The Art of France: General Characteristics, History

The history of French art covers a huge historical period, from the era of antiquity to our time.

France - an amazing country, which is characterized by mystery and sophistication, brilliance and refinement, sublimity and a special craving for everything beautiful. And the history of the formation of its unique, which has become a standard, such a diverse and unique art is no less amazing than the state itself.

Prerequisites for the formation of the Frankish Kingdom

To understand the peculiarities of the emergence and development of French art, it is necessary to make a digression into the history of the ancient period, when the territory of the modern French state was part of the Great Roman Empire. In the IV century, active movements of barbarian tribes from the banks of the Rhine to the borders of the empire began. Their attacks and periodic invasions of Roman lands that were devastated greatly undermined the state of Latin. And in 395 the Roman Empire itself was divided between the sons of the incumbent emperor into two parts: Theodosius bequeathed the richest eastern part of his territory to the eldest son Arkady, and handed the western son to the younger son, Honorius. The division of the Great Roman Empire into parts weakened the already fragile Roman state and made it more vulnerable to external enemies.

The territory of modern France was part of the western part of the former Great Roman Empire. A strong blow in 410 caused Rome troops of the Visigoths, led by Allarikh. The last Roman emperor of a weak state hid in Ravenna, leaving eternal Rome. It was there that the army of Odoacra, one of the leading commanders of the Visigothic tribe, overtook him. It was with this event, held in 476, that the final fall of the Roman Empire was linked. On the conquered lands, as a result of the Great Resettlement that began, barbarian states began to emerge. In the fifth century, in the part of Gaul, the state of the Franks arose.

The Frankish state and the development of French art

The Franks are a group of tribes that have since been settled along the banks of the Rhine in its lower reaches and off the coast of the Baltic Sea. The founder of the first Frankish kingdom in Europe was the young leader of the Franks, Clovis Mieroving, who defeated the army of the Roman governor in Galia at the Battle of Soissons and seized the territories under his control. In the new territories he settled his fellow Franks, endowing them with land plots, carried out a number of state reforms both in the field of state administration and in the judicial and legislative sphere, introducing a unique document - "Salic Truth", compiled on the basis of tribal orders of the tribe Salic francs. In addition, special attention was paid to Chlodvig's choice of faith. The adoption of Christianity not only strengthened the new state, but also influenced the formation of Frankish art.

After the Merovingian dynasty became lazy in the affairs of government, life in the kingdom became increasingly difficult. Known to capture the royal lands. Prosperity in the management of nobility with their allotments and peasants flourished. The impoverishment of the population has increased. In the VIII century, there was an external threat from nomadic Arab tribes. Power in their hands took one of the managers of the last Merovingian King Karl Martell. He carried out a number of reforms that helped strengthen the state and defeat the Arabs. And the son of Charles Martell Pippin Short was elected to the council of the nobility as the new king of the Franks. This choice was confirmed by the pope. And the first Frankish emperor was the son of Pippin, Short Karl, behind whom the nickname Great was fixed in history. It is the Charles of the Frankish Empire that owes a special stage in the heyday of culture and art, which is called the Carolingian Renaissance.

The art of the "original" francs

If we understand the peculiarities of the birth and formation of the Frankish state, then the fate of the cultural heritage that had been in the Frankish territories from the earliest times becomes understandable. This was mainly the development of ancient civilization: bridges, residential and temple architecture, sculpture and literature, theater and arts and crafts. However, the Christian churchmen did not consider it necessary to preserve these cultural treasures, but they used the part that could be adapted to the departure of the religious cult and to the life of the inhabitant. Thus, worship in Christian churches took place in Latin, church books were written in the same language.

The use of architectural finds of Antiquity was necessary in order to begin the erection of churches and monasteries, the use of knowledge in astronomy helped calculate the dates of the church calendar, which in the era of the Middle Ages declared the life of the whole kingdom. Also, the Franks adapted to their needs and the education system of the late Roman Empire. It is noteworthy that the complex of school subjects studied in Frankish schools was called "Seven Liberal Arts". What kind of arts were we talking about? The so-called trivium included the science of the word: grammar, rhetoric and dialectics. The quadrivium included the science of numbers: arithmetic, geometry, music as the calculation of musical intervals and astronomy.

In the arts and crafts, the traditions of barbarous creativity prevailed, characterized by the use as the main motifs of plant and animal ornaments and images of monsters or creatures that in reality do not exist and often have a rather frightening appearance. This type of art is called teratological or monstrous.

The art and culture of the Carolingian revival

The period of the reign of Charlemagne is characterized by an unprecedented rise in culture. One of the reasons for this is the very personality of the emperor - a well-educated and highly cultured person. He spoke and spoke freely in Latin, he understood Greek, was fond of theology and philosophy. One of the unique architectural constructions of this period was the palace church in Aachen, amazing in its decoration.

Developed and the art of creating hand-written books: they were written in almost a calligraphic handwriting and decorated with beautiful miniatures. Among the books were both theological writings and annals - a time-by-year recording of events that took place in the Frankish Empire.

In the empire, schools were opened, focused on primary and elite education. The creator of the first was the ally Karla Alquin. And the elite school, opened in Aachen, united scientists, the emperor's family and the entire court of Charlemagne. In a school called the "Court Academy", philosophical conversations were conducted, studying the Bible and the culture of Antiquity, making riddles and composing verses. And one of the members of the Academy wrote the first secular biography "The Life of Charlemagne."

It was in the era of the Carolingian revival that the foundations were laid for the preservation and revival of the traditions of ancient culture and the basis for the further development of the culture of the Franks.

Formation of France as a state

During the reign of the descendants of Charlemagne, the empire he created was increasingly weakened. When the empire was divided between the sons of Charles, the western part of it went to the eldest son of Lothar. And his descendants continued to weaken the fragmented state. The empire fell. The last of the Carolingians finally lost influence and were deposed. Know gave the right to rule the then powerful graph of the Parisian Hugo Capet. It was the eastern part of the former Frankish Empire that became known as France. Thanks to the rule of the Capetians, the new state not only revived, but also gained new opportunities for its development, including cultural ones.

Folk art of medieval France

In the theater and music of the medieval period, there have also been a number of changes in comparison with the ancient. The Christian church considered the actors as accomplices of the devil and strongly persecuted the artistic brethren. As a result, the theater ceased to exist as a mass phenomenon, the construction of theaters and stadiums gradually came to a state of devastation, and the actors began to form wandering troupes and played for the people at the crossroads of fairs, fairs and squares. Mobile groups of universal actors - hystriones were less convenient object for persecution by the church and the authorities, which were subordinate to it and pursued their goals in connection with the peculiarity of the directivity of the creativity of hystriones and troubadours - stray musicians. A special group consisted of vagrants-former students or monks who had mastered the versification and the foundations of musical art, who wandered alone on the roads and in their works, or sang about carnal love, or denounced a decaying church and a rotten state.

Three spheres of development of medieval art

9/10 of the population of medieval France were peasants. Therefore, the basic culture of the state can be defined as peasant. Most of the day the medieval peasant spent in the labors on the land of the feudal lord. But this does not mean that he did not have the need and time to communicate with culture and art. Basically it was song and dance creativity, competitions in strength and dexterity. A special place in communicating with art was occupied by viewing views of the Gystric. Developed and oral folk art. The wisdom of the people was reflected in folklore: fairy tales, songs, proverbs and sayings. The main theme of the storytellers was the shame of the stupid rich man to the poor, but a good poor man, who, as a rule, came from a peasant family. Fairy tales were ostrosotsialnymi: revealed the vices of society in the sphere of relations between the nobility and the peasantry, and also talked about the heavy share of the peasants. Legends and ballads were also created, glorifying the exploits of folk heroes fighting for the honor and dignity of the common man and against feudal tyranny.

The second side of medieval culture and art was the life of cities, the growth and flourishing of which have been observed since the IX century. The appearance of such a class as the bourgeois, was the beginning of the development of bourgeois culture. Skill of craftsmen was quickly perfected. Modified the principles of their work and the quality of the products created, many of which now have a high value as masterpieces of decorative and applied art. It was from this time that such a word as "masterpiece" came into our everyday life. Each master entering the shop brotherhood had to demonstrate his skill and make the perfect product. This was a masterpiece. Gradually the system of interaction and competition of shops was formed, which initially became a motivator in the development of crafts. However, over time, the shops began to interfere with the crafts to develop, because competitors did not want to be bypassed by the most talented masters, and sometimes they did not want the secret of the manufacturing process of a product or material to fall into the hands of competitors. Often members of the guild brotherhood even destroyed inventions, and sometimes persecuted their creators.

The third side of medieval culture and art was the existence of a separate world of aristocracy - feudal lords. As a rule, all feudal lords carried out military service to the king, being his personal vassals. The feudal lords were more vassals from their rulers - barons, counts, etc. Carrying out equestrian military service, they represented such a phenomenon of medieval society as chivalry. Knightly culture was characterized and its special art. This is the art of creating knightly coats of arms - three-dimensional identification marks of a knightly family or a separate knight. They made coats of arms from expensive materials - gold and silver, enamels and furs martens or squirrels. Each coat of arms was an important historical source and a very valuable work of art.

In addition, in the chivalric culture of boys - future knights - taught and such skills as singing and dancing, playing musical instruments. They had been taught good manners since childhood, knew many poems, and many of the knights themselves wrote poems, devoting them to a beautiful lady. And of course, it is necessary to recall the unique monuments of medieval architecture - knight castles erected in the Romanesque style, as well as the amazing temples erected in all the cities of France, first in the Romanesque, and later in the Gothic style. The most famous temples are the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Reims Cathedral, the place of the coronation of the French monarchs.

The Art of France: Revival

The Renaissance, associated with a new round of interest in ancient cultural heritage and art, originated in sunny Italy in the XIV century. In France, the trends of the Renaissance were reflected in culture and fine arts only at the end of the XV century. But this period lasted longer in France than in Italy: not until the XVI, but before the XVII century. The rise in culture and art in the French state was associated with the completion of the unification of the country under Louis XI.

The disagreement with the Gothic traditions in the art of France occurred in connection with the frequent campaigns of kings to Italy, where they got acquainted with the amazing Italian art of the Renaissance. However, unlike Italy, the art of this period in France was more courtier than folk.

As for the nationality of French art, his outstanding representative in literature was the remarkable poet Francois Rabelais, who created figurative, witty and cheerful poetic works.

If we talk about the fine arts of this period, it should be noted that realistic trends have been embodied in theological miniatures and secular literature. The very first artist of this period of the development of French art was Jean Fouquet, who left to his descendants a huge heritage in the form of portraits of aristocrats and the royal family, book miniatures, landscapes, diptychs depicting Madonna.

Margarita of Navarre invited to France and Italian masters of the Renaissance: Rosso and Primaticcio, who became the founders of the school of Fontainebleau - a direction in the French art of painting, which arose in the estate of Fontainebleau. This current was based on the principles of Mannerism, which was originally the founders of the school, and was characterized by the use of mythological subjects and intricate allegories. There are also sources that call other names of masters participating in the design of the castle of Fontainebleau: Italians Pellegrino and Just de Just, Frenchmen Simon Leroy, Claude Badouin, Charles Dorigny, Flemish Leonard Tirey, and others.

In the 16th century, the genre of portrait, pictorial and pencil, actively developed in France. Of particular interest are the works of Jean Clouet, who painted portraits of almost the entire French court.

Sculpture of this period in France is associated with the name of Michel Kolomb, who skillfully performed including relief images and philosophical interpretation of the gravestone. Also interesting are the works of Jean Goujon, imbued with a special musicality and poetry of images and manner of execution.

The counterbalance of harmonious and ideal in its beauty and grace of creativity Gouzhon were the works of another sculptor of this period - Germain Pilon. They are akin to their expression and hypertrophy of transmitted feelings and experiences to the works of expressionists of the XIX century. All of his characters are deeply realistic, even naturalistic, dramatic and gloomy.

Art of France: 17th century

The 16th century was the era of wars and devastation for the French state. In the first quarter of the XVII century, power in France was strengthened. Particularly quickly came the process of centralizing power under Louis XIII, when everyone in the country was in charge of Cardinal Richelieu. The people groaned under the yoke of the aristocracy and the hardships of daily work. However, the absolutist monarchy contributed not only to strengthening and increasing the power of France, but also to the fact that during this period the country became one of the leading among other European states. This undoubtedly affected the development and main trends of culture and art in the country.

The art of France of the 17th century can be conditionally defined as an official court, which was expressed by pompous and decorative baroque style.

In contrast to the splendor and exaggerated decorativeness of the Baroque in the art of France, two trends emerged: realism and classicism. The first of them was an appeal to the reflection of real life as it was, without embellishment. Within the framework of this trend, a household genre and portrait, biblical and mythological genres are developed.

Classicism in the art of France reflects primarily the theme of civic duty, the victory of society over the individual, the ideals of reason. They are positioned as an opposition to the imperfection of real life, an ideal to which one should strive, sacrificing even personal interests. All this mainly relates to the fine arts of France. The basis for the art of classicism was the tradition of ancient art. And this has found the greatest reflection in the classic architecture. In addition, it was architecture that was most dependent on the practical interests of the state and was completely subordinated to absolutism.

The period of the XVII century in the French state is characterized by the erection of a large number of city-forming architectural ensembles and palace structures. During this period it is secular architecture that comes to the fore.

If we talk about the reflection of the above trends in the visual arts, we should mention the work of Nicolas Poussin - an amazing representative of the era, whose painting embodied both the generality of the world perception and the indomitable energy of the life of ancient art.

The Art of France: The 18th Century

As for the art of France of the XVIII century, this is a separate topic for a long conversation. Briefly, the art of France of this period was a protest against negative phenomena in public life: absolutism began to decay, the aristocracy led a wasteful way of life, parasitizing on other layers of society. The discontent that arose in the popular masses resulted in a bourgeois revolution, as a result of which a republic was established in France. All this was reflected in the art of France in the 18th century.

A new upsurge of culture was associated with a huge influence on the creativity of the people's beginning, which, first of all, was vividly expressed in music. In the theater, the main role was played by comedy, the exhibition theater of masks, the art of opera actively developed. Less and less creators turned to religious topics, secular art developed more and more actively. French culture of this period was very diverse and saturated with contrasts. The art of realism turned to the unfolding of the world of man of different estates: to his feelings and experiences, to the everyday side of life, to psychological analysis.

Art of France of the 19th century

We move on. Let's talk briefly about the art of France of the XIX century. The life of the state of this time is characterized by another round of growth of people's discontent and expressed revolutionary sentiments after the restoration of the French monarchy. The theme of struggle and heroism became one of the leading figures in the visual arts. It was reflected in new directions of painting - historicism and romanticism. But with academism in the fine arts of this period there is a struggle.

The study of the color factor in painting leads to the active development of the landscape genre and to the revision of all systems of French painting.

During this period, decorative and applied art receives special development as the most reflecting aspirations of the people. Very popular is lubok, allowing in the simplest technique when using satirical images to reveal the vices and problems of society.

In fact, the documentary historical source of the era is etching. On etchings it is possible to study the history of France of the XIX century.

The art of France, as we see, is very multifaceted and diverse and closely related to the development of the French state. Each epoch is a huge block that requires special disclosure, which can not be done within the framework of one article.