion: those who built these buildings, arches and monuments possessed technologies that they could not use according to the official
versions of history. Their civilization was very developed, they built with stone easily and naturally. It is impossible to train any slaves to build like this.
At some point after the disaster, civilization disappeared and buildings collapsed. Well, the artists simply found more ruins, unlike us.
Subsequently, they were stolen for construction materials and to museums. I cannot call these artists dreamers, since I myself was convinced on the spot of the reality of what they depicted.