Humanism during the Renaissance shaped the way artists create and perceive art today. Much of the art created in the 21st century is largely influenced by Renaissance art and it is because of humanism that artists create what they create today. Not only does art influence artists in today's world, but most of the artist's studies during this time also influence what scientists and scholars teach and practice. There are many works of art to choose from during the Renaissance that embody humanism. Rogier Van der Weyden's "The Descent from the Cross" contains a naturalistic depiction of the human form, captures the serious details of the human figure, chiaroscuro captures the essence of humanism, and satisfies Europe's demand for North. In this work of art, the artist managed to capture the naturalistic human form and human proportions surprisingly well. The proportion of all the figures is correct and the middle number, representing Christ, is also proportionally correct compared to the other figures. In ancient times, the divine figure or a figure that represented the divine was usually disproportionate to other figures to show that they are divine. In this image, the artist made it a point to represent Christ proportionally equivalent to the other figures in the painting. The human form is also depicted very accurately, as seen by the lady on the right side of the image. His body is distorted in a way that would be very difficult to render, but the artist managed to do it very accurately. The clothes she wears also appear to be on her body instead of just painted on the skin. The fabric wrinkles and falls around his arm but the artist still managed to capture the...... middle of paper...... including the human form. Much of what is known about the human body today is due to what artists like Leonardo da Vinci discovered and considered. There was also the aspect of adding realistic texture and detail to the characters. The artists made it a point to make the characters as real as possible and make them look natural. The details added to the face and the capturing of emotions really changed the way people looked at art. The viewer can now feel the full emotion of the scene and feel what the artist wanted them to feel. Chiaroscuro played a big role in showing the humanist side of art. People used these details to show their own persecution of the beauty of the human body. Overall, Rogier Van der Weyden's "The Descent from the Cross" is a wonderful demonstration of humanism in the Renaissance era and will be enjoyed for centuries to come..