Padua, Italy

After a delicious lunch, we headed to the Cappella degli Scrovegni (the Scrovegni Chapel—also known as “Giotto’s Chapel”). A wealthy and ambitious family (the Scrovegnis) built the chapel to connect to their palazzo, which was eventually demolished (???) and only the chapel remains. The chapel is a masterpiece of medieval art; Giotto spent 855 days (1302-05) painting in great detail Biblical scenes which marked the beginning of a new era in art and influenced fresco technique, style, and content for a whole century. Giotto’s 14^th century fresco cycle was revolutionary. A little art history lesson:

With wealthy bankers now as patrons, artists could focus on a more humanistic approach. Giotto broke away from the flat symbolic icons of the Middle Ages where the church controlled everything and gave animation and expression to the Divine humanizing both Mary and Jesus. No longer were they stiff and expressionless symbols but more personal and accessible. No boring and lifeless saints and madonnas instead Giotto’s scenes have real people in realistic poses and the women actually have breasts (imagine that)! His new humanistic style with a connection to feelings, emotions, and the human form influenced the great artists of the Renaissance. Michealangelo’s Last Judgement and Giotto’s are eerily similar—Michealangelo took Giotto’s paradise and doomed sinners to a whole new level with swirling figures and more color and physical depictions. Michelangelo painted his chapel 200 years after Giotto completed the Scrovegni Chapel, and it is clear Giotto greatly influenced him and laid the foundations for the Renaissance masters. Admittance is limited and you need to reserve a time slot on their site.

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