around 1300 -1600 · Incarnation, perspective and Christian humanism

Renaissance religious painting brings the sacred closer to human experience: coherent space, readable gestures, credible bodies and light give biblical stories a new presence.

The Renaissance profoundly transformed the religious image without breaking with its devotional function. From Duccio and the Italian masters of the early 14th century, the Virgin and the saints gained in gentleness, volume and emotional relationships. In the 15th century, perspective, anatomy, study of light and knowledge of Antiquity made it possible to place sacred episodes in measurable spaces. The Annunciation became a laboratory of architecture and silence: in Piero della Francesca, the Annunciation became a laboratory of architecture and silence: in Piero della Francesca, columns, proportions and light gave the dialogue between the angel and Mary an almost metaphysical stability. The Annunciation becomes a laboratory of architecture and silence: in Piero della Francesca, columns, proportions and light give the dialogue between the angel and Mary an almost metaphysical stability. The Annunciation becomes a laboratory of architecture and silence: in Piero della Francesca, columns, proportions and light give the dialogue between the angel and Mary an almost metaphysical stability. Duccio's Maestà preserves the gold and frontality of the icon while multiplying glances and gestures. The Crucifixion intensifies pain through the arrangement of bodies, while Leonardo da Vinci builds in Saint Anne a family group linked by looks, movements and misty landscape. Humanism does not replace faith; it provides new means of thinking about the Incarnation, that is to say the presence of the divine in a visible body and world. Commissioned by brotherhoods, churches, princes or families, these works serve altarpieces, chapels and private devotions. Commissioned by brotherhoods, churches, princes or families, these works serve as altarpieces, chapels and private devotions. From the North to Venice, Florence or Siena, the solutions vary, but all question the same encounter between transmitted story and observation of the living. From the North to Venice, Florence or Siena, the solutions vary, but all question the same encounter between transmitted story and observation of life. From the North to Venice, Florence or Siena, the solutions vary, but all question the same encounter between transmitted story and observation of life. From the North to Venice, Florence or Siena, these works serve as altarpieces, chapels and private devotions. From the North to Venice particularly in relation to The Virgin, the Child Jesus and Saint Anne, known as Saint Anne and the Annunciation. Its reading favors the story.

The resurgent sacred art brings the mystery close without trivializing it: a look, an architecture and a human body become the instruments of revelation.