He is honoured by the Church for his holiness and by the world for his art. In many ways, he stands at the end of the medieval age and the beginning of the modern. This is part of his importance in art - but it is also the reason that his art is able to touch at once the religious impulses which so dominated humanity in the middle ages and the humanism of our modern age. It is so easy for us in our technological age to undervalue art. Students lean towards choosing design these days over art, because it is more pragmatic.
Art galleries have difficulty in attracting funds.
And perhaps the very availability of mass-produced art has cheapened our appreciation of it. Without art, we are less than human. Without art, our humanity is deficient. Without art, our spirit dies. It is the fundamental emotion that lies at the cradle of true art and true science.