Humanism

The human form has always fascinated artists. From the prehistoric period to the present artists have tried to capture the essence of what makes us “human”. Humanism is defined by dictionary.com as “an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems”. We see examples in this in the early renaissance in works such as Jan van Eyck’s’ “Double Portrait”. However most early renaissance work was a representation of divinity. This is true for both the northern and southern early renaissance. In fact when you look at the work coming out of the southern early renaissance, and it doesn’t have a connection to the divine, there is a problem. But as time passed the wealthy were starting to realize how painting could serve them. By getting portraits done of them selves they could pass down a piece of themselves to future generations. It was a big deal to capture one owns image and it was regarded as a status symbol among the upper class. One piece of work that struck me as pure humanism was Giorgione’s “The Tempest”. In this work there are three human forms. The first and second include a partially nude woman nursing an infant nursing on a hill. The third form is a German mercenary moving past the woman and child. The reason this screams humanism to me is it shows the connection of human beings on so many different levels. First the mother, having nothing but a white sheet, struggling to take care of her infant, but doing the best she can. Also we see the connection between the mercenary and the woman. The mercenary appears to only be looking at her briefly before passing on, but it is within that moment that I believe we connect. It only takes a moment, a locking of eyes, or the mere passing glance that connects us all. But more importantly is the landscape around them. In the foreground we have our three subjects placed in a shadowed knoll. In the background there is an area that is lit a little brighter, before finally reaching a dark and gloomy storm approaching with a lightning bolt streaking across the sky. I think this landscape reflects perhaps our human minds. More particularly the artists mind. It could suggest, as Giorgione was watching the world around him suffer with plague (which he himself soon after contracted and passed away) he could see moments of light as well as the dark and miserable times. In all, the high renaissance was a period were artists started to draw the human condition in preference to the divine rulings.