The Renaissance has a worldwide significance in the history of culture. Her procession began with Italy at the beginning of the 14th century and ended in the first decades of the 17th. The peak occurred in the 15-16th century, covering the whole of Europe. Historians, art historians, and writers have devoted many works to the Renaissance, revealing the “progressiveness" and "humanistic ideals" of this period. But the Russian philosopher A. F. Losev in the book “Aesthetics of the Renaissance” refutes the ideological positions of his opponents. How does he explain this?
Essence of the renaissance
The term “revival” is first encountered by Italian humanists, and was introduced by J. Michelet, a 19th-century French historian. Now this term has become a metaphor for cultural prosperity, since the Renaissance era that replaced the Middle Ages preceded the Enlightenment. An interest in a person as a separate person arose in society, an interest appeared in the culture of Antiquity - rebirth.
The Russian philosopher A.F. Losev refutes that the Renaissance began in Europe, and considers this in detail. In the introduction to his work, “Aesthetics of the Renaissance,” Losev emphasizes that the term “renaissance” in its exact sense can be attributed only to Italy of the 15-16th centuries. But, calling themselves “revivalists”, Italians greatly exaggerate, since “revival phenomena” manifested themselves in other cultures, and this must be taken into account.
Eastern Renaissance
Losev refers to the orientalist N.I. Konrad, who did a lot to talk about the Chinese Renaissance, which fell on the second half of the 7th century, since Han Yu preached the ideals of humanism and was only the forerunner of a genuine Renaissance in China , which was observed in the 11-12th centuries. Another researcher of the Eastern Renaissance, V. I. Semanov, completely rejects this phenomenon in the East and notes only a “leisurely sequence” in the development of life and literature.
Continuing with a brief summary of Losev’s “Aesthetics of Renaissance,” it should be noted that the author gives examples of other great Renaissances: Iran of the 11-15th centuries, A. Navoi became a prominent representative of that era and the founder of Uzbek literature. Then he refers to the work of V.K. Galoyan, who claimed that much earlier than the western period the Eastern revival began, in particular in Armenia.
The Georgian Renaissance of the 11-12th centuries is explained in its work by academician Sh. I. Nutsubidze. The “skirmishers” of the Renaissance in Europe were Georgian thinkers, who were several centuries ahead of Western Europe, summarizes Losev in the first chapter of “Renaissance Aesthetics”. Alexei Fedorovich concludes with a brief overview of the Eastern Renaissance and moves on to the Western.
Western Renaissance
The author begins the review with the work of art historian E. Panovsky, who claims that the Renaissance is indeed a noticeable historical period, since after it they started talking about the Middle Ages. It was Petrarch who first remembered the “bright Antiquity” and the return to the ancient forgotten ideal. For him, it was, first of all, about a return to the classics, for Boccaccio or Savonarola - about a return to nature.
Over time, these two trends merged, and figures in European culture were convinced that they were experiencing a “modern age”. According to Panovsky, the new worldview has become just the antipode of medieval culture, based on increasing culture and exaltation of man on Plato and Aristotle. Losev's “Aesthetics of the Renaissance” devoted his work to this proof, where he singled out the neo-Platonic foundation of this era, proving the non-Christian, pagan nature of the Renaissance.
Worldview of the author
It is difficult to find a thinker of such a scale as Losev in Russian culture. His research areas included philology, philosophy, theology, cultural historian, music theory, linguistics and aesthetics. The formation of his interests took place in direct connection with religious philosophy, the basis of his worldview was Orthodoxy.
The specificity of religious and philosophical views and determined the direction of his research. It was in Losev's work “Aesthetics of the Renaissance” that his historiosophical, worldview and historical-cultural views were closely intertwined.
“Aesthetics of the Renaissance”
This fundamental work is written, the main theme of which was the history of aesthetics, in a scientific style. According to Losev, the aesthetics of the Renaissance is based on the spontaneous self-affirmation of the human person, on a partial departure from medieval models. A great revolution takes place, unknown to history until now, titans of deeds, thoughts and feelings appear. Without such a renaissance, there could be no subsequent development of culture, and “to doubt it would be savagery,” the author claims.
An independent, self-affirming personality in comparison with medieval constraint was something new, revolutionary. But according to Losev, the author of Renaissance Aesthetics, such a human subject was not strong enough, and he had to seek a justification for his absolutism.
Nevertheless, it was during the Renaissance that the origin of a free-thinking personality took place. And this was reflected in all directions: new genres in poetry - a sonnet, in prose - a short story, in painting - a landscape, a secular portrait, in architecture - a Palladian style, tragedy was revived in drama, etc.
During this period, early realism began to take shape. The works were filled with understanding of human life, which demonstrated the rejection of slavish submission. The wealth of the human soul, the mind and the beauty of the physical appearance were revealed, which can be observed in the works of the great Shakespeare, Cervantes, Rabelais, Petrarch.
Bright representatives of the era
The realism of the Renaissance is characterized by the poetization of the image, the ability to sincerely feel, the passionate intensity of the tragic conflict, which reflects a person’s clash with the opposing forces. The ideal of a “universal person” arises, realized in various fields of activity. For example, Leonardo da Vinci is a musician, sculptor, artist, medic. Next to him are the names of the titans - T. More, F. Bacon, F. Rabelais, M. Montaigne, Lorenzo, Michelangelo.
The transition from rural hegemony to urban heyday and the heyday of cities - Paris, Florence, London - belong to the same time. Here are the greatest geographical discoveries of Columbus, Magellan, Vasco de Gama, N. Copernicus. In the 14th century, the ideology of the Renaissance was formed - humanism, which F. Petrarch is considered a vivid representative of. The ideas of humanism gave rise to a surge of culture and met with fierce resistance from the church. The Inquisition, the split of the Christian church, and the Reformation belong to the same era.
Two elements
As Losev notes, the aesthetics of the Renaissance, its ideological heritage, “permeate the two elements”. Firstly, thinkers and artists of that era feel within themselves the strength and ability to penetrate the depths of artistic imagery, inner experiences, and the beauty of nature. Before the Renaissance, there were no so deep philosophers who could see the depths of nature, man and society.
But on the other hand, even great figures felt the limitations of man, his helplessness before nature, in religious achievements and creativity. This duality of the aesthetics of the Renaissance is as specific for her as its unprecedented solemnity of self-assertive person.
Three traits of the Renaissance
In his work, Losev noted that the Renaissance has accumulated vast literature that does not lend itself to a complete review and analysis. With such popularity of this topic, prejudices could not but accumulate, which sometimes is not easy to refute, but, having reviewed the “aesthetic facts of the Renaissance, we will hardly consider this incredible dualism to be something improbable and unthinkable”.
In general, Losev A.F. in Renaissance Aesthetics identifies three essential features of the Renaissance as an independent era:
- the classical ancient Greek world became the object of nostalgia and after 15 centuries found its expression in restoration;
- the ancient worldview and heritage are attracted to new ideals, planted on new soil, used for a new concept of man, in the construction of life in its secular understanding, and not with medieval focus on God;
- a new secular culture is emerging and, accordingly, science, art and worldview.
The book was published in 1978 and is dedicated to an era that has become a turning point not only in culture, but also in the minds of philosophers and historians. The Renaissance era occupies an important place in the work of Alexei Fedorovich, since this is the time of the death of the Christian worldview. Losev's view of the culture of the Renaissance is not only the opinion of a historian or art critic, but also a philosopher of Orthodoxy.
He does not set out to explore the phenomena of this era. From his point of view, this is the era of “world catastrophe”, and his negative attitude towards it is evident. Criticism of the Renaissance by Losev was not a lonely discourse, in 1976 a book by art critic M. M. Alpatov was published, which expressed rejection of the art of the Renaissance. The famous philosopher Yu. N. Davydov also opposed the moral philosophy of Dostoevsky to Nietzsche’s amoralism, which originates from the “Caesarism” of the Renaissance.
Reader Reviews
The book of the famous philosopher and culturologist Losev - an outstanding work, will appeal to those who are interested in European culture. The author deeply reveals the basic principles of the aesthetics of the Renaissance. Reader's reviews confirm that Losev versatile shows the manifestation of aesthetic principles in everyday life, in religious and philosophical creativity. Little has been written about aesthetics itself; more attention is paid to neoplatonism as a socio-economic basis.
The emphasis is on writers and philosophers, artists receive less attention. Its author concentrated only on five “first-class”, from the point of view of Losev, painters - da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Durer and Grunevalde. There is a negative attitude towards Leonardo da Vinci.
About other Renaissance titans, such as Titian and Raphael, not a word. But the chapter on Albrecht Durer is very interesting, in which the author focuses on parallels with the work of da Vinci. It reveals little-known facts about patrons and patrons of that era who were reputed to be humanists, being actually sadists and tyrants. In short, for those who are keen on the history of aesthetics, this book will be interesting.