You'll probably want to start your thinking about the
relation between humanism and Da Vinci's painting "St. Jerome in the Wilderness" by
defining the term humanism.
You might have trouble with a
definition of the term that includes the notion of rejecting religion, for example, as
this painting is about a saint, shows a church, etc. You might have better luck with a
definition that shows a new focus on and valuing of the human (perhaps in contrast to a
medieval view of humanity as sinful and of religion as more important than the
individuals who follow it).
What I see in the painting,
when I think about it, seems to fit that second definition pretty well. The man is in
the center; the painting's all about him, and he's rendered in very high anatomical
detail. These details (e.g. the shoulder muscles and the wrinkles) seem to suggest both
strength and vulnerabilitly. In comparison to the man, the church and crucifix are
distant and faintly sketched. He seems to be attached or drawn to them, but he is
himself the subject of the painting.
A great idea for a
paper might to set up a comparison-and-contrast between this paiinting and a painting
from the medieval period, one showing an enormous church or altar and small, less
distinctively drawn humans. You might find the right painting to use in the
medieval-church-art link below.
I hope that these comments
are helpful.
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