The Scrovegni Chapel is worth a visit during your stay in Padua or a nice day trip from Venice.
The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua hosts an exceptional cycle of frescoes by Giotto, considered the first of a series of great artists who contributed to the Rena edition.
Despite its importance in the history of Western art, the Scrovegni Chapel does not attract as many foreign visitors as other Italian artistic masterpieces, perhaps because it is located in a city dominated by mass tourism. Padua, home to the second oldest university in Italy, where Galileo taught between the 16th and 17th centuries, is located just 40 km west of Venice, easily reachable by train from the city of canals, for a pleasant day, whose the strong point will undoubtedly be Giotto's masterpiece.
Reservations for the Scrovegni Chapel must be made in advance. You can easily purchase tickets on the Select Italy website. Booked entrances take place every 15 minutes from 9:00 to 18:45. The ticket includes entry to the Museum of the Hermit City and the Zuckermann Palace.
Seven reasons to see the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua
1) The set of frescoes contained in the Scrovegni Chapel is considered one of the most important masterpieces of Western art.
Commissioned from Giotto by the wealthy Paduan banker Enrico Scrovegni in the early 1300s, it depicts the life of the Virgin Mary and Christ in an accessible and concise way, representing a break with previous and contemporary art. The building that houses the fresco, also known as the Arena Chapel because it stands next to an ancient Roman arena, is located in Piazza Eremitani, in the historic center of Padua, a few steps from the train station.
2) The Scrovegni Chapel is the best preserved painting by Giotto, "the most sovereign master of painting of his time", wrote his contemporary Giovanni Villani.
Giotto's painting technique revolutionized Italian art and the Scrovegni Chapel represents his most influential work. The chapel contains some of Giotto's most famous works, including the Lamentation, the Raising of Lazarus, the Wedding at Cana and Noli metangere ("Touch me not"). Displaying multiple genius, Giotto di Bondone, born near Florence, is the man who designed the slender bell tower erected in the Piazza del Duomo in Florence, part of the complex of buildings that make up the Cathedral of Florence.
3) The Scrovegni Chapel is the precursor of the Italian Renaissance.
Giotto's figures are not stylized or elongated as in the Byzantine models of his contemporaries. They are three-dimensional, with faces and gestures based on close observation; they wear fabrics that hang naturally and have shape and weight rather than formal curtains. Giotto made extensive use of perspective, creating the illusion of space. For the first time, he realistically depicted human emotions, distinguishing his work from that of his contemporaries.
4) The use of color in the chapel is striking for its time.
He believed that life should be depicted as it is. Eschewing the traditional golds and grays of religious imagery, he opted for a brighter, more realistic palette, with blue skies, colorful clothing and multi-hued landscapes. He also used color to express his emotions: rosy cheeks, dark skies and brown foliage, for example.
5) Giotto's revolutionary work with the Scrovegni Chapel inspired some of the greatest Italian artists who followed him.
Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Masaccio and Raphael visited and studied the chapel at some point in their careers. Giotto's Last Judgment inspired Michelangelo. The back wall of the chapel is covered with an enormous and grandiose fresco of the Last Judgment, which depicts the client himself, Enrico Scrovegni, presenting the model of the chapel to Mary. The organization of this scene influenced Michelangelo when he painted the Last Judgment for the Sistine Chapel.
6) Immerse yourself in Giotto's work and era.
The visit to the Scrovegni Chapel offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the work and era of Giotto, thanks to a multimedia room located in the Eremitani Museum (entry included in the ticket), equipped with 7 stations with photos, sounds, comments and reconstructions, which offer a better understanding of Giotto's art and historical context and the possibility of focusing on specific themes and topics.
7) A visit to Padua to see the Scrovegni Chapel is the perfect opportunity to discover this fascinating university city.
Don't miss: the great 13th-century Basilica of St. Anthony, with its Byzantine-style domes, notable works of art and the saint's tomb; Prato della Valle, which with its 90,000 square meters is the largest square in Italy and one of the largest in Europe; the 10th century Benedictine Abbey of Santa Giustina, opposite Prato della Valle; the famous Caffè Pedrocchi, opened in the 18th century and soon became the favorite meeting place for artists; the Botanical Garden, the oldest university botanical garden in the world, still in its original location; the equestrian statue of Gattamelata, a sculpture by the early Renaissance artist Donatello, dating back to 1453, located in Piazza del Santo.
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