Italy, where the historical genre originatedfine arts, had all the prerequisites for the emergence of this type of painting. The Roman Empire possessed a very high level of cultural development, and its achievements became the basis of the art of all countries of Western Europe. Not surprisingly, it was in Italy in the Renaissance, in the XV century, a historical genre in the visual arts.
To understand what is the historical genre inart, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the development of the period under consideration. The Renaissance is an epoch of the flourishing of humanistic ideas, which determined the interest not only in the human person, but also in civil and political history.
The events of the heroic past of the country had toto display the historical genre in the fine arts. Examples include the following: paintings by Andrea Mantegna "The Triumph of Caesar" (1485-1492), various canvases by Paulo Uccello, dedicated to the battle of San Romano and others. The achievements of the Renaissance in Italy quickly spread throughout Europe, where the historical genre in the fine arts also began to develop.
Events of the past attracted masters and inWestern European countries. The development of this trend can be attributed to the XVII century - the heyday of classicism and baroque. It should be noted that in the artistic culture, the historical genre came to the forefront. All other varieties of fine art for some time lost to him a place in importance, since classicism presupposed the creation, first of all, of heroic images and monumental canvases.
In this style, on a historical theme, workedPeter Paul Rubens (painting "The Battle of the Greeks with the Amazons", 1619-1620), Nicolas Poussin ("The Abduction of the Sabines," 1614-1615), Jacques-Louis David, who wrote both in ancient and modern subjects . These works are distinguished pathos spirit, heroic poses, sublime facial expressions and gestures. By its composition, the canvases resembled the action of ancient plays and were distinguished by some dramatized pomp. This direction can be attributed to paintings written on the gospel stories. For example, Harmens van Rijn Rembrandt created the painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son" (1669).
Classicism and Baroque soon gave way to a newcultural trend - romanticism. Representatives of this trend have moved away from the heroic interpretation of the past, focusing on the emotional component. The artists set out to create such images to evoke sympathy and empathy among the audience. The historical genre in painting received a completely different design, as the theme of human emotions and emotions came to the fore. An example is the picture by Eugene Delacroix, "The Massacre on the Island of Chios," written in 1826. Historical motifs can also be found in the work of another prominent French artist Honore Daumier: the painting "The Rebellion" (1848).
In the second half of the XIX century, the historical genrein the visual arts has undergone significant changes. This is due to the emergence of a new direction - realism. His representatives sought to create more plausible images and plots. To this current can be attributed the work of Adolf von Menzel, who in 1850 created a series of paintings dedicated to the era of Frederick the Great. Interest in history in this era is due in large part to the many revolutions that shocked Europe at that time. Foci of uprisings broke out in Italy, France, Germany. Therefore, scientists, artists, writers sought answers to the present in the past, which explains the emergence of realism in culture.
Interesting for analysis and domestic historyart. The origins, types and genres in Russia - this is a topic for a separate conversation, because our culture has borrowed a lot from European art. The era of classicism in the expanses of the homeland dates back to the 18th century: it was at this time that domestic artists turned to the events of the past in their works.
The founder of the historical genre of RussianFine Arts - Anton Pavlovich Losenko. His pen belongs to famous paintings from the past of Ancient Rus ("Vladimir and Rogneda", 1770) and canvases dedicated to ancient subjects. His followers were Ivan Akimov, also turned to the events of Kievan Rus, Peter Sokolov, depicting mythological images, Grigory Ugryumov, turning to the history of the XIII century. These works, as well as European paintings in the style of classicism, are distinguished by the elevation of images and plots.
Genres of painting paintings in fine artwere very diverse, however, in connection with the development of academicism, in the first half of the century historical subjects took the mainstream in artistic culture. The artists of this direction in many ways continued the traditions of classicism, choosing the object for their work heroic facts from the past. The historical genre in the fine arts, whose paintings were particularly expressive, enjoyed the greatest popularity among both the intelligentsia and the mass public.
This direction can be attributed to the work of AntonIvanova "The feat of a young Kievite during the siege of Kiev by the pechenegs in 968" (1810), Alexei Egorov "Rest on the way to Egypt" (1830). At the same time a new direction arose - romanticism, whose representatives created bright, emotional images full of psychological tension. For example, Karl Pavlovich Bryullov, who created the famous canvas about the death of Pompeii, Fedor Antonovich Bruni and Alexander Andreevich Ivanov, who wrote biblical stories.
In the second half of the XIX century the painters begandraw stories from the history of Russia. In art, a number of paintings appear, dedicated to various events from the past of our country. The historical genre in the fine arts is represented by the following canvases: Ilya Repin's paintings "The Sophia's Prince in the Novodevichy Convent" (1879) and "Ivan the Terrible Kills His Son" (1884), the works of Vasily Surikov, who turned to the most dramatic events from the history of Russia in the 18th century. These works are distinguished both by the colorful and expressive images, and by the background of the situation.
Domestic artists began to address notonly to political events, but also to the image of the everyday life of Russian people. Therefore, a prominent place in painting was taken by the so-called everyday historical genre. The fine arts of this direction received great popularity among the educated public of that time.
Examples include the followingauthors: Vyacheslav Schwartz, who created a picture about the royal hunting, Konstantin Makovsky, who painted the canvas of the Moscow kingdom in the XVII century. Historical everyday topics were of great importance in the work of representatives of the World of Art. The peculiarity of their paintings was the reproduction of splendor and solemnity, but with a touch of sadness (Albert Benois, depicting the pompous exits of Russian emperors and empresses in the XVIII century, Eugene Lansere, depicting the luxurious surroundings at the court, Valentin Serov, who painted royal amusements).
In Soviet times, artists quite oftenappealed to the events of the past of Russia. At the same time, they revived the traditions of 19th century academicism, depicting heroic episodes from Russian history. For example, the artist V. Ye. Popkov is considered to be the founder of the "severe style" in Soviet painting (a picture that captured the construction of a hydroelectric power station). Particular importance in his work is the theme of the Great Patriotic War ("Mezensky widows", 1965-1968 gg.). And the pen of TE Nazarenko belongs to works on which one can see turning points: the insurgencies of Pugachev, the Decembrists.
Modern artists show great interest inhistory of Russia. Igor Glazunov became famous for creating monumental canvases dedicated to understanding the past of our country: a work that symbolically shows the fate of the author, "Russia, Wake Up!" (1994) and others.
So, summing up, we can state thathistorical subjects occupied a very prominent place both in European fine arts and in Russian painting. Truth and accuracy, drama and solemnity have always been distinguished by the historical genre. All genres of fine art transmit expression, but this style is the leader.
