I have always had the desire to visit Padova but, for one reason or another, had never had the chance to do it. But at the end of August I finally went there and discovered a really beautiful city. Take a look at this post and you will agree with me
Trying to make life easier, I group the galleries as follows:
- The City
- The Chapel of Scrovegni’s Family
- The Cathedral and the Baptistery
- Church of SS. Filippo and Giacomo agli Eremitani
- Some paintings at the Eremitani’s Civic Museum
- Basilica of Santa Giustina
- Basilica of Sant’Antonio
- Other Churches and Oratories
- Palazzo della Ragione
- Lodge of the Grand Guard (Loggia della Gran Guardia)
- Hall of Bishops
The Chapel of Scrovegni’s Family
From the official guide: “On February 6, 1300, the exceptionally wealthy banker Enrico Scrovegni acquired the area of the former Roman amphitheatre from Manfredo Dalesmanini. Here he launched the construction of a chapel dedicated to the Madonna, annexed to the Scrovegni palace. Enrico wished to celebrate the family name by offering a valuable asset to the Madonna of Charity
The new property would be constructed, as recorded in the 1317 act of endowment, “for the honour and advantage of the city and the Comune, and in homage to its soul and to its forefathers”. He also wished to recreate the site, once the witness of pagan games, as the new seat of Christian rites, and he intended that the church “Sancte Marie de Caritate de l’Arena de Padova” would contain his mortal remains, as well as those of his family. On March 25, 1303, the chapel was consecrated. Giotto, the greatest painter Of the time, executed the paintings between 1303 and 1305, transforming the chapel into a treasure box. Giovanni Pisano sculpted the Madonna and two Candle-bearing Angels, seen on the altar. Giotto also executed a Cross for the church, now held in the Eremitani Museum. On March 25, 1305, Annunciation Day, the newly frescoed chapel was given its solemn consecration. Enrico was related to the Carraresi through marriage to the Urbino’s sister, but deteriorating relations between the families eventually led him to move to Venezia, where he died. His second wife, Jacopina d’Este, had his remains transferred to his beloved chapel.“
The visit revealed the sweetest and most compassionate work that Giotto has ever made; in my humble opinion, no full comprehension of Giotto’s opera can be completed without a thorough appreciation of this place that display a somewhat unexpected ahead-of-his-time painter.
Here you may find a complete guide to all the frescoes in the Chapel.
I add here three photos of the cross and the fresco previously placed in the Cappella degli Scrovegni.
From the presentation text: “The Enthroned God the Father and the Cross come from the Scrovegni Chapel and are the only surviving panel works of Giotto’s Paduan activity. who came to the city after his Assisi experience. Both are on display in the museum for conservation reasons.
The enthroned God the Father, originally part of the episode frescoed on the apsidal arch, is depicted in the act of conferring on the archangel Gabriel the mission of the Annunciation, an important moment in Giotto’s narrative that unfolds on the walls of the chapel.
The panel was probably executed in the initial phase of the chapel’s decorative undertaking begun in 1303, being located in the highest part of the building, the prirna that was carried out in medieval building sites where work was done precisely by proceeding from top to bottom.
On the back the board has two hinges and two rings as handles and was used as a hatch to close a space behind. Probably this space was employed for the ostension of an object of worship or for the celebration of the liturgy of the Annunciation, during which a white dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, was supposed to hover from here.
Painted on both Sides, the Cross features, in addition to the crucified Christ, the blessing Christ at the top. Mary and St. John at the sides and Golgotha at the bottom; on the back, much ruined. in the center is the roundel with the Mystic Lamb and the symbols of the Evangelists at the four arms.
The figure of Christ hangs from a painted cross, which in turn is silhouetted on a precious fabric, and is characterized by a slender, tapered body with a very fine, transparent loincloth traversed by gold embroidery.
Critics have advanced various hypotheses about the original location of the Cross; we know that in 1864 it was hanging at the top of the apsidal wall of the chapel, above the tomb of Enrico Scrovegni. But it is safe to assume that the severe deterioration of the back was caused by direct contact with a particularly damp wall. Originally there must have been a point that allowed a view from both sides and, given the rectilinear shape of the base, it must have been exposed
vertical and not inclined.
Thanks to recent data we can support the hypothesis that the Cross was placed on a wooden beam placed in the middle of the arch of the apse, at the height of the band with decorative motifs that runs below the painted cores.
Consistent also with the arrangement of the frescoed episodes, it was therefore part of the entire narrative cycle, presumably being placed at the height of the lowest of the three registers, the one that narrates the events related to the passion. death and resurrection of Christ.“
Finally a video with a complete view of the Chapel
The Cathedral and the Baptistery
A video with a thorough view of the Baptistery
Church of SS. Filippo and Giacomo agli Eremitani
Read here to understand and locate who is who on the frescoes.
Some paintings at the Eremitani’s Civic Museum
This is a personal selection of painting and (a few) sculptures at the Eremitani’s Civic Museum.
A video with a complete view of the Main Hall
Lodge of the Grand Guard (Loggia della Gran Guardia)
Ancient headquarters of the Major Council of the town. it was built following the project by Annibale Maggi da Bassano (1496 – 1536). A wide open gallery on a staircase at the ground floor and, above, an hanging hall decorated with frescos by Pier Antonio Torri (1667). It was the Austrian headquarters during the 19th century and, since then on, it has been called “Loggia della Gran Guardia”.
A video with a view of the Hall
