Западноевропейское искусство от Джотто до Рембрандта

Holy Family on the Steps – «Святое семейство на ступенях храма»

Tasks

I. Read the text. Make sure you understand it. Mark the following statements true or false.

1. Nicolas Poussin embodies the Renaissance spirit.

2. Poussin made a lot of altarpieces.

3. Poussin was fond of ceiling painting.

4. Poussin invented five modes or scales in music.

5. Poussin formulated the theoretical basis of his art in 1648.

6. Poussin worked in the grand manner early in life.

II. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?

1. What do Poussin's paintings reflect?

2. What did Poussin attempt to recapture in the Inspiration of the Poett?

3. What were the main theoretical principles of Poussin's art? How did Poussin connect painting and music?

4. With what Poussin's painting is the Phrygian mode associated? Why? What is the subject of this painting?

5. Why is the Holy Family on the Steps associated with the Hypolydian mode? Whose influence can be traced in this painting?

6. How did Poussin paint his monumental compositions? Where does Poussin's art triumph? Where does its grandeur appear? Who was inspired by Poussin's compositions?

III. I. Give Russian equivalents of the following phrases:

the embodiment of the Classical spirit; pictorial skill; the royal collection of paintings; the theory of modes; to study engravings; to work on ceiling painting; by analogy with; the execution of vast projects; colossal Baroque monumental commissions; the interest in antiquity; to arrange figures before a landscape; passages of lights and darks; statuary figures; an allegorical scene; to be in keeping with; to owe one's gifts to; divine inspiration; to formulate a theoretical basis of; to abandon the lyrical style; wax figures; the essence of narrative; insignificant details; to bypass the Baroque; to devise a composition; the manner of painting.

II. Give English equivalents of the following phrases:

интерес к античности; по аналогии с; божественное вдохновение; лира Аполлона; создать алтарный образ; обращаться к действительности; избегать низкого в искусстве; отказаться от лирического стиля; в соответствии с идеалами; восковые фигуры; вдохновлять художников; воплощение духа классицизма; претворить в жизнь грандиозные планы; расписывать потолок; сформулировать основы теории классицизма; теория музыкальных ладов; незначительные детали; торжество композиции классицизма.

III. Make up sentences of your own with the given phrases.

IV. Arrange the following in the pairs of synonyms:

a) expound; soft; monarch; rule out; subtle; analogy;

b) sovereign; exclude; smooth; interpret; faint; comparison.

IV. Here are descriptions of some of Poussin's works of art. Match them up to the given titles and describe them.

1. It contains within itself a certain sweetness which fills the soul of the beholders with joy.

2. The light touches Apollo's lyre and part of his cheek

3 The subject is lofty, the conception is powerful, the composition effortless and natural.

a. Rape of the Sabines

b. Holy Family on the Steps

c. Inspiration of the Poet

V. Translate the text into English.

Никола Пуссен – создатель классического направления в живописи. Предметом искусства классицизма провозглашалось только прекрасное; идеалом классицизма служила античность. Пуссен интересовался античным искусством и искусством Возрождения. В 1623 г. Пуссен отправился в Италию. С 1624 г. он жил в Риме. Влияние караваджизма чувствуется в некоторых работах Пуссена. Темы полотен художника разнообразны: мифология, история. Ветхий Завет, Новый Завет. В начале 40-х годов в творчестве Пуссена произошел перелом.

В 1640 г. Пуссен приехал в Париж по приглашению короля Людовика XIII. Первый период творчества Пуссена завершился, когда в буколические темы ворвалась тема смерти. В 40-50-е годы колористическая гамма Пуссена становится все сдержанней. Основное внимание уделяется рисунку и скульптурности форм. Лучшими у позднего Пуссена остаются пейзажи, в которых человек трактуется как часть природы.

vi Summarize the text.

viI Topics for discussion

1. The theoretical basis ofPoussin's art.

2. The role of music in Poussin's paintings.

3. Poussin's artistic influence.

Unit XII Rubens (1577-1640)

Peter Paul Rubens exercised in Flanders a great stylistic authority. Born near Cologne, the son of a Protestant emigre from Antwerp, he spent his childhood in Germany. He received a thorough grounding in Latin and in theology, spent a few months as a page to a countess, and grew up as an unparalleled combination of scholar, diplomat and painter. Rubens spoke and wrote six modern languages, and was probably the most learned artist of all time. His house in Antwerp was a factory from which massive works emerged in a never-ending stream. Although most paintings were designed by Rubens in rapidly painted colour sketches on wood, all the large ones were painted by pupils and then retouched by the master.