How does humanism affect religious paintings of the 15th century?

Homework?

Not homework, during class, my teacher was talking about the topic of Humanist influence on Italian religious art but I did not fully understand the whole idea and I would like to know more about it...

I know that Humanist focus on individual rather than religious beliefs, but I did not understand what it effect on Italian religious art because the artists at the time still do painting in the Chapels and it seems to me that you're still painting about the religion...

I would like to read more about it if anyone has any suggestion on reading or would be able to explain more about it to me, thank you.

How about this --

Humanism and the Italian renaissance? - Yahoo! Answers

Thank you

I liked this part --

"The rise of Humanism can be seen in paintings created by Renaissance artists. During the Middle Ages, saints in paintings wore halos (a ring or circle of light) around their heads. Artists also used hieratic scale in paintings during the Middle Ages, making saints or members of the family of God larger in scale than ordinary or less important figures. As Humanism became more popular during the Renaissance, ordinary people grew to be the same size as saints in paintings and saints began to look more like ordinary people. For example, halos became fainter and eventually disappeared during the Renaissance.

Saints occupied the same landscape as ordinary people in Renaissance paintings and the landscape was earth instead of heaven. In the Middle Ages it was common for artists to represent figures of heaven against a gold background, a symbol for the beauty and value of the atmosphere of heaven. As Renaissance artists experimented with new Humanist ideas, the natural landscape began to appear as a background in paintings. Saints left their golden atmosphere to occupy the same gardens, forests and buildings that everyday people lived in."

I didn't notice the scale of saint and ordinary people before your message, thank you. Maybe the teacher pointed it out and I didn't realized it or something, that was a very good point. So then the artists no long focus on the importance of god, they are no longer focusing on symbolic meanings of the religion?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by annybaby84

I didn't notice the scale of saint and ordinary people before your message, thank you. Maybe the teacher pointed it out and I didn't realized it or something, that was a very good point. So then the artists no long focus on the importance of god, they are no longer focusing on symbolic meanings of the religion?

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Yup. Everything become focused on the human, not the divine.