Culture of the Renaissance

The revival first began to be viewed as a separate historical and cultural period only from the second half of the 18th century. This is due to the appearance of Winkelman's works on European art. The development of the Renaissance culture lasted more than three centuries. It took place in four stages:

- Pre-rebirth (from the last third of the 13th century to the beginning of the 14th century);

- Early Renaissance (from the middle of the 14th century to the end of the 15th century);

- High Revival (from the end of the 15th century until the first half of the 16th century);

- Later the Renaissance (from the second half of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century).

In the first years of the 19th century the German word "humanism" came into use. It was used to refer exclusively to the human nature of Jesus Christ. Soon this term spread in the circles of educated people, this word was often called the figures of the Renaissance. True, an objective examination of this period shows that not all of them were true bearers of a new worldview. Despite this, it can be said that on the whole, the Renaissance era actively influenced the formation of a modern understanding of humanism as a position for which human values are the priority .

During this period the leaders of the Renaissance put forward the slogan "To the Sources!". Thus, they expressed their admiration for the art and literature of antiquity and the critical attitude to contemporary culture of the Middle Ages. The latter received such an unflattering assessment for ignorance of the classics of Ancient Greece and for saturating Latin with foreign expressions.

The culture of the Renaissance was formed under the significant influence of the developing bourgeois society in Italian city-states. The fact is that in other European countries the struggle of this stratum of the population for their rights resulted in the formation of monarchies and the preservation of the old traditions. And it was only in Italy that the bourgeoisie defeated feudal lords and established their orders in large cities. They, as well as church hierarchs, kings and bankers, most often acted as customers of works of art and strongly supported writers and artists. And among the Renaissance humanists themselves there were many representatives of the nobility. Due to the fact that many Italian cities were under the administration or patronage of Byzantium , the culture of the Renaissance in that country was under the tangible influence of the East. Especially it is noticeable in architecture and in decorative art. There, the Islamic and Byzantine traditions merged with elements of Gothic.

The culture of the Renaissance has much more in common with the late Middle Ages than would have been desired by its figures. Therefore, representatives of the Renaissance sought to separate themselves and the creation of their concepts, and the formation of various elite organizations and circles.

If medieval figures of culture from antiquity took only individual knowledge, excerpts, comments, then the creators of the Renaissance were interested in the form of the ancient work, its essence, its spirit, ideas. But there was no question of dropping the legacy of the Christian world.

The culture of the Renaissance became a direct continuation of the Western Middle Ages. From there, she took the ideas of personal, social and historical progress, a humane attitude to each person, the recognition of the mystical underpinnings of being, the propensity to erudition, the use of symbols and allegories. From the height of the Christian world view, the legacy of ancient times is also considered. But had a culture of the Renaissance and ideological difference, compared with the Middle Ages. The Renaissance people regarded man as the center of the universe, as the highest part of nature and at the same time as her greatest creation. And the world around was perceived as the result not only of God's hands, but of the earth.