Cappella degli Scrovegni

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Cappella degli Scrovegni (Padua)
Interior of the chapel

The Cappella degli Scrovegni (also called Scrovegni Chapel or Arena Chapel ) is a chapel in Padua , Veneto , in Italy , famous for the frescoes by Giotto di Bondone and sculptures by Giovanni Pisano .

History and architecture

On February 6, 1300, Enrico Scrovegni , a wealthy banker , merchant and nobleman from Padua , bought the dilapidated Roman amphitheater ( arena ) on the outskirts of Padua to build a family palace, which has now been destroyed, and allegedly also a chapel in memory of his father , the banker Rinaldo, to build. This Rinaldo Scrovegni appears in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, banished to hell for usury . In fact, the chapel was primarily designed as a palace chapel and as the destination of a procession that took place every year on the Annunciation Festival and ended in the arena with a mystery play. Construction of the chapel began in 1302 after Bishop Ottobone di Razzi had given his approval. The Chapel of Our Lady of Charity was consecrated on the feast of the Annunciation on March 25, 1305 .

The side walls of the simple brick building are divided into six wall fields by flat pilaster strips .

The room of the chapel is 20.5 m × 8.5 m and 18.5 m high. The ceiling forms a barrel vault. Under a large arch is the narrow and deep apse in the east with a polygonal finish, ribbed vault and two high Gothic pointed arched windows . A large triple window with a Gothic pointed arch in the front wall and six high, single-arched side windows on the south side illuminate the room. Due to the fact that the painting was already taken into account in the planning phase, Giotto is also assumed to be an architect.

Artist

Adoration of the Magi

Enrico Scrovegni hired the greatest artists of his time to decorate the interior of the single-nave chapel. Giovanni Pisano turned around 1305-1306 three marble statues for the altar, the Holy Virgin Mary with Child and two candlesticks entertaining angels . From 1304 to 1306 Giotto di Bondone painted the walls and the vault of the chapel with 38 scenes from the life of Saints Joachim and Anna , their daughter Maria and the life of Jesus Christ . The fresco cycle is laid out in three registers, starting at the top right.

One scene from this cycle is the Adoration of the Magi , in which a comet hovers in the sky. Probably this is also one of the earliest depictions of Halley's Comet , which was visible to the naked eye in 1301.

Below the scenes on the life of Jesus on the side walls of the chapel there are the four cardinal virtues and the three theological virtues and seven vices opposing these virtues as allegorical representations. They are lined up in the direction of the Last Judgment , which is shown above the entrance portal, on the corresponding side of the saints or damned. Giotto used painted architectural elements that simulate niches for the viewer ( trompe-l'œil ) in which the figures are located. In between you can see painted marble that is deceptively real .

Above the entrance to the chancel , the triumphal arch that leads to the choir , God the Father is enthroned , commissioning the Archangel Gabriel to preach the conception of Jesus to the Virgin Mary. The Annunciation is shown below in two separate pictures along the entrance arch to the chancel . Mary is shown here with her head bowed and arms crossed in front of her chest, a sign of consent.

The picture above the altar itself is unfortunately destroyed, on the sides there are depictions of the death of the Blessed Virgin and her assumption into heaven . Behind the altar is the grave monument of Enrico Scrovegni made of white and red marble, which depicts him lying down. It was made by a sculptor known only as the master of the Scrovegni tomb . On both sides of the chancel a wooden's choir stalls attached. The crucifix painted by Giotto can be seen in the neighboring Musei Civici .

The vaults of the chancel and the main nave are probably painted with a blue starry sky based on the tomb of Galla Placidia in Ravenna . Within the vault of heaven there are representations of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary with child and the prophets of the Old Testament. The upright sculpture of Enrico Scrovegni (around 1305) stands in the sacristy .

The chapel has been restored since the 19th and 20th centuries, as the frescoes were damaged by building and environmental damage. a. suffered badly during the bombing of Padua in World War II and by salt deposits. Only a limited number of visitors are allowed access for 15 minutes at a time.

  • Fresco cycle

  • Joachim's expulsion from the temple

  • Joachim among the shepherds

  • Annunciation to St. Anna

  • The dream of St. Joachim

  • Meeting Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate

  • Bethlehem child murder

  • Escape to Egypt

  • Entry into Jerusalem

  • Judas kiss and capture

  • Christ before Caiaphas

  • Entombment

  • Lamentation of Christ

literature

Web links

Commons : Cappella degli Scrovegni (Padua)  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Viktor Schwarz, Padua, its Arena and the Arena Chapel: a liturgical ensemble , in: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes , Volume 10: 2010, pp. 39-64.
  2. ↑ a b Spiazzi: Giotto The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua 2004, p. 13
  3. ↑ Volker Herzner: Giottos Grabmal für Enrico Scrovegni , in: Münchener Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, 33, 1982, pp. 39–66. See also: Volker Herzner: On the statue of Enrico Scrovegni, in Kunstchronik 2010, pp. 172–175

Coordinates: 45 ° 24 '42 "  N , 11 ° 52' 46"  E