The victory of the feudal Catholic reaction, the economic and political upheavals that befell in the 16th century. Italy, put an end to the development of the Renaissance culture. The offensive of militant Catholicism on the conquests of the Renaissance was marked by the most severe persecution of people of advanced science, an attempt to subordinate art to the authority of the Catholic Church. The Inquisition mercilessly dealt with all who directly or indirectly opposed the dogmas of religion, against the papacy and the clergy. Fiends in robes send Giordano Bruno to the fire and chase Galileo. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) issues special decrees regulating religious painting and music, aimed at eradicating the secular spirit in art. Founded in 1540, the Jesuit Order actively intervenes in art issues, placing art at the service of religious propaganda.

By the beginning of the 17th century. the nobility and the church in Italy consolidate their political and ideological positions. The situation in the country remains difficult. The oppression of the Spanish monarchy, which seized the Kingdom of Naples and Lombardy, is further intensified, and the territory of Italy, as before, remains an arena of continuous wars and plunder, especially in the north, where the interests of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs and France collided (as evidenced, for example, by the capture and the sack of Mantua by imperial troops in 1630). Fragmented Italy is actually losing its national independence, having long ceased to play an active role in the political and economic life of Europe. Under these conditions, the absolutism of the small principalities acquired features of extreme reactionaryness.

Popular anger against the oppressors breaks out in spontaneous uprisings. Even at the very end of the 16th century. the remarkable thinker and scientist Tommaso Campanella became the head of the anti-Spanish conspiracy in Calabria. As a result of betrayal, the uprising was averted, and Campanella himself, after terrible torture, was sentenced to life imprisonment. In his famous essay "City of the Sun", written in prison, he lays out the ideas of utopian communism, reflecting the dream of an oppressed people for a happy life. In 1647, a popular uprising broke out in Naples, and in 1674 in Sicily. Especially formidable was the Neapolitan uprising, led by the fisherman Mazaniello. However, the scattered nature of the revolutionary actions doomed them to failure and defeat.

The plight of the people contrasts sharply with the overflowing luxury of the land and money aristocracy and high-ranking clergy. Lavish festivities, carnivals, the construction and decoration of palaces, villas and churches reach in the 17th century. unprecedented scope. The whole life and culture of Italy in the 17th century. are woven of sharp contrasts and irreconcilable contradictions, which are reflected in the contradictions of progressive science, in the clash of secular culture and Catholic reaction, in the struggle between conventionally decorative and realistic trends in art. The renewed interest in antiquity coexists with the preaching of religious ideas, sober rationalism of thinking is combined with a craving for the irrational, mystical. Along with advances in the exact sciences, astrology, alchemy, and magic flourish.

The popes, who ceased to claim the role of the leading political force in European affairs and became the first sovereign sovereigns of Italy, use the tendencies towards national unification of the country and centralization of power to strengthen the ideological dominance of the church and the nobility. Papal Rome becomes the center of not only Italian, but also European feudal-Catholic culture. Here the art of the Baroque is formed and flourishes.

One of the main tasks of the Baroque artists was to surround with an aura of grandeur and caste superiority of secular and ecclesiastical authorities, to promote the ideas of militant Catholicism. Hence the typical Baroque striving for monumental elevation, large decorative scope, exaggerated pathos and deliberate idealization in the interpretation of images. In the art of the Baroque, the contradictions between its social content, designed to serve the ruling elite of society, and the need to influence the broad masses, between the convention of images and their emphatically sensual form, are acutely expressed. In order to enhance the expressiveness of the images, Baroque masters resort to all kinds of exaggerations, hyperbole and naturalistic effects.

The harmonious ideal of Renaissance art was replaced in the 17th century. an attempt to reveal images through a dramatic conflict, through their psychological deepening. This led to the expansion of the thematic range in art, to the use of new means of figurative expression in painting, sculpture and architecture. But the artistic conquests of Baroque art were achieved at the cost of rejecting the integrity and completeness of the world perception of the Renaissance people, at the cost of rejecting the humanistic content of images.

The autonomy of each art form inherent in the art of the Renaissance, their equal relationship with each other is now being destroyed. Submitting to architecture, sculpture and painting organically merge into one common decorative whole. Painting seeks to expand the space of the interior illusory; sculptural decor, growing out of architecture, turns into a picturesque decoration; architecture itself sometimes becomes highly plastic, losing its strict architectonics, then, dynamically shaping the internal and external space, it acquires the features of picturesqueness.

In the baroque synthesis of arts, not only the fusion of separate types of art occurs, but also the fusion of the entire artistic complex with the surrounding space. Sculptural figures emerge from niches as if alive, hang from cornices and pediments; the interior space of buildings continues with the help of illusionistically interpreted plafonds. The internal forces, embedded in the architectural volumes, seem to find their way out in the adjacent colonnades, staircases, terraces and trellises, in decorative sculptures, fountains and cascades, in the fleeing perspectives of alleys. Nature, transformed by the skilful hand of a park decorator, becomes an integral part of the baroque ensemble.

This striving of art for a wide scope and general artistic transformation of the surrounding reality, limited, however, to the solution of outwardly decorative tasks, is to some extent consonant with the advanced scientific worldview of the era. Giordano Bruno's ideas about the universe, its unity and infinity opened new horizons for human cognition, posed an eternal problem of the world and man in a new way. In turn, Galileo, continuing the traditions of the Empirical science of the Renaissance, from the study of individual phenomena goes to the knowledge of the general laws of physics and astronomy.

The Baroque style had analogies in Italian literature and music. A typical phenomenon of the era was the pompous gallant-erotic lyrics of Marina and the whole trend in poetry generated by him, the so-called "marineism". Gravity artistic culture 17th century towards a synthetic union different types art received a response in the brilliant flowering of Italian opera and the emergence of new musical genres - cantata and oratorio. In the Roman opera of the 1630s, that is, the period of the mature baroque, decorative spectacle acquires great importance, subordinating both singing and instrumental music... They even try to stage purely religious operas full of ecstatic pathos and miracles, when the action covers the earth and sky, just as it was done in painting. However, like literature, where Marinism faced classicist opposition and was laughed at by leading satirical poets, opera very soon transcended court culture, expressing more democratic tastes. This was reflected in the penetration of folk song motives into the opera and the cheerful amusement of the plot in the spirit of commedia dell "arte (comedy of masks).

Thus, although the baroque was the dominant trend for 17th-century Italy, it far from encompassing the entire variety of cultural and artistic phenomena of that time. The realistic art of Caravaggio, which opened up painting of the 17th century, appears as the direct opposite of the whole aesthetics of the Baroque. Despite the social conditions unfavorable for the development of realism, genre-realistic tendencies in painting make themselves felt throughout the 17th century.

In all Italian fine art of the 17th century. one can name only two great masters of European significance - Caravaggio and Bernini. In a number of its manifestations, Italian art of the 17th century. bears a specific imprint of the decline of social life, and it is very significant that Italy, which earlier than other countries came out with a new realistic program in painting, turned out to be untenable in its consistent implementation. Incomparably brighter than painting, the historical significance is of Italian architecture, which, along with French, occupies a leading place in European architecture of the 17th century.

Baroque (artsy, bizarre) - a style that developed in the 17th and 1st half of the 18th centuries. In the art of a number of European countries, mainly in Italy, as well as in Spain, Germany, France.

Baroque art is characterized by grandeur, pomp and dynamics, pathetic elation, intensity of feelings, a predilection for spectacular spectacles, strong contrasts of scales and rhythms, materials and textures, light and shadow. The palaces and churches of Bulgaria, thanks to the luxurious, whimsical plasticity of the facades, the restless play of chiaroscuro, complex curvilinear plans and outlines, acquired picturesque and dynamism, merging into the surrounding space.

The domes acquire complex shapes, they are often multi-tiered, like those of St. Peter's in Rome. The characteristic details of the Baroque are the Atlanteans, Caryatids, and Mascarons. The ceremonial interiors of the buildings were decorated with multicolored moldings and carvings; mirrors and paintings of walls and plafonds illusoryly expanded the space. A combination of contrasting colors, rich color palettes (from emerald to burgundy). A popular combination is white and gold. Lines - convex-concave asymmetrical pattern; in the forms of a semicircle, rectangle, oval; vertical lines of columns; pronounced horizontal division. General symmetry. Exaggerated luxury, an abundance of murals, ornate furniture, decorated with stucco, inlay. Every corner of the interior is richly decorated.

Decorative compositions of a religious, mythological and allegorical character prevail in the visual arts. In painting - emotions, the unconstrained freedom of stroke, in sculpture - the pictorial fluidity of form, a sense of change. The famous master - architect and sculptor Bernini. In painting, the features of the Baroque were manifested in the work of Tiepolo, Rubens.

Russian Baroque developed in the first half of the 18th century, mainly in the architecture of Rastrelli and masters close to him. Shining examples are the ensembles of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, sculptural works of Rastrelli the father (Monument to Peter I, a portrait of Menshikov, "Anna Ioannovna with arapchonk").

Baroque architecture

Carlo Maderna - one of the founders of the Italian Baroque, a prominent representative of the Baroque in Italy. The main creation is the facade of the Roman Church of Santa Susanna (1603).

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini - the great Italian architect and sculptor, the largest representative of the Roman and all Italian Baroque. His work is considered to be the standard of baroque aesthetics. The most famous work Bernini - St. Peter's Square and Cathedral in Rome. The square is framed by semicircular colonnades of the Tuscan order designed by Bernini, which, in combination with the cathedral, form the symbolic shape of the "Key of St. Peter". In the middle is an Egyptian obelisk.

St. Peter's Square in Rome

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli - the famous Russian architect of Italian origin, academician of architecture. Two of his most famous works are the Smolny Monastery ensemble and the Winter Palace with its famous Jordan Staircase. Famous Kiev projects of Rastrelli are the Mariinsky Palace and St. Andrew's Church in Kiev. Built by order of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna under the leadership of I.F. Michurin.

Baroque was the dominant style of 17th century Italian art, primarily in architecture and sculpture. But along with it there was a realistic trend, which found its fullest expression in the works of the artist Caravaggio, who had a tremendous impact on the development of all realistic painting in Europe.

Baroque painting.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610)

"Young man with a lute". A violin, notes, fruits are on the table in front of him. All these objects are painted with honed skill in their dense roundness, materiality, tangibility. Chiaroscuro the face and figure are glorified, the dark background emphasizes the saturation of the forward light tones, the objectivity of everything presented. Caravaggio claims the superiority of direct reproduction of life. He opposes the morbid grace of the still widespread mannerism and the pathetics of the developing Baroque to the simplicity and naturalness of everyday life. Generalizing the forms, revealing the essential, he endows the simplest objects with significance and monumentality. Caravaggio's compositions with figures cut to the waist are precisely constructed, they have a strict regularity, integrity, isolation, bringing Caravaggio closer to the masters of the Renaissance. This gives monumentality and significance not only to his everyday life, but also to religious scenes, such as, for example, "The Disbelief of Thomas."

"Young man with a lute"

Caravaggio boldly interprets religious images, without fear of rudeness and harshness, giving them features of similarity with the common people. He finds his heroes among fishermen, artisans, soldiers - whole people, endowed with strength of character. With sharp contrasts of light and shade, he enhances the powerful, almost plastic modeling of forms, bringing the figures closer to the foreground of the picture, showing them in complex angles, emphasizing their significance and monumentality.

The composition "The Calling of the Apostle Matthew" is resolved as a genre scene - which depicts two young men in costumes fashionable at that time, looking with curiosity at the incoming Christ. Matthew turned his gaze to Christ, while the third youth, without raising his head, continues to count the money. A bright ray of light, penetrating the open door, pulls out living, highly characteristic figures from the darkness of the room. The black-and-white solution contributes not only to the identification of the volumes of forms, but also enhances the dramatic effectiveness, emotionality of the image.

Saints and great martyrs appear as strong, full-blooded people in the works of Caravaggio: the simple-minded rude Matthew, the stern, inspired Peter and Paul. There is nothing unusual in their plastic-tangible figures. Most of the composition "The Conversion of Paul" is occupied by the image of a horse, under whose hooves one can see the figure of the prostrate young Paul, illuminated with bright light, presented from an unusually complex perspective. Using optical effects, the artist achieves monumentality and strength of the overall solution.

In the later works of Caravaggio, the drama of the worldview is enhanced. The unity and intensity of action, mood, completeness and uniqueness of compositional constructions, the amazing power of chiaroscuro modeling give them the character of real scenes, full of great feelings and thoughts. From picture to picture, the tragic power of Caravaggio's images grows. In the painting "The Laying in the Coffin" against a deep dark background, a closely-knit group of people close to Christ stands out with bright light, lowering his body into the grave. They are rude and restrained in their feelings, but the movement of each is marked by a special concentration. And only Mary's hands, raised in a pathetic fit of despair, set off the harsh sorrow of the other characters, contrasting with the oppressive weight of the lifeless body of Christ. The tombstone, at the edge of which the carriers of the body stopped, emphasizes the solidity of the entire group. A view from below enhances the impression of grandeur.

The artist achieves tremendous emotionality in the composition "The Assumption of Mary", the captivating sincerity of the experiences that are expressed in the poses, gestures, and faces of the sorrowful disciples of Christ who surrounded the bed of the deceased. Everything here is subordinated to the expression of the woeful consciousness of the tragedy of life, the inevitability of its end. In essence, these are images of courageous people from the people, endowed with depth of perception, significance and, at the same time, the spontaneity of expression of complex emotional movements. The sharpness of observation in the characterization of each character is combined with monumental laconism and tragic grandeur.

The impact of Caravaggio's work on the development of realism in European art was enormous. In Italy itself, there were many of his followers, who were called caravaggists. But his influence outside the borders of Italy was even more significant. Not a single major painter of that time passed by the passion for caravaggism, which was an important stage on the path of European realistic art.

Moscow State Regional University

Art History Abstract

17th century Italian art.

Performed:

correspondence student

33 groups of the faculty of fine arts and art

Minakova Evgeniya Yurievna.

Checked:

Moscow 2009

Italy in the 17th century

· Architecture. Baroque style in architecture.

· Architecture. Early Baroque.

· Architecture. High, or mature, baroque.

· Architecture. Baroque architecture outside Rome.

· Art. General characteristics.

· Art. Early Baroque.

· Art. Realistic flow.

· Art. The second generation of Bologna school painters.

· Art. High, or mature, baroque.

· Art. Later Baroque.

Already from the middle of the 16th century, the historical development of Italy was characterized by the advance and victory of the feudal-Catholic reaction. Economically weak, fragmented into separate independent states, Italy is unable to resist the onslaught of more powerful countries - France and Spain. The long struggle of these states for domination in Italy ended with the victory of Spain, enshrined in the peace treaty at Cato Cambresi (1559). From that time on, the fate of Italy was closely linked with Spain. With the exception of Venice, Genoa, Piedmont, and the Papal States, Italy was effectively a Spanish province for nearly two centuries. Spain involved Italy in devastating wars, which often took place on the territory of the Italian states, contributed to the spread and strengthening of feudal reaction in Italy, both in the economy and in cultural life.

The dominant position in the social life of Italy was occupied by the aristocracy and the highest Catholic clergy. In the conditions of the country's deep economic decline, only the large secular and church feudal lords still possessed significant material wealth. The Italian people - peasants and townspeople - were in an extremely difficult situation, doomed to poverty and even extinction. The protest against feudal and foreign oppression finds expression in numerous popular uprisings that broke out throughout the 17th century and sometimes took formidable proportions, such as the Mazaniello uprising in Naples.

The general nature of the culture and art of Italy in the 17th century was due to all the features of its historical development. It is in Italy that originates and receives greatest development baroque art. However, being dominant in 17th century Italian art, this trend was not the only one. In addition to him and in parallel with him, realistic trends are developing, associated with the ideology of the democratic strata of Italian society and receiving significant development in many artistic centers of Italy.

The monumental architecture of Italy in the 17th century satisfied almost exclusively the needs of the Catholic Church and the highest secular aristocracy. During this period, mainly church buildings, palaces and villas were built.

The difficult economic situation in Italy made it impossible to build very large structures. At the same time, the church and the highest aristocracy needed to strengthen their prestige, their influence. Hence - the desire for unusual, extravagant, ceremonial and sharp architectural solutions, the desire for increased decorativeness and sonority of forms.

The construction of imposing, albeit not so large, structures contributed to the creation of the illusion of social and political well-being of the state.

The Baroque reaches its greatest tension and expression in religious, church buildings; its architectural forms perfectly corresponded to religious principles and ritual side of militant Catholicism. By building numerous churches, the Catholic Church sought to strengthen and strengthen its prestige and influence in the country.

The Baroque style, developed in the architecture of this time, is characterized, on the one hand, by the desire for monumentality, on the other, by the predominance of the decorative and pictorial principle over the tectonic one.

Like works visual arts, monuments of Baroque architecture (especially church buildings) were designed to enhance the emotional impact on the viewer. The rational principle, which underlies the art and architecture of the Renaissance, gave way to the irrational principle, static, calmness - to dynamics, tension.

Baroque is a style of contrasts and uneven distribution of compositional elements. Large and juicy curvilinear, arched shapes are of particular importance in it. Baroque structures are characterized by frontality, facade construction. Buildings are perceived in many cases from one side - from the side of the main facade, which often obscures the volume of the structure.

Baroque pays great attention to architectural ensembles - city and park, but the ensembles of this time are based on different principles than the ensembles of the Renaissance. Baroque ensembles in Italy are based on decorative principles. They are characterized by isolation, comparative independence from the general planning system of the urban area. An example is the largest ensemble of Rome - the square in front of the Cathedral of St. Peter.

Colonnades and decorative walls, closing the space in front of the cathedral's entrance, covered up the chaotic, random buildings behind them. There is no connection between the square and its adjoining complex network of lanes and random houses. Individual buildings that make up the baroque ensembles seem to lose their independence, completely obeying the general compositional concept.

The Baroque posed the problem of the synthesis of arts in a new way. Sculpture and painting, which play a very important role in the buildings of this time, intertwining with each other and often obscuring or illusory deforming architectural forms, contribute to the creation of that impression of saturation, splendor and splendor that baroque monuments invariably produce.

Michelangelo's work was of great importance for the formation of a new style. In his works, he developed a number of forms and techniques that were later used in Baroque architecture. The architect Vignola can also be described as one of the immediate predecessors of the Baroque; a number of early signs of this style can be noted in his works.

The new style - the Baroque style in Italian architecture - replaced the Renaissance in the 80s of the 16th century and developed throughout the 17th and first half of the 18th century.

Conventionally, within the architecture of this time, three stages can be distinguished: early baroque - from the 1580s to the end of the 1620s, high, or mature, baroque - until the end of the 17th century and later - the first half of the 18th century.

The architects Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana are considered to be the first baroque masters. They belonged to the next generation in relation to Vignola, Alessi, Ammanati, Vasari and ended their activities at the beginning of the 17th century. At the same time, as noted earlier, the traditions of the late Renaissance continued to live in the works of these masters.

Giacomo della Porta. Giacomo della Porta (1541-1608) was a pupil of Vignola. Its early construction - the Church of the Site of Catharina in Funari (1564) - in its style belongs to the Renaissance. However, the façade of the church del Gesu, which this architect completed after Vignola's death (from 1573), is much more baroque than the original project of his teacher. The façade of this church, with its characteristic division into two tiers and lateral volutes, and the building plan, have become a model for a number of Catholic churches in Italy and other countries. After the death of Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta completed the construction of the large dome of the Cathedral of St. Peter. This master was also the author of the famous Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati near Rome (1598-1603). As usual, the main building of the villa is located on the side of a mountain; a double-sided rounded ramp leads to the main entrance. A garden adjoins the building on the opposite side. At the foot of the mountain there is a semicircular grotto with arches; above it there is a water cascade framed by stairs. The building itself is of a very simple prismatic shape, topped off by a huge torn pediment.

In the composition of the villa, in the park structures that make it up and in the nature of the plastic details, the striving for deliberate beauty and refinement of architecture, so characteristic of the Baroque in Italy, is clearly manifested.

At the time under consideration, the system of the Italian park was finally taking shape. It is characterized by the presence of a single park axis located on a mountainside with numerous slopes and terraces. The main building is located on the same axis. A typical example of such a complex is Villa Aldobrandini.

Domenico Fontana. Another major early Baroque architect was Domenico Fontana (1543-1607), who belonged to the Roman successors of Michelangelo and Vignola. His largest work is the Lateran Palace in Rome. The palace, in the form that Fontana gave it, is an almost regular square with a square courtyard enclosed inside. The facade solution of the palace is completely based on the architecture of the Palazzo Farnese - Antonio Sangallo the Younger. In general, the palace construction of Italy in the 17th century is based on the further development of that compositional type of palace-palazzo, which was developed by the architecture of the Renaissance.

Together with his brother Giovanni Fontana, Domenico built the Aqua Paolo fountain in Rome in 1585-1590 (without the attic, made later by Carlo Maderno). Its architecture is based on the reworking of the forms of antique triumphal arches.

Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio glorified the famous chiaroscuro. The figures in his paintings seem to protrude from the darkness, captured by bright rays of light. This method was adopted by numerous followers after the artist's death.

Taking Christ into custody, 1602

The art of Caravaggio had a huge impact on the work of not only many Italian, but also the leading Western European masters of the 17th century - Rubens, Jordaens, Georges de Latour, Zurbaran, Velazquez, Rembrandt. Caravaggists appeared in Spain (Jose Ribera), France (Trofim Bigo), Flanders and the Netherlands (Utrecht caravaggists - Gerrit and Willem van Honthorsty, Hendrik Terbruggen, Judith Leister) and other European countries, not to mention Italy itself (Orazio Gentileschi, his daughter Artemisia Gentileschi).

"Entombment" (1603)

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (September 29, 1571, Milan - July 18, 1610, Porto Ercole) - Italian artist, reformer of 17th century European painting, founder of realism in painting, one of the greatest masters of the Baroque. One of the first to apply the style of writing "Chiaroscuro" - a sharp opposition of light and shadow. Not a single drawing or sketch was found, the artist immediately realized his complex compositions on canvas.

Milan 1571-1591

Son of the architect Fermo Merisi and his second wife Lucia Aratori, daughter of a landowner from the town of Caravaggio, near Milan. His father served as manager of the Marquis Francesco Sforza da Caravaggio. In 1576, during the plague, his father and grandfather died, the mother and children moved to Caravaggio.

David and Goliath 1599

The first patrons of the future artist were the Duke and Duchess of Colonna.In 1584, in Milan, Michelangelo Merisi came to the studio of Peterzano, who was considered a student of Titian. While in artistic world Mannerism prevailed in Italy, but the positions of Lombard realism were strong in Milan.

The first works of the artist, painted in Milan, genre scenes and portraits, have not survived to this day.

By the end of the 1580s, the life of the hot-tempered Merisi was overshadowed by scandals, fights and imprisonments that would accompany him throughout his life.

In 1589, the artist comes home to sell his land plot, apparently in need of money. The last time he visits the house after the death of his mother in 1590. In the fall of 1591, he is forced to flee Milan after a quarrel over a card game that ended in murder. Arriving first in Venice, he goes to Rome.

The Calling of the Apostle Matthew (1600)

Rome 1592-1594

In the capital as usual italian artists from that time he gets a nickname associated with the place of birth, as, for example, it was with Veronese or Correggio. So Michelangelo Merisi became Caravaggio.

In 1593, Caravaggio entered the workshop of Cesari d'Arpino, who commissioned Caravaggio to paint flowers and leaves on frescoes. In d'Arpino's workshop, he met patrons and artists, in particular, Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Early works of Caravaggio were written under the influence of Leonardo da Vinci (he met “Madonna of the Rocks” and “The Last Supper” in Milan), Giorgione, Titian, Giovanni Bellini, Mantegna.The first painting that has come down to us is "Boy Peeling Fruit" (1593).In d'Arpino's workshop, Caravaggio meets Mario Minniti, who became his pupil and model for a number of paintings, the first of which is "A Young Man with a Basket of Fruit" (1593-1594).

"Boy with a Basket of Fruit", 1593-94, Borghese Gallery

After a fight, Caravaggio ends up in the Tor di Nona prison, where he meets with Giordano Bruno.Soon he breaks up with Cesari d'Arpino, and the homeless Caravaggio has invited Antiveduto Grammar to his place.

In 1593 he fell ill with Roman fever (one of the names of malaria), for six months he was in the hospital on the verge of life and death. Perhaps, under the impression of illness, he creates the painting "Sick Bacchus" (1593) - his first self-portrait.

Sick Bacchus (detail) (1593), Borghese Gallery

The first multi-figure paintings were created in 1594 - these are "Sharkers" and "Fortune Teller" (Capitoline Museums). Georges de Latour would later write his Fortune Teller with an identical composition.

"Sharkers" (1594)

The Fortune Teller (1594)

In the fall of 1594, Caravaggio began working for Cardinal Francesco del Monte, moved to his Villa Madama, where he met Galileo, Campanella, Della Porta, the poets Marino and Milesi.

Rome 1595-1599

This period of his life, spent at the Villa Madama, turned out to be very fruitful for Caravaggio, in addition, the paintings created at this time, almost all have survived to this day.In the painting The Musicians (1595), Mario Minniti is depicted in the center, and the artist has placed himself with a horn next to it.

The Musicians (1595). Caravaggio wrote himself with a horn between two musicians

In the image of Cupid with grapes, some researchers see an erotic allusion to a relationship with Minniti. Minnity is also depicted in the painting "Boy Bitten by a Lizard" (1596, London), sold to art dealer Valentino.

"The Boy Bitten by a Lizard"

In 1595, despite the recommendations given by Gentileschi, Grammar, Prospero Orsi, Caravaggio was refused admission to the Academy of St. Luke. The main opponent of Caravaggio's admission to the Academy was its president, Federico Zuccaro. He believed that the effects of Caravaggio's painting were the result of an extravagant character, and that his paintings owe their success only to their "shade of novelty", which was highly valued by wealthy patrons.

In 1596, Caravaggio created the first still life in the history of Italian painting - "Fruit Basket".

Fruit Basket (1596), Ambrosiana Pinacoteca, Milan

In The Lute Player (1596, Hermitage), the score turned out to be easy to read, it was Jacob Arkadelt's madrigal “You know that I love you”. To whom this message is addressed is unknown.

He writes such canvases as:

Bacchus (1596)

And also "Courtesan Phyllida" (1597), "Portrait of Maffeo Barberini" (1598).In 1597, an order was received from Cardinal del Monte to paint the ceiling of his residence. This is how the only fresco by Caravaggio "Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto" appeared.

Caravaggio's paintings are becoming popular.The paintings that brought Caravaggio's true fame biblical stories - innovative in execution is "Rest on the Flight into Egypt" (1597). "The main advantage of the painting is a masterfully recreated light-air environment, creating an atmosphere of poetry and peace, complemented by a modest landscape, painted under the obvious impression of memories of native Lombardy with its reeds, sedge by the water surface, silvery poplars against the background of a hilly ridge and an evening blue sky"

Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1597)

He also wrote The Ecstasy of St. Francis "(1595)," The Sacrifice of Isaac "(1598).

Ecstasy of St. Francis, 1595

"The Sacrifice of Isaac"

First female image in the work of Caravaggio - "The Penitent Mary Magdalene" (1597), shows the artist's ability to deeply and poetically significant interpretation of the image. The painting was sold to the banker and art patron Vincenzo Giustignani.

"Penitent Mary Magdalene"

She was followed by

"Saint Catherine of Alexandria" (1598)

Martha and Mary (1598)

"Judith Beheading Holofernes" (1598) demonstrates that Caravaggio in his realism does not shy away from deliberately naturalistic effects

In John the Baptist (1598), Michelangelo's influence is noticeable:

Caravaggio became famous. He leaves Madama's villa and moves to the house of the banker and collector Chiriaco Mattei, who bought the Fortune Teller. After a quarrel with Caravaggio, Mario Minniti got married and left for Sicily.

Rome 1600-1606

For several months, Caravaggio hid in the Colonna estate. There he painted several paintings, but his style became gloomy: "Saint Francis in Meditation" (1606), "Supper at Emmaus" (1606). The figure of Christ resembles Leonardo's fresco "The Last Supper".

Caravaggio moves to Naples, where he painted more than ten paintings, although not all have survived:

"Ecstasy of the Magdalene" (1606)

"Christ at the Column" (1607)

"Salome with the Head of John the Baptist" (1607)

Commissioned by the church of Pio Monte della Misericordia, he painted with great pictorial energy the painting "Seven Deeds of Mercy" (1607), which is still in this church.

Suddenly, in July 1607, Caravaggio went to Malta - to La Valetta.

"St. Jerome "(1608)

H apisan by him for the Cathedral of San Giovanni dei Cavalieri, he liked the Grand Master of the Order of Malta Alof de Vignacur. Caravaggio paints portraits of Alof de Vignacura, later highly regarded by Delacroix, and fellow master Antonio Martelli.

On July 14, 1608, Caravaggio becomes a Knight of the Order of Malta without the right to wear the Maltese Cross, since he was not a nobleman.

In the 17th century, Italy was no longer the advanced country that it was during the Renaissance. The country was fragmented into small principalities, engulfed in constant civil strife, captured by foreign domination. Left as a result of the great geographical discoveries away from the main economic centers, Italy in the 17th century is experiencing a deep crisis. However, the level, one might say the degree, of artistic life, the intense spiritual work of the nation, the tone of culture do not always depend on the level of economic and political development. Often, in some inexplicable way, in the harshest, most unsuitable conditions, on the stony, most unfavorable soil, a beautiful flower of high culture and art stunning in height blooms. This happened in Italy at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries, when Rome, relying on a centuries-old cultural tradition, 30-40 years earlier than other European countries reacted to the changes in the historical era, to new problems that the new era posed to European culture. For a short period of time, Italy revives its influence on the artistic life of the continent, it is here that the first works of the new Baroque style appear. Here his character and spirit are formed. Baroque in Italy was a logical continuation of the achievements of art from previous eras, for example, the late work of Michelangelo or Italian architecture of the last quarter of the 16th century. The principles of baroque art were first formed in the architecture of Rome, which was the center of the development of architectural thought at the turn of the century and attracted a huge number of masters from different countries.

The image of the Il-Gesu church turned out to be so relevant, close to the spirit of the era, and reflecting new features of the worldview, that it became the prototype for many Catholic churches in Italy, as well as throughout Europe.

Il-Jezu Church

An example is the church in Santa Susanna, built at the very turn of the century by the architect Carl Moderna. Its façade is somewhat more compact than in Il-Jezu, all forms and details are united by a common upward-directed rhythm, which is not interrupted by the entablature dividing the tiers. On the contrary, the front of the first floor seems to be repeating itself in the energetic take-off of the main pediment. The rhythm that begins at the foot of the columns of the first tier is actively picked up by the rhythm of the pilasters on the second floor. This unification of the entire facade in a single energetic rhythm is emphasized by the repetition of the elements of the order on a different scale, as well as by two volutes that have become iconic details of the era. The richness of the façade is enhanced by the active plasticity of Corinthian capitals blooming with lush acanthus leaves and flowers. Thanks to the volumetric cartouches and reliefs, as well as thanks to the statues placed in the niches of the facade, the plastic is enhanced.

Santa susanna

All these details, their complex dynamic interaction, tension of surfaces and contrasts of light and shade enhance the decorative expressiveness of the facade. The wall turns into a single architectural mass endowed with plasticity and dynamics, and as if subordinate to the laws of organic life. It is not by chance that we now dwell in such detail on the analysis of the architecture of these monuments of Baroque architecture. They already crystallize in their entirety the characteristic features, details that will develop in the European architecture of the 17th century, manifesting themselves to a greater or lesser extent in different national schools. The key monument of this era, on the one hand, summing up the results of the previous development, and on the other hand, opening the beginning of a new post-Renaissance stage, is the Il-Jezu church, built according to Vignola's project in 1568.The most striking part of the church - the facade was completed 10 years later according to the project of the architect Jacom della Porta (Fig. 1). The basilical plan of the church has been slightly modified in accordance with the needs and requirements of Catholic worship. The central nave with a semi-domed space dominating over it and an accented altar part is framed on the sides by small chapels, into which the side aisles have been turned. Such division of the internal space is not reflected in any way on the exterior of the temple, on the organization of its facade, on which all the means of architectural design and decor are concentrated. The two tiers of the facade are united by huge volutes, one of the favorite elements of Baroque architecture. The order on the facade is not a reflection of the internal division of the interior. Rather, he simply rhythmically organizes the wall - saturated with its rhythms and internal energy. This restrained, saturated energy is also given by the semicircular pediment above the central portal, which resembles in its outlines a curved bow, preparing to shoot, to straighten, and also semicircles framed by windows.

We will see the characteristic plasticity considered by us, the activity, the dynamism of the facade in an even more pronounced version in other works of the Italian Baroque temple architecture XVII century, for example in the church of Sant'Ignazio, built in the middle of the 17th century by the architect Allegradi, in the church of Sant'Agnese in the middle of the century and the church of Santa Maria in Compitelli by architects Carlo Rainaldi and Borromini. I would especially like to note the spatial activity of baroque architecture and its connection with the surrounding space of the square, street, city.

Santa Maria in Compitelli

In addition to the expressiveness of the plastic of the facade itself, a staircase plays an important role in the communication of the building with the environment, such as the staircase on the eastern facade of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, built in 1673 by the already mentioned architect Carlo Rainaldi. This famous staircase, which rises in three steps to the walls of the temple, as if it continues the semicircular protrusion of the eastern apse outside, connects the building with the surrounding space.

Santa Maria Maggiore

Detailed semicircular, curved, elastic forms were loved by Baroque architecture, close to its actively translating itself outward rhythm, as, for example, in the church of Santa Maria della Pace, mid-17th century by architect Pietro de Cortona, where the lower tier of the facade bends with an elastic arc into the outer the space of the street, the portico takes on a semicircular outline.

Santa Maria de la Pace.

This energetic arc is repeated both in the large central window of the second floor, and in the semicircular pediment, inscribed in the pediment, the triangular crowning the building. Another famous staircase in Baroque architecture is the royal staircase or the so-called "rock of regia" built by Lorenzo Bernini in 1663-1666, it connects the Cathedral of St. Peter and the Vatican Palace. In this building, Bernini resorts to a promising trick, to the game of the generally characteristic Baroque architecture. As you move away from the bottom landing, the staircase narrows, and the columns placed on its steps approach and decrease in height. The steps themselves received different heights. All this creates a special effect. The staircase seems much higher than it really is.

It creates the impression of a huge scale and great length, which in turn makes the appearance of the pope especially effective, his appearance in the cathedral during a divine service.

Built in form at its most extreme, Baroque principles are embodied in the works of the architect Francesco Borromini. In the works of this master, the expression of forms reaches its maximum strength, and the plasticity of the wall acquires an almost sculptural activity. An excellent illustration of these words is the facade of the Church of San Carlo alle Cuatro Fontane in Rome, built in 1634-1667. This temple is located at the corner of two streets converging to the square of four fountains, and at the same time Borromini takes the main facade of the church not to the square, but turns it into one of the narrow streets.

San Carlo alle Cuatro Fontane

This technique creates a very interesting point of view of the church, diagonally, from the side, with an intensified play of chiaroscuro. In addition, such an arrangement of the facade in relation to the interior space of the building completely confuses the viewer. The exterior does not say anything about the interior, it exists as if by itself, regardless of the organization of the internal space. This is a significant change in the architecture of the 17th century. In contrast to the architecture of the Renaissance, where the structure of the building was always clearly and clearly read. The order ceases to play a constructive role in baroque architecture. It becomes only a decorative detail that serves to express the architectural appearance of the building. This can be clearly seen in the example of the façade of the Church of San Carlo alle Cuatro Fontane, where the order loses the logic of architectonics. In both the first and second tiers of the facade, we see round columns instead of the traditional pilasters on the second floor. In this facade, we actually do not see the wall, it is all filled with various decorative elements. The wall dissolves, as if the whole is playing with waves, now protruding in round columns-protrusions, now bending, as if going deep inward with semicircular, rectangular niches-windows. The entablatures bend inward and outward, the divisions are not completed, the entablature of the second floor is torn in the center, where an oval cartouche is placed, supported by two flying angels. The complicated dynamics of the facades and the intense plasticity of the exteriors of Borromini's churches are continued in the interiors of his churches, for example, in the church of Sant Ivo in 1642–1660. In the plan, it is a rectangle, where niches of various shapes alternate between the triangular protrusions of the walls. It seems that the interior is devoid of internal logic, it is not symmetrical, impulsive and directed upward, where it is crowned with a complex star-shaped dome.

The domes of baroque churches usually had a complex architectural and decorative design, combining caissons of various shapes and sizes, sculptural decoration, which enhanced the impression of movement and the take-off of forms. Such a synthesis of arts characteristic of the Baroque, where architecture, sculpture and painting serve the common purpose of expressiveness of the work, we will see in the best works of Baroque architecture. Wonderful monuments of secular architecture - palazzo, palaces of nobility, city and country residences, villas were created in Italy by Baroque architects.

Perhaps the most striking example of such a structure can be the Palazzo Barberini in Rome in 1625-1663, in the construction of which the best architects of Italy of the 17th century Carlo Moderno, Lorenzo Bernini, Francesco Borromini, Pietro de Cortona took part. The external and internal layouts of the palace are in baroque style. From the side of the street, the extended wings form a ceremonial courtyard in front of the main facade of the palazzo, which is designed in the best reserved traditions of Baroque architecture. In the interior, thanks to the enfilade structure of the space, it opens up to the viewer gradually, like solemn scenes in a theatrical performance. Baroque inherits from previous eras the typology of a country villa, a residence of the nobility, which turns into a solid Baroque ensemble with a terraced park on the hillside connected by stairs and ramps. Favorite Baroque dynamics is also expressed in the frequent use of fluid surfaces of water in ensembles - cascades, ponds, grottoes, fountains, in combination with small sculptural architectural forms, with natural and sheared greenery. For example, this is the Villa Aldobrandini in Foscatti, architects Giacoma della Porta and Carlo Moderno.

Villa Borghese

Villa Pamphilj, built in the middle of the 17th century by the architect Alegardi, and the Villa Borghese, built in the first half of the 17th century by the architect Vazanzio Freemi. Such an ensemble character of Baroque architecture turned out to be very popular and necessary in the 17th century, when medieval cities began to be rebuilt, when projects for redevelopment of individual parts of urban spaces appeared. For example, according to the plan of Domenico Fontano, the main entrance to Rome from the north was connected with the most significant ensembles of the city. Three straight streets radiated from Piazza del Popollo, and the area of \u200b\u200bthe square was united by two domed churches of the architect Rainaldi, identical symmetrically placed at the corners, as well as obelisks and fountains. The detailed three-beam city planning system, which first appeared in Italy, will become popular in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. We can see its embodiment even in the layout of St. Petersburg.

It is no coincidence that St. Peter's Square in Rome, designed by Lorenzo Bernini in 1657-1663, is recognized as the best architectural ensemble of Italy in the 17th century.

St. Petra

In this project, the architect solved several problems at once. Firstly, this is the creation of a solemn approach to the cathedral - the main temple of the Catholic world, as well as the design of the space in front of it, intended for religious ceremonies and celebrations. Secondly, this is the achievement of the impression of the compositional unity of the cathedral, a building that was built over two centuries by different architects of different styles. And Bernini copes with both tasks brilliantly. From the facade, built at the beginning of the 17th century by the architect Carlo Moderna, two galleries leave and then turn into a colonnade, which, in Bernini's words, “embraces the square as if with open arms”. The colonnade becomes like a continuation of the modern facade, developing its motives. An obelisk stands in the center of the huge square, and the fountains on either side of it fix its transverse axis. When moving through the square, the viewer perceives the cathedral as a changing sequence of views and angles in a complex movement and development of impressions. The facade, on the other hand, rises in front of the viewer at the moment of direct approach to him, when he finds himself in front of a trapezoidal square in front of the very facade of the cathedral. Thus, the stunning grandeur of the cathedral is prepared by the gradual increase in the dynamics of movement when moving through the square.

Late Baroque architecture in Italy did not give such monuments equivalent to works of the early and mature Baroque in their artistic quality and height of style. The architects of the last third of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century vary in many variants the techniques of baroque architecture, often exaggerating forms, overloading, overly complicating plastics and rhythms. One of the best examples of late Baroque architecture is the work of the architect Guarino Guarini, who worked mainly in northern Italy. The Church of San Lorenzo in Turin, which amazes with the pretentiousness and redundancy of its forms, is one of his most typical works.

Sant Lorenzo in Turin.

Baroque architecture in Italy created stunning works that had a huge impact on the entire European culture of the 17th century.