Page 186 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

184  THE VENE T O AREA B Y AREA

Padua: Scrovegni Chapel

Enrico Scrovegni built this chapel in 1303, The Nativity
hoping thereby to spare his dead father, a The naturalism of
usurer, from the eternal damnation wished the Virgin’s pose
upon him by the poet Dante in his Inferno. marks a departure
from Byzantine
The chapel is filled with harmonious stylization, as
frescoes of scenes from the life of Christ, does the use of
painted by Giotto between 1303 and 1305. natural blue for
As works of great narrative force, they the sky, in place
of celestial gold.
exerted a powerful influence on the
development of European art.

Expulsion of the Merchants
Christ’s physical rage, the cowering
merchant and the child hiding his face
are all typical of Giotto’s style.

The Coretti
Giotto painted the
two panels known
as the Coretti
as an exercise
in perspective,
creating the illusion
of an arch with a
room beyond.
View towards altar

West entrance North side Altar South side West entrance
Gallery Guide Key
It is compulsory to book your visit to the Scrovegni Chapel in Episodes of Joachim and Anna
advance, since there are strict limits on the number of visitors
allowed in the chapel at any one time. Prior to entry, all visitors Episodes from the Life of Mary
must spend 15 minutes in a “decontamination chamber”, Episodes from the Life and
and the duration of the visit to the chapel is also limited to Death of Christ
15 minutes. An explanatory film is shown while you wait in the The Virtues and Vices
chamber. The rest of the Eremitani complex is also worth a visit. The Last Judgment

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