Ruben's The Fall of Phaethon is a well veiled vocalization of skepticism. All of the characters are flinching away from the light shining through the clouds. The shining light such as this is usually depicted around God or Jesus in art, however we have all of the characters shying away from this light either looking fearfully upon it or turning completely away from it. Rubens shows the attitude of the populace toward religion, something to be appeased and fearful toward while fleeing into the relatively safety of the darkness as these characters are doing.
Signorelli's Madonna of Mercy and Saint Sebastian and Bernardino da Siena is a perfect fit for the individualism felt by those in power toward the subjects they wielded power over. The figure of Mary is playing the part of the patron who when a subject is wounded physically such as the man to her left, financially, or emotionally, is sought after for help. The masses groveling at her feet are a fine illustration of how subjects would attempt to stay in the patrons good favor so that when they are inevitably wounded in the cut throat renaissance world, they have a sponsor who is there to help them back up after their defeat. The patrons whole heartedly endorse this message because it gives them the power in a city as well as gives them the sense of individual accomplishment that they have made their own power over people all by themselves.
Uccello's Scenes from the Life of Holy Hermits is where the classical depiction of the afterlife combines with the message about focusing on the physical realm. In this painting, the scenes of many biblical saints and heroes are being shown at once. Uccello is conveying the stories of the earth as to why these men and women are considered saints and heroes, displaying the importance of the world around us and how it relates to the afterlife. While the image still shows a respect and importance in the work for consideration about the world to come and what will happen there.
Correggio's Venus with Mercury and Cupid plays with the shadowing that can occur on the human body. This depiction of Roman gods with shadowing is about as far as one can get from the flat backlit medieval images that came before it. With this new found interest in humanism popular in the renaissance it is small wonder that an artist like Correggio chose to explore the human form and how light plays along it's surface in a way that nurtured his interest for the human body without offending the church by using a holy persona for humanist shadow play. The choice to depict Roman gods instead of the traditional church based imagery is also a good indicator of the skepticism felt by the artist in art. They doubted the validity of the churches statements and because of this rebelled and found new subjects to use their new found skills and notes on the human form which the church frowned upon.
Sarto's The Sacrifice of Isaac illustrates the art the human body makes through movement. The placement of the folds of cloth on Abraham display his well muscled form with out depicting him as nude. It demonstrates the range that Sarto possesses that he can display how the human body is art both naked and clothed with equal impact. The shadowing on Isaac is beautiful in it's own primal portrayal, while the civilized clothing on Abraham is just as artistic in it's displayed statement that a clothed human can represent the beauty of the human form at odds to the nude honesty of going naked.
Ruben's Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma has a focus on the secular world. The secularism in this portrait cannot be missed, a king bedecked in his fines attire riding a pure white stallion garbed in jewels. Rubens wanted the viewer to be enthralled with the sheer amount of material beauty the king has, he in no way wanted people to be thinking about how worthless it will all be in the next life. Rubens wanted people to stop at the purely physical aspect of how much beauty there is in the world to be taken for an individual. The portrait also contains the under tones of individualism, with the monarch who is the unquestioned ruler, riding a horse toward the audience where he appears to be starting the tale of his exploits and how proud the public should be to have a king so confident and capable.
Tintoretto's Paradise is a masterfully done simile for what we have on earth. With the crowded masses around Christ celebrating being in paradise, it is an allusion to what the powerful patrons of Italy can do for us when we support them. With the support a patron receives from you, he will make your life on earth very comfortable and paradise like in of itself Uccello wants to show the people that the patrons all over Italy will make your life paradise by following them all through this work of secularized art.