Art of France: general characteristics, history

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

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

France is an amazing country, which is characterized by mystery and sophistication, brilliance and sophistication, 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 the art of France, it is necessary to make an excursion into the history of the ancient period, when the territory of the modern French state was part of the Great Roman Empire. In the 4th century, active movements of barbarian tribes began from the banks of the Rhine to the borders of the empire. Their attacks and periodic invasions of the Roman lands, which were devastated, greatly undermined the state of the Latins. And in 395, the Roman Empire itself was divided between the sons of the current emperor into two parts: Theodosius bequeathed the richest easternpart of his territories to his eldest son Arcadius, and transferred the western part to his youngest 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 was de alt to Rome by the troops of the Visigoths, led by Allaric. The last Roman emperor of a weak state hid in Ravenna, leaving eternal Rome behind. It was there that he was overtaken by the army of Odoacer, one of the leading military leaders of the Visigothic tribe. It is with this event, which took place in 476, that the final fall of the Roman Empire is associated. As a result of the beginning of the Great Migration, barbarian states began to emerge along the reclaimed lands. In the 5th century, the state of the Franks also arose in part of Gaul.

The Frankish state and the development of French art

The Franks are a group of tribes that since ancient times settled along the banks of the Rhine in its lower reaches and off the coast of the B altic Sea. The founder of the first Frankish kingdom in Europe was the young leader of the Franks, Clovis Merovingus, who defeated the army of the Roman governor in Gaul at the Battle of Soissons and captured the territories subject to him. In new territories, he settled his associates - the Franks, endowing them with land plots, carried out a number of state reforms both in the field of public administration and in the judicial and legislative sphere, putting into effect a unique document - "Salic Truth", compiled on the basis of genericorders of the tribe of the Salic Franks. In addition, special attention was paid by Clovis to the 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 matters of government, life in the kingdom became more and more difficult. The nobility seized the royal lands. Permissiveness flourished in the management of the nobility of their allotments and peasants. The impoverishment of the population increased. In the VIII century, an external threat from nomadic Arab tribes also loomed. One of the administrators of the last Merovingian king, Karl Martell, took power into his own hands. He carried out a series of reforms that helped strengthen the state and defeat the Arabs. And the son of Charles Martell, Pippin the Short, was elected at 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 the Short Charles, who was nicknamed the Great in history. It was Charles who owed the Frankish Empire a special stage in the flowering of culture and art, which is called the Carolingian Renaissance.

Art of the "original" Franks

If you understand the features of the birth and formation of the Frankish state, then the fate of the cultural heritage that has been located in the Frankish territories since ancient times becomes clear. It was mainly the development of ancient civilization: bridges, residential and temple architecture, sculpture and literature, theater and arts and crafts. However, Christian clergy did not consider it necessary to preserveof these cultural riches, but used that part of them that could be adapted to the administration of religious worship and to the life of the layman. Thus, worship in Christian churches was held in Latin, church books were written in the same language.

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

The arts and crafts were dominated by the traditions of barbarian creativity, which was characterized by the use of plant and animal ornaments and images of monsters or creatures that do not exist in reality and often have a rather frightening appearance as the main motifs. This type of art is called terratological or monstrous.

Art and culture of the Carolingian Renaissance

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. Hefluently spoke and read Latin, understood Greek, was fond of theology and philosophy. One of the unique architectural structures of this period was the palace church in Aachen, amazing in its artistic design.

The art of creating handwritten books also developed: they were written in almost calligraphic handwriting and decorated with beautiful miniatures. Among the books were both theological writings and annals - time-by-year records of events that took place in the Frankish Empire.

Schools focused on primary and elite education were opened in the empire. The creator of the first was an associate of Karl Alcuin. And the elite school opened in Aachen united scientists, the emperor's family and the entire court of Charlemagne. At the school, called the "Court Academy", philosophical conversations were held, they studied the Bible and the culture of Antiquity, made riddles and composed poems. And one of the members of the Academy wrote the first secular biography, The Life of Charlemagne.

It was during the era of the Carolingian Renaissance 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 among the sons of Charles, the western part of it went to the eldest son Lothair. And his descendants continued to weaken the fragmented state. The empire has fallen. The last of the Carolingians finally lost their influence and were deposed. Know handed over the rightthe reign of the then powerful Count of Paris, Hugh Capet. It was the eastern part of the former Frankish Empire that began to be called France. Thanks to the rule of the Capetians, the new state not only revived, but also received new opportunities for its development, including cultural.

Folk art of medieval France

In the theater and music of the medieval period, a number of changes also occurred compared to the ancient one. The Christian church considered the actors to be accomplices of the devil and in every possible way persecuted the artistic fraternity. As a result, the theater ceased to exist as a mass phenomenon, the buildings of theaters and stadiums gradually fell into a state of ruin, and the actors began to form itinerant troupes and played for the people at crossroads, fairs and squares. Mobile groups of universal actors - histrions were a less convenient object for persecution by the church and the authorities, who were subordinate to it and pursued their own goals due to the peculiarity of the direction of the work of histrions and troubadours - itinerant musicians. A special group consisted of vagants - former students or monks who knew versification and the basics of musical art, who wandered alone along the roads and in their works either sang about carnal love, or denounced the decaying church and rotten state.

Three spheres of development of medieval art

9/10 of the population of medieval France were peasants. Therefore, the main culture of the state can be defined as peasant. Most of the day the medieval peasant spent in labor on the groundfeudal lord. But this does not mean at all 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 communication with art was occupied by viewing performances of histrions. Oral folk art also developed. The wisdom of the people is reflected in folklore: fairy tales, songs, proverbs and sayings. The main theme of the storytellers was the shame of the stupid rich man by the poor, but kind poor man, who, as a rule, came from a peasant family. The tales were acutely social: they revealed the vices of society in the sphere of relations between the nobility and the peasantry, and also talked about the plight of the peasants. Legends and ballads were also created, glorifying the exploits of folk heroes fighting for the honor and dignity of an ordinary person and against feudal arbitrariness.

The second side of medieval culture and art was the life of cities, the growth and flourishing of which was observed from the 9th century. The emergence of such a class as the bourgeois was the beginning of the development of bourgeois culture. The skills of craftsmen improved rapidly. The principles of their work and the quality of the products created were modified, many of which are now highly valued 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 joining the guild fraternity had to demonstrate his skills and make the perfect product. This was the masterpiece. Gradually, a system of interaction was formedand guild competition, which initially motivated the development of handicrafts. However, over time, the workshops began to interfere with the development of crafts, as competitors did not want to be bypassed by the most talented craftsmen, and sometimes they did not want the secret of the manufacturing process of a product or material for it to fall into the hands of competitors. Often members of the guild fraternity even destroyed inventions, and sometimes persecuted their creators.

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

Besides, as part of the chivalrous culture, boys - future knights - were also taught such arts as singing and dancing, playing musical instruments. They were taught good manners from childhood, knew a lot of poetry, and many of the knights themselves wrote poetry, dedicating them to a beautiful lady. And of course, it is necessary to remember the unique monuments of medieval architecture - knight's castles,erected in the Romanesque style, as well as amazing temples built 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 Reims Cathedral - the place where French monarchs were crowned.

Art of France: Renaissance

The Renaissance, associated with a new round of interest in the 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 15th century. But this period also lasted longer in France than in Italy: not until the 16th, but until the 17th century. The rise in the field of culture and art in the French state was associated with the completion of the unification of the country under Louis XI.

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

As for the nationality of French art, the remarkable poet Francois Rabelais, who created figurative, witty and cheerful poetic works, became a bright representative of it in literature.

If we talk about the fine arts of this period, it should be noted that realistic tendencies were embodied in theological miniatures and secular literature. The very first artist of this period of developmentJean Fouquet became the art of France, leaving to posterity a huge legacy in the form of portraits of aristocrats and the royal family, book miniatures, landscapes, diptychs depicting the Madonna.

Marguerite of Navarre invited Italian masters of the Renaissance to France: Rosso and Primaticcio, who became the founders of the Fontainebleau school - a trend in French art of painting that arose in the Fontainebleau estate. This trend was based on the principles of mannerism, which was originally represented by the founders of the school, and was characterized by the use of mythological plots and intricate allegories. Sources have been preserved that give other names of the masters who participated in the design of the castle of Fontainebleau: the Italians Pellegrino and Juste de Juste, the French Simon Leroy, Claude Badouin, Charles Dorigny, the Fleming Leonard Tirey and others.

In the 16th century in France, the genre of portrait, pictorial and pencil, was actively developing. Particularly interesting 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 Colombe, who skillfully performed, among other things, relief images and philosophical interpretation of the tombstone. Also interesting are the works of Jean Goujon, imbued with a special musicality and poetry of images and manner of performance.

The work of another sculptor of this period, Germain Pilon, became a counterbalance to the harmonious and ideal in its beauty and grace of Goujon's work. They are similar in their expression andhypertrophy of transmitted feelings and experiences to the works of expressionists of the 19th century. All his characters are deeply realistic, even naturalistic, dramatic and dark.

Art of France: 17th century

XVI century was an era of wars and devastation for the French state. In the first quarter of the 17th century, power in France was strengthened. The process of centralization of power went especially fast under Louis XIII, when Cardinal Richelieu ruled everything in the country. The people groaned under the yoke of the aristocracy and the hardships of daily work. However, the absolutist monarchy contributed not only to the strengthening and increase in 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 in the 17th century can be roughly defined as the official court, which was expressed in the pompous and decorative style of the Baroque.

In contrast to the splendor and exaggerated decorativeness of the Baroque, two trends emerged in the art of France: 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 direction, the everyday genre and portrait, biblical and mythological genres are developing.

Classicism in the art of France primarily reflects 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 must strive, sacrificingeven personal interests. All this is mainly related to the fine arts of France. The basis for the art of classicism was the tradition of ancient art. And this is most reflected in 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 17th century in the French state is characterized by the construction 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, then we should mention the work of Nicolas Poussin - an amazing representative of the era, whose painting embodied both the generalization of the worldview and the indomitable energy of the life of ancient art.

Art of France: 18th century

As for the art of France of the 18th century, this is a separate topic for a long conversation. In short, the art of France of this period was a protest against the negative phenomena in public life: absolutism began to decompose, the aristocracy led a wasteful lifestyle, parasitizing on other strata of society. The discontent that arose among the 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.

The new rise of culture was associated with a hugeinfluence on the creativity of the folk principle, which was primarily pronounced in music. In the theater, comedy began to play the main role, the fair theater of masks and the art of opera were actively developing. Less and less creators turned to religious themes, secular art developed more and more actively. The French culture of this period was very diverse and full of contrasts. The art of realism turned to revealing the world of a person of different classes: to his feelings and experiences, the everyday side of life, psychological analysis.

19th century French art

Moving on. Let's talk briefly about the art of France in the 19th century. The life of the state of this time is characterized by another round of growing discontent among the people and pronounced revolutionary sentiments after the restoration of the French monarchy. The theme of struggle and heroism has become one of the leading in the visual arts. It was reflected in the new directions of painting - historicism and romanticism. But there is a struggle with academicism in the fine arts of this period.

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.

Arts and crafts were especially developed during this period as the most reflective of the aspirations of the people. Lubok is becoming very popular, allowing the simplest technique, using satirical images, to reveal the vices and problems of society.

In fact, etching becomes a documentary historical source of the era. By etchings you canstudy the history of France in the 19th century.

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