From the description and period of the painting, it seems that we're talking about "Madonna of the Chancellor Rolin" (c. 1435) by the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441). We see the painting below. Thus the interest in the secular world is shown in <u>the man with the book</u> and in <u>the setting and the landscape</u>.
Both elements tell about an interest in studies and indicate the presence of scientific curiosity by the painter. The man in the painting is studying with a book in his lap, indicating the activity was a routine.
The setting and the landscape, by its turn, show an interest in the outside world instead of indoors -- which was the main setting of medieval art --, and it's painted in one-point perspective.
