Looking on Michelangelo

Michelangelo’s David embodies humanism because he is physically perfect. Also he embodies humanism because Michelangelo's David is a Renaissance interpretation of a common ancient Greek theme of the standing heroic male nude. In addition, Michelangelo’s David embodies individualism. His confident pose, in contrast to the Middle Ages' Christian humility, is used to symbolize that man accomplish anything. Michelangelo's David depict the rising secularism in the Renaissance. As a result of the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism, a general movement away from the Catholic Church occurred. Michelangelo's sculpture was a recreation of the Biblical figure David. Although Michelangelo used a religious theme in his art, religious themes were portrayed not to glorify God, but to glorify the artists themselves.
Sistine Chapel Ceiling
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The overall subject matter of the ceiling is the doctrine of humanity's need for Salvation as offered by God through Jesus. It is a visual metaphor of Humankind's need for a covenant with God. The old covenant of the Children of Israel through Moses and the new covenant through Christ had already been represented around the walls of the chapel.While much of the symbolism of the ceiling dates from the early church, the ceiling also has elements that express the specifically Renaissance thinking which sought to reconcile Christian theology with the philosophy of Humanism.
Mona Lisa
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The painting was among the first portraits to depict the sitter before an imaginary landscape and Leonardo was one of the first painters to use aerial perspective. Due to the expressive synthesis that Leonardo achieved between sitter and landscape it is arguable whether Mona Lisa should be considered as a traditional portrait, for it represents an ideal rather than a real woman, which embodies the concept of humanism. The woman sits markedly upright with her arms folded, which is also a sign of her reserved posture, which embodies the concept...