Human culture is comparable, perhaps, with the boundless gray ocean. Innumerable treasures of thought lurk in its depths, unique masterpieces of music and painting, architecture and cinematography, achievements of science and technology, great geographical discoveries and much more that has determined our spiritual appearance today. Humanity in its lifetime has known many civilizations that have left a significant imprint on the fate of descendants or sunk into oblivion without a trace. Each time it put forward its heroes, its spiritual leaders and possessed its own unique characteristics.
The gloomy Middle Ages are being replaced by an interesting era, which is commonly called the New Time. And the culture of the new time has become a defining moment in the history of our ancestors and in many respects predetermined the modern alignment of events.
Periodization problems
The very concept of “new time” is rather arbitrary and vague. After all, it includes not only a certain time frame, but also a fundamentally new level of thinking, a new view of the world, the expansion of cultural, intellectual space. The culture of modern times is based on the ideals of the Renaissance humanists. They belong to the idea of dividing human history into ancient, middle and new periods. As a starting point, they took the principle of innovation in the cultural sphere, and not only in the socio-economic one, as the basis for periodization. This approach was explained quite simply: after the rampage of the Inquisition, the persecution of science, the dominance of the Church in all spheres of public and private life, the Renaissance with its progressive views and the first sprouts of democracy, the ideal of a harmonious person, a surge of scientific and technological thought, the discovery and development of new lands was perceived by educated people like a breath of fresh life-giving air. And the culture of the new time is fully consistent with such an ideology. But far from all the countries that existed at that time were at the same level of cultural and economic development, not all peoples were equally civilized. And in Western Europe itself, along with the affirmation of humanism and enlightenment, the Reformation, it was sometimes thrown back for decades into the past by the fires of the Inquisition, by the representative courts of witches, etc. Serfdom flourished in Russia. Notre Dame Cathedral in France, as well as the immortal novel by Hugo, became one of the very indicative characters of this time, reflecting, on the one hand, the high achievements, the flight of creative thought and spirit of man, and on the other - his fear of the incomprehensible, unknown and slavish traits of the soul. Nevertheless, the era of the new era proved that it was with its onset that Europe became not only the political, but also the spiritual center of the world and spreads its intellectual, political and technical influence to other countries and peoples. European civilization is becoming the most developed and strong at that time.
In scientific circles there is no consensus on the issue of periodization.
- Some historians propose to accept the English revolution of the year 1640 as the beginning of the era, when the people and the bourgeoisie under the leadership of Cromwell encroached not only on power, but also on the life of the monarch, by executing King Karl Stuart.
- According to others, the era and culture of the new time are more consistent with such a point of reference as the Reformation of 1517 and the activities of Luther.
- Third groups of scientists as the dominant name the date of the discovery of America, the Ottomans seized the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople, the French Revolution in 1789.
- Western historians call the end of the new time and the onset of modern history the end of the First World War, and in Soviet science the seventeenth year and the Bolshevik uprising were considered.
New time - new culture
The grandeur of the New Age era is fully reflected in his artistic culture. In addition to the political redistribution of the world, wars and revolutions, the art culture of the new time has incorporated new trends that came to European consciousness with a close acquaintance with the life of the African continent and India with its peculiar philosophy, the discovery of America and life, culture, mythology, the art of its indigenous peoples, close contacts with the East and the Muslim religion.
Art in modern times is perceived not as entertainment, relaxation from the works of the righteous (mental and physical), but as the most important form of creative activity. A strenuous search in this area has led to the creation in world art of such styles and trends as magnificent baroque with its outward appearance and stylization as antiquity, strict classicism with its inherent glorification of reason and prudence, sentimentalism, glorifying the superiority of the heart, feelings over rationalism, realism with close attention to the human soul, its quest and throwing, falls and take-offs, and, finally, the so-called decadent currents.
The very nature of the era, dynamic and dramatic, gave rise to this variety of styles and trends, which not only succeeded each other, but coexisted and even fought both within the framework of the work of one Master, and within the framework of entire art schools. The main thing is that at the center of everything was a Man, a Person. Through it, as through a prism, the study of Time was carried out and its display in architecture, sculpture, painting, etc. And all the cultural and artistic trends of the era reflected the struggle of people for social justice and spirituality, their worthy existence in a free society.
