Baroque aesthetics: basic principles and the doctrine of wit. Baroque aesthetics, basic principles in painting, literature, music
The Baroque style arose in Italy, in a country fragmented into small states, in a country that experienced counter-reformation and a strong feudal reaction, where rich townspeople turned into a landed aristocracy, in a country where the theory and practice of mannerism flourished in full bloom and where, at the same time, in all its brightness rich traditions have been preserved artistic culture Renaissance. Baroque took from Mannerism its subjectivity, from the Renaissance its fascination with reality, but both in a new stylistic refraction. And although the remnants of mannerism continued to affect the first and even the second decade of the 17th century, in essence, the overcoming of mannerism in Italy can be considered completed by 1600.
One of the problems characteristic of Baroque aesthetics is the problem of the ability to persuade, which has its origins in rhetoric. Rhetoric does not distinguish truth from plausibility; as means of persuasion, they seem to be equivalent - and from this follows the illusory, fantastic, subjectivism of Baroque art, combined with the secrecy of the technique of “art” of the work of effect, creating a subjective, misleading impression of verisimilitude.
Based on the fact that the main concept of Baroque aesthetics is the ability to persuade, it is understood as the ability to convince the viewer with the help of a specific instrument of influence, which is a work of art. Rhetoric decorates speech, gives concepts and objects forms that are more easily perceived. Rhetoric is inextricably linked with literature and poetry, which often identifies itself with rhetoric. The ability of persuasion must convince, touch, surprise the one for whom it is intended. The author, therefore, must know down to the smallest detail who his work is intended for, must study them and be guided by this knowledge when creating his works.
Are there any recognized and mandatory methods of persuading the viewer, reader, listener due to their effectiveness? All methods are suitable, provided that they achieve their main goal - to convince the one for whom they are intended. In this regard, the problem of the truth or falsity of a work of art is relegated to the background and becomes insignificant. Illusoryness becomes a principle. The reader and viewer should first of all be stunned and surprised, and this can be done with the help of a skillful selection of strange and in an unusual way composed paintings.
Most of the Baroque theorists were writers, but in their statements one can clearly feel the main tendency of the Baroque era - towards rapprochement various types art. All arts are interconnected and have a single essence. They differ only in the ways of expression.
Because the world, thanks scientific discoveries, began to appear more complex, with various connections in it, a holistic perception of reality was also established in artistic creativity, and, as evidence of this, ensemble thinking, a new flourishing experienced the synthesis of arts (the combination of various types of art in one ensemble based on a single concept, composition and artistic decision). With this approach, individual species arts lose their isolation, entering into close relationship with each other at the level of content, style, composition, color, etc.
In the 17th century Two so-called great styles developed - Baroque and Classicism. Despite the fact that they were opposite in their content and their artistic embodiment, Baroque and Classicism coexisted at the same time.
Italy was the birthplace of the Baroque style. Baroque style, which originated at the end of the 16th century. used in the construction of cathedrals and palaces, commissioned by the Catholic Church and the aristocracy. Baroque belonged to the so-called great styles, which were characterized by a comprehensive synthesis of arts.
Baroque style is marked by drama and sometimes tragedy of the worldview. Baroque compositions are dynamic and tense, characterized by complex balance and a large number of details. This style was characterized by the desire to combine illusion and reality. Inherent in painting warm color. The main requirement that contemporaries place on the Baroque master and his work is the ability to surprise and amaze the imagination with variety and splendor.
Most prominent representatives Baroque art was F. B. Rastrelli (Russia) in architecture, L. Bernini (Italy) in sculpture, P. P. Rubens (Flanders) in painting.
Aesthetics of classicism.
Classicism did not replace Baroque, but existed simultaneously with it, emerging a little later. It was a style that originated in France, which was no accident. The emergence of classicism in this country is associated with the development of rationalism in French culture who became her characteristic feature. Rene Descartes, who proclaimed dominance human mind and viewed the world as a rationally organized mechanism, in general outline He also determined the features of a harmonious work of art, which should be distinguished by a symmetrical composition and a clearly expressed thought. Subsequently, the development of the principles of the classicism style was continued by N. Boileau (“Poetic Art”).
the main problem classicism is a problem of an ethical nature, which can be defined as the relationship between a person and the social environment, the choice between feeling and duty. Since this style from its very inception was closely associated with rationalism, the problem was naturally resolved in favor of reason rather than feelings. Hence the type (ideal) of the hero: reasonable, courageous, virtuous, ready to fight for high goals, overcoming personal interests in the name of social ideals, that is, endowed with a consciousness of public duty and never being led by feelings (passions were seen as a destructive force).
Main content classic works became tragic conflict between passions and human reason, natural nature and civic duty. The heroes of classicism sacrificed themselves in the name of duty (state, order). Those characters in poems, plays, paintings and sculptures who tried to act differently, not in accordance with duty, usually died; such a denouement was supposed to educate citizens of an absolutist state. Classicism became, as it were, an official style; the purity of the embodiment of its main principles in art was closely monitored in the capital's art academies. The centers of culture in the provinces died out.
Classicists found examples of a harmoniously organized society and the ideal of a hero in antiquity. The term “classicism” itself comes from Lat. “classicus”, which means “exemplary”, that is, initially this style was normative, oriented towards a model that needs to be imitated. The norm in this case is the life and exploits of an ancient hero.
The rationalistic nature of classicism and its strict orientation to the model determined the formation of the features of the artistic and aesthetic program of this style: a sharp and unambiguous opposition of good and evil; division of arts, genres, subjects into sublime and base; the rigid structure of the work, manifested in symmetry and frontality (the arrangement of the characters in the work along the front edge of the picture) of the composition, a clear division of the picture into plans, the inscription of groups of people into the most visually stable figure - a triangle; in dramaturgy - the requirement of unity of time and place of action.
"Baroque Aesthetics"
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Reasons for the appearance of Baroque
1.2 Origin of the term "Baroque"
Chapter II. The essence and examples of embodiment of Baroque aesthetics
2.1. Essence, principles and aesthetics of Baroque
2.2 Examples of the implementation of Baroque aesthetics
CONCLUSION
List of used literature
INTRODUCTION
It is known that in the history of culture, each era is an interweaving various processes reflecting its essence and reality in different ways. A striking example The Baroque era serves this purpose.
Baroque is European culture XVII– XVIII centuries, the main characteristics of which are contrast, the desire for grandeur and luxury, the combination of reality with allusion, the dynamism of images and tension. Baroque appeared in Italy (Florence, Venice, Rome) and from there spread throughout Europe. The Baroque era is considered to be the beginning of the planting of the foundations " Western civilization"in the world, it largely predetermined the dynamics of the formation of cultures of other eras. The Baroque style, as it spread, became popular both in the West and in Russia.
With a certain degree of probability, it can be argued that the Baroque still directly influences the culture of our time - through examples of the art of its outstanding representatives, now stored in museums, or put on public display as examples of the architecture of European cities. This determines the relevance of studying the Baroque era.
Let us formulate the main goals and objectives of this coursework.
Our main goal will be to study the Baroque era as a whole: its essence, history, meaning.
In accordance with the purpose, we highlight the following objectives of the course work:
Identify the reasons for the emergence of Baroque, how cultural style; become familiar with the history of the term baroque;
Analyze the essence and principles of Baroque, study the basics of Baroque aesthetics, give examples of the embodiment of Baroque in the art of Europe in the 17th - 18th centuries.
The specified goals and objectives form the structure of the course work, which consists of an introduction, a main part consisting of two chapters with two paragraphs each, a conclusion, a list of references and applications.
When studying the Baroque era, we used H. Welfin's conceptual book "Renaissance and Baroque", which allowed us to understand the essence of this cultural era, as well as such fundamental publications as General history in 24 volumes, 1997 edition, History of Art of Foreign Countries, 1980, as well as World history architecture 1978. In addition, we used special literature following authors Y. Boreev, A. Vasilyeva, M. Vinogradova, F. Dass, V. Kolomiets, T. Livanova and V. Lipatov, as well as some others.
Chapter I. Baroque: history of appearance, meaning of the term
1.1 Reasons for the appearance of Baroque
Chronologically, Baroque appeared in the 17th century. This chronology implies that this style replaced the Renaissance. That is why the word “Baroque” is often used to designate the era in which the Renaissance dissolved or, as they often say, in which the Renaissance degenerated.
Indeed, Baroque originated in Italy, that is, the country in which the Renaissance was most strongly manifested. That is why, as part of the study of the reasons for the emergence of the Baroque, it seems necessary to give brief description Renaissance.
So, the Renaissance is an era in the cultural history of Europe. The chronological framework of its heyday is the XIV - XVI centuries. Distinctive feature Renaissance, or Renaissance - the secular orientation of its culture and its interest in man and his activities, that is, what is called the term anthropocentrism. During this period, interest in ancient culture, its “rebirth” is taking place, and this is where this term came from. In Italy, as the country where the Renaissance began, painting, music, architecture and literature reach new heights. The Renaissance reached its peak by the end of the 15th century, and in the 16th century a crisis of its ideas began. Cultural historians note that it was during this period that the first beginnings of new ideas of mannerism and baroque appeared.
Thus, the Baroque appeared against the backdrop of a crisis of Renaissance ideas, and appeared in the same place where the Renaissance reached its greatest flowering - in Italy.
Let us analyze the reasons for this seemingly paradoxical phenomenon.
As noted above, baroque is characterized by contrast, tension, dynamism of images, the desire for grandeur and splendor, for combining reality and illusion, for merging and at the same time - a tendency for autonomy of individual genres.
The ideological foundations of the style were formed as a result of the shock that was the Reformation and the teachings of Copernicus in the 16th century. The idea of the world, established in antiquity, as a rational and constant unity, as well as the Renaissance idea of man as the most intelligent being, changed. A person has ceased to feel like “the most intelligent being”; having spoiled himself, he, in Pascal’s words, realizes that he is “something in between everything and nothing”; "to those who grasp only the appearance of phenomena, but are unable to understand either their beginning or their end"
Italy in the 17th century is a country with which the Renaissance style itself is associated, as they would say now - a trendsetter. However, at the same time, this country is sharply losing economic and political power and begins to play minor role in European politics. Moreover, usurpers - French and Spanish soldiers - come to its territory. The country becomes a divided semi-colony.
However cultural center Europe, Italy, and primarily Rome, still remained. Gradually, due to these, one might say, socio-economic factors, a new style begins to emerge, the first task of which was to create the illusion of wealth and power, to elevate catholic church and the Italian nobility, who had nothing but cultural leverage. Gradually, the Baroque begins to reject authorities and traditions as prejudices. The main leitmotif of the Baroque of that time was the rejection of the soul and the transition to enlightenment and reason.
However, it is not correct to consider the Baroque era solely as a time of transition from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Baroque represents an independent phase in the development of art and the reasons for its appearance are not only economic and political problems Italy. Moreover, Baroque, although it appeared in Italy, very quickly spread throughout Europe.
Based on this premise, it seems necessary to give general characteristics Western Europe XVII century.
Western Europe as a whole, during this period, enters a new era of socio-economic and political relations. This period is characterized primarily by the clash of class worldviews, the struggle of traditional feudalism and progressive capitalism. In a number of states (for example, France and Austria) centralization is taking place state power, transition to absolutism. However, this process itself is clearly uneven. Here are just a few examples from European countries:
A bourgeois revolution is already taking place in Holland, and bourgeois relations have developed;
In France, already mentioned, the absolute power of the king flourishes;
In England, the overthrow of the king and the bourgeois revolution take place;
Italy becomes a divided semi-colony;
Spain is a backward country;
Germany is a sum of small principalities, moreover, the Thirty Years' War is going on in it.
Throughout Europe, the leading social strata are becoming the bourgeoisie, peasantry and aristocracy. However, despite the uneven development of European countries in their culture, an increasing influence is being given to new fundamental points, which became the basis of the Baroque.
The ideological basis for the spread of the Baroque in Europe was the general weakening of spiritual culture, the split of the church - as a consequence of the decline in its authority, and the struggle of teachings that reflected the interests of different classes. Thus, Catholicism remained the ideological basis for feudal tendencies, while Protestantism reflected the interests of the bourgeoisie. At the same time, the role of state institutions is strengthening, and the struggle between secular and religious principles is intensifying. The natural sciences – optics, physics, thermodynamics and geography – are developing rapidly.
Thus, let us highlight the main reasons for the spread of Baroque.
Chronologically, Baroque appeared in the 17th century, in Italy, against the backdrop of a crisis of Renaissance ideas. During this period, Italy itself lost its economic and political significance and became a disunited semi-colony, while at the same time continuing to be the cultural center of Europe. Gradually, due to these socio-economic reasons, a new style begins to emerge, the first task of which was to create the illusion of wealth and power, the rise of the Catholic Church and the Italian nobility, who had nothing but cultural leverage;
At the same time, it is not correct to consider the Baroque era solely as a time of transition from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Baroque represents an independent phase in the development of art and the reasons for its appearance are not only the economic and political problems of Italy. Moreover, Baroque, although it appeared in Italy, very quickly spread throughout Europe. Based on this, it can be argued that the Baroque reflected the mood of the entire European society, was in demand, and therefore could not develop without prerequisites, and these prerequisites were largely different in different European countries;
The ideological basis for the spread of the Baroque in Europe was the general weakening of spiritual culture, the split of the church - as a consequence of the decline in its authority, and the struggle of teachings that reflected the interests of different classes. At the same time, the role of state institutions is strengthening, and the struggle between secular and religious principles is intensifying. The natural sciences – optics, physics, thermodynamics and geography – are developing rapidly. This means that the prerequisites appear for the main leitmotif of the Baroque - the rejection of the soul, anthropocentrism and the Renaissance as a whole, in favor of enlightenment and reason.
Typical specific features eras can be considered:
- 1. Strengthening religious themes, especially those related to martyrdom, miracles, visions;
- 2. Increased emotionality;
- 3. Great importance of irrational effects and elements;
- 4. Bright contrast, emotionality of images;
- 5. Dynamism (“the world of baroque is a world in which there is no peace” Bunin);
- 6. Gravitation towards generalizing and connecting forms: a) integral systems of philosophy; b) search for unity in the contradictions of life; c) in architecture: an oval in the line of the building; architectural ensembles; d) sculpture is subordinated to the general decorative design; e) in painting - refusal of rectilinear perspective, emphasizing the “infinity” of space; f) in music - the creation of cyclic forms (sonata, concert), multi-movement works (opera). In the Baroque era, works of art “actively seek to connect with others” (Lipatov). That. The master of the Baroque era thinks like a sculptor, an architect, and a decorator at the same time (Bernini’s “St. Peter’s Basilica”).
The special role of wit
The artistic concept of the Baroque, therefore, considers wit (anticipation of romantic irony) to be the main creative force. In many ways, the collapse of Renaissance ideals leads to this. Baroque wit is the ability to bring together dissimilarities. Precisely because the Baroque masters gave such great importance wit is born special treatment them to a metaphor, allegory, emblem, symbol (a more elegant, expressive way of expressing artistic meaning than medieval symbolization). In Baroque art, metaphors are represented both in stone and in words. Baroque art pays Special attention imagination, a plan that must be witty and amaze with novelty. Baroque allows into its sphere the ugly, the grotesque, the fantastic (again anticipating the romantics). The principle of bringing opposites together replaces the Renaissance principle of measure in Baroque art (for example, in Bernini, a heavy stone turns into the finest drapery of fabric, sculpture, in fact, gives a picturesque effect, architecture becomes like frozen music, the word merges with music, the fantastic is presented as real, the funny turns out to be tragic). The combination of planes of the superreal (surreal), mystical and naturalistic is first present in Baroque aesthetics, then manifests itself in romanticism and, finally, in surrealism. (It is no coincidence that the era that admires surrealism and gave birth to it has a nostalgic interest in Baroque music - T. Albinoni (1653-1706), G. F. Handel (1685-1759), G. Purcell (1659-1695), L. Boccherini (1743-1805).)
Mannerism(mannerism = from Italian manierismo - pretentiousness; or from Italian "maniera" - manner). According to other (less convincing!) information, at first the term denoted an individual pretentious style Italian poet Battista Marini (1569–1623) and from his proper name the name came artistic movement. The term came into wide use in the 20th century, but was used by Vasari in the 16th century. To Italian painting and architecture of the period 1520–1600. Later the term acquired a broader meaning.
Mannerism – artistic direction the Renaissance, which arose as a result of repulsion from Renaissance humanism. The artistic concept of the world and personality represented by mannerism can be formulated as follows: an exquisitely elegant person in a world of carefreeness and pretentious beauty. Mannerism does not abandon the humanistic ideals of the Renaissance, but faith in their feasibility is fading. At the same time, the subjectivity and allegorical nature of the image deepen. Mannerism originated in Florence in the 1920s. XVI century In the works of this direction, the vitally real is replaced by a conventional form - “la maniera”.
Mannerism – art style, characterized by ornamental language, original syntax and complicated speech (Latin-like syntax of Milton, balanced cadences of Gibbon, bizarre archaisms of Doughty), extravagant characters. Affection, loss of sense of proportion, unstable dynamic composition– stable features of the author’s style in mannerism. Mannerism neglected the “rules” derived from ancient classical art and established in Renaissance humanism.
The term "Baroque" itself" comes from the Portuguese perrola barroca, Spanish barrueco, Italian barocco = pearl of naturally irregular shape, strange, bizarre; or (according to other sources) from the Latin mnemonic designation for the figure of a syllogism - barroc; or from the medieval word baroco = absurd pedantry; originally the term meant "bad taste", formal sophistication of works.
This term was introduced by the critic Théophile Gautier simultaneously with the concepts of “arabesque” and “grotesque”. According to other scientists, the term was introduced in late XIX V. Swiss theorists J. Burckhardt and G. Wölfflin, who saw in the Baroque the ahistorical style of the final stages different cultures, opposed to the timeless Renaissance. Renaissance and Baroque were seen as alternating stylistic principles. Eugenio d'Ors considered the Baroque to be an ever-repeating phase in the development of civilizations, close to the "Dionysian" art of Nietzsche.
In the middle of the 18th century. the term "baroque" served to criticize the pretentious and extravagant style architecture XVII V. Later it lost its negative connotation and began to be applied to sculpture, painting, music, and literature. Baroque artistic thought is “dualistic.” Baroque revives the spirit late Middle Ages and opposes the monism of the Renaissance and Enlightenment.
Baroque stimulated the development of sacred and secular (court) art. The artistic concept of the Baroque is manifested through a system of images, and through a special style, and through the statement of the “Baroque man,” and through special forms life and culture, and through “baroque cosmism”. Baroque works are imbued with tragic pathos and reflected the confusion of a person deafened by feudal and religious wars, tossed between despair and hope and unable to find a real way out of the historical situation. The approaching era of entrepreneurship and private initiative was ready to turn the Rabelaisian humanistic slogan “do what you want” into Hobbes’s thesis: “Man is a wolf to man” and into a war of “all against all.” The Renaissance-humanistic belief in the power and universality of man faded.
Worldview-wise, Baroque is associated with the utopian and mystical teachings of J. Boehme and K. Kuhlmann. Torquato Tasso (1544–1595) – poet and theorist of the Baroque (“Discourse on the Heroic Poem”). His focus is on the theory of epic. Tasso relies on Aristotle, but unlike him, he gives preference not to tragedy, but to the heroic poem and builds his concepts on its material. Theory, according to Tasso, should create a pattern heroic poem by studying all existing poems. According to Tasso, poetry is the imitation of human actions in words (poetry attributes human actions to gods and animals). Nature is a secondary decoration, the main thing in poetry is man and everything human. Literature arouses our participation and serves as our edification. own life. Russian literary critic S. Shevyrev wrote: “... one cannot but agree that this thought of Tasso is extremely deep and brought honor to his theory” (Shevyrev. 1887. P. 92).
Tasso took a fresh look at the purpose of art and revealed its duality: 1) the poet’s disinterested (actually aesthetic) attitude to reality ( highest principle: the internal goal of art is pleasure, those who love it are generous and generous) and 2) social (state, political, civil) interest, benefit (the lowest principle: the external goal of art is social problems: citizenship is a necessary property of an artist; in the field of art, a poet must be a citizen).
Tasso is a defender in theory and a guide in practice of the Aristotelian principle of unity of action. He opposes Ariosto, who built his poem outside the principle of unity of action. Tasso writes: “The unity of action in our times has given rise to various and lengthy debates... Some recognized this unity as necessary; others, on the contrary, thought that multiple actions were more appropriate for a heroic poem. Defenders of unity refer to the power of Aristotle, to the greatness of the ancient Greek and the Latin poets. Ariosto disregarded the rules of Aristotle." Tasso believes that we value Ariosto's poem not because of, but despite the violation of unity. Tasso declares the unity of action to be the eternal law of epic poetry and asserts that the poem should be similar to the world created by God, and the latter has unity: “The world, containing in its bosom so many diverse objects, is one, one its form and essence, one knot connecting everything its parts by discordant agreement." Piece of art for Tasso - one world, holistic, internally closed, organized, cannot be changed in any of its parts without destroying the whole. For Tasso, the poet’s creativity is an imitation of God’s creativity. The poet, according to Tasso, seems to create his own world: “the art of constructing a poem” is similar “to the mind of the universe, which is a combination of opposites, like the mind of music.”
Just like carnival life, which manifested itself in life three or four months a year medieval society, affected carnival naturalism (later on the work of Rabelais), court life (the organization of festivals, triumphs, masquerades, processions) determined the Baroque style, full of exquisite metaphors and allegories.
Baroque music found its expression in the works of Vivaldi.
In Baroque painting there are Caravaggio, Rubens, Flemish and Dutch genre painting XVI–XVIII centuries
Baroque architecture was embodied in the work of Bernini. Baroque architecture is characterized by: expressive, internally balanced, pretentious style, irregular shapes, strange combinations, bizarre compositions, picturesqueness, pomp, plasticity, irrationality, dynamism, displacement of the central axis in the composition of the building, a tendency towards asymmetry. Baroque architecture is conceptual: the world is unstable, everything is changeable (there is no longer Renaissance personal freedom, there is still no classicist regulation). Baroque architectural works are monumental and full of mystical allegories.
The most important topic Baroque becomes tinged with horror of human suffering.
In Baroque works, the thirst for life and pleasures are combined with the horror of death, anticipation " doomsday", a feeling of "vanitas" (the frailty and futility of existence). The goal of Baroque is to evoke amazement.
The term "classicism""(from Lat. classicus) arose as a fixation of the main idea of the direction - imitation of classical models; the term was attributed to the literature of Greece and Rome; later it began to designate literature imitating Greco-Roman; another aspect of the use of the term: classicism - adherence classical principles and artistic tastes.
Classicism is an artistic movement of the French, and then European literature and art, which puts forward and approves an artistic concept: a person in an absolutist state puts duty to the state above personal interests. The artistic concept of the world of classicism is rationalistic, ahistorical and includes the ideas of statehood and stability (= sustainability).
Classicism is an artistic movement and style that developed from the end of the 16th century to late XVIII century, and in some countries (for example Russia) up to early XIX V. Classicism arose at the end of the Renaissance, with which it has a number of related features: 1) imitation of antiquity; 2) a return to the norms of classical art forgotten in the Middle Ages (hence its name).
The aesthetics and art of classicism arose on the foundation of the philosophy of Rene Descartes, which declared matter and spirit, feeling and reason as independent principles. This gap between feeling and reason is refracted in the tragedies of Corneille and Racine in central conflict personal feeling and public duty. Cartesianism approved the principle of “dividing wholes” and took doubt as its starting point. Descartes doubted everything that exists and built a logical chain: I doubt - that means I think, I think - that means I exist. Descartes (discourse on method) developed the principles of rationalism. He believed that grace in art is akin to female beauty, concluded not in a separate part, but in the harmony of all parts, when no one part prevails over the other and does not violate the perfection of the whole.
Classicism is normative and official; Thus, Richelieu instructed academician La Manardier to compare existing aesthetic concepts and compose one “piitic order” from them. Criticism and aesthetics, through the Academy, became the trendsetters of poetry.
The spirit of regulation, rationalism, and normativity in Boileau’s aesthetics makes itself felt in the principle of “following reason”: the artist must think clearly, subordinate form to content, be logical and consistent; his criterion of artistry is the work’s compliance with the requirements of reason. In progress artistic creativity Boileau sees two stages: 1) finding necessary thoughts; 2) them decoration. Creativity for Boileau is not artistic thinking, but thinking, formalized artistically.
Classicism established itself in an era when French absolutism acquired a historically positive meaning: it established civil peace in society, establishing a balance between the aristocracy and the third estate. France XVII V. acts as a civilizing principle and a guarantor of national unity, harmonizing the incompatible, uniting the incompatible. Absolutism was both a creative factor in social existence (the king acted as a mediator between the bourgeoisie and the nobility and softened their confrontation), and its limiting factor (it regulated the individual, enclosing him within the strict framework of statehood).
Awareness social conflict in French society and the historical impossibility of resolving it were reflected in the art of classicism (Cornel, Racine, Moliere, Boileau, La Fontaine).
The works of classicism are characterized by clarity, simplicity of expression, harmonious and balanced form; calmness, restraint in emotions, the ability to think and express oneself objectively, measure (Shaw. 1972), rational construction, unity (Frye. 1985), logic, formal perfection (harmony of forms), correctness, order
(Gray. 1984), proportionality of parts, balance, symmetry, strict composition, ahistorical interpretation of events, depiction of characters outside of their individualization.
Classicism borrowed the principle of three unities from the Greeks, but understood it in accordance with the needs of its own time. And when Dacier correctly explained Aristotle, the classicists continued to follow him in their interpretation. A number of Renaissance artists were guided by these three unities. The humanist from Lombardy Gian Giorgio Trissino, the author of Sophonisba (1515), the first Renaissance tragedy, followed in it the unity of place, time and action.
Corneille differs from Shakespeare in three unities and in his attitude to the opposition freedom - regulation (Shakespeare's hero is guided by the Rabelaisian principle "do what you want", Corneille's hero acts in accordance with duty).
In classicism, personality and its freedom (individual principle) were sacrificed to society and its institutions (social principle), and life required the development of both principles. This conflict and the historical impossibility of its resolution were reflected in classicism, and especially fully in the tragedy “The Cid” by Corneille. The individual is rooted in the sphere of feelings: love appears as the most high manifestation individuality. The social principle of the individual is most fully manifested, according to Corneille, in the area of duty. The conflict between individual feeling and public duty is the essence of a tragic collision. And not a single one actor in "Sid" this fatal conflict was not avoided; this leading contradiction permeates the actions and destinies of the heroes.
The art of classicism is characterized by civic pathos, statehood, faith in the power of reason, clarity and clarity of moral and aesthetic assessments.
Classicism is didactic and edifying. His images are aesthetically monochromatic, they are not characterized by volume or versatility. The works are built on one linguistic layer - “high style”, which does not absorb the richness of folk speech. Only comedy, a work of “low style,” allows itself the luxury of folk speech.
Comedy in classicism is a concentration of generalized traits opposite to virtue. There is a satire on bigotry, misanthropy, and ignorance. Abstract human vices become an object of ridicule, and starting point critics are abstract moral and aesthetic standards.
Moliere's satire is pointed against dishonest aristocrats, hypocritical clergy, and the bourgeoisie among the nobility. However, Moliere's satire is addressed not only to bad representatives of the elite of society, it also reveals universal human vices. For Moliere, human passions are eternal and art must show their universality. His satirical images relevant for all times. The thinking of a satirist is always oriented towards normativity. In his work, he proceeds from a clear distinction between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in society. Therefore, the nature of satire coincided surprisingly precisely with the principles of classicist thinking. This gave Moliere's comedies a special charm and grandeur.
