Essay “Life is short, but art is eternal. Essay on the topic: life is short, art is eternal

Life is short, art is eternal.

Table of contents

Introduction

Main part

2.1.The concept of art.

2.2.Types of art

2.3.Functions of art

2.4.The role of art in human life

2.5.Life is short, art is eternal.

Conclusion

Literature

1. Introduction.

I chose to work on the topic “The Role of Art in Human Life” because I was interested in broadening my horizons and finding out what functions art performs, what the role of art is in human life, in order to further discuss this from the point of view of a knowledgeable person.

I consider the chosen topic of work to be relevant, since certain aspects of the topic have not been fully studied and the research conducted is aimed at bridging this gap. She encourages me to demonstrate intellectual abilities, moral and communication qualities.

Before starting work, I conducted a survey among students at our school. By asking them a few questions in order to identify their attitude towards art. The following results were obtained.

Total people surveyed.

What role do you think art plays in modern life person?

Greater %

No %

Helps to live %

What does art teach us and does it teach us at all?

Beauty %

Understanding life %

Doing the right thing %

Broadens the mind %

Doesn't teach anything

What types of art do you know?

Theater %

Movie %

Music %

Painting %

Architecture %

Sculpture %

Other types of art %

What type of art do you practice or are passionate about?

Passionate %

Not passionate %

Have there been times when art has played a role in your life?

Yes %

No %

The survey showed that the work will help people understand the significance of art and, I think, will attract many, if not to engage in art, then to arouse interest in the problem.

This work also has practical significance, because the materials can be used to prepare for an essay on literature, for oral presentations in classes in fine art, art and art, and in the future to prepare for exams.

Target work : prove significance various types art in human life; show how art influences the formation of the spiritual culture of a person’s personality; arouse people's interest in the world of art.

Tasks- reveal the essence of art, consider the relationship between man and art in society, consider the main functions of art in society, their meaning and role for humans.

Problematic issues : How does art express human feelings and the world around us?

Why do they say “life is short, but art is eternal”?

What is art? When, how and why did art arise?

What role does art play in a person’s life and in my life?

Expected Result

After familiarizing yourself with my work, a higher level of development of an emotional and value-based attitude towards the world, the phenomena of life and art is expected; understanding the place and role of art in people's lives.

2. Main part

2.1.The concept of art

“Art gives wings and carries you far, far!” -
the writer said

How nice it would be if someone created a device that would show the degree of influence of art on a person, society as a whole, and even on nature. How do painting, music, literature, theater, cinema affect human health and the quality of his life? Is it possible to measure and predict such an impact? Of course, culture as a whole, as a combination of science, art and education, is capable of beneficially influencing both the individual and society as a whole when choosing the right direction and priorities in life.

Art is a creative understanding of the world around us by a talented person. The fruits of this understanding belong not only to its creators, but to all humanity living on planet Earth.

The beautiful creations of ancient Greek sculptors and architects, Florentine mosaic masters, Raphael and Michelangelo... Dante, Petrarch, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky are immortal. It takes your breath away when you try to grasp with your mind everything created by geniuses, preserved and continued by their descendants and followers.

IN primitive society is born with a view as a way human activity for solving practical problems. Originating in the era , reached its peak about 40 thousand years ago, and there was social product society, embodying a new stage in the development of reality. Ancient works art such as a shell necklace found in South Africa dates back to the 75th millennium BC. e. and more. In the Stone Age, art was represented by primitive rituals, music, dances, all kinds of body decorations, geoglyphs - images on the ground, dendrographs - images on the bark of trees, images on animal skins, cave paintings, rock paintings, and sculpture.

The appearance of art is associated with, and, including conditioned ideas.

Now the word “art” is often used in its original, very broad meaning. This is any skill in carrying out any tasks that requires some kind of perfection of its results. In a narrower sense of the word, this is creativity “according to the laws of beauty.” Works of artistic creativity, as well as works applied arts, are created according to the “laws of beauty”. A work of art, like all other types of social consciousness, is always a unity of the object cognized in it and the subject cognizing this object.

In primitive, pre-class society, art as a special variety of social consciousness did not yet exist independently. It was then in unity with mythology, magic, religion, with legends about past life, with primitive geographical ideas, with moral requirements.

And then art stood out among them as a special, specific variety. It has become one of the forms of development of social consciousness of various peoples. That is how it should be viewed.

Thus, art is a type of consciousness of society; it is artistic content, not scientific. L. Tolstoy, for example, defined art as a means of exchanging feelings, contrasting it with science as a means of exchanging thoughts.

Art is often compared to a reflective mirror, reflecting reality through the thoughts and feelings of the creator. Through it, this mirror reflects those phenomena of life that attracted the artist’s attention and excited him.

Here one can rightfully discern one of the most important specific features of art as a type of human activity.

Any product of labor - be it a tool, a tool, a machine or a means of supporting life - is created for some special need. Even spiritual products such as Scientific research, may well remain accessible and important to a narrow group of specialists, without losing anything in their social significance.

But a work of art can be recognized as such only if its content is universal, “of general interest.” The artist is called upon to express something that is equally important for both the driver and the scientist, which is applicable to their life not only to the extent of the specificity of their profession, but also to the extent of their involvement in national life, the ability to be a person, to be a person.

2.2. Kinds of art

Depending on the material resources, with the help of which works of art are constructed, three groups of art forms objectively arise:

1) spatial, or plastic (painting, sculpture, graphics, art photography, architecture, arts and crafts and design), i.e. those that deploy their images in space;

2) temporary (verbal and musical), i.e. those where images are built in time, and not in real space;

3) spatio-temporal (dance; acting and everything based on it; synthetic - theater, cinema, television, variety and circus, etc.), i.e. those whose images have both extension and duration, physicality and dynamism.

Each type of art is directly characterized by the method of material existence of its works and the type of figurative signs used. Within these limits, all its types have varieties, determined by the characteristics of a particular material and the resulting originality of the artistic language.

Thus, varieties of verbal art are oral creativity and written literature;

types of music - vocal and different types instrumental music;

varieties performing arts- dramatic, musical, puppetry, shadow theater, as well as stage and circus; varieties of dance - everyday dance, classical, acrobatic, gymnastic, ice dance, etc.

On the other hand, each type of art has generic and genre divisions. The criteria for these divisions are defined differently, but the very presence of such types of literature as epic, lyric poetry, drama, such types of fine art as easel, monumental-decorative, miniature, such genres of painting as portrait, landscape, still life is obvious...

Thus, art, taken as a whole, is a historically established system of various specific methods of artistic exploration of the world,

each of which has features that are common to all and individually unique.

2.3. Functions of art

Art has similarities and differences with other forms of social consciousness. Just like science, it objectively reflects reality and cognizes its important and essential aspects. But unlike science, which masters the world with the help of abstract theoretical thinking, art understands the world through imaginative thinking. Reality appears in art holistically, in the richness of its sensory manifestations.

Unlike science, artistic consciousness does not set itself the goal of providing any special information about private branches of social practice and identifying their patterns, such as physical, economic, etc. The subject of art is everything that is interesting for a person in life.

Those goals that the author or creator intentionally and consciously sets for himself while working on a work have a direction. It could be some kind of political goal, a commentary on social status, the creation a certain mood or emotions, psychological impact, illustration of something, promotion of a product (in the case of advertising) or simply conveying a message.

Means of communication. In its simplest form, art is a means of communication. Like most other forms of communication, it carries with it the intention of conveying information to the audience. For example, scientific illustration is also an art form that exists to convey information. Another example of this kind is geographic Maps. However, the content of the message is not necessarily scientific. Art allows you to convey not only objective information, but also emotions, mood, and feelings.

Art as entertainment. The purpose of art may be to create a mood or emotion that helps one relax or have fun. Very often, cartoons or video games are created for this very purpose.

, art for political change. One of the defining goals of early 20th-century art was to create works that provoked political change. The directions that emerged for this purpose - , , Russian - are collectively called.

Art for psychotherapy. Psychologists and psychotherapists can use art for therapeutic purposes. A special technique based on the analysis of the patient’s drawings is used to diagnose the state of personality and emotional status. In this case, the ultimate goal is not diagnosis, but mental health.

Art for social protest, overthrow of the existing order and/or anarchy. As a form of protest, art may not have any specific political purpose, but may be limited to criticism of the existing regime or some aspect of it.

2.4. The role of art in human life

All types of arts serve the greatest of arts - the art of living on earth. Bertolt Brecht

Now it is impossible to imagine that ours would not be accompanied by art. Wherever and whenever he lived, even at the dawn of his development, he tried to comprehend the world around him, which means he strove to understand and figuratively, intelligibly pass on the acquired knowledge to subsequent generations. This is how wall paintings appeared in caves - ancient human settlements. And this is born not only from the desire to protect one’s descendants from the mistakes already made by one’s ancestors, but from the transfer of the beauty and harmony of the world, admiration for the perfect creations of nature.

Humanity did not mark time, it progressively moved forward and higher, and art also developed, accompanying man at all stages of this long and painful path. If you look at the Renaissance, you admire the heights that artists and poets, musicians and architects reached. The immortal creations of Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci still fascinate with their perfection and deep awareness of the role of man in the world, where he is destined to walk his short but beautiful, sometimes tragic path.

Art is one of the most important stages in human evolution. Art helps a person look at the world from different points of view. With each era, with each century, it is improved more and more by man. At all times, art has helped people develop their abilities and improve abstract thinking. Over the centuries, man has tried more and more to change art, improve it, and deepen his knowledge. Art is the great mystery of the world, in which the secrets of the history of our lives are hidden. Art is our history. Sometimes you can find answers to questions that even the most ancient manuscripts cannot answer.
Today, a person can no longer imagine life without a read novel, without a new movie, without a theater premiere, without a fashionable hit and a favorite musical group, without art exhibitions... In art, a person finds both new knowledge and answers to life important questions, and peace from the daily bustle, and pleasure. A real work of art is always in tune with the thoughts of readers, viewers, and listeners. A novel can tell about a distant historical era, about people who seem to have a completely different way and style of life, but the feelings with which people at all times were imbued are understandable to the current reader, consonant with him, if the novel was written by a real master. Let Romeo and Juliet live in Verona in ancient times. It is not the time or place of action that determines my perception great love and true friendship, described by the brilliant Shakespeare.

Russia has not become a distant province of art. Even at the dawn of its emergence, it loudly and boldly declared its right to stand next to the greatest creators of Europe: “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” icons and paintings of Andrei Rublev and Theophan the Greek, the cathedrals of Vladimir, Kiev and Moscow. We are not only proud of the amazing proportions of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl and the Moscow Intercession Cathedral, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, but also sacredly honor the names of the creators.

It is not only ancient creations that attract our attention. We constantly encounter works of art in Everyday life. Visiting museums and exhibition halls, we want to join that wonderful world, which is accessible at first only to geniuses, and then to others, we learn to understand, see, and absorb the beauty that has already become a part of our ordinary life.

Pictures, music, theater, books, films give a person incomparable joy and satisfaction, make him sympathize. Eliminate all this from the life of a civilized person, and he will turn, if not into an animal, then into a robot or zombie. The riches of art are inexhaustible. It is impossible to visit all the museums in the world, you cannot listen to all the symphonies, sonatas, operas, you cannot review all the masterpieces of architecture, you cannot re-read all the novels, poems, poems. And there's no point. Know-it-alls actually turn out to be superficial people. From all the diversity, a person chooses for his soul what is closest to him, what gives the basis to his mind and feelings.

The possibilities of art are multifaceted. Art forms intellectual and moral qualities, stimulates creativity, and promotes successful socialization. IN Ancient Greece fine art was seen as effective remedy impact on humans. Sculptures that personified noble human qualities (“Mercy”, “Justice”, etc.) were exhibited in the galleries. It was believed that, contemplating beautiful sculptures, a person absorbs all the best that they reflect. The same applies to paintings by great masters.

A group of researchers led by Professor Marina de Tommaso from the University of Bari, Italy, found that beautiful pictures can reduce pain, the Daily Telegraph writes today. Scientists hope that the new results will convince hospitals to take more care in decorating the rooms in which patients are kept.

In the study, a group of people, consisting of both men and women, were asked to look at 300 paintings by masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, and also select 20 paintings from them that they found the most beautiful and the ugliest. In the next stage, subjects were shown these pictures or nothing at all, leaving a large black wall free for pictures, and at the same time they hit the participants with a short laser pulse, comparable in strength to touching a hot frying pan. It was found that when people look at pictures that they like, pain is felt three times less intensely than when they are forced to look at ugly pictures or a black wall.

Not only children, but often adults too are unable to cope with their emotions. We live by the rules, forcing ourselves with constant “We need, we need, we need...”, forgetting about our desires. Because of this, internal discontent arises, which a person, being a social being, tries to keep to himself. As a result, the body suffers, because a negative emotional state often leads to various diseases. Creativity in this case helps to remove emotional stress, harmonize your inner world and achieve mutual understanding with others. Of course, this can be not only drawing, but also appliqué, embroidery, photography, modeling from matches, prose, poetry and much more, one way or another related to art.

The question of how literature affects a person, his behavior and psyche, what mechanisms lead to unique experiences and, as a consequence, to changes in a person’s personal characteristics when reading a literary work, has occupied the minds of many scientists and researchers from ancient times to the present. Fiction, giving knowledge of reality, expands the mental horizons of readers of all ages, gives emotional experience that goes beyond what a person could acquire in his life, forms artistic taste, and provides aesthetic pleasure, which in life modern man takes great place and is one of his needs. But most importantly, the main function of fiction is the formation in people of deep and lasting feelings that encourage them to think through, determine their worldview, and guide their behavior personality.

Literature is for people a school of feelings and knowledge of reality and forms an idea of ​​the ideal actions of people, of the beauty of the world and relationships. The Word is a great mystery. Its magical power lies in its ability to evoke vivid images and transport the reader to another world. Without literature, we would never have known that once upon a time there lived wonderful person and the writer Victor Hugo or, for example, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. We would know nothing about the time in which they lived. Thanks to literature, we become more educated and learn the history of our ancestors.

The influence of music on a person is great. A person hears sound not only with his ears; he hears the sound from every pore of his body. Sound permeates his entire being, and according to a certain influence slows down or speeds up the rhythm of blood circulation; either excites the nervous system or calms it; awakens more in a person strong passions or pacifies him, bringing him peace. According to the sound, a certain effect is produced. Therefore, knowledge of sound can give a person a magical tool to manage, tune, control and use life, as well as help other people to the greatest benefit. It's no secret that art can heal.

Isotherapy, dance therapy, music treatment - these are already common truths.

The creator of musical pharmacology, scientist Robert Shofler, prescribes listening to all the symphonies of Tchaikovsky, “The King of the Forest” by Schubert, and the ode “To Joy” by Beethoven for therapeutic purposes. He claims that these works promote accelerated recovery. And researchers at the University of California experimentally proved that after listening to Mozart’s music for 10 minutes, tests showed an increase in students’ IQ by 8-9 units.

But not all art heals.

For example: Rock music causes the release of stress hormones, which erase some information in the brain, causing aggression or depression. Russian psychologist D. Azarov notes that there is a special combination of notes, he called them killer music. After listening to such musical phrases several times, a person develops a gloomy mood and thoughts.

The ringing of bells kills quickly:

typhoid bacteria

viruses.

Classical music (Mozart, etc.) promotes:

general calm

increased milk secretion (by 20%) in nursing mothers.

 The rhythmic sounds of some performers, due to their direct effect on the brain, contribute to:

release of stress hormones

memory impairment

weakening (after 1-2 years) of the general condition (especially when listening to music on headphones).

Mantra, or meditative sounds “om”, “aum”, etc., have a vibrating nature.
Vibrations initially contribute to the activation of certain organs and brain structures. At the same time, many different hormones are released into the blood. (This probably helps to do monotonous work with less energy consumption).

Vibrating sounds cause

pleasure - for some people, for others - the same sounds cause

stress response with the release of hormones and a sharp increase in oxidative metabolism.

• contributes to a sharp rise in blood pressure,

  often leading to heart spasms.

IN literary sources from antiquity we find many examples of the purposeful influence of music on mental condition of people. Plutarch says that Alexander the Great’s fits of furious anger were usually pacified by playing the lyre. The mighty Achilles, according to Homer, tried, by playing the lyre, to cool his “famous” anger, with which the action in the Iliad begins.

There was an opinion that music saves people from imminent death from the bites of poisonous snakes and scorpions. Music was widely recommended as an antidote in these cases by one of famous doctors Ancient Rome Galen. Nirkus, a companion of Alexander the Great on his campaigns, having visited India, said that in this country, which abounds in poisonous snakes, singing is considered the only remedy for their bites. How can we explain the miraculous effect of music? Research of our time has shown that music in such cases acts not as an antidote, but as a means of eliminating mental trauma; it helps the victim to suppress the feeling of horror. This is just one example when a person’s health and even life largely depend on his state of mind. But this individual example allows us to judge how great the role is nervous system in organism. It must be taken into account when explaining the mechanism of the impact of art on people's health.

Even more striking is the effect of music on emotions. The influence of music on emotions has been known since ancient times. Music was used for medicinal purposes and in war. Music acts both as a means of distraction from thoughts that disturb a person, and as a means of calming and even healing. Music plays a great role as a means of combating overwork. Music can set a certain rhythm before starting work, or set the mood for deep rest during a break.

Art makes the world of people more beautiful, alive and vibrant. For example, painting: how many ancient paintings have survived to our time, from which we can determine how people lived two, three, four or more centuries ago. Now there are many paintings painted by our contemporaries, and whatever it is: abstraction, realism, still life or landscape - painting is a wonderful art, with the help of which a person has learned to see the world as bright and colorful.
Architecture- another one of the most important forms of art. There are a huge number of beautiful monuments scattered around the world, and they are not just called “monuments” - they contain greatest secrets stories and memories of them. Sometimes these mysteries cannot be solved by scientists around the world.
Of course, in order to perceive the beauty of the art of opera, for example, it is necessary to know its features, to understand the language of music and vocals, with the help of which the composer and singers convey all shades of life and feelings and influence the thoughts and emotions of listeners. The perception of poetry and fine art also requires certain preparation and appropriate understanding. Even interesting story will not captivate the reader if he has not developed the technique expressive reading, if he spends all his energy on composing words from spoken sounds and does not experience their artistic and aesthetic influence.

The effect of art on a person can be long-term or long-term. This emphasizes the great opportunities for using art to obtain a lasting and long-lasting effect, using it for educational purposes, as well as for general health improvement and prevention. Art acts not on any one human ability and strength, be it emotion or intellect, but on the person as a whole. It forms, sometimes unconsciously, the very system of human attitudes.

The artistic genius of D. Moore's famous poster “Have you signed up as a volunteer?”, which was so widely promoted during the Second World War, lies in the fact that it appeals to the human conscience through all the spiritual abilities of man. Those. The power of art lies in appealing to human conscience and awakening its spiritual abilities. And in this regard one can cite famous words Pushkin:

Burn the hearts of people with the verb.

I think this is the true purpose of art.

2.5.Life is short, art is forever.

Art is eternal and beautiful because it brings beauty and goodness to the world.

A person has very strict requirements and art must reflect these requirements. Artists of classicism looked up to classical examples. They believed that the eternal is unchangeable - therefore it is necessary to learn from Greek and Roman authors. Knights, kings, and dukes very often become heroes. They were convinced that beauty in art is created by truth - therefore a writer should imitate nature and depict life believably. Rigid canons of the theory of classicism appear. Art expert Boileau writes: “The incredible cannot move you, let the truth always look believable.” The writers of classicism approached life from the position of reason; they did not trust feelings, considering them changeable and deceitful. Accurate, reasonable, truthful and beautiful. “You need to think about the idea and only then write.”

Art never gets old. In the book of academician philosopher I.T. Frolov wrote: “The reason for this is the unique originality of works of art, their deeply individualized character, ultimately determined by their constant appeal to man. The unique unity of man and the world in a work of art, “human reality.” The famous Danish physicist Niels Bohr wrote: “The reason why art can enrich us is its ability to remind us of harmonies that are unattainable to us.” systematic analysis" Art often highlights universal, “eternal” problems: what is good and evil, freedom, human dignity. The changing conditions of each era force us to solve these issues anew.

Art has many faces, is eternal, but, unfortunately, it cannot influence people without their will, mental effort, and a certain work of thought. A person must want to learn to see and understand beauty, then art will have a beneficial effect on him and society as a whole. This will probably happen in the future. In the meantime, talented creators should not forget that their works have the power to influence millions, and this can be beneficial or detrimental.

Let me give you a simple example.

For example, an artist painted a picture. The picture depicts negative scenes of murder, there is blood and dirt everywhere, the most chaotic, harsh tones are used, in short, the whole picture has a depressing effect on the viewer, causing negative emotions in a person. The energy emanating from the picture is extremely depressing. So much for the complete relationship between the artist’s thinking and the physical creation of the painting and, accordingly, the viewer or viewers looking at it... Imagine thousands, tens of thousands of such depressing paintings. The same can be said about our cinema. What cartoons do our children watch, not to mention films for adults? And in general, now there is not even such a ban “Under 16” as in the 70s. Complete “negativism”... Imagine how much negative energy there is in the country, in the world, on the whole Earth!.. The same can be said about all types of our art!
“Thoughts combined with actions lead to change. If they are noble, then they liberate, save, promote flourishing. enrich. If they are base, then they enslave, impoverish, weaken, and destroy. If the propaganda of violence, the cult of power, and evil steps onto our screens, we will die after the hapless heroes of these one-day action films.

True art must be beautiful, have a good, humane beginning with centuries-old traditions.

3. Conclusion.

Art plays a vital role in our lives, helping future generations to grow morally. Each generation makes its contribution to the development of humanity, culturally enriching it. Without art, we would hardly be able to look at the world from different points of view, differently, look beyond the ordinary, feel a little more keenly. Art, like a person, has many small veins, blood vessels, and organs.

Passions, aspirations, dreams, images, fears - everything that every person lives by - acquires a special coloring and strength.

It is impossible for everyone to be creators, but it is within our power to try to penetrate into the essence of the creation of a genius, to come closer to understanding the beautiful. And the more often we become contemplators of paintings, architectural masterpieces, listeners of beautiful music, the better for us and those around us.

Art helps us master science and gradually deepen our knowledge. And as mentioned above, it is a critical part of human development:

- forms in a person the ability to perceive, feel, correctly understand and appreciate the beautiful in surrounding reality and art,

- develops skills in using art to understand people’s lives and nature itself;

- develops a deep understanding of the beauty of nature and the surrounding world. the ability to take care of this beauty;

Arms people with knowledge, and also instills skills in the field available types arts - music, painting, theater, artistic word, architecture;

Develops creativity, skills and abilities to feel and create beauty in the surrounding life, at home, in everyday life;

- develops an understanding of beauty in human relationships, the desire and ability to bring beauty into everyday life.

So, art influences our life from all sides, makes it diverse and bright, lively and interesting, rich, helping a person understand his purpose in this world better and better. Our earthly world is woven from perfection and imperfection. And it depends only on the person himself how he will make his future, what he will read, what he will listen to, how to speak.

« The best remedy for the education of feelings in general, for awakening feelings of beauty, for the development of creative imagination, is art itself,”– pointed out the scientist-psychologist N.E. Rumyantseva.

My favorite works:

My works:

4. Literature

1. Nazarenko-Krivosheina E.P. Are you beautiful, man? - M.: Like. Guard, 1987.

2. Nezhnov G.G. Art in our lives. - M., “Knowledge”, 1975

3. Pospelov G.N. Art and aesthetics. - M.: Art, 1984.

4. Solntsev N.V. Heritage and time. M., 1996.

5. To prepare this work, materials from Internet sites were used.

Essay “Life is short, but art is eternal”

YOU ARE ON THE SITE http://www.site

“Life is short, art is eternal,” as the ancient Romans said. This expression means that the values ​​embodied in works of art are eternal and do not lose their significance. Looking at the great buildings of the past, you are convinced that this saying is absolutely true. But what about works of verbal art?
The English prose writer and playwright William Somerset Maugham once noted that the eternity of any literary work is measured in several centuries. For example, modern reader it's hard to get a wonderful one to read satirical novel Francois Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, which just a few years ago was a bestseller, like Harry Potter is now. However, you shouldn’t go looking for such distant examples. The novel “Eugene Onegin,” very popular in the 19th century, today has become educational material for literature lessons and only a few adults reread it. It turns out that works of literature age faster than ancient temples and statues?
The secret of the fragility of literary works is that the material from which they are created quickly becomes obsolete, or rather changes. Language is changing rapidly, absorbing new words and getting rid of old ones. For the reader, the language of his time is most interesting. And yet, there are literary works that do not lose their value over many centuries.
« Eternal images" V fiction few. For example, Shakespearean Macbeth and Hamlet, Servant's Don Quixote, Goethe's Faust, etc. But for real " eternal themes“It’s not enough: love, death, a feat in the name of humanity - that’s probably all.
Works in which “eternal themes” are reflected are destined to have a long life. They continue to excite minds, finding more and more new incarnations in drama, fine arts and music. Let us remember the milestones on the path of “eternal” literary works.
Engravings by Gustave Doré illustrating The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The opera "Faust" by Charles Gounod, which uses the same plot as Goethe's "Faust". The ballet "Don Quixote" by Ludwig Minkus, based on novel of the same name Cervantes. Production of Shakespeare's Hamlet by the Meyerhold Theater, as well as a film adaptation famous tragedy Russian director Kozintsev.
And these are just a few examples of how masters of art are mastering the heritage of the literature of the past.
Apparently, continuity is what makes literary works eternal. The language of literary works changes, writers of each era bring something of their own to prose, drama and poetry, but the themes and images born of the genius of the great masters of the past remain eternal.
Are there really no works being created today that will eventually become classics and be included in the “golden fund” of world literature? In fact, “eternal themes” are eternal simply because time does not exist for them. And now literary works are being created that deserve to remain for centuries. Life is short, art is eternal, and they cannot exist without each other.

In Ars longa, vita brevis. Hippocrates

Common Latin saying Ars longa, vita brevis or Vita brevis, ars longa most often translated as Life is short, art is forever.

Sun. Anthology of philosopher's stones (? - how to translate correctly?). Approximately second half of the 16th century / Collectanea de Lapide Philosophiae. C. 2nd half of the 16th century. Origin: England. Language: Latin, English, Greek. Dimensions in mm: 150 x 100 (140 x 75). Paper codex. The British Library. Sloane 1171, f. 100v. Sun.

There are options:
Art is long, life is short.
Art is long lasting, life is short.
Art is long lasting, life is short.
Art is long - life is short.
Life is short, science is vast.
Life is short, art is vast.
Art is long lasting, but (human) life is short.

But this is a misunderstanding of the phrase, at least not entirely correct.

I prefer the translation:
The path of art is long, but life is short - it conveys the meaning more accurately.

You can also:
The path of science is long, life is short.
Life is short, science is vast.
The field of science is limitless, and life is short.

2.

Sun and dragon. Anthology of philosopher's stones (?). Approximately second half of the 16th century / Collectanea de Lapide Philosophiae. B. L. Sloane 1171, ff. 100v-101. Sun and dragon. Ink drawing with washes of the sun and a dragon, in the Collectanea de Lapide Philosophiae. C. 2nd half of the 16th century. Origin: England.

Vita brevis, ars longa - the Latin form of the beginning of the “Aphorisms” of Hippocrates (c.460-c.370 BC) - the “father of medicine”, the great ancient Greek thinker, naturalist, doctor, founder of modern medical ethics. [Hippocrates. Aphorisms, I, 1]. Hippocrates talked about the art of healing.

3.

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Hippoctatus. Engraving, 1638 / Hippocrates, engraving by Peter Paul Rubens, 1638. Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hippocra tes_rubens.jpg

In antiquity, science and art were combined into one concept. The ancient Greek word techne /τέχνη /techne corresponds to the Latin ars. IN Latin there was no difference between the concepts of “art” and “science”: their meaning was conveyed by the word “ars” - an integral doctrine that formulates and codifies practical rules.

Speaking about “art,” Hippocrates naturally did not mean artistic creativity, and medicine. The meaning of this comparison is that the art of healing is so complex and requires so much knowledge that it would not be enough to comprehend it throughout a human life.

“Hence,” explained the Roman Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca in his work “On the Brevity of Life,” “the famous exclamation of the greatest of doctors that life is short, but art is long.” [Seneca “On the Transience of Life”, I, 1 ]. Thanks to Seneca, the saying was fixed in its Latin form.

4.


Asclepius on a trip to the island of Kos. Hippocrates on the left. Antique mosaic. Asklepion. Island of Kos / Kos, Asclepeion. "Kos, Asclepeion: Asclepius (in the center) visits Kos, left Hippocrates, right some person from Kos." via.

In the original, Hippocrates’ thought sounds like this: Life is short, the path of art is long (another translation: science is vast), chance is fleeting, experience is deceptive, judgment is difficult / lat. Vita brevis, ars vero longa, occasio autem praeceps, experientia fallax, judicium difficile / Greek. Ὁ βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή, ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὀξύς, ἡ δὲ πεῖρα σφαλερ ή, ἡ δὲ κρίσις χαλεπή..

The expression became popular after Johann Wolfgang Goethe repeated it in his tragedy “Faust” in the form: “Art is long-lasting, but our lives are short”:

Faust
But I want!

Mephistopheles
I understand it;
I am afraid for one thing, my protest is only one:
Ars longa, vita brevis est.

Faust
And I can handle everything.

Mephistopheles
Commendable.
But life, unfortunately, is short,
And the path to perfection is long,
Need a helping hand.

[Goethe, Faust. Part I, scene 1.]

6.

Johann Heinrich Fussli (1741-1825). An artist driven to despair by the grandeur of the ruins of antiquity, 1778-1779 / Henry Fuseli (1741-1825). The Artist Moved by the Grandeur of Antique Fragments. 1778-1779. Red chalk on sepia wash. 415x355 mm. Kunsthaus Zürich. via

The words of the ancient Greek doctor are about the brevity of an individual life; only scientific knowledge, passed on from generation to generation, prolong this life. Behind Hippocrates there were more than ten generations of Asclepiads, professional priests of medicine. And after Hippocrates, 2.5 thousand years have passed.

Be that as it may, in all possible translations Vita brevis, ars longa questions about what life is short does not arise. For life is short, science and art are limitless, chance is uncertain, experience is deceptive, judgment is difficult.

Sources, literature, notes:

Hippocrates. Aphorisms, I, 1; translation from Greek by prof. V.I.Rudneva, p. 696 //Hippocrates. Selected books. M., 1936 / Quote from “Laws” - ibid., p.94.
Rudnev Vladimir Ivanovich (1870-1951) - the first and only translator of Hippocrates into Russian. Although, maybe new translations have appeared now.
Latin-Russian dictionary. Compiled by A.M. Malinin. Executive editor A.N. Popov. State publishing house of foreign and national dictionaries. Moscow, 1952. Pp. 760.
Russian thought and speech. Yours and someone else's. Experience of Russian phraseology. Collection of figurative words and parables. T.T. 1-2. Walking and apt words. A collection of Russian and foreign quotes, proverbs, sayings, proverbial expressions and individual words. St. Petersburg, type. Ak. Sciences.. M. I. Mikhelson. 1896-1912. - Art is long - life is short.
Explanatory dictionary of foreign words by L. P. Krysin. - M: Russian language, 1998. - Art is durable, but life (of a person) is short.
Encyclopedic dictionary of popular words and expressions // Author-compiler Vadim Serov // Letter Z // Life is short, art is eternal. The same content is copied on a variety of sites, including:

Life is short, art is forever
From Latin: Vita brevis, ars longa (Vita brevis, are longa).
From a famous saying that belongs to the great ancient Greek thinker, naturalist, great doctor, founder of modern medical ethics, Hippocrates (460-370 BC).
When he spoke of “art,” he did not mean artistic creativity, but the art of healing. And the meaning of this comparison is that the art of healing is so complex, it requires so much knowledge that it would not be enough to comprehend it throughout a human life. “Hence,” explained the Roman Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca in his essay “On the Brevity of Life,” “the famous exclamation of the greatest of doctors that life is short, but art is long.”
In the original, Hippocrates’ thought goes like this: Life is short, the path of art is long (another translation: science is vast), chance is fleeting, experience is deceptive, judgment is difficult. Therefore, not only the doctor himself must use everything that is necessary, but also the patient, those around him, and all external circumstances must contribute to the doctor in his activities.
The expression became popular after J. V. Goethe repeated it in his tragedy “Faust” in the following form: “Art is durable, but our life is short.”
Usually used in the sense: the artist, the creator dies, but the fruits of his hands, the creations of his spirit, mind, art live forever, and thereby they preserve the memory (remind) of the person who created them; the master lives in his creations.

• - I daily political and literary newspaper, published in Kyiv since 1894. II daily literary, political and artistic newspaper, published since 1894 in Kiev by M. E. Krainsky and under his editorship...
• - weekly magazine, ed. since 1904 in Riga. Publisher V. N. Osokin, then I. I. Vysotsky; editor V. N. Osokin...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - daily political and literary newspaper, published in Kyiv since 1894...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - a daily literary, political and artistic newspaper published since 1894 in Kyiv by M. E. Krainsky and under his editorship...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - weekly magazine, ed. since 1904 in the city of Riga. Publisher V. N. Osokin, then I. I. Vysotsky; editor V. N. Osokin...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - about a passionless person - with a weak, weak soul. Wed. “The German has thin legs and a short soul.” Wed. You cannot fall in love like I do... because your soul is short, you have few noble feelings.....
• - life is not very happy...

  Live speech. Dictionary of colloquial expressions

• - about a dispassionate person, with a weak, weak soul Wed. “The German has thin legs and a short soul.” Wed. You cannot fall in love like I do... because you have few noble feelings.....
• - Life is short, but the horn is long. Wed. There is no point in waiting long... Life is short, art is long. A. Fet. Faust. 1. Office. Mephistopheles. Wed. Die Zeit ist kurz, die Kunst ist lang. Gothe. Faust. 1. Studirzimmer. Mephist. Wed. Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. 7, 9. Lehrbrief...

  Mikhelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

• - about the forgetful one who a short time remembers Wed. Your memory has become so short! Apparently, out of sight, out of mind... P.I. Melnikov. In forests. 14...

  Mikhelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

• - Life is short, but the horn is long. Wed. There is nothing to wait long here... . A. Fet. Faust. 1. Office. Mephistopheles. Wed. Die Zeit ist kurz, die Kunst ist lang. Gothe. Faust. 1. Studirzimmer. Mephist. Wed. Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. 7, 9. Lehrbrief...

  Michelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (orig. orf.)

• - about a forgetful person who remembers for a short time. Wed. Your memory has become so short! Apparently out of sight, out of mind... P. I. Melnikov. In the forests. 14...

  Michelson Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (orig. orf.)

• - with whom. Razg. Express About quick and decisive punishment. He is a visitor to the tavern, and his punishment is short! Hey Vanka, give him a click! ...

  Russian phraseological dictionary literary language

• - Zharg. stud. . Joking. Poet A. S. Pushkin. . /i> A line from the rock band’s song “Semantic Hallucinations”...
• - who. 1. Volog., Sib. About shortness of breath. SVG 2, 66; FSS, 66. 2. Sib. About bad memory. FSS, 66. 3. Kar. Who has no interest in smth., no strength to do smth. SRGK 2, 13; SRGK 4, 495...

  Large dictionary of Russian sayings

• - Cm....

  Synonym dictionary

"Life is short, art is eternal" in books

LIFE IS SHORT, ART IS ETERNAL