Historical epochs in correct order. Epochs of painting: main characteristics

3. AGES AND PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY

The history of mankind has many hundreds of thousands of years. If in the middle of the XX century. it was believed that man began to stand out from the animal world 600 thousand - 1 million years ago, then modern anthropology, the science of the origin and evolution of man, came to the conclusion that man appeared about 2 million years ago. This is the generally accepted view, although there are others. According to one hypothesis, human ancestors appeared in Southeast Africa 6 million years ago. These two-legged creatures did not know tools for more than 3 million years. They got their first tool 2.5 million years ago. About 1 million years ago, these people began to settle throughout Africa, and then beyond.

The two-million-year history of mankind is usually divided into two extremely uneven eras - primitive and civilizational (Fig. 2).

civilizational era

primeval era

about 2 million

years BC e.

BC e. frontier

Rice. 2. Epochs in the history of mankind

Epoch primitive society accounts for more than 99% of human history. The primitive era is usually divided into six unequal periods: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age.

Paleolithic, the ancient Stone Age, is divided into the early (lower) Paleolithic (2 million years BC - 35 thousand years BC) and the late (upper) Paleolithic (35 thousand years BC - 10 thousand years BC). During the early Paleolithic, man penetrated the territory of Eastern Europe and the Urals. The struggle for existence during the Ice Age taught man to make fire, to make stone knives; the proto-language and the first religious ideas were born. In the late Paleolithic period, the skilled man turned into a reasonable man; races were formed - Caucasoid, Negroid, Mongoloid. The primitive herd was replaced by a higher form of organization of society - the tribal community. Until the time of the spread of metal, matriarchy dominated.

Mesolithic, the Middle Stone Age, lasted about 5 thousand years (X thousand years BC - V thousand years BC). At this time, people began to use stone axes, bows and arrows, domestication of animals (dogs, pigs) began. This is the time of mass settlement of Eastern Europe and the Urals.

Neolithic, the new stone age (VI thousand years BC - IV thousand years BC), is characterized by significant changes in technology and forms of production. Polished and drilled stone axes, pottery, spinning and weaving appeared. formed different types economic activity - agriculture and animal husbandry. The transition from gathering, from the appropriating economy to the producing one, began. Scientists call this time neolithic revolution.

During Eneolithic, Copper-Stone Age (IV thousand years BC - III thousand years BC), bronze age(III thousand years BC - I thousand years BC), iron age(II millennium BC - the end of the 1st millennium BC) in the most favorable climate zone Earth began the transition from primitive to ancient civilizations.

The appearance of metal tools and weapons in different parts of the Earth did not occur simultaneously, so the chronological framework of the last three periods of the primitive era varies depending on the specific region. In the Urals, the chronological framework of the Eneolithic is determined by the III millennium BC. e. - the beginning of the II millennium BC. e., the Bronze Age - the beginning of the II millennium BC. e. - the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e., Iron Age - from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e.

During the spread of metal, large cultural communities began to take shape. Scientists believe that these communities corresponded to the language families from which the peoples who currently inhabit our country came out. The largest language family is Indo-European, from which 3 groups of languages ​​have emerged: Eastern (current Iranians, Indians, Armenians, Tajiks), European (Germans, French, English, Italians, Greeks), Slavic (Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs , Slovaks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats). Another large language family is Finno-Ugric (current Finns, Estonians, Karelians, Khanty, Mordovians).

During the Bronze Age, the ancestors of the Slavs (Proto-Slavs) emerged from the Indo-European tribes; Archaeologists find the monuments belonging to them in the region located from the Oder River in the west to the Carpathians in the east of Europe.

Civilization era is about six thousand years old. In this era, a qualitatively different world is being created, although for a long time it still had many connections with primitiveness, and the transition to civilizations itself was carried out gradually, starting from the 4th millennium BC. e. While part of humanity was making a breakthrough - moving from primitive to civilized, in other areas people continued to be at the stage of the primitive communal system.

The civilizational epoch is usually called world history and is divided into four periods (Figure 3 on page 19).

Ancient world began with the emergence of civilization in Mesopotamia or Mesopotamia (in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers). In the III millennium BC. e. a civilization arose in the valley of the Nile River - the ancient Egyptian. In the II millennium BC. e. Ancient Indian, Ancient Chinese, Hebrew, Phoenician, Ancient Greek, Hittite civilizations were born. In I millennium BC. e. list ancient civilizations replenished: on the territory of Transcaucasia, the civilization of Urartu was formed, on the territory of Iran - the civilization of the Persians, on the Apennine Peninsula - the Roman civilization. The zone of civilizations covered not only the Old World, but also America, where the civilizations of the Maya, Aztecs and Incas developed.

The main criteria for the transition from the primitive world to civilizations:

The emergence of the state, a special institution that organizes, controls and directs the joint activities and relations of people, social groups;

the emergence of private property, the stratification of society, the emergence of slavery;

social division of labor (agriculture, handicraft, trade) and the producing economy;

the emergence of cities, a special type of settlements, centers

Newest

Ancient world Middle Ages Modern times

IV millennium 476

BC e. BC e. XV-XVI 1920s

Rice. 3. Main periods world history

crafts and trade, in which the inhabitants, at least in part, were not engaged in rural labor (Ur, Babylon, Memphis, Thebes, Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Pataliputra, Nanyang, Sanyan, Athens, Sparta, Rome, Naples, etc.);

the creation of writing (the main stages are ideographic or hieroglyphic writing, syllabic writing, alpha-sound or alphabetic writing), thanks to which people were able to consolidate laws, scientific and religious ideas and pass them on to posterity;

the creation of monumental structures (pyramids, temples, amphitheaters) that do not have an economic purpose.

The end of the Ancient World is associated with 476 AD. e., the year of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Back in 330, Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to its eastern part, on the banks of the Bosporus, to the place of the Greek colony of Byzantium. The new capital was named Constantinople (an old Russian name for Tsargrad). In 395, the Roman Empire split into Eastern and Western. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, officially called the "Empire of the Romans", and in literature - Byzantium, became the successor to the ancient world. The Byzantine Empire existed for about a thousand years, until 1453, and had a huge impact on Ancient Russia (see Chapter 7).

Chronological framework middle ages, 476 - the end of the 15th century, are determined, first of all, by the events and processes that took place in Western Europe. The Middle Ages is an important stage in the development of European civilization. During this period, many special features took shape and began to develop, which distinguished Western Europe from other civilizations and had a tremendous impact on all of humanity.

Eastern civilizations during this period did not stop in their development. There were rich cities in the East. The East presented the world with famous inventions: a compass, gunpowder, paper, glass, etc. However, the pace of development of the East, especially after the invasion of nomads at the turn of the 1st-2nd millennia (Bedouins, Seljuk Turks, Mongols), was slower compared to the West. But the main thing was that the eastern civilizations were focused on repetition, on the constant reproduction of the old, in antiquity established forms of statehood, social relations, and ideas. Tradition put up solid barriers, holding back change; Eastern cultures resisted innovation.

The end of the Middle Ages and the onset of the third period of world history is associated with the beginning of three world-historical processes - a spiritual upheaval in the life of Europeans, the Great Geographical Discoveries, and manufactory production.

The spiritual upheaval included two phenomena, a kind of two revolutions in the spiritual life of Europe - the Renaissance (Renaissance) and the Reformation.

modern science he sees the origins of the spiritual revolution in the crusades organized at the end of the 11th - 13th centuries. European chivalry and the Catholic Church under the banner of the struggle against the "infidels" (Muslims), the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the Holy Land (Palestine). The consequences of these campaigns for the then poor Europe were important. Europeans came into contact with a higher culture of the Middle East, adopted more advanced methods of cultivating the land and craft techniques, brought many useful plants from the East (rice, buckwheat, citrus fruits, cane sugar, apricots), silk, glass, paper, woodcuts (woodcut print ).

Medieval cities (Paris, Marseille, Venice, Genoa, Florence, Milan, Lübeck, Frankfurt am Main) were the centers of the spiritual upheaval. Cities achieved self-government, became centers not only of crafts and trade, but also of education. In Europe, the townspeople have achieved recognition of their rights at the national level, formed the third estate.

rebirth originated in Italy in the second half of the XIV century, in the XV-XVI centuries. spread throughout Western Europe. Distinctive features culture of the Renaissance: secular character, humanistic worldview, appeal to cultural heritage antiquity, as if its “revival” (hence the name of the phenomenon). The work of the Renaissance figures was imbued with faith in the limitless possibilities of man, his will and mind. Among the brilliant galaxy of poets, writers, playwrights, artists and sculptors whose names humanity is proud of are Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Francois Rabelais, Ulrich von Hutten, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Miguel Cervantes, William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, Thomas More, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Santi, Michelangelo, Titian, Velasquez, Rembrandt.

Reformation - social movement in Europe in the 16th century, directed against the Catholic Church. Its beginning is considered to be 1517, when the doctor of theology Martin Luther made 95 theses against the sale of indulgences (certificates of the remission of sins). The ideologists of the Reformation put forward theses that actually denied the need for the Catholic Church with its hierarchy and the clergy in general, denied the Church's rights to land and other wealth. Under the ideological banner of the Reformation, the Peasant War in Germany (1524-1526), ​​the Dutch and English revolutions took place.

The Reformation marked the beginning of Protestantism, the third current in Christianity. This trend, which broke away from Catholicism, united many independent churches, sects (Lutheranism, Calvinism, the Anglican Church, Baptists, etc.). Protestantism is characterized by the absence of a fundamental opposition of the clergy to the laity, the rejection of a complex church hierarchy, a simplified cult, the absence of monasticism, celibacy; in Protestantism there is no cult of the Virgin, saints, angels, icons, the number of sacraments is reduced to two (baptism and communion). The main source of doctrine among Protestants is the Holy Scripture (that is, the Old Testament and New Testament).

The Renaissance and the Reformation put the human personality in the center, energetic, striving to transform the world, with a pronounced strong-willed beginning. However, the Reformation had a more disciplinary effect; it encouraged individualism, but placed it within a strict framework of morality based on religious values.

Great geographical discoveries- a complex of the most significant discoveries on land and at sea from the middle of the 15th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Importance had the discovery of Central and South America (H. Columbus, A. Vespucci, A. Velez de Mendoza, 1492-1502), the sea route from Europe to India (Vasco da Gama, 1497-1499). The first round-the-world trip of F. Magellan in 1519-1522. proved the existence of the World Ocean and the sphericity of the Earth. Great geographical discoveries became possible thanks to technical discoveries and inventions, including the creation of new ships - caravels. At the same time, long-distance sea voyages stimulated the development of science, technology, and manufactory production. The era of colonial conquests began, which was accompanied by violence, robberies and even the death of civilizations (Maya, Incas, Aztecs). European countries seized lands in America (from the beginning of the 16th century blacks began to be imported there), Africa, and India. The wealth of the enslaved countries, as a rule, less developed in socio-economic terms, gave a powerful impetus to the development of industry and trade, and ultimately to the industrial modernization of Europe.

At the end of the XV century. originated in Europe manufactories(from lat. - I do with my hands), large enterprises based on the division of labor and handicraft technology. Often period European history from the emergence of manufactories to the beginning of the industrial revolution is called "manufactory". There were two forms of manufactory: centralized (the entrepreneur himself created a large workshop, in which all operations for the manufacture of a particular product were carried out under his leadership) and much more common - scattered (the entrepreneur distributed raw materials to homeworkers-artisans and received from them a finished product or semi-finished product) . Manufactories contributed to the deepening of the social division of labor, the improvement of production tools, the growth of labor productivity, the formation of new social strata - the industrial bourgeoisie and wage workers (this social process will end during the industrial revolution). Manufactories prepared the transition to machine production.

World historical processes, indicating the end of the Middle Ages, required new ways of transmitting information. This new method was printing. A breakthrough in the technique of book production was made by Johannes Gutenberg. Gutenberg's invention was an overdue and prepared development of the book industry in previous centuries: the appearance in Europe of paper, the technique of woodcutting, the creation in scriptoria (monastic workshops) and universities of hundreds and thousands of handwritten books of predominantly religious content. Gutenberg in 1453-1454 In Mainz, he first printed a book, the so-called 42-line Bible. Typography has become a material base for the dissemination of knowledge, information, literacy, and sciences.

Chronological framework of the third period of world history, new time(the beginning of the 16th century - the beginning of the 1920s) are defined in the same way as the medieval period, primarily by the events and processes that took place in Western Europe. Since in other countries, including Russia, development was slower than in the West, the processes characteristic of modern times began here later.

With the advent of modern times, the destruction of medieval foundations (that is, political and social institutions, norms, customs) and the formation of an industrial society. The process of transition of a medieval (traditional, agrarian) society to an industrial society is called modernization (from French - the latest, modern). This process took about three hundred years in Europe.

Modernization processes took place at different times: they started earlier and proceeded faster in Holland and England; slower these processes were in France; even slower - in Germany, Italy, Russia; a special path of modernization was in North America (USA, Canada); started in the East in the 20th century. modernization processes are called westernization (from English - western).

Modernization covered all areas of society, it included:

Industrialization, the process of creating large-scale machine production; the beginning of the process of ever-increasing use of machines in production was laid by the industrial revolution (for the first time it began in England in the 1760s, in Russia it began at the turn of the 1830s-1840s);

Urbanization (from Latin - urban), the process of increasing the role of cities in the development of society; the city for the first time gains economic dominance,

pushing the village to the background (already at the end of the 18th century, the proportion of the urban population in Holland was 50%; in England this figure was 30%; in France - 15%, and in Russia - about 5%);

democratization political life, creation of prerequisites for the formation of the rule of law and civil society;

Secularization, limiting the influence of the church in the life of society, including the conversion by the state of church property (mainly land) into secular property; the process of dissemination of secular elements in culture was called "secularization" of culture (from the word "worldly" - secular);

Fast, in comparison with the previous period, the growth of knowledge about nature and society.

The ideas of the Enlightenment played an important role in the process of modernization, in the spiritual upheaval. Education as an ideological movement based on belief decisive role reason and science in the knowledge of the “natural order”, corresponding to the true nature of man and society, arose in England in the 17th century. (J. Locke, A. Collins). In the XVIII century. Enlightenment spread throughout Europe, reached its peak in France - F. Voltaire, D. Diderot, C. Montesquieu, J.-J. Rousseau. French enlighteners, led by D. Diderot, participated in the creation of a unique edition - "Encyclopedia, or explanatory dictionary sciences, arts and crafts”, therefore they are called encyclopedists. Enlighteners of the 18th century in Germany - G. Lessing, J. Goethe; in the USA - T. Jefferson, B. Franklin; in Russia - N. Novikov, A. Radishchev. Enlighteners considered ignorance, obscurantism, religious fanaticism to be the causes of all human disasters. They opposed the feudal-absolutist regime, for political freedom, civil equality. The Enlighteners did not call for revolution, but their ideas played a revolutionary role in the public consciousness. The 18th century is most often referred to as the Age of Enlightenment.

A huge role in the process of modernization was played by revolutions, cardinal changes in the socio-political system, characterized by a sharp break with the previous tradition, the violent transformation of social and state institutions. In the West in the XVI-XVIII centuries. revolutions swept four countries: Holland (1566-1609), England (1640-1660), USA (War for the Independence of the North American Colonies, 1775-1783), France (1789-1799). In the 19th century revolutions swept other European countries: Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Spain. In the 19th century The West "had been ill" with revolutions, having undergone a kind of vaccination.

The 19th century is called the "age of capitalism" because in this century an industrial society was established in Europe. Two factors were decisive in the victory of industrial society: the industrial revolution, the transition from manufactory to machine production; change in the political and social structure of society, almost complete liberation from the state, political, legal institutions of traditional society. For the main differences between industrial and traditional societies, see Table. 1. (p. 27).

The end of modern times is usually associated with the First World War (1914-1918) and revolutionary upheavals in Europe and Asia in 1918-1923.

The fourth period of world history, which began in the 1920s, was called modern times in Soviet historiography. For a long time, the name of the last period of world history was invested with propaganda meaning as the beginning new era in the history of mankind, opened by the October Revolution of 1917.

In the West, the last period of world history is called modernity, modern history. Moreover, the beginning of modernity is mobile: once it began in 1789, then - in 1871, now - from the beginning of the 1920s.

The question of the end of the fourth period of world history and the onset of the fifth period, just like the whole problem of periodization, is debatable. It is quite obvious that in the world at the turn of the XX - XXI century. in. there have been drastic changes. Understanding their essence, significance and consequences for humanity, which has entered the III millennium from the birth of Christ, is the most important task of economists, sociologists, and historians.

Table 1.

The main features of traditional and industrial societies

Primitive society- from the appearance of the first human ancestors to the emergence of cities, states and writing. This period is also called prehistoric, but I do not agree with this: once a person appeared, it means that the history of mankind began, even if we learn about it not through written sources, but through various archaeological finds. At this time, man mastered agriculture and cattle breeding, began to build houses and cities, religion and art were born. And this is history, albeit primitive.

Ancient world– from the first ancient states to the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5.5 thousand years ago - V century AD). Civilizations of the Ancient East, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, Ancient America. An amazing time in which writing appeared, science was born, new religions, poetry, architecture, theater, the first ideas about democracy and human rights, but can you list everything!

Middle Ages (V-XV centuries)- from the fall of the Western Roman Empire at the end of the ancient era, to the Great geographical discoveries, the invention of printing. Feudal relations, the Inquisition, knights, Gothic - the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the Middle Ages.

New time (XV century - 1914)- from the Great geographical discoveries to the beginning of World War I. The Renaissance period in science and culture, the discovery of the New World by the Spaniards, the fall of Constantinople, the English and French revolutions, the Napoleonic wars and much more.

Newest time- period in human history (from 1914 to the present).

Other approaches to dividing the history of mankind into periods:

– formational, depending on the socio-economic system: primitive communal system, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist(what we were driven into at school);

– by production methods: agrarian society, industrial society, post-industrial society;

- according to the level of development of material culture:primitive period, archaic period, dark ages, antiquity, middle ages, revival, modern times, modernity;

– by periods of reign of prominent rulers;

– by periods of historically significant wars;

From a chronological point of view, history is divided into primitive, ancient, medieval, new, and recent. This periodization, in its main outlines adopted in the 19th century, is suitable only for Western Europe.

History of primitive society covers the period from the moment of the emergence of man 2.5-1 million years ago (see Art. Anthroposociogenesis) to the formation of the first states in Asia and Africa (the turn of 4-3 thousand BC). At the same time, in other parts of the world, the era of primitiveness lasted much longer. According to archaeological periodization, based on differences in the material and appearance of tools, the history of primitive society is divided into a number of eras: early (ended about 100 thousand years ago), middle (about 40 thousand years ago) and late (about 40 thousand years ago). 10 thousand years ago) Paleolithic, Mesolithic (8 thousand years ago) and Neolithic (5 thousand years ago; the Eneolithic is also distinguished within it). This is followed by the Bronze Age (before 1000 BC) and the Iron Age, when primitive societies coexist with the first civilizations. For each region, the time frame of epochs varies significantly. In primitive society, there were no clearly defined social and property differences; the tribal system dominated (see Art. Genus, Tribe).

Ancient world history studies the existence of ancient civilizations ( The Ancient East, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome) from the moment of its origin to the 5th c. n. e. The end of the era of the Ancient World is traditionally considered the year of the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476). However, this chronological line does not matter for other civilizations (see Art. Chinese civilization, Mesoamerican civilization). With significant differences in the types state structure(from eastern despotism to the polis system) slavery dominated in most ancient societies (see Art. Slavery).

History of the Middle Ages affects the 5th-15th centuries, the discovery of America by X. Columbus (1492) is considered the end of the European Middle Ages. Medieval European society existed under feudalism. The term "Middle Ages" was first used by the Italian humanist F. Biondo (1392-1463) to refer to the period between Antiquity and the Renaissance. The European Middle Ages is divided into Early (5th-10th centuries, the so-called Dark Ages), High (11th-13th centuries) and Late (14th-15th centuries).

New history called the period 16 - con. 18th century The chronological boundary separating the New Age from the next era, some scientists consider the beginning of the Great french revolution 1789-1799, others - the end of the First World War 1914-1918. The European Modern Age was marked by the eras of the Great Geographical Discoveries and the Renaissance, the spread of printing, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation and the first all-European war (see Art. Thirty Years' War). The most important process of modern times was the formation of nation-states. The characteristic form of government for this era was absolutism. Recent history, according to some, covers the period from 1789 to the end of the Second World War 1939-1945, and according to others - from 1918 to the present. European civilization entered the industrial age, characterized by the dominance of capitalism, world wars, the beginning of colonialism and the fall of the colonial system. The dominant form of government was a republic or a constitutional monarchy.

Modern history dates back to the end of World War II. Some scientists consider this era an integral part of modern history, other researchers single out the post-industrial civilization as an independent period in the development of mankind. It is characterized by the processes of the information revolution and globalization, the emergence of a post-industrial society (see article Post-industrial (information) society theory), the Cold War and the collapse of the socialist camp, large-scale environmental pollution, and the fight against international terrorism.

This article will discuss the main stages of world history: from ancient times to our time. We will briefly review the main features of each stage and outline the events / reasons that marked the transition to the next stage of development.

Epochs of human development: general structure

It is customary for scientists to distinguish five main stages in the development of mankind, and the transition from one to another was marked by cardinal changes in the structure of human society.

1. Primitive society (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic)
2. Ancient world
3. Middle Ages
4. new time
5. Newest time

Primitive Society: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic

Paleolithic- the ancient stone age, the longest stage. The boundaries of the stage are considered to be the use of primitive stone tools (about 2.5 million years ago) and before the beginning of agriculture (about 10 thousand years BC). People lived mainly by gathering and hunting.

Mesolithic- Middle Stone Age, from 10 thousand years BC to 6 thousand years BC Covers the period from the last ice age to the rise in global sea level. At this time, stone tools become smaller, which makes their scope wider. Fishing is developing more actively, presumably at this time, the dog was domesticated as a hunting assistant.

Neolithic- the new stone age does not have clear time limits, since different cultures went through this stage at different times. It is characterized by the transition from gathering to production, i.e. agriculture and hunting, the Neolithic ends with the beginning of metal processing, i.e. beginning of the Iron Age.

Ancient world

This is the period between primitive society and the Middle Ages in Europe. Although the period of the ancient world can be attributed to civilizations in which writing originated, for example, Sumerian, and this is about 5.5 thousand years BC, usually under the term " ancient world” or “classical antiquity”, refers to ancient Greek and Roman history, which is from about 770 BC to about 476 AD (the year the Roman Empire fell).

The ancient world is famous for its civilizations - Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, the Persian Empire, the Arab Caliphate, the Chinese Empire, the Mongol Empire.

The main features of the ancient world is a sharp jump in culture, associated primarily with the development of agriculture, the formation of cities, armies, trade. If in primitive society there were cults and deities, then in the days of the Ancient World religion develops and philosophical currents arise.

Middle Ages or Middle Ages

Regarding the time frame, scholars disagree, since the end of this period in Europe did not mean its end worldwide. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the Middle Ages lasted from about the 5th century (the collapse of the Roman Empire) AD to the 15th-16th century or even until the 18th century (technological breakthrough)

Distinctive features of the period are the development of trade, lawmaking, the stable development of technology, and the strengthening of the influence of cities. At the same time, there was a transition from slavery to feudalism. The sciences are developing, the power of religion is increasing, which leads to crusades and other sect-based wars.

new time

The transition to a new time is characterized by a qualitative leap that humanity has made in the field of technology. Thanks to this breakthrough, agrarian civilizations, whose well-being was built on the presence of a large territory that made it possible to stock up on provisions, are moving to industry, to fundamentally new conditions of life and consumption. At this time, Europe is rising, which has become the source of this technological breakthrough, a humanistic attitude towards the world is developing, and there is an active rise in science and art.

Newest time

The latest time includes the period from 1918, i.e. since the First World War. The period is characterized by the increasing pace of globalization, the increasing role of information in the life of society, two world wars and many revolutions. In general, modern times are characterized as a stage in which individual states are aware of their global influence and the global scale of existence. Not only the interests of individual countries and rulers, but also global existence come to the fore.

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Lecture "Theme No. 2"

Epochs, styles, trends

A work of art is a form of existence of art. It reflects the world in all the complexity of diversity, aesthetic richness.

Artists* always strive to convey the world truthfully. In the process of creativity, a certain artistic method is born, so the truth in art is not always identical with the likelihood.

In the formation of artistic and figurative techniques, methods, many social and cultural prerequisites are involved, associated with ideas about truth, with the religious and ideological views of society, with the worldview of the artist himself.

The historically established structural uniformity of artistic techniques, artistic language, relationships between content and form, which in a given era unites the works of masters who worked in different types and genres of art, is calledstyle .

The word style can be used in a broad sense - lifestyle, game style, clothing style, etc., and in a narrow sense - "style in art."

In different historical eras, Style manifests itself in separate forms, which are called actual.

Social development is uneven. If it is slow-moving, as in Antiquity, then the system of artistic forms changes very slowly over millennia, centuries, then such development is usually called an artistic era.

Later, from the 17th century world public development is significantly accelerated, art is faced with diverse tasks, exacerbation of social contradictions, so there is a rapid change in styles.

In the art of the 19th - 20th centuries, only separate stylistic tendencies are manifested, the ideological instability of society prevents the formation of unified styles and rapidly changing trends emerge.

primitive art (20000 - 5000 BC) developed in complete dependence on nature, on the everyday needs of man, was associated with magic. The development of ceramics of the correct form, ornament, carving, and realistic depiction of animals (rock paintings) is characteristic.

*The word "artists" is used in a broad sense, i.e. artists, architects, writers, etc. , i.e. art creators.

:

Rock art depicting animals. Paintings in the caves of Lascaux (France), Altamira (Spain), Tassilin Ajer (North Africa).

Sculptures of women, the so-called Paleolithic Venus.

Megalithic structures Stonehenge (England), Stone Grave (Ukraine).

Ancient despotisms (the art of the interfluve and ancient Egypt (5000 BC - VIII century BC)) represent an artistic era. During this period, there are many artistic discoveries, but the main thing that defines the era remains unchanged:

Complete submission to religion

The development of funeral cults,

Development of canons in all kinds of art,

Formation of the foundations of construction equipment,

Synthesis of arts in architecture,

gigantism.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Mesopotamia.

Bulls - Shedu from the palace of Sargon II in Dur Shurrukin.

A bull-headed harp from the royal tomb of Ur.

Gate of the goddess Ishtar. Babylon.

ancient th Egypt:

Pyramids at Giza

Temples of Amon Ra at Karnak and Luxor

Temple of Abu Simbel

Thutmose. Sculpture. Head of Queen Nefertiti

Sculpture of the royal scribe Kai

Fayum portrait of a young man in a golden crown

Antiquity (art Ancient Greece(VII-III century BC) and ancient rome(3rd century AD)) explained the world mythologically. It was both realistic and illusory - a fantastic view of the world. In art, this is expressed in:

heroization of the ideal image

harmony of internal and external appearance

humanization of art

Sculpture becomes an actual art. Ancient artists convey the image of a perfect man with the highest skill and realism. In ancient Rome, a sculptural portrait develops.

Antiquity developed building systems that we still use today. In ancient Greece, an order building system developed, this is a combination of columns and ceilings, and in ancient Rome, based on the discovery of cement, a round arch and a dome were used. Created new types of public and engineering buildings.

:

Knossos Palace, ca. Crete

Lion Gate, Mycenae

Ancient Greece:

The architectural ensemble of the Parthenon (main temples: Parthenon, Erechtheion).

Pergamon altar.

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

Phidias (sculptor). Sculpture of the Parthenon.

Phidias. Sculpture of Olympian Zeus.

Miron (sculptor). Discus thrower.

Polykleitos (sculptor). Spearman.

Sculpture. Venus de Milo.

Sculpture. Nike of Samothrace.

Sculpture. Laocoon.

Ancient Rome:

Pantheon in Rome (temple of all gods)

Colosseum, Flavian Amphitheater (Rome)

Pont du Gard (France)

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius

Trajan's Column (Rome)

medieval art (V - XVI century) is subordinated to Christian ideology, filled with allegories and symbols. The synthesis of art subordinated to the Christian liturgy is characteristic. The current view was architecture.

The era is divided into two periods: Romanesque (XI - XII centuries) and Gothic (late XII - XIV centuries).

Romanesque architecture uses the design features of the architecture of Ancient Rome (Roma). Romanesque cathedrals are built in the form of basilicas, they are heavy with dark interiors, with two round towers on the facade of the building. The sculpture decorating the cathedral is planar, schematic (often a relief), located mainly above the portals.

gothic art - This is a qualitative leap in the development of medieval art. The cathedral, retaining the shape of a basilica, is now being built on the basis of a new frame system. The essence of which is that using a pointed arch a brick frame is built. The gaps between the pillars - supports (buttresses) are filled with stained-glass windows. Therefore, the interiors become as if permeated with light. The building is richly decorated with sculpture and architectural decor. The façade is flanked by towers now square in plan. The facade of the cathedral is the only real wall richly decorated with sculpture. Very realistic, round sculpture now prevails. Above the main portal is a round carved window, which is called the "rose".

Late Gothic (XV - XVI century) is distinguished by the architectural decoration of the facade - it resembles flames, the window disappears - a rose. This gothic was called flaming.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Worms Cathedral (Germany) – Romanesque architecture

Notre Dame de Paris (Paris) - Gothic

Cologne Cathedral (Germany) - late

Cathedral of St. Anne (Vilnius, Lithuania) - flaming

After the collapse of the Great Roman Empire in the 4th century AD, it was divided into the Western Empire with its capital in Rome and the Eastern Empire with its capital in Byzantium. In the West, Catholicism developed and, accordingly, Romanesque and Gothic culture. And in the Eastern (it began to be called Byzantium) spread Orthodoxy. In Byzantium, all culture was also subordinated to religious ideology. Byzantium existed from the 4th to the 15th centuries. but art reached its highest flowering during the reign of Justinian (VI century AD). In architecture, Orthodoxy corresponded to centric, domed, and later cross-domed cathedrals. Monumental painting (mosaic and fresco) and easel painting (icon painting) are developing. Subject to religious dogma, painting was strictly canonized.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Sophia of Constantinople (Istanbul)

Church of San Apolinare (Ravenna)

Church of San Vitale (Ravenna)

Old Russian state (X - XVII centuries) adopted Orthodoxy, respectively, the cross-domed system of temple buildings and the picturesque canon. But in the process of development it developed unique national features. There is a national type of temple construction: cross-domed, cuboid with wavy or keeled completion of the walls (zakomar). Domes are raised on high drums.

In strictly canonized painting, the Slavic type of face predominates, Russian saints appear, national ornaments appear, and the whole characterization of the images becomes more humane.

The influence of folk architecture was very strongly manifested in the transfer of artistic sayings, decor, colors to stone construction and was called "patterned" (XVI - XVII centuries). Folk techniques were embodied in the appearance of stone and hipped temples.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Sofia Kievskaya, Kyiv. (13 domes)

Demetrius Cathedral, Vladimir. (1 dome)

Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, Chernihiv. (1 dome)

Aristotle Fiorovanti. Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. (5 domes)

Icon of Our Lady of Vladimir.

St. Basil's Cathedral (Protection on the Moat), Moscow.

Icon of the Intercession with a portrait of B. Khmelnitsky.

Oranta. Mosaic of St. Sophia of Kiev.

A. Rublev. Trinity (icon).

rebirth (Renessanse), as the foundation of the ancient heritage at a new historical stage, arose in Italy, here at the end of the 13th - 16th centuries the humanistic ideals of antiquity were revived. Hence the name of the era "Renaissance". The Renaissance claims that the world is knowable, and man is a titanic personality capable of changing the world. Artists discovered the individuality of a person, so the portrait appeared; they developed the theory and practice of perspective, artistically mastered the anatomy of the human body, developed the harmony of composition, used color effects, the depiction of nudity, the female body was a visible argument against medieval asceticism.

In sculpture, the image of the shuttle becomes the main thing, and not the deity. The main types of sculpture developed: monumental and decorative. After antiquity, the equestrian statue is revived again.

In architecture, along with the requirement of ancient forms (the use of arcades, the Greek portico), there is a development of its own artistic language. A new type of public buildings is being created, the city palace (parade ground) and country houses - pitchforks.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Giotto di Bonde. Frescoes in the Arena Chapel, Padua.

Botticelli. Birth of Venus.

Leonardo da Vinci. Giocon. Mona Lisa.

Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna in the rocks.

Leonardo da Vinci. Painting " The Last Supper"(Milan).

Rafael Santi. Sistine Madonna.

Rafael Santi. Frescoes in the Vatican (Vatican Stanzas, Rome).

Michelangelo. Sculpture. David.

Michelangelo. Ceiling paintings of the Sistine Chapel (Vatican)

Giorgione. Judith.

Giorgione. Thunderstorm.

Titian. Portrait of Pope Paul III with his nephews.

Titian. Young man with a glove.

Titian. Assunta.

Veronese. Marriage in Cana of Galilee.

Brunelleschi. Church of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence.

Palladio. Villa near Rome.

Donattello. Equestrian statue of Gattamelata, Padua.

In the Nordic countries (Netherlands, Germany, France) Renaissance ideas penetrate from the end of the 15th century. The originality of national cultures, medieval traditions, combined with the ideas of the Italian Renaissance, developed a peculiar style, which is commonly called Northern Renaissance.

The 17th century is a time of intensive formation of national states, national cultures, the establishment of absolute power in some countries and the emergence of bourgeois relations in others. It became impossible to express the complexity and inconsistency of the era in one artistic formula, therefore, in the 17th century, a variety of artistic forms arose, i.e. styles. In the 17th century, styles appeared: classicism, baroque, realism.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Durer. Portrait of a Venetian.

Durer. Four Apostles.

Durer. Graphic illustrations for the "Apocalypse"

Van Eyck. Madonna of Chancellor Rollin.

Van Eyck. Ghent altar.

The Limburg brothers. Miniatures of The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry.

Brueghel. Blind.

Bosch. Ship of fools.

Baroque - the most common style of the XVII century. This art is built on contrasts, asymmetry, gravitation towards grandiosity, congestion with decorative motifs.

In painting and sculpture characteristic:

diagonal compositions

image of exaggerated movement

illusory image

black and white contrasts

bright color, picturesque spot (in painting)

In architecture:

curved, volute-like shapes

asymmetry

use of color

abundance of decor

the desire to deceive the eye and go beyond the real space: mirrors, enfilades, plafonds on the ceilings depicting the sky.

ensemble organization of space

synthesis of the arts

the contrast of elaborately decorated architecture and the clear geometry of gardens and parks, or city streets.

Baroque triumphed in those countries where feudalism dominated and Catholic Church. These are such countries: Italy, Spain, Flanders, later Germany and in the XVIII century - Russia. (in architecture)

Major monuments and leading artists :

Caravaggio. lute player.

Rubens. Perseus and Andromeda.

Rubens. Self-portrait with Isabella Brant.

Bernini. Sculpture "The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa"

Bernini. Sculpture "Apollo and Daphne"

Jules Hardouin Mansart. Palace of Versailles (France).

Bernini. St. Peter's Square in Rome.

Classicism (lat. exemplary). French absolutism of the 17th century. regulated life, enclosing it in the rigid framework of statehood. The hero of classicism is not free in his actions, but is subject to strict norms, public duty, humility of feelings with reason, adherence to abstract norms of virtue - such is the aesthetic ideal of classicism.

A model for himself is the classicism of the 17th century. chose Greek antiquity. IN architecture the Greek order is used. In sculpture - ideal mythological images. In painting:

strict stateliness

sublime beauty of images

horizontal or rocker composition

careful selection of details and colors

standard images, theatricality of gestures and feelings

Major monuments and leading artists :

Poussin. Arcadian shepherds.

Poussin. Seasons.

Lorrain. The abduction of Europe.

Dutch culture. In the 17th century in the countries where capitalism was born, there was a struggle for national independence. The victory of the burghers determined the nature of Dutch culture, the birth of realism, the emergence of independent genres of easel painting (portrait, everyday genre, still life).

Major monuments and leading artists :

Holland XVII :

Rembrandt. Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees

Rembrandt. The return of the prodigal son.

Vermar of Delft. Girl reading a letter.

Vermar of Delft. Geographer.

Terborch. A glass of lemonade.

Hals. Gypsy.

Spain XVII :

Velasquez. Spinners.

Velasquez. Portrait of Pope Innok X

Velasquez. Surrender of Breda

Velasquez. Portrait of Infanta Margherita

El Greco. Funeral of the Count of Orgaz

Rococo. With the beginning of the 18th century, a crisis of French absolutism emerged. Strict etiquette is replaced by an atmosphere of frivolity and pleasure. There is an art capable of satisfying the most pretentious and refined tastes - this is Rococo. This is a completely secular art, the main theme is love and erotic scenes, favorite heroines are nymphs, bacchantes, mythological and biblical themes of love.

This art of miniature forms found its main expression in painting and applied art. Light colors, fractional and openwork forms, complex ornamentation, asymmetry, creating a feeling of anxiety.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Watteau. Society in the park.

Bush. Bathing Diana.

Bush. Portrait of Madame Pampadour.

Fragonard. Swing.

Fragonard. Sneak kiss.

Education. Since the 1940s, a new social stratum of the emerging bourgeoisie, the so-called "third estate", has appeared in France. This is what determined the development of the new philosophical and artistic movement of the Enlightenment. It originated in the depths of philosophy, and its meaning was that all people from birth have equal opportunities and only education and enlightenment (i.e. training) can distinguish them from total weight equal members of society.

The main genre is the everyday painting, depicting the modest life of the third estate, glorifying integrity and diligence.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Chardin. Cook.

Dreams. Spoiled child.

Houdon. Sculpture. Voltaire in the chair.

In England, the Enlightenment originated in literature at the end of the 17th century. Therefore, everyday painting becomes narrative, i.e. artists and graphic artists create a whole series of paintings that consistently tell about the fate of the heroes and are morally instructive in nature. The English Enlightenment is characterized by the development of portraiture.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Hagarth. fashionable marriage.

Gainsborough. Portrait of the Duchess de Beaufort.

Russian Enlightenment developed in the 18th - early 19th centuries, is associated with an ideological and philosophical trend. Russian Enlighteners: philosophers - F. Prokopovich, A. Kantemir, M. Lomonosov and writers - Tatishchev, Fonvizin, Radishchev believed in the boundless mind of man, in the possibility of harmonizing society through the development of the creative principles of each individual, through education. At this time, home education is rapidly developing in Russia, new educational institutions are opening, and newspaper, magazine and book publishing houses are developing.

All this served educational purposes, the upbringing of the personality - the "son of the Fatherland"; and hence the development of the portrait.

But the Russian Enlightenment also had an anti-serf orientation, because. quite rightly believed that the peasants (serfs) were also endowed with a wealth of mental and emotional abilities.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Argunov. Portrait of P. Zhemchugova.

Nikitin. Portrait of an outdoor hetman.

Livitsky. Portraits of Smolyanka.

Borovikovsky. Portrait of Lopukhina.

Rokotov. Portrait of Struyskaya.

Shubin. Portrait of Golitsyn.

Falcone. Monument to Peter I in St. Petersburg ("The Bronze Horseman")

But creating ideal images of peasants, the art of the Enlighteners of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. merged with sentimentalism .

Major monuments and leading artists :

Tropinin. Portrait of A. Pushkin.

Tropinin. Goldsmith.

Venetsianov. Spring.

Venetsianov. On the arable land.

Baroque in Russian and Ukrainian architecture. With the advent of absolutist monarchies, including in the Vatican, the center of the capitalist church, the splendor, pomp, and theatricality of court art intensified, which contributed to the development of baroque in the architecture of Italy and France in the 18th century, in Russia (18th century), Ukraine (“Cossack baroque ”), the second half of the 17th – 18th centuries.

Features of baroque architecture:

synthesis of arts in architecture

ensemble (palace in the park with big amount pavilions)

an increase in decorativeness, moldings, sculpture

the use of order elements: curved gables, bunches of pilasters or semi-columns, niches that completely cover the wall and enhance the light and shade contrast

color usage: turquoise wall, white architectural details, golden stucco

interiors: lush decorative theatricality, enfilades, painting with illusory effects, the use of mirrors

Ukrainian or "Cossack baroque"- This is a completely independent stage in the development of European Baroque. It does not have palace splendor. Bent pediments, “creases” of roofs and domes of churches are used. Wall decor is flat carving, white on a white or light blue wall background. Instead of palaces, houses of the Cossack elite, offices, collegiums are being built. And religious architecture continues the traditions of folk wooden architecture (three-domed cathedrals).

Major monuments and leading artists :

Rastrelli. Winter Palace (St. Petersburg)

Rastrelli. Andrew's Church (Kyiv)

Grigorovich Barsky. Church of St. Nicholas on the Embankment (Kyiv)

Kovnir. Belfry on the Far Caves (Kiev-Pechersk Lavra)

Kovnir. Intercession Cathedral in Kharkov.

In the last third of the 18th century, a bourgeois revolution took place in France. Its tasks, requirements for the citizens of society coincided with the heroic-civil ideals of Roman antiquity. In ancient Roman society, the individual, his freedom and even life are sacrificed to society. History was interpreted as an act of an outstanding personality. It is the hero, the outstanding personality, who is the bearer of the moral values ​​of society. This became a model for artists of the late 18th century. and developed into the last great pan-European style.

Classicism (in the work of J. David - it is customary to say "revolutionary classicism").

Painting is characterized by the artistic techniques of classicism of the 17th century. But the historical picture reflects the civic-journalistic themes, and the portraits, in accordance with the ideals of the revolution, reflected the personality, the image of a contemporary of the great changes.

Since the beginning of the XIX century. classicism in painting loses its citizenship, only the external side remains: the strict logic of the composition of details, colors, statuary figures. Thus, classicism in painting turns into academicism.

Major monuments and leading artists :

David. Death of Marat

David. Oath of the Horatii

Ingres. Odalisque

Classicism in architecture. In France at the end of the 18th century, and in Russia since the beginning of the 19th century, the style of classicism dominated in architecture. The style was formed under the influence of the ideas of patriotism and citizenship based on the use of ancient samples. Compositional techniques:

symmetry; usually the main building with a portico in the center and two outbuildings

the sculpture is concentrated on the main entrance - the portico. Often used is a sculptural image of a chariot harnessed by four, six horses controlled by the goddess of Glory.

Classicism is associated with the growth of cities, the need to organize their space. In Russia, classicism appears as an idea of ​​a universal style that creates unified building techniques; the use of local materials, plaster, creates new types of buildings: gymnasiums, universities, trading houses, triumphal arches, a type of noble estate.

The architectural style of late classicism is called empire- completing the development of style. Along with the use of ancient forms (both Greek and Roman), stylized Egyptian motifs appear especially in interiors.

Major monuments and leading artists :

Russia. General Staff building (St. Petersburg)

Voronikhin. Kazan Cathedral (St. Petersburg)

Bozhenov. Pashkov house. Moscow.

Baretti. University building. Kyiv.

Souffle. Pantheon (Paris)

Romanticism. The great French bourgeois revolution ended with the restoration of the monarchy. The style of romanticism (early 19th century) was the result of people's disappointment in the possibility of a reasonable transformation of society based on the principles of freedom, equality, and fraternity. The desire to rise above the prose of life, to escape from the oppressive everyday life, is why the interest of artists in exotic subjects, the dark fantasy of the Middle Ages, the theme of the struggle for freedom is so great. Artists are interested in the ancient world of man, his individual exclusivity. The romantic hero is always portrayed in emergency situations, usually a proud lone hero who experiences vivid and intense passions. This found expression in the expressive and sensual power of color, where color begins to dominate the pattern.

Painting is characterized by:

nervous excitement, composition expression

strong color contrasts

exotic themes, gothic symbols

software works, i.e. based on historical and literary subjects

Major monuments and leading artists :

Géricault. Raft "Medusa".

Delacroix. Freedom at the Barricades.

Rud. Sculptural relief "La Marseillaise" on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Goya. Mahi.

Goya. Portrait of the king's family.

(compiled in accordance with the course of lectures)

“We are crushed by legacy. Modern man overwhelmed by the abundance technical means, but just as impoverished by an overabundance of their wealth ... We become superficial. Or we become erudite. But in matters of art, erudition is a kind of weakness... It replaces sensations with hypotheses and an encounter with a masterpiece, innumerable memories... Venus becomes a document.”

P. Valerie

“No matter how perfect a theory is, it is only an approximation to the truth.”

A. M. Butlerov

“Art is not a way of thinking, but a way of restoring the tangibility of the world. Art forms change in order to preserve the tangibility of life.”

V. Shklovsky

Scheme of the general cyclicity of art history

(according to F. I. Schmit and V. N. Prokofiev)

The general spiral of the evolution of art in time shows how the stages of the dominance of the EXPRESSIVE and IMITATIVE principles alternate in real artistic practice. Thus, the entire left-hand side of I) represents creative methods based on expressiveness (symbolic and abstract art, not gravitating towards forms real world), the right part of II) - on imitation (naturalistic realistic, classical art, striving to embody its ideas in forms close to reality). But this does not mean that there are no "imitative" trends in "expressive" epochs, and vice versa. This is exactly the leading trend. For a more accurate characterization of a particular stage, it is necessary to introduce such concepts as canonical and non-canonical styles in art (in other terminology, normative and non-normative styles). These parameters can be combined with both “imitation” and expressiveness, which creates an additional variety of options and deprives this scheme of monotony. For example, in the New Age there are several styles. in one case it is canonical imitation, and in the other - non-canonical.It is necessary to note the special position of such a direction as realism.In the form of a certain trend, it exists from the very moment of the emergence of art to the present day (from the 17th century as a method and from the 19th as a full-fledged art style). At its core, it is a kind of synthesis of imitation and expressiveness, canonicity and non-canonicity, which probably explains its universality and constant presence in any era.

Notes:

1. The concept of canonicity - from the term canon (Greek norm, rule), that is, a system of rules that fixes the main structural patterns specific types art. 2. The main works, in which the proposed scheme of cycles of development of art is considered and commented: Shmit F. I. Art - its psychology, its style, its evolution. Kharkov. 1919, his own: Art. Basic concepts of theory and history. L. 1925, Prokofiev V. About art and art history. M. 1985, Klimov R. B. Notes on Favorsky. Soviet art history - 74, - 75. M. 1975 and M. 1976.