At the end of the XVII century, the Enlightenment began, which encompassed the entire subsequent XVIII century. The key features of this time were free-thinking and rationalism. The culture of the Enlightenment, which gave the world a new art , has developed .
Philosophy
The entire culture of the Enlightenment was based on new philosophical ideas formulated by thinkers of that time. The main rulers of thoughts were John Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Goethe, Kant and some others. It was they who determined the spiritual appearance of the XVIII century (which is also called the Age of Reason).
Enlightenment believers believed in several key ideas. One of them is that all people are equal in nature, each person has his own interests and needs. To satisfy them, it is necessary to create a hostel comfortable for all. A person does not come into the world on its own - it is formed over time due to the fact that people have physical and spiritual strength, as well as intelligence. Equality should primarily consist in the equality of all before the law.
The culture of the Enlightenment is a culture of knowledge accessible to all. Leading thinkers believed that only through the spread of education can social troubles be eliminated. This is rationalism - the recognition of reason as the basis of human behavior and cognition.
In the Enlightenment, debates about religion continued. The dissociation of society from the inert and conservative church (primarily the Catholic) has grown. Among educated believers, the notion of God as a kind of absolute mechanics that brought order to the originally existing world spread. Thanks to numerous scientific discoveries, the point of view has spread that humanity can reveal all the secrets of the universe, and mysteries and wonders are in the past.
Directions of art
In addition to philosophy, there was an artistic culture of the Enlightenment. At this time, the art of the Old World included two main areas. The first was classicism. He embodied in literature, music, art. This direction implied following the ancient Roman and Greek principles. Such art was distinguished by symmetry, rationality, focus and strict conformity to form.
Within the framework of romanticism, the artistic culture of the Enlightenment answered other requests: emotionality, imagination, creative improvisation of the artist. It often happened that in one work these two opposing approaches were combined. For example, the form could correspond to classicism, and the content - to romanticism.
Experimental styles also appeared. An important phenomenon was sentimentalism. He did not have his own stylistic form, but it was with his help that the then ideas of human kindness and purity, which is given to people by nature, were reflected. Russian artistic culture in the Enlightenment, as well as European, had its own vivid works that belonged to the course of sentimentalism. This was the story of Nikolai Karamzin "Poor Lisa."
Cult of nature
It was the sentimentalists who created the cult of nature characteristic of the Enlightenment. The thinkers of the 18th century were looking for an example of that beautiful and good that mankind should strive for. The epitome of a better world turned out to be parks and gardens actively appearing in Europe at that time. They were created as a perfect environment for perfect people. Their composition included art galleries, libraries, museums, temples, theaters.
Enlighteners believed that the new “natural man” should return to his natural state - that is, nature. According to this idea, Russian art culture in the era of the Enlightenment (or rather, architecture) gave Peterhof to his contemporaries. The famous architects Leblon, Zemtsov, Usov, Quarenghi worked on its construction. Thanks to their efforts, a unique ensemble appeared on the Gulf of Finland, including a unique park, magnificent palaces and fountains.
Painting
In painting, the artistic culture of Europe during the Enlightenment developed in the direction of greater secularism. The religious principle was losing ground even in those countries where before it felt quite confident: Austria, Italy, Germany. Landscape painting was replaced by a landscape of mood, and an intimate portrait replaced the ceremonial portrait.
In the first half of the 18th century, the French culture of the Enlightenment gave rise to the Rococo style. Such art was built on asymmetry, was mocking, playful and artsy. Favorite characters of artists of this direction were Bacchantes, nymphs, Venus, Diana and other figures of ancient mythology, and the main subjects were love stories.
A vivid example of the French Rococo is the work of Francois Boucher, who was also called the "first artist of the king." He painted theatrical scenery, illustrations for books, paintings for rich houses and palaces. His most famous paintings are: The Toilet of Venus, The Triumph of Venus, etc.
Antoine Watteau, by contrast, turned more to modern life. Under his influence, the style of the largest English portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough was formed. His images were distinguished by spirituality, spiritual refinement and poetry.
The main Italian painter of the XVIII century was Giovanni Tiepolo. This master of prints and frescoes is considered by art historians to be the last great representative of the Venetian school. In the capital of the famous trading republic, Veduta also appeared - an everyday urban landscape. The most famous creators in this genre are Francesco Guardi and Antonio Canaletto. These cultural figures of the Enlightenment left behind a huge number of impressive paintings.
Theater
XVIII century - the golden age of the theater. In the Enlightenment, this type of art reached the peak of its popularity and prevalence. In England, the biggest playwright was Richard Sheridan. His most famous works, A Trip to Scarborough, School of Slander, and Rivals ridiculed the immorality of the bourgeoisie.
The most dynamic theater culture in Europe during the Enlightenment was developing in Venice, where 7 theaters worked at once. The traditional annual city carnival attracted visitors from all over the Old World. In Venice, the author of the famous "innkeeping" Carlo Goldoni created. This playwright, who wrote a total of 267 works, was respected and appreciated by Voltaire.
The Marriage of Figaro, written by the great Frenchman Beaumarchais, became the most famous comedy of the 18th century. This play embodied the mood of a society that negatively related to the absolute Bourbon monarchy. A few years after the publication and the first comedy productions in France, a revolution occurred that overthrew the old regime.
The European culture of the Enlightenment was not homogeneous. In some countries, art had its own national characteristics. For example, German playwrights (Schiller, Goethe, Lessing) wrote their most outstanding works in the genre of tragedy. At the same time, the Enlightenment Theater in Germany appeared several decades later than in France or England.
Johann Goethe was not only a wonderful poet and playwright. It is not without reason that he is called a “universal genius” - a connoisseur and theorist of art, a scientist, a novelist and a specialist in many other fields. His key works are the tragedy Faust and the play Egmont. Another prominent figure in the German Enlightenment, Friedrich Schiller, not only wrote "Cunning and Love" and "Robbers", but also left behind scientific and historical writings.
Fiction
The main literary genre of the XVIII century was the novel. It was thanks to the new books that the triumph of bourgeois culture came, replacing the old feudal old ideology. The works of not only fiction writers, but also sociologists, philosophers, and economists were actively published.
The novel, as a genre, grew out of enlightened journalism. With the help of it, thinkers of the 18th century found a new form for the expression of their social and philosophical ideas. Jonathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver's Journey, put many allusions to the vices of his contemporary society in his work. He also wrote The Tale of the Butterfly. In this pamphlet, Swift ridiculed the then church order and strife.
The development of culture in the Enlightenment can be traced to the emergence of new literary genres. At this time, an epistolary novel arose (a novel in letters). Such was, for example, the sentimental work of Johann Goethe, “The Suffering of Young Werther,” in which the main character committed suicide, as well as Montesquieu's “Persian Letters”. Documentary novels appeared in the genre of travel notes or travel descriptions (Tobias Smollett's Travels in France and Italy).
In literature, the culture of the Enlightenment in Russia followed the precepts of classicism. In the XVIII century poets created Alexander Sumarokov, Vasily Trediakovsky, Antioch Kantemir. The first sprouts of sentimentalism appeared (the already mentioned Karamzin with “Poor Lisa” and “Natalya, the boyar’s daughter”). The culture of the Enlightenment in Russia created all the prerequisites so that at the beginning of the new XIX century, Russian literature, led by Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol, would survive its golden age.
Music
It was in the Enlightenment that a modern musical language took shape. Its founder is Johann Bach. This great composer wrote works in all genres (the exception was opera). Bach is still considered an unsurpassed master of polyphony. Another German composer, Georg Handel, wrote over 40 operas, as well as numerous sonatas and suites. He, like Bach, drew inspiration from biblical subjects (the titles of the works are typical: “Israel in Egypt”, “Saul”, “Messiah”).
Another major musical phenomenon of the time is the Vienna school. The works of its representatives continue to be performed by academic orchestras today, thanks to which modern people can touch the heritage that the culture of the enlightenment era left. The 18th century is associated with the names of such geniuses as Wolfgang Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig Van Beethoven. It was these Viennese composers who rethought previous musical forms and genres.
Haydn is considered the father of the classical symphony (he wrote more than a hundred of them). Many of these works were based on folk dances and songs. The pinnacle of Haydn's work is a series of London symphonies, written by him during trips to England. The culture of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and any other period of human history rarely gave rise to such prolific masters. In addition to symphonies, Haydn owns 83 quartets, 13 masses, 20 operas and 52 clavier sonatas.
Mozart not only wrote music. He played the harpsichord and violin unsurpassed, having mastered these instruments in early childhood. His operas and concerts differ in a wide variety of moods (from poetic lyrics to fun). The main works of Mozart are three of his symphonies, written in the same year 1788 (number 39, 40, 41).
Another great classic Beethoven was fond of heroic subjects, which was reflected in the overtures Egmont, Coriolanus and the opera Fidelio. As a performer, he amazed contemporaries by playing the piano. Beethoven wrote 32 sonatas for this instrument. The composer created most of his works in Vienna. He also owns 10 sonatas for violin and piano (the Kreitserova sonata was best known).
Beethoven experienced a serious creative crisis caused by his hearing loss. The composer was inclined to suicide and in despair wrote his legendary "Moonlight" sonata. However, even a terrible ailment did not break the will of the artist. Overcoming his own apathy, Beethoven wrote many more symphonic works.
English Enlightenment
England was the birthplace of European Enlightenment. In this country before the others, back in the 17th century, a bourgeois revolution took place, which gave an impetus to cultural development. England has become a clear example of social progress. Philosopher John Locke was one of the first and foremost theorists of the liberal idea. Under the influence of his writings, the most important political document of the Enlightenment was written - the American Declaration of Independence. Locke believed that human knowledge is determined by sensory perception and experience, which refuted the previously popular philosophy of Descartes.
Another important 18th century British thinker was David Hume. This philosopher, economist, historian, diplomat and publicist updated the science of morality. His contemporary Adam Smith became the founder of modern economic theory. The culture of the Enlightenment, in short, preceded many modern concepts and ideas. Smith's work was just that. He was the first to equate the importance of the market with the importance of the state.
Thinkers of France
The French philosophers of the 18th century created in conditions of opposition to the then existing social and political system. Russo, Diderot, Montesquieu - they all protested against the domestic order. Criticism could take many different forms: atheism, the idealization of the past (the republican traditions of antiquity were praised), etc.
A unique phenomenon of the Enlightenment culture is the 35-volume Encyclopedia. It was made up of the main thinkers of The Age of Reason. The inspiration and editor-in-chief of this landmark publication was Denis Didro. Paul Holbach, Julien Lametri, Claude Helvetius and other prominent intellectuals of the eighteenth century contributed to individual volumes.
Montesquieu sharply criticized the arbitrariness and despotism of the authorities. Today he is rightly considered the founder of bourgeois liberalism. Voltaire became an example of outstanding wit and talent. He was the author of satirical poems, philosophical novels, political treatises. Twice the thinker went to prison, more times he had to hide on the run. It was Voltaire who created the fashion for freethinking and skepticism.
German Enlightenment
German culture of the XVIII century existed in the conditions of political fragmentation of the country. Advanced minds advocated the rejection of feudal survivals and national unity. Unlike the French philosophers, German thinkers were cautious about issues related to the church.
Like Russian culture of the Enlightenment, Prussian culture was formed with the direct participation of the autocratic monarch (in Russia it was Catherine II, in Prussia - Frederick the Great). The head of state strongly supported the advanced ideals of his time, although he did not give up his unlimited power. Such a system was called "enlightened absolutism."
The main Enlightener of Germany of the 18th century was Immanuel Kant. In 1781, he published the fundamental work, Critique of Pure Reason. The philosopher developed a new theory of knowledge, studied the possibilities of human intelligence. It was he who substantiated the methods of struggle and the legal forms of changing the social and state system, which exclude gross violence. Kant made a significant contribution to the creation of the theory of the rule of law.