Berdyaev and Florence. Aesthetic Intersections

Abstract

The article is devoted to Berdyaev's first Italian journey, which had a "tremendous influence" both on his creative destiny and on the development of his aesthetic views. It is significant that one of the defining motives for visiting Italy was his desire to "return to his homeland impressed by the greatest beauty"! Since the first journey of the philosopher was connected with Florence, it seemed appropriate to pay due attention to the achievements of this city and its decisive contribution to the formation and development of the culture of the Renaissance. The formation of revivalist principles in Florentine literature and fine arts is shown; the formation of theory (Alberti) and the history of art (Vasari), as well as a number of cultural phenomena accompanying these processes, which ultimately determined the artistic and aesthetic appearance of Florence and turned it into the capital of the Italian Renaissance. As a result, this makes it possible to fully understand and appreciate Berdyaev’s choice of this particular city, especially since Florence not only made “the strongest impression” on him, but also became the “key” to understanding both Florentine art proper and artistic-aesthetic culture Italian Renaissance. This is the first attempt in Russian literature to consider and analyze Berdyaev's Florentine journey as one of the sources of his creative heritage, which has not yet become the subject of special study. The relevance of topic is also determined by the existing confusion on this issue, which the article is aimed at overcoming.