Giotto’s Lamentation and the Face of Christ: Renaissance Humanism in Catholic Perspective

Giotto’s Lamentation and the Face of Christ: Renaissance Humanism in Catholic Perspective

The Catholic view on Renaissance humanism has generally been positive, understanding it as an important cultural and intellectual movement that enriched Christian civilization. It especially views its 13th- through 15th-century forms as compatible with faith, where most of its works were grounded in the dignity of the human person created in God’s image (imago Dei). It celebrated human potential, classical learning, the beauty of nature, and rea…