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Humanism during the Renaissance shaped how artists make and view art today. Much of the art created during the twenty-first century is widely influenced by the art during the Renaissance and its because of humanism that artist create what they create today. Not only does the art influence artists in the world today much of the studies done by the artist during that time also influence what scientists and scholars teach and practice. There are many works of art that one could chose from during the Renaissance that embody humanism. “The Descent from the Cross” by Rogier Van der Weyden contains a display of the naturalistic human form, captures the grave detail of the human figure, the chiaroscuro captures the essence of humanism, and satisfies the demand of Northern Europe.

In this work of art the artist was able to capture the naturalistic human form and human proportion astoundingly well. The proportion of all of the figures is correct and the figure in the middle, representing Christ, is also proportionally correct compared to the other figures. In the earlier times the godlike or a figure that represented the divine was usually disproportional to the other figures to show that they are divine. In this image the artist made it a point to depict Christ proportionally equivalent to the other figures in the painting. The human form is also shown very accurately, as seen in the lady in the right side of the image. Her body is contorted in an such a way that would be very difficult to render, but the artist was able to do so very accurately. The clothing that she is wearing also looks like it is on her body instead of just painted onto the skin. The fabric wrinkles and falls around her arm but the artist was still able to capture the...

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...nderstanding the human form. Much of what is know today about the human body is because of what artists like Leonardo da Vinci discovered and took note of. There was also the aspect of adding lifelike texture and detail to the figures. Artists made it a point to have the figures look as real as possible and to make them look natural. The detail added to the face and the capture of emotion really changed the way people looked at art. The viewer now can take in all of the emotion in the scene and feel the way the artist intended them to feel. Chiaroscuro played a big role in showing the humanistic side of the art. People used the detail to show their own persecutive on how beautiful the human body can be. Overall Rogier Van der Weyden’s “The Descent from the Cross” is a wonderful display of humanism in the Renaissance era and can be appreciated for centuries to come.