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Introduction to the Scrovegni Chapel

(Introduzione alla Cappella degli Scrovegni)

(Introduction to the Scrovegni Chapel)

The Scrovegni Chapel, known to all by the surname of its client Enrico, is dedicated to Santa Maria della Carità and known throughout the world for the extraordinary pictorial cycle created by Giotto. The work is the artist's greatest fresco masterpiece and testifies to the profound revolution that the Tuscan painter brought to Western art. Previously a private chapel, it houses a well-known cycle of Giotto's frescoes from the early 14th century, considered one of the masterpieces of Western art. The nave is 29.88 m long, 8.41 m wide and 12.65 m high; the apse is made up of a first part with a square plan, 4.49 m deep and 4.31 m wide, and a subsequent one, polygonal in shape with five sides, 2.57 m deep and covered by five ribbed nails [1]. Since 2021 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the site of the 14th century fresco cycles in Padua. The paintings hidden inside the Scrovegni chapel started a pictorial revolution that developed throughout the fourteenth century and influenced the history of painting.

The origin of the chapel

(L'origine della Cappella)

(The origin of the chapel)

The chapel was commissioned by Enrico degli Scrovegni, son of Rinaldo, a wealthy Paduan usurer, who at the beginning of the fourteenth century had bought the area of the ancient Roman arena in Padua from a decayed nobleman, Manfredo Dalesmanini. Here he built a sumptuous palace, of which the chapel was a private oratory and future family mausoleum. He called the Florentine Giotto to fresco the chapel, who, after having worked with the Franciscans of Assisi and Rimini, was in Padua called by the friars minor convent to fresco the Chapter room, the chapel of blessings and perhaps other spaces in the Basilica of Sant 'Antonio. The rumor that Enrico Scrovegni commissioned the chapel as an act of expiation for the sin committed by his father, which Dante Alighieri, a few years after the conclusion of the Giottesque cycle, places in Hell among the usurers is unfounded.

The Decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel

(La Decorazione della Cappella degli Scrovegni)

(The Decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel)

Ancient fourteenth-century mentions (Riccobaldo Ferrarese, Francesco da Barberino, 1312-1313) certify the presence of Giotto at the construction site. The dating of the frescoes can be deduced with good approximation from a series of information: the purchase of the land took place in February of the year 1300, the bishop of Padua Ottobono dei Razzi authorized the construction before 1302 (date of its transfer to the Patriarchate of Aquileia ); the first consecration took place on the feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1303; on March 1, 1304 Pope Benedict XI granted the indulgence to those who visited the chapel and a year later, again on the anniversary of March 25 (1305), the chapel was consecrated. Giotto's work therefore takes place between 25 March 1303 and 25 March 1305. Incidentally, in the Last Judgment of the Chapel, every 25 March a ray of light passes between the hand of Henry and that of the Madonna.

Giotto's Project

(Il Progetto di Giotto)

(Giotto's Project)

Giotto painted the entire internal surface of the oratory with a unitary iconographic and decorative project, inspired by an Augustinian theologian of refined competence, recently identified by Giuliano Pisani in Alberto da Padova. Among the sources used there are many Augustinian texts, the apocryphal Gospels of the pseudo-Matthew and Nicodemus, the Legenda Aurea by Jacopo da Varazze and, for some iconographic details, the Meditations on the life of Jesus by the pseudo-Bonaventure, as well as texts of the medieval Christian tradition, including Il Fisiologo. When he works on the decoration of the chapel, the great master has a team of about forty collaborators and 625 "days" of work have been calculated, where by day we do not mean the span of 24 hours, but the portion of the fresco that is successful to paint before the plaster dries (ie it is no longer "fresh").

The Modern Period

(Il Periodo Moderno)

(The Modern Period)

The chapel was originally connected through a side entrance to the Scrovegni palace, demolished in 1827 to obtain precious materials and make room for two condominiums. The Palace was built following the elliptical layout of the remains of the ancient Roman arena. The chapel was officially acquired by the municipality of Padua with a notarial deed in 1881, one year after the mandate of the City Council in the session of May 10, 1880. Immediately after the purchase, the condominiums were demolished and the chapel was subject to restorations, not always happy .

The 2001 restoration

(Il restauro del 2001)

(The 2001 restoration)

In June 2001, after twenty years of investigations and preliminary studies, the Central Institute for Restoration of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Municipality of Padua started the restoration of Giotto's frescoes, under the guidance of Giuseppe Basile . A year earlier, the interventions on the external surfaces of the building had been completed and the adjacent Equipped Technological Body (CTA) was inaugurated, where visitors, in groups of up to twenty-five at a time, are called to stop for about fifteen minutes to undergo to a dehumidification and dust purification process. In March 2002 the chapel was returned to the world in all its newfound splendor. Some problems remain open, such as the flooding of the crypt below the nave due to the presence of an aquifer, or the concrete curbs introduced in the early sixties of the twentieth century to replace the original wooden ones (with evident repercussions on the different elasticity of the building ).

The demolition of the apse

(L'abbattimento della parte absidale)

(The demolition of the apse)

In January 1305, when the work on the chapel was about to end, the Hermits, who lived in a nearby convent, vehemently protested because the construction of the chapel, going beyond the agreements made, was transforming itself from an oratory into a real one. church complete with a bell tower, thus creating competition to the activities of the Eremitani. It is unknown how the story ended, but it is likely that following these grievances the Scrovegni Chapel suffered the demolition of the monumental apse with a large transept (documented in the "model" painted by Giotto in the fresco on the counter-façade), where Scrovegni had planned to insert his own sepulchral mausoleum: the later dating of the frescoes in the apse (post 1320) would confirm this hypothesis

The Apsidal Zone

(La Zona Absidale)

(The Apsidal Zone)

The apse area, which is traditionally the most significant of a sacred building and which also houses the tomb of Henry and his second wife, Iacopina d'Este, presents an unusual narrowing and conveys a sense of incompleteness, almost of disorder. Also in the lower right panel of the triumphal arch, above the small altar dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria, the perfect Giottesque symmetry is altered by a fresco decoration - with two tondi with busts of saints and a lunette representing Christ in glory and two episodes of the passion, prayer in the garden of Gethsemane and the scourging - which creates an effect of imbalance. The hand is the same one that frescoes a large part of the apsidal area, an unknown painter, the Master of the choir Scrovegni, who would work in the third decade of the fourteenth century, about twenty years after the conclusion of Giotto's work. The focal point of his intervention are six large scenes on the side walls of the presbytery, dedicated to the last phase of the Madonna's earthly life, in line with Giotto's frescoed program.

The Frescoed Cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel

(Il Ciclo Affrescato della Cappella degli Scrovegni)

(The Frescoed Cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel)

The cycle frescoed by Giotto in just two years, between 1303 and 1305, unfolds over the entire internal surface of the Chapel, narrating the Story of Salvation in two different paths: the first with the Stories of the Life of the Virgin and of Christ painted along the naves and on the triumphal arch; the second begins with the Vices and Virtues, faced in the lower potion of the major walls, and ends with the majestic Last Judgment on the counter-façade

Giotto's first great revolution

(La prima grande rivoluzione di Giotto)

(Giotto's first great revolution)

The first great revolution accomplished by Giotto in Padua is in the representation of space: you can admire examples of "perspective" and rendering of the third dimension that anticipate Renaissance leteories by a hundred years

Giotto's second great revolution

(La seconda grande rivoluzione di Giotto)

(Giotto's second great revolution)

The second is the attention paid to the representation of man, in his physicality and emotionality: this is well expressed by Giotto in the Stories of the Life of the Virgin and of Christ in which human joys and sorrows emerge with intensity, of which they remain significant and famous examples are the tenderness of Joachim and Anna's kiss in The Encounter at the Golden Gate and the desperation of weeping mothers in The Massacre of the Innocents.

The Pictorial Cycle

(Il Ciclo Pittorico)

(The Pictorial Cycle)

The hall is entirely frescoed on all four walls. Giotto spread the frescoes over the entire surface, organized in four bands where the panels are composed with the real stories of the main characters divided by geometric frames. The asymmetrical shape of the chapel, with six windows on one side only, determined the form of the decoration: once it was decided to insert two squares in the spaces between the windows, the width of the ornamental bands was then calculated to insert as many of equal size on the other wall. The pictorial cycle, centered on the theme of salvation, begins from the lunette above the Triumphal Arch, when God decides reconciliation with humanity by entrusting the archangel Gabriel with the task of erasing Adam's guilt with the sacrifice of his son. man. It continues with the Stories of Joachim and Anna (first register, south wall), the Stories of Mary (first register, north wall), goes over the Triumphal Arch with the scenes of the Annunciation and the Visitation, followed by the Stories of Christ ( second register, south and north walls), which continue, after a passage on the Triumphal Arch (Betrayal of Judas), on the third register, south and north walls. The last panel of Sacred History is Pentecost. Immediately below, the fourth register opens with the monochromes of the vices (north wall) and the monochromes of the virtues (south wall). The west wall (or counter-façade) bears the grandiose Last Judgment

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

God sends the archangel Gabriel is a fresco with a tempera insert on panel (230x690 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It decorates the lunette above the altar and is closely related to the underlying episodes that make up the Annunciation.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

From the height of his throne God commands the archangel Gabriel to carry out his mission with the Annunciation. The steps of the throne, so solemn in its centrality, recall the vault of the Doctors of the Church in Assisi. Two varied and moving groups of angels are found to the right and left and represent the angelic legions. The rare prologue in heaven of the frequently represented scene of the Annunciation shows the formation of the divine decision, which further down has its earthly realization.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Although in a precarious state of conservation, the scene stands out for the ease with which the groups of angels are arranged, occupying an abstract space like the celestial background, but made real more than ever by their arrangement in depth. They are free to move, talk to each other, hold hands, play and sing, anticipating the idyllic paradises of Beato Angelico by more than a century. Between them, at the ends, two small groups of musician angels can be seen. Unlike most of the other scenes in the cycle, the lunette and the underlying Annunciation are set in a symmetrical pattern, perhaps due to their particular location in the center of the chapel, on the triumphal arch.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Expulsion of Joachim is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is the fresco in which the stories begin, in particular those of Joachim and Anna, and was probably the first to be painted in the entire cycle, after the fresco of the vault

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

A Jewish custom held sterile couples ignominious because they were not blessed by God and therefore unworthy to sacrifice in the Temple. The elderly Joachim, who had no children, had in fact gone to bring a lamb and is chased away by a priest (recognizable by the particular rolled up headdress). Inside the Temple, with its architecture reminiscent of Roman basilicas, another priest is blessing a young man, in contrast to the story of Joachim: the psychological and human drama of the elderly is thus highlighted more than ever, in the eloquence of gestures and expressions. The Temple of Jerusalem is represented as an open architecture surrounded by a high parapet with marble mirrors, from which rise an Arnolfian ciborium and a sort of pulpit with a ladder that reaches it. There are lines of force that guide the observer's eye towards the narrative fulcrums. The artist arranged the architecture with a displaced foreshortening, orienting the action to the right, in order to support the reading of the stories: the scene is in fact in the upper register of the right wall in the corner with the arch of the altar wall and the next scene develops to the right. The same architecture, but with a different point of view, also reappears in the fresco of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The drafting is soft with an intense use of colors and a skilful use of lights and shadows to create both the plasticity of the figures and the spatial depth (see the twisted column in the shadow of the ciborium). As Luciano Bellosi pointed out, extraordinary is the balance between the composed classicism derived from the example of the antique and the refined elegance inspired by the French Gothic, with a tone of the narrative "solemn and high, but relaxed and serene". Paradigmatic is then, in this as in other scenes, the organic relationship between architecture and figures, obtaining the result of a unitary complex. The restorations have highlighted regrets in the young man's head, which has been redone, and in the architecture at the top right

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Retreat of Joachim among the shepherds is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is part of the Stories of Joachim and Anna in the highest register of the right wall, looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The Stories of Joachim and Anna are inspired by the Protoevangelium of St. James and the Pseudo Matthew (in Latin) and the De Nativitate Mariae, which are also found, reworked, in the Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze. Iconographic models were then illuminated manuscripts of Byzantine origin, perhaps through Western derivations, even if the artist profoundly renewed these models by applying his modern sensibility, in line with the principles of the mendicant orders. After being expelled from the Temple, Joachim retires to penance among the shepherds, in the mountains. Man's mortification is effectively expressed by his sad and collected walk, with his head down, unlike the little dog who comes to meet him joyfully. The two shepherds, in front of him, look at each other thoughtfully. An ad hoc rocky backdrop highlights the human figures and the narrative core of the scene. On the right is the hut from which the small sheep come out and which culminates at the top in a spur of chipped rock, in the Byzantine style. Saplings sprout here and there standing out against the background

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The drafting is soft with an intense use of colors and a wise use of lights and shadows to create the plasticity of the figures, thanks also to the robustness of the drawing. Paradigmatic is then, in this as in other scenes, the organic relationship between background and figures, obtaining the result of a unitary complex. For this scene some possible models have been highlighted both in the classical statuary and in the transalpine Gothic one. A similarity has been noted with the Presentation in the Temple of Nicola Pisano in the pulpit of the Siena Cathedral which in turn derived from a drunken Dionysus carried by a satyr on an ancient sarcophagus in the monumental Cemetery of Pisa.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Annunciation to Sant'Anna is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is part of the Stories of Joachim and Anna in the highest register of the right wall, looking towards the altar. The Stories of Joachim and Anna are inspired by the Protoevangelium of St. James and the Pseudo Matthew (in Latin) and the De Nativitate Mariae, which are also found, reworked, in the Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze. Iconographic models were then illuminated manuscripts of Byzantine origin, perhaps through Western derivations, even if the artist profoundly renewed these models by applying his modern sensibility, in line with the principles of the mendicant orders.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The scene depicts Saint Anne, a middle-aged woman, praying in her room and an angel brings her the announcement of her upcoming maternity: the couple, now advanced in years, had in fact had no children and this, according to tradition. Jewish, it was a sign of ignominy and enmity with God, which had caused her husband, Joachim, to be expelled from the Temple in Jerusalem. The angel, according to the Pseudo Matthew (2, 3-4), tells her: «Do not be afraid of Anna. God has set out to answer your prayer. Whoever is born of you will be admired for all centuries "

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

The iconography refers to the classic one of the Annunciation, here placed in a domestic and everyday context represented with loving attention to detail. Inside a perspective box, consisting of a room without a wall to allow you to see the inside, you can see Anna in her room with a well-made bed with a striped blanket, placed between two curtains hung on poles supported by laces hanging from the ceiling coffered, a small shelf, a chest, a chest, a bellows and some other furnishings hanging from nails on the wall. The same room also reappears in the scene of the Nativity of Mary. The angel looks out of a small window towards which the kneeling saint addresses her prayer. The setting is of a bourgeois simplicity, which contrasts with the external decoration of the building and with the richness of Anna's dress, of a lively orange with golden borders.

The room of S. Anna

(La stanza di S. Anna)

(The room of S. Anna)

The room has a classical decoration, with carved friezes, sloping roof and gables, of which the front one has a bas-relief showing a bust of Isaiah within a shell-shaped clypeus carried by two flying angels (motif taken from the sarcophagi Romans with portrait of the deceased and winged geniuses). On the left is the entrance door and a porch with a staircase leading to a terrace above. Under the portico there is a daily note, a servant spinning wool, holding a spool and a spool. This figure, treated almost in monochrome, has a very strong sculptural relief and an enlarged form under the drapery that seems to anticipate masterpieces such as the Madonna di Ognissanti. Its presence is in fact made concrete by the articulation of the robe, with the folds held in place by the left knee joint.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The draft is soft with an intense use of colors and a skilful use of lights and shadows to create both the plasticity of the figures and the spatial depth (see the darkness in the portico). Paradigmatic is then, in this as in other scenes, the organic relationship between architecture and figures, obtaining a unitary result.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Sacrifice of Joachim is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is part of the Stories of Joachim and Anna in the highest register of the right wall, looking towards the altar. The Stories of Joachim and Anna are inspired by the Protoevangelium of St. James and the Pseudo Matthew (in Latin) and the De Nativitate Mariae, which are also found, reworked, in the Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze. Iconographic models were then illuminated manuscripts of Byzantine origin, perhaps through Western derivations, even if the artist profoundly renewed these models by applying his modern sensibility, in line with the principles of the mendicant orders.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

Joachim, retired among the shepherds in penance and unaware of the miraculous announcement to his wife, decides to offer a sacrifice to God to ingratiate himself with him and grant him the birth of a son. In the presence of a shepherd who prays, with a part of the flock close by, the old man leans towards the altar to blow the fire and cook the lamb. The sacrifice is accepted as evidenced by the appearance of the blessing hand of God in heaven and of the archangel Gabriel (he is recognized by the branch in his hand). A small figure of a praying friar rises from the sacrificial offering, a symbolic apparition partly added to the dry stone and now semi-disappeared.

Composition

(Composizione)

(Composition)

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The draft is soft with an intense use of colors and a skilful use of lights and shadows to highlight the plasticity of the figures.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Dream of Joachim is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is part of the Stories of Joachim and Anna in the highest register of the right wall, looking towards the altar. The Stories of Joachim and Anna are inspired by the Protoevangelium of St. James and the Pseudo Matthew (in Latin) and the De Nativitate Mariae, which are also found, reworked, in the Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze. Iconographic models were then illuminated manuscripts of Byzantine origin, perhaps through Western derivations, even if the artist profoundly renewed these models by applying his modern sensibility, in line with the principles of the mendicant orders.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

The setting of the scene is the same as that of Joachim's Retreat among the shepherds. The old man has fallen asleep in front of the flock hut and an angel appears to him in a dream announcing the upcoming birth of Mary, his daughter. The text of the announcement is reported in the Pseudo-Matthew (3,4): «I am your guardian angel; do not be afraid. Return to Anna, your consort, because your works of mercy have been told to God and you have been answered in your prayers ». The angel holds in his hand a stick held like a scepter, from which three small leaves emerge on top, symbol of the Trinity. The figure of Joachim crouched and sleeping is a pyramidal plastic mass of sculptural mold, with the drapery treated in such a way as to make the underlying body visible, amplified in the mass, and the tightening of the fabric to wrap the body. The figure has been related to a similar one by Giovanni Pisano (attributed by some to Arnolfo di Cambio) in the pulpit of the Siena Cathedral. Two shepherds are assisted, portrayed with attention to detail (from the dress and the hat to the shoes, up to the stick on which one leans, entangling a part of the garment) and close to the flock, which rests or grazes, and to the dog. Attentive is also the representation of the shrubs of the rugged mountain landscape, cared for with miniaturist precision.

Composition

(Composizione)

(Composition)

The composition appears well studied, with the line of force of the rocky ridge parallel to the movement of the angel and culminating in the figure of Joachim, directing the viewer's gaze without hesitation. Balanced with wisdom is the relationship between figures and landscape, which is not a simple background, but the real stage of the action, inhabited by the characters. The draft is soft with an intense use of colors and a skilful use of lights and shadows to highlight the plasticity of the figures.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Meeting of Anna and Joachim at the Golden Gate is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and forming part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is the last of the Stories of Joachim and Anna in the highest register of the right wall, looking towards the altar. The Stories of Joachim and Anna are inspired by the Protoevangelium of St. James and the Pseudo Matthew (in Latin) and the De Nativitate Mariae, which are also found, reworked, in the Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze. Iconographic models were then illuminated manuscripts of Byzantine origin, perhaps through Western derivations, even if the artist profoundly renewed these models by applying his modern sensibility, in line with the principles of the mendicant orders.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

After being expelled from the Temple of Jerusalem to be considered sterile (and therefore not blessed by God), Joachim took refuge in retreat with the shepherds of the mountains. Meanwhile Anna, convinced that she was a widow, had received a miraculous announcement from an angel who had revealed that she would soon have a baby. Meanwhile Joachim too had dreamed of an angel, who comforted him as God had heard his prayers and had to go home to his wife. The scene therefore shows the meeting between the two, which according to Pseudo Matthew (3,5), took place in front of the Golden Gate or Golden Gate (She'ar Harahamim) of Jerusalem, after both had been warned by divine messengers. . In fact, Joachim comes from the left, followed by a shepherd, and Anna from the right, followed by a group of women diversified by social class, carefully studied in hairstyles and dresses. The two spouses go to meet each other and, immediately outside the door, on a small bridge, they exchange an affectionate kiss, which alludes to procreation (without blemish): in fact Anna was immediately pregnant afterwards.

Door architecture

(Architettura della porta)

(Door architecture)

The architecture of the door recalls the Arch of Augustus of Rimini and is one of the clues that place the painter's stay in the Romagna city before arriving in Padua. Famous is the naturalness of the scene, with the shepherd who walks halfway cut out of the scene (to imply a space larger than the one painted), or with the kiss and the mutual embrace of the couple, certainly the most realistic painted up to then and that it will remain so for nearly two centuries. The choice of designing the couple as a "plastic pyramid" with great expressive power was much praised by critics. Emblematic is the figure dressed in black, a rare color in Giotto, who covers half of his face with a cloak: perhaps an allusion to the state of widowhood held up to then by Anna.

The light in the composition

(La luce nella composizione)

(The light in the composition)

Light plays a key role in the composition, defining the volume of the figures and also the spatial depth, as shown by the rear pillars of the roof terraces in the towers, painted in shadow. Pastel shades prevail and the details are well cared for, especially in the group of rich women. Balanced with wisdom is the relationship between figures and architecture, which is not a simple background, but the real stage of the action, inhabited by the characters.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Nativity of Mary is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is the first of the Stories of Mary in the upper register of the left wall, looking towards the altar. The dedication of the chapel to the Virgin of Charity explains the presence of the cycle of Marian stories which, added to those of the parents Joachim and Anna, constitute the largest representation so far painted in Italy. The Stories of Mary, from birth to marriage, are inspired by the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varazze.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

Set in the exact same house as Saint Anne that appears in the Announcement, the scene shows the elderly woman lying in her bed (the same is also the striped blanket), has just given birth and receives her daughter swaddled by a midwife, while a second is about to hand her something to eat. The scene also shows two more episodes: below, two helpers have just given the baby girl the first bath and have swaddled her (one is still holding a roll of cloth in her lap), while at the entrance to the house another maid receives a pack of cloths from a woman dressed in white.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The figures have a sculptural character, perhaps inspired by the pulpits of Giovanni Pisano, with extensions and elegance derived from French Gothic. To further accentuate the perspective depth, Giotto painted the support of the curtains surrounding the bed with poles that form a rectangle, appropriately shortened. It has been hypothesized that the woman who gives the child, in an elegant blue dress with gold borders, may be the wife of Enrico degli Scrovegni.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Presentation of Mary in the Temple is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Mary located in the upper register of the left wall, looking towards the altar. The dedication of the chapel to the Virgin of Charity explains the presence of the cycle of Marian stories which, added to those of the parents Joachim and Anna, constitute the largest representation so far painted in Italy. The Stories of Mary, from birth to marriage, are inspired by the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varazze

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The Temple of Jerusalem is the same represented in the first scene, that of the Expulsion of Joachim, but here seen from a different point. We are in fact at the entrance, where the pulpit that can be reached from the marble staircase faces, with the ciborium from the rearmost twisted columns. The adolescent Mary climbs the steps of the Temple accompanied by her mother (wearing a cloak of an intense red from which her usual orange robe protrudes), followed by a servant who holds a basket full of clothes on his back and by the gaze of his father Joachim. She is welcomed by the priest who holds out his arms to her and by a series of girls dressed as nuns: the period spent at the Temple of Jerusalem for the girls was in fact similar to a monastic retreat and in the Marian stories she emphasizes her remaining a virgin, going out only to marry the elder Giuseppe, who therefore (of course) will not possess her.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

A touch of everyday life is offered by passers-by, such as those with the back to the right who observe, pointing and chatting to each other. The scene has its fulcrum also highlighted by the architecture, avoiding the rigidity of symmetry, with a highly effective simplification of the surfaces, with a calibrated relationship between architecture and the figures that populate it. The gestures are slow and calculated, the colors are clear, imbued with light, the plasticity of the figures is accentuated by the chiaroscuro and the robust design.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Delivery of the Rods is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Mary located in the upper register of the left wall, looking towards the altar. The dedication of the chapel to the Virgin of Charity explains the presence of the cycle of Marian stories which, added to those of the parents Joachim and Anna, constitute the largest representation so far painted in Italy. The Stories of Mary, from birth to marriage, are inspired by the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varazze.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

Mary is of marriageable age and is a recluse inside the Temple of Jerusalem, where she lives as a nun. Before giving her in marriage, a divine announcement points out that only those who have the miracle of seeing a rod in bloom that they will carry with them will be able to marry the girl. Here then is that the suitors bring the rods to the priest, placed behind an altar covered with a precious cloth. Among them, last in line, there is also the elderly Giuseppe, the only one with a halo. God will choose him for his advanced age and holiness, in order to maintain the chastity of the bride. The priest is easily recognizable by the particular rolled up hat and is assisted by another elder, dressed in green on the left.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The gestures are slow and calculated, the colors are clear, imbued with light, the plasticity of the figures is accentuated by the chiaroscuro and the robust design.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Prayer for the flowering of the rods is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Mary located in the upper register of the left wall, looking towards the altar. The dedication of the chapel to the Virgin of Charity explains the presence of the cycle of Marian stories which, added to those of the parents Joachim and Anna, constitute the largest representation so far painted in Italy. The Stories of Mary, from birth to marriage, are inspired by the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varazze.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

Mary is of marriageable age and is a recluse inside the Temple of Jerusalem, where she lives as a nun. Before giving her in marriage, a divine announcement points out that only those who have the miracle of seeing a rod in bloom that they will carry with them will be able to marry the girl. Here then is that the suitors bring the rods to the priest, and then they kneel before the altar to pray while waiting for the miracle. Among them, last in line, there is also the elderly Giuseppe, the only one with a halo. God will choose him for his advanced age and holiness, in order to maintain the chastity of the bride.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The scene has an atmosphere of expectation and emotional tension, the colors are clear, imbued with light, the plasticity of the figures is accentuated by the chiaroscuro and robust design.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Marriage of the Virgin is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Mary located in the upper register of the left wall, looking towards the altar.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

The dedication of the chapel to the Virgin of Charity explains the presence of the cycle of Marian stories which, added to those of the parents Joachim and Anna, constitute the largest representation so far painted in Italy. The Stories of Mary, from birth to marriage, are inspired by the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varazze, who in this case spread an episode contained in the Book of John, one of the apocryphal Gospels.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The three scenes of the Delivery of the rods, of the Prayer for the flowering of the rods and of the Marriage of the Virgin are set in front of the same coffered niche above an altar, which symbolizes, with the architecture that contains it, the nave of a church. Although some characters are outside, against the background of the sky, according to the conventions of medieval art the scenes are to be understood as having taken place "inside" the building, in this case a basilica. God chose the elderly and pious Joseph as the husband of Mary, miraculously making a rod that he brought to the Temple of Jerusalem blossom (the miraculous event is highlighted by the appearance of the dove of the Holy Spirit on the stick), in order to maintain chastity of the bride. The priest is celebrating the marriage holding the hands of the spouses while Joseph puts the ring on the bride; next to him stands the attendant of the Temple dressed in green. Maria is slender and slender, as in contemporary Gothic sculptures, and has a hand on her belly which symbolizes her future pregnancy. Behind Maria stands a group of three women, including a pregnant woman repeating the gesture of touching her belly, while behind Joseph stands a man who has his mouth open and raises his hand, probably a witness who is speaking, and further back are the young people. not chosen by God, in various expressions including that of the boy who breaks his rod with his knee, an episode that never fails in the iconography of the marriage of the Virgin.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

the gestures are slow and calculated, the colors are clear, imbued with light, the plasticity of the figures is accentuated by the chiaroscuro and the robust design, with deep folds in the cloaks ("cannula"), free from schematisms.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The wedding procession of Mary is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Mary located in the upper register of the left wall, looking towards the altar. The dedication of the chapel to the Virgin of Charity explains the presence of the cycle of Marian stories which, added to those of the parents Joachim and Anna, constitute the largest representation so far painted in Italy. The Stories of Mary, from birth to marriage, are inspired by the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varazze and other more ancient sources such as the Pseudo-Matteo.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The scene of the wedding procession is very rare and difficult to interpret. It probably refers to the Protoevangelium of James in which it is told how Mary and seven other virgins on their way to the high priest (who was to give them some fabrics to decorate the Temple), accompanied by the servants of the Temple, meet three players and stop to listen to them. . Other interpretations think of the newlyweds headed home (but there is no trace of Joseph), others of Mary who, with seven companions, goes to visit her parents in Galilee. The shrub branch that emerges from a balcony of a building is difficult to interpret symbolically.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Annunciation (divided into the two compartments of the announcing Angel and the announced Virgin) is a double fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and forming part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is located on the triumphal arch at the altar, below the lunette with God initiates the Reconciliation by sending the archangel Gabriel, which is the first scene of the theological program of the Chapel.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The earthly realization of what God decided in the lunette above, takes place in two false mirror architectures that simulate as many rooms with protruding balconies at the top. The perspective of the architecture tends towards the outside and ideally converges at the center of the chapel: it was certainly done intuitively using the same cardboard (a "patron") overturned. The architecture is both elegant and sober, with careful attention to detail: the drawers, the trefoil arches, the colored frames, the ornate shelves. Some discrepancies, even with respect to the scene above, are probably due to the rethinking of the architecture in the apsidal area, linked to the protests of the hermits in 1305: it is then thought that in that year or the following one they were putting their hands to the frescoes of the arch . The warm and dense color scheme is in fact the most mature of the cycle and already heralds the frescoes in the Chapel of the Magdalene in the lower basilica of Assisi. The angel (left) and Mary (right) are both kneeling and, despite the physical distance, they seem to be looking at each other intensely; there are also those who have hypothesized that the two architectures are conventionally to be understood as facing each other

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

The dark background of the rooms, illuminated by the red light of divine love, makes the Annunciation immediately impose on the spectator entering the chapel: the ancient title of the sacred building was in fact the Annunziata. The gestures are slow and calibrated, with a solemn slowness. The figure of Mary, who in the previous scenes was a slender and fearful girl, is treated here as a strong and dramatic personality, of considerable expressive power, as will happen later in the following episodes. His crossed arms are in a suggestive glimpse

The halo problem

(Il problema dell'aureola)

(The halo problem)

The full mastery of the profile, recovered from ancient art and from daily observation, also raised in Giotto the doubt on how to represent the halos, as can be clearly seen in this scene. Did they have to be considered golden discs affixed to the back of the head or luminous spherical auras? In the Annunciation, unlike later scenes, he opted for the first hypothesis, compressing the auras into oval shapes, if necessary to the eye, thus representing the first glimpses of the genre, well before the perspective experiments of Piero della Francesca.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Visitation is a fresco (150x140 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1306 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is ideally the hinge between the Stories of Mary and those of Christ, placed at the beginning of the latter in the upper central register on the wall of the arch.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The meeting between Mary and Elizabeth takes place outside a building with a small portico supported by elegant and thin columns in mottled marble, with a frieze of old-fashioned spirals and corbels of the same material. Elisabetta, represented older, bends towards Mary, embracing her and paying her homage. Two women are behind Maria, elegantly slender, one of whom holds a cloth that falls from her shoulder, perhaps an allusion to the unborn children who will be swaddled. The woman behind Elisabetta, on the other hand, wearing a cap, rests a hand on her lap, a typical gesture of pregnant women, to symbolize the state of the two protagonists.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The sharp and elegant profiles of the female figures made us think of contemporary French Gothic sculptures. The gestures are slow and calculated, the colors are clear, imbued with light, the plasticity of the figures is accentuated by the chiaroscuro and the robust design, with deep folds in the cloaks ("cannula"), free from schematisms. The scene dates back to the end of the cycle, like the Betrayal of Judas on the opposite side, when the wall was resized for structural changes to the apse area.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Betrayal of Judas is a fresco (150x140 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1306 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus and is located in the upper central register of the arch before the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

At the side of the Temple of Jerusalem, symbolized by a porch supported by marble columns, the high priests, after having witnessed perplexed the Expulsion of the merchants from the Temple by Jesus, make agreements with Judas Iscariot to be helped to capture Christ. The traitorous apostle, now possessed by the devil who hunts him by the back, accepts the payment, picking up the sack with the money (Luke, 22, 3).

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Strongly identified is the physiognomy of Judas, with an attentive gaze and a sharp profile, equipped with a mustache and beard. The yellow cloak will facilitate its identification in subsequent scenes, such as that of the Kiss of Judas. Although already possessed by the devil, Judas was still depicted with a halo: traces of it can be seen in the plaster damaged by humidity.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Nativity of Jesus is a fresco (200 × 185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Sources

(Fonti)

(Sources)

As sources of the Christological scenes Giotto used the Gospels, the Protoevangelium of James and the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varazze.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

A rocky landscape is the backdrop to the Nativity scene, all centered on the foreground. Mary is in fact lying on a rocky slope, covered by a wooden structure, and has just given birth to Jesus, putting him, already swaddled, in the manger; an attendant helps her, in front of which the ox and the donkey appear. Joseph is crouched down sleeping, as is typical of iconography aimed at underlining his inactive role in procreation; his expression is enchanted and dreamy. Mary's mantle, once lapis lazuli blue laid dry, has now largely been lost, revealing the underlying draft of the red robe. On the right the announcement to the shepherds takes place, in this case only two, depicted with their backs close to their flock, while from above an angel instructs them on the miraculous event. Four other angels fly over the hut and make gestures of prayer to the newborn child and to God in heaven.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The perspective cut of the architecture is original, capable of renewing the static Byzantine tradition of iconography. The figures are solid, especially that of the Madonna and that of Joseph, which suggest sculptural models by Giovanni Pisano. The tension of the Madonna in the action and the attention she gives to her son are passages of great poetry, which dissolve the sacred tale in a human and affectionate atmosphere. The insertion of the figures into space is effectively resolved and the attitudes are spontaneous and loose, even in animals. Delicate are the shades of colors, which stand out against the blue of the sky (in this case damaged) harmonizing with the other scenes of the chapel.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Adoration of the Magi is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Sources

(Fonti)

(Sources)

As sources of the Christological scenes Giotto used the Gospels, the Pseudo-Matthew, the Protoevangelium of James and the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varazze.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

The scene takes place under a wooden scaffolding similar to the Nativity on a rocky background. Mary, dressed in an intense red robe with gold edging and an ultramarine blue mantle (almost completely lost), offers her Son in swaddling clothes and covered with a pastel green cape to the adoration of the Magi, who have come following the comet [ 1] which can be seen above. Each has red shoes, a symbol of royalty. The first king, the elderly one, is already on his knees and has placed his crown on the ground, while his gift is probably the gold reliquary held by the angel on the right. The second king, of mature age, carries a horn full of incense, while the younger one a bowl from which he lifts the lid to display the myrrh ointment. The three gifts respectively symbolize the royalty of the unborn child, his holiness and the omen of his death (myrrh was in fact used to perfume corpses). Behind the Magi stand two tall camels, a tasty exotic detail new in the iconography, edged with red finishes, depicted with strong naturalism and held by two attendants of which only the one in the foreground is visible. Behind Mary assists St. Joseph and the two angels, one of whom, with extreme naturalism, is found in correspondence with the beam of the hut and therefore has his face covered. A silent dialogue takes place between the faces of those present, who intertwine the looks with great naturalness, avoiding any fixity of Byzantine matrix

Details

(Dettagli)

(Details)

Some details are linked to the everyday life of the fourteenth century, such as the "modern" structure of the hut or the shape of the clothes, such as that of the angel who has a sleeve tight at the wrists and wide at the elbows. The comet seen on the painting was perhaps inspired by Halley's Comet, which the painter may have witnessed in 1301.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Delicate are the shades of colors, which stand out against the blue of the sky (in this case a little damaged), harmonizing with the other scenes of the chapel.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

The Temple of Jerusalem is evoked by the ciborium with twisted columns that also appears in the scenes of the Expulsion of Joachim and the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. According to Jewish tradition, after the birth of a child, women had to go to the temple to take ritual baths of purification. In the Christian context, the scene is seen as a sort of rite of acceptance of the child in the community, often associated with the rite of circumcision, which was accompanied by the offering of two doves, as in fact he carries Joseph in a basket. Jesus is entrusted to Simeon, the priest with the halo, a figure of strong expressive intensity. A woman is near Joseph, a simple spectator, while on the other side the Prophetess Anna appears, complete with a cartouche, who is shaken by her prophecy that recognizes the Child in the "redeemer of Jerusalem". An angel, holding a golden rod with a clover on top, symbol of the Trinity, then appears in heaven to testify to the supernaturality of the event

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Delicate are the shades of colors, which stand out against the blue of the sky (in this case a little damaged), harmonizing with the other scenes of the chapel.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Flight into Egypt is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

An angel appears in heaven and with an eloquent gesture invites the Holy Family to flee, to escape the future massacre of the innocents. The scene shows Mary in the center sitting on a donkey and holding her child in her lap thanks to a striped scarf tied around her neck. He wears the red robe and a cloak that was originally ultramarine blue, of which only a few traces remain. An attendant, equipped with a canteen on his belt, guides the animal by lovingly conversing with Joseph, who holds a basket or some sort of flask and carries a stick on his shoulder. The procession is closed by three assistants of Mary, who converse naturally among themselves

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The scene is enclosed by a pyramid highlighted by the rocky spur in the background, dotted here and there by small trees that symbolize the "desolate and arid lands" of which the apocryphal texts speak. Delicate are the shades of colors, which stand out against the blue of the sky (in this case damaged), harmonizing with the other scenes of the chapel. The figures appear as carved in sharply outlined blocks of color.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Massacre of the Innocents is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The scene, of raw realism, is one of the most dramatic of the cycle, even if in 1951 Pietro Toesca noticed a certain artificiality and some defect in the movement of the characters, hypothesizing the presence of collaborators' interventions, a hypothesis that was then resized by subsequent critics. As in other scenes of the cycle, the architecture of the background helps to define the groups of figures and, in general, to facilitate the reading of the scene. Above left, from a covered balcony, Herod gives the command to kill all the children born in the last months, eloquently extending his arm. The recipients of the provision are desperate mothers, grouped behind a building with a central plan (inspired by the Baptistery of Florence or perhaps the apse of the church of San Francesco in Bologna), who are seen snatching their children from the group of executioners, in particular the two in the center, armed and in dynamically dramatic poses and treated with dark colors. Below are already the massed bodies of numerous children, who seem to almost go beyond the frame of the fresco to collapse further. Finally, on the left, some spectators show all their disturbance by lowering their heads and making expressions of resigned opposition.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The children are bigger than normal, probably to make them the protagonists of the scene. The mothers have deeply distressed expressions, with their mouths parted in a common lament and their cheeks streaked with tears, as resurfaced with the latest restoration.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Baptism of Christ is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

The scene, in poor conservation conditions, is set inside the Temple of Jerusalem where the twelve-year-old Jesus is lost by his parents, who find him discussing religion and philosophy with the doctors. Set in an indoor environment, with aisles covered by cross vaults, niches, coffered ceiling and plant festoons, it has an intuitive perspective shifted to the right, to indulge the viewer's gaze. The scene is in fact located in the corner of the wall on the left, next to the Last Judgment on the back wall.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

On a seat the young Jesus, dressed in red, is arguing with ten wise men, depicted with beards (like the ancient philosophers) and wrapped in cloaks with hoods. On the left, Joseph and Mary run. The Virgin extends her arms demonstrating, with a gesture taken from everyday life, her apprehension due to the loss of the child. Joseph also raises a hand, caught by the astonishment of the situation.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The spatiality of the environment is large and monumental, unlike the more contracted ones of the previous episodes.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

In the center of the scene, Jesus, half-buried in the Jordan, receives baptism from John the Baptist who leans forward from a cliff. Behind it stands an elderly saint and a young man without a halo, waiting to be baptized. On the other side, four angels hold Christ's clothes and are ready to cover him by coming forward slightly. Above, in a luminous explosion, God the Father, with a book in his arms, reaches out to bless Christ with an effective glimpse, the first of its kind.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Even the rocks in the background, diverging in the shape of a "V", help to direct the viewer's attention towards the central fulcrum of the scene. The quality of Christ's face is very high, as is that of the Baptist and the two disciples behind him. There remains an evident concession to the medieval iconographic tradition in the irrational level of the water that covers Christ but leaves the others present dry, due to the traditional method of representing the scene, so as not to show Christ completely naked

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Wedding at Cana is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

The scene is set in a room, conventionally open to the sky but to be understood indoors, described with attention to detail: striped red drapes cover the walls, a frieze runs up and up there are perforated wooden grates supported by shelves, on the which are found vases and decorative elements. Following the Gospel of John, Giotto shows the moment in which Jesus, sitting on the left with the bridegroom and an apostle, blesses the water poured into the large jars on the other side of the room with a gesture, thus transforming it into wine. The fat master of the table tastes the drink with a glass and, according to the Gospel account, would then pronounce the phrase "You have kept good wine up to now!" addressed to the bridegroom (Jn 2: 7-11). The side of the table facing the viewer has the bride in the center, dressed in a finely embroidered red dress, sitting next to the Madonna, also blessing, and to a girl with a crown of flowers on her head. Two attendants stand across the table.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The pastel colors are very elegant, accentuating the plastic volumes of the figures with chiaroscuro. Considerable care is taken in the description of the objects, from the white tablecloth with warps that create bands of different colors, to the finely fluted jars, up to the furnishings and dishes on the table. The canteen teacher and the boy behind him are so well characterized that they have suggested that they are portraits of characters who really existed.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Resurrection of Lazarus is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The composition is traditional, found in miniatures as early as the sixth century. Jesus on the left steps forward and raises his arm to bless Lazarus, who has already escaped from the tomb, who is helped to get undone by the disciples; one covers her face to avoid bad smells while a woman lifts her veil so that she only discovers her eyes. Below, two servants place the marble lid of the tomb that Christ asked to remove. At the sight of the miracle the onlookers are taken by surprise, raising their hands to heaven, while Martha and Mary prostrate themselves at Jesus' feet. artist in the cycle (Gnudi); the man behind him, dressed in red and raising both hands, is also alive and believable. The corpse is very realistic, with half-closed lips and eyelids, and an unnatural thinness.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Again, as in other scenes, the rocky backdrop creates a diverse backdrop that helps divide the groups of characters and thus read the scene. Intense are the expressions of the characters, of great vivacity. The color is more luminous and transparent than ever. Giotto and his school also frescoed this episode in the Chapel of the Magdalene in the lower basilica of Assisi, probably a few years after the Scrovegni's undertaking.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Entrance to Jerusalem is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

From the left, Jesus rides on a donkey towards the gates of Jerusalem, followed by the Apostles and meeting an intrigued crowd: who prostrates himself, who runs to see, who is surprised, etc. Although the draft denotes an incomplete autograph of the episode, the scene stands out as one of the most vividly naturals of the cycle, with a series of internal episodes drawn from everyday life, such as that of the man covering his head with his cloak (a clumsy action or a symbol of those who do not want to accept the arrival of the Savior?) or the two children who climb the trees to detach the olive branches to throw at the Savior and to see better, detail derived from the Byzantine tradition, but here more realistic than ever, as already appeared in the Stories of St. Francis in Assisi, in particular in the scene of the Weeping of the Poor Clares. The city gate is the same that is found, rotated, in the scene of the Andata al Calvario.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of Jesus in the upper central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

In front of the Temple of Jerusalem, Jesus lashes out at the merchants who infest the sacred place, to the amazement of the apostles themselves, including Peter who raises his arms and looks bewildered. Jesus, with his fixed face expressing his determination, raises his fist holding a rope with which he drives away two merchants, whose cages of animals are on the ground together with an overturned table; a goat runs away frightened by jumping away, while, just behind, two priests look at each other perplexed. On the left, other animals go beyond the edge of the scene, while two children take refuge in the robes of the apostles, with particularly natural expressions, both the one under Peter and the one dressed in red who clings to the apostle in the foreground, who curve to protect it. The motif of the cage had to be liked, in fact it was decided to add a second one in the hand of the man at the center of the scene, now partially disappeared.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The architecture of the temple shows a loggia with three arches surmounted by triangular cusps with flower-shaped medallions; statues of lions and horses surmount the pillars and mottled marble columns decorate the covered passage; a pulpit protrudes to the right and domes can be seen at the top. Perhaps the provisional façade of the Duomo of Siena, at the time stopped in the lower register, by Giovanni Pisano, or the basilica of San Marco in Venice, acted as an inspiring model.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Last Supper is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The scene illustrates a passage from the Gospel of John (13, 21-26): "Jesus was deeply moved and said:" Truly, truly, I say to you: one of you will betray me ". The disciples looked at each other, not knowing who he was talking about. Now one of the disciples, the one Jesus loved, was sitting at the table beside Jesus. Simon Peter motioned to him and said to him: "Say, who is this to whom you are referring?". And he, thus reclining on Jesus' breast, said to him. "Lord, who is it?". Jesus then answered, "It is he for whom I will dip a mouthful and give it to him." This is the moment followed by the Byzantine iconography, while the Roman tradition preferred to represent that of the breaking of bread by Jesus.

Setting

(Ambientazione)

(Setting)

Set in a room without two walls to allow the view of the interior, Giotto paints the doubtful face of the apostles who are wondering who is the traitor of Christ. Effective is the arrangement of the apostles around the table, without overlapping, thanks to the use of a side and slightly raised point of view. The apostle Judas is seated next to Jesus, wearing a yellow cloak and dipping his hand in the same dish as Christ. John, on the other hand, as typical of iconography, is asleep leaning on Christ

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The blackening of the halos is accidental and not intended by the author, as it was caused later for chemical reasons. Originally they had a hierarchical differentiation: in relief, gilded with fine gold and with the cross outlined in red that of Christ, of a color imitating gold and with rays those of the apostles, without rays that of Judas. In the apostles from behind, the halos seem to float in front of their faces.

Details

(Dettagli)

(Details)

The details are meticulously cared for, from the mantle with golden embroideries of the apostle in the center of the shoulders, to the Cosmatesque mosaics that decorate the crowning of the room, on whose roof there are two birds: they are statues, as evidenced by their presence, in an identical position in the scene. next, the washing of the feet. The inner wall was once decorated with dry-stone motifs that are now lost. The robes of the apostles create a colorful set of pastel shades (the colors are the same for each in the other scenes, so as to make them recognizable at a glance), with a use of light that amplifies the sense of plasticity and helps to understand spatial scanning of the environment (for example leaving the area under the bench in the shade).

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Washing of the Feet is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

In the same room as the previous scene, the Last Supper, Jesus prepares to perform an act of humility by washing the feet of the apostles, starting with Peter. Another apostle is undoing his shoes in the foreground on the left, while John stands behind Jesus holding a container with water. The blackening of the halos is accidental and unwanted by the author, as it was caused later for chemical reasons. Originally they had a hierarchical differentiation: in relief, gilded with fine gold and with the cross hinted in red that of Christ, of a color imitating gold and with rays those of the apostles, without rays that of Judas, which can be glimpsed with the pointed chin and the little beard among the apostles seated on the left

Details

(Dettagli)

(Details)

The details are meticulously cared for, from the mantle with golden embroideries of the apostle in the center, to the Cosmatesque mosaics that decorate the crowning of the room, on whose roof there are two birds: they are statues, as evidenced by their presence, in an identical position, in the previous scene of the 'Last Supper. Unlike the previous scene, the dry decorations of the walls have been partially preserved here. The robes of the apostles create a colorful set of pastel shades (the colors are the same for each in the other scenes, so as to make them recognizable at a glance), with a use of light that amplifies the sense of plasticity and helps to understand spatial scanning of the environment (for example, leaving the area under the ceiling in the shade).

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Kiss of Judas (or Capture of Christ) is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The scene, one of the best known of the entire cycle, is set outdoors. Despite the conspicuous participation of characters, the central nucleus is perfectly identifiable thanks to the use of lines of force (such as the line of the three arms that crosses the scene horizontally, converging in the center where Caifa indicates) and the wide yellow background of the dress of Judas, who leans forward, in the center, to kiss Jesus in order to allow the guards to recognize him and capture him. The face of Judas, young and calm in the previous scenes, is here by now transfigured into a bestial mask, and has definitively lost the halo. The motionless and intense visual contact between Jesus and his traitor is contrasted by the agitation of the crowds of armed men all around, generating an effect of violent drama. Only by observing a second moment does one become aware of the other scenes of the trousseau, such as that of Peter cutting off the ear of Malco, a servant of the High Priest, with a knife, seized by the cloak by a man hunched over and from behind, with his head covered with a gray cloak. Well orchestrated are the groups of armigers, composed by bundling the heads (once with metallic colors in the helmets, now blackened) and above all guessed by the number of spears, halberds, sticks and torches that rise in the air. A little more articulated are the figures of the group on the right, among which we see a man playing the horn.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Although the iconography is traditional, in this scene Giotto profoundly renewed its content, introducing an extraordinary psychological and dramatic tension.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

Christ in front of Caifa is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

After being arrested, Jesus is taken to the high priests, Anna and then Caiaphas. The scene shows Jesus in Caiaphas's house in front of the two men seated in a chair. Caiaphas, with the gesture also depicted in the allegory of Wrath, tears the robe from his chest because he would like to condemn Jesus to death but cannot do so because he does not have the authority. Among the warriors one raises a hand to hit Jesus, tied and pulled in the center, since the persecution of Christ began in the house of Caiaphas, which in iconography is usually referred to as the scene of the mocked Christ

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The use of light is experimental: since it is a night scene there is a torch in the room, now darkened by the chromatic alterations, which illuminates the ceiling beams from below, illuminating those in the center and leaving those at the corners in shadow. Giotto's inventiveness is intense with respect to traditional iconography, which accentuates the drama of the events, but also affects the effectiveness of the perspective construction of the architecture, especially in the ceiling.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

Christ mocked is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the right wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

After being arrested and judged, Jesus is crowned with thorns, mocked and scourged by the high priests' thugs. The scene, set in a room in an intuitive perspective, shows Christ seated on the left who endures, with suffering but also resignation, the offenses that are done to him, pulling his hair and beard, hitting him with his hands and sticks, mocking him. Despite this, Christ is depicted in all his royalty, covered with a gold-embroidered cloak. On the right appears Pilate indicating the scene conversing with the priests. Particularly successful is the figure of the Moor, of remarkable realism, which Roberto Salvini even compared to the servant in Manet's Olympia.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Going to Calvary is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar

Description and style

(Descrizione e stile)

(Description and style)

The scene, in a bad state of conservation, shows Jesus who, holding the cross on his shoulder, comes out of the Jerusalem gate pushed by armigers who stand in front of the high priests Anna and Caiaphas. Further back comes the Madonna who moans dramatically, perhaps the most successful figure in the whole scene.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Crucifixion is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The scene is linked, more than in other episodes, to traditional iconography. Against the background of the ultramarine blue sky, the cross of Jesus stands out in the center, in a whirlwind of sorrowful angels who run, tear their garments, collect the blood of Christ from their wounds. Below is the Magdalene who kisses Christ's feet, on the left we can see a group of women who support the fainting Mary and on the right that of the soldiers who fight over Christ's garment. At the foot of Calvary there is a cavity with bones and a skull, traditionally that of Adam who, bathed in the blood of Christ, is redeemed from the original Sin. The painting is located in the Scrovegni chapel.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The drafting is of the highest quality, with meticulous attention to detail that sometimes results in virtuosity, as in Christ's semitransparent thong.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Lamentation over the Dead Christ is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar. The scene, the most dramatic of the entire cycle and one of the most famous, shows a marked knowledge of the rules of painting right from the composition. Jesus is lying down on the left, held by the Virgin who, in a touching way, brings her face close to that of her son. A whole series of lines of gaze and strength immediately directs the viewer's attention to this angle, starting from the trend of the background rock that slopes downwards. The pious women hold Christ's hands and the lamenting Magdalene picks up their feet. The pose of St. John, who bends extending his arms backwards, is free and naturalistic, perhaps derived from the Sarcophagus of Meleager which was in Padua. Behind on the right are the figures of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, while on the left, below, a seated figure from behind creates a sculptural mass. On the left, other women in tears run, with studied and dramatic poses. At the top the angels rush with other desperate poses, shortened with a great variety of poses, participating in a sort of cosmic drama that also affects nature: the tree at the top right is in fact dry. But just as nature seems to die in winter and rise again in spring, Christ seems dead and will rise again after three days. From the skeletal tree at the top right, the diagonal cut of the naked rocky profile descends accompanying the falling rhythm of the figures towards the emotional center of the scene represented by the mother's embrace of her dead son.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

An unprecedented expedient are the two characters from behind in the foreground, depicted as large masses, demonstrating that Giotto has been able to conquer a real space in which all the figures arrange themselves freely in every spatial direction.

Quote (Giulio Carlo Argan)

(Citazione (Giulio Carlo Argan))

(Quote (Giulio Carlo Argan))

"The vertex of the pathos is in the adjoining heads of the Madonna and Christ: and it is placed at the bottom, at one extreme, so that the masses of the figures on the right gravitate, with a progressive decline, and, with sudden perpendicularity, those of left. The rocky slope accompanies the cadence of the first group and accentuates the verticality of the second. It is an asymmetrical rhythm, a pursuit of low notes which, at the point of maximum pathetic intensity, is followed by a sudden burst of high notes. The dense blue of the sky, furrowed by weeping angels, weighs on the masses and precludes any expansion of space beyond the mountain. This rhythm of falling masses, however, translates into a rhythm of ascent due to the quality of the colors and their chords. The mantle of the woman crouched on the left, in the foreground, is a clear and luminous yellow, transparent; and from here starts a progression of salient tones, which the illuminated back of the rock connects, beyond the pause of the sky, with the lively coloristic notes of the angels. In the center, the gesture of St. John's arms, connecting to the oblique of the rock, welds the two great themes of pain on earth and pain in heaven. Undoubtedly there is a historical-dramatic reason: the lament of the Madonna, of the pious women, of St. John over the dead Christ. But on a deeper level, the double sense of falling and rising rhythm expresses, in purely visual values, a broader concept: the pain that touches the bottom of human despair rises into the highest morality of resignation and hope. " (Giulio Carlo Argan, History of Italian art)

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Resurrection and Noli me tangere is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The scene shows a double episode: on the left the empty tomb of Christ with the seated angels and the sleeping guards testifies to the Resurrection; on the right the Magdalene kneeling before the apparition of Christ triumphant over death, complete with a crusader banner, and the gesture of the Savior who tells her not to touch him by pronouncing, in the Latin versions of the Gospels, the phrase Noli me tangere. The banner reads the inscription "VI [N] CI / TOR MOR / TIS". The rocks in the background decline to the left, where the central nucleus of the episode takes place. The trees, unlike those in the previous Lamentation, are dry on the left (ideally "before" the resurrection) while on the right they have become luxuriant; the trees on the left are however damaged by time and not very legible. The episode is characterized by a rarefied and suspended atmosphere, of "metaphysical abstraction" in which a preview of Piero della Francesca is seen

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

According to some scholars, such as the Japanese Hidemichi Tanaka, the hem of the flounces that adorn the robes of Roman soldiers is made up of the p'ags-pa script, an ancient script invented to make Mongolian easier to read and then fell into disuse. [ 1] Giotto and his pupils also represented the scene of Noli me tangere in the Chapel of the Magdalene in the lower basilica of Assisi, with a similar representation of the empty tomb, while a Resurrection is attributed to the young Giotto in the upper basilica; in this last scene we note an extraordinary attention to detail in the decoration of the soldiers' armor which is also present in the Paduan scene, as well as a certain virtuosity in representing the bodies of the sleepers in foreshortening.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Ascension is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is included in the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Description and style

(Descrizione e stile)

(Description and style)

The scene shows the ascent of Jesus into heaven, rising with momentum in the center of the frame and reaching upwards pushed by a cloud, with his hands already raised beyond the frame of the painting. Two angels are under him to instruct the bystanders, that is the apostles and Mary, whose face appears of remarkable quality, judged by some to be the only autograph part of the fresco made largely by workshop workers. On the sides of Christ, two angelic circles and symmetrical saints complete the scene, all with their hands raised, echoing the ascending gesture of Christ. The details are meticulously cared for, especially the golden applications in the robes of the apostles, angels and Jesus himself.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

Pentecost is a fresco (200x185 cm) by Giotto, datable to around 1303-1305 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It is the last of the Stories of the Passion of Jesus in the lower central register, on the left wall looking towards the altar.

Description

(Descrizione)

(Description)

The scene is set in a room described as a loggia pierced by pointed trefoil arches. Inside, twelve apostles are seated on wooden benches (after the death of Judas Iscariot who committed suicide, the apostle Matthias is elected to replace him, Jesus is not depicted because after the resurrection and before Pentecost he ascended into heaven). The building is foreshortened to the left, ideally in the center of the chapel to accommodate the viewer's vision, a device also used in other corner scenes. The divine light, red like the flames of Charity, emanates from the ceiling and invests the participants.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

Considered above all a work of aid, the scene shows delicate tones and an attention to detail especially in the clothes and faces of the participants. Perhaps the young Giotto had already painted a Pentecost, on the counter-façade of the upper basilica in Assisi and another Pentecost at the National Gallery in London is part of the Seven tablets with stories of Jesus, datable to about 1320-1325.

Introduction

(Introduzione)

(Introduction)

The Last Judgment is a fresco by Giotto, datable to around 1306 and part of the cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. It occupies the entire counter-façade and ideally concludes the Stories. It is usually referred to the last phase of the decoration of the chapel and a large recourse of aids has been found, although the general design is unanimously referred to the master.

Layout

(Impaginazione)

(Layout)

The large wall above the entrance door, in which a three-light window opens, contains a large representation of the Last Judgment carried out in a traditional way, although there is no lack of innovations. In fact, despite the persistence of traditional stylizations such as the different proportional scales, Giotto tried to unify the entire representation of Judgment, Heaven and Hell in a single scene, abolishing the subdivisions and involving all the figures in a single space.

Christ: introduction

(Cristo: introduzione)

(Christ: introduction)

In the center stands, inside an iridescent almond supported by angels, a great Christ the judge who dominates a single large scenario, no longer rigidly divided into parallel bands as in the Byzantine works. In the halo of Christ, inserts with mirrors were discovered in the last restoration, which must be placed in relation with the figure of the Eternal on the opposite side of the chapel, where there is the scene of God sending the archangel Gabriel. Christ does not sit on a real throne, but on a sort of rainbow cloud, under which there are some symbolic representations, already interpreted as the symbols of the evangelists. A more recent study has instead recognized something more complex: it shows an angel, a man with a lion's head, a centaur, a symbol according to the medieval bestiaries of the double nature of Christ, human and divine, and a bear with a fish ( perhaps a pike), symbol of fishing for souls or, on the contrary, of the sacrifice of Christ (the fish) to redeem the bestiality of the human race.

Christ: description

(Cristo: descrizione)

(Christ: description)

Jesus represents the fulcrum of the whole scene, who generates hell with the left of the aura and turns his gaze and right hand to the elect. Towards him (or against him in the case of the damned) all the nuclei of the figures tend to orient themselves. Everything about him is open to the elect, on his right: the gaze, the wound, the side, while the left is closed on the reprobate of hell. Around the almond are the seraphs. The twelve apostles are enthroned in a semicircle around Jesus. To the right of Christ: Peter, James, John, Philip, Simon and Thomas. To his left: Matteo, Andrea, Bartolomeo, Giacomo minor, Giuda Taddeo and Mattia. The three-light window is not only a luminous opening (Christ is light) but above all it is a throne from which a triune God descends and judges. The two small flowers, placed in the trifora, of six petals each, correspond numerologically to the two groups of six apostles who went down with him.

Angels

(Angeli)

(Angels)

At the top are nine crowded angelic hosts, divided into two symmetrical groups and in rows that scale in depth; the different inclination of the heads tries to escape the flattening of the frontal view, while in the center the apostles are aligned on thrones: the most richly decorated chair is that of St. Peter. On the left: angels, archangels, principalities, powers. On the right: virtues, dominations, thrones, cherubs, each led by the standard bearers. Michael and Gabriel closer to Christ-Judge hold the sword and the white-crusader banner of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. On the sides of the almond, angels sound the trumpets of the Apocalypse, awakening the dead, who rise from the crevices of the earth in the lower left corner. A little further on is the representation of Enrico degli Scrovegni and another character (perhaps the canon and archpriest of the Padua Cathedral Altegrade de 'Cattanei) who offer a model of the chapel to Mary accompanied by St. John and St. Catherine of Alexandria. Mary is the mediator between human frailty and merciful divine justice. The shape of the building is faithful to the existing one, even if the apse shows a large circle of chapels never built. According to tradition, with this offer Enrico washes the sin of usury of his family, so well known that even Dante Alighieri had indicated his father among the sinners in the circle of the usurers of Hell. Enrico's physiognomy is youthful and faithfully reproduces the features that, when aged, are also seen in his marble tomb in the chapel: for this reason the representation of Giotto is indicated as the first portrait of post-classical Western art. A ray of light every 25 March (anniversary of the consecration of the chapel) passes between the hand of Henry and that of the Madonna. In the highest part of the fresco there are the stars of the sun and the moon, moved by two archangels who, curiously, look out from clouds "detaching" and rolling up the sky as if it were a heavy wallpaper. They reveal behind them the golden, gem-studded walls of the heavenly Jerusalem. The first group of the elect is in a bad state of conservation. Preceded by two angels, it contains a young and dark Virgin Mary, who seems to lead the first in line, perhaps John the Baptist, by the hand towards Christ. Among the figures we doubtfully recognize some saints such as St. Joseph, Joachim, St. Simeon.

Paradise

(Paradiso)

(Paradise)

In the lower bands, divided by the cross supported by two angels, heaven on the left and hell on the right are staged. The first shows an ordered series of angels, saints and blessed (including perhaps the "recent" saints such as Francis of Assisi and Dominic of Guzmán)

Hell

(Inferno)

(Hell)

In hell, the damned are tormented by devils and engulfed in flames that emanate from the almond of Christ. From the almond gush four infernal rivers that drag groups of the damned into the abyss pushed by leaden demons. The first river overwhelms the usurers, characterized by the white bag of dirty money tied to the neck (Reginaldo degli Scrovegni, usurer and father of Enrico, is placed by Dante Alighieri in canto XVII of Hell). Lower down, hanged and gutted, stands Judas Iscariot. To the left of Christ the Judge, below, stands Lucifer with bestial claws and two mouths and a snake coming out of his ears (model is the Lucifer by Coppo di Marcovaldo in the mosaics of the Florence baptistery). He is tearing apart some souls and sits on the throne of the biblical Leviathan, emblem of the evil of this world. The pattern of penalties and rounds refers to traditions other than Dante's Inferno, such as Honorius of Autun's Elucidarium. Of very small proportions, the damned swarm amid the oppression to which the ape-like devils subject them, exposed to mockery and derision, stripped naked, violated, hung by the hair or genitals, mocked and tortured. To the chaos of Hell, by contrast, are the chosen ones on the right. From the bottom to the top we see a tripartite group: souls who come out amazed and praying from the earth; the great procession of the elect (clergy, people, women and men who have sanctified their lives); above, led by Mary, the ancient saints of the Old Testament and of the early Church.

Self-portrait of Giotto

(Autoritratto di Giotto)

(Self-portrait of Giotto)

A tradition indicates in the fourth person in the foreground in the ranks of the blessed, with a white cap on his head, a self-portrait of Giotto.

Style

(Stile)

(Style)

The best parts, most likely believed to be autographed, are the Christ, the Madonna and the offering group; other figures, especially in the angelic hosts and the chosen ones, are more difficult to evaluate due to the partially compromised state of conservation. In general, there is a reduction in the gap in hierarchical proportions: in the medieval tradition there was a tendency to scale the figures according to their religious importance, but as can be seen in the offering group, the client and his assistant appear here almost of the same size as the saints.

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Vegan
Defibrillator
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Homemade
Cow
Gluten free
Horse
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May contain frozen products
Pork

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History

Introduction

The origin of the chapel

Decoration of the Chapel

Giotto's project

Modern period

The restoration

Apse

Refurbishment of the apse

The apse area

Pictorial cycle

Introduction to the pictorial cycle

The theme of the pictorial cycle

Lunette - Triumphal Arch

God sends the Archangel Gabriel

First register - south wall

Expulsion of Joachim

Joachim's retreat among the shepherds

Announcement to Sant'Anna

Sacrifice of Joachim

Dream of Joachim

Meeting of Anna and Joachim at the Golden Gate

First register - north wall

Nativity of Mary

Presentation of Mary in the Temple

Delivery of the Rods

Prayer for the flowering of the Rods

Marriage of the Virgin

Wedding procession of Mary

Triumphal Arch

Announcing Angel and Annunciated Virgin

Visitation

Betrayal of Judas

Second register - south wall

Nativity of Jesus and announcement to the shepherds

Adoration of the Magi

Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Flight to Egypt

Massacre of the Innocents

Second register - north wall

Christ among the Doctors

Baptism of Christ

Wedding at Cana

Resurrection of Lazarus

Entry into Jerusalem

Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple

Third register - south wall

Last Supper

Washing of the Feet

Kiss of Judas

Christ in front of Caiaphas

Christ Mocked

Third register - north wall

Ascent to Calvary

Crucifixion

Lamentation over the Dead Christ

Resurrection and Noli Me Tangere

Ascension Day

Pentecost

Counter-façade

Universal Judgment

Introduction to the Scrovegni Chapel

(Introduzione alla Cappella degli Scrovegni)

(Introduction to the Scrovegni Chapel)

The origin of the chapel

(L'origine della Cappella)

(The origin of the chapel)

The Decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel

(La Decorazione della Cappella degli Scrovegni)

(The Decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel)

Giotto's Project

(Il Progetto di Giotto)

(Giotto's Project)

The Modern Period

(Il Periodo Moderno)

(The Modern Period)

The 2001 restoration

(Il restauro del 2001)