Enrico Scrovegni

Padua, Cappella Scrovegni, west wall, Giotto: Last Judgment, approx. 1305 (detail): Enrico Scrovegni hands over a model of the chapel

Enrico Scrovegni (* 13th century; † after 1336 probably in Venice ), also called Enrico di Rinaldo Scrovegni , was a noble, very wealthy banker and patrician of the city of Padua . He supported the takeover of power by the da Carrara family in the city of Padua and became known for the foundation of the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua, which achieved world fame as one of the main works of Western art thanks to the frescoes by the famous painter Giotto di Bondone .

origin

Enrico di Rinaldo Scrovegni came from one of the oldest patrician families of Padua, who appeared as early as 1081 among the families who belonged to the noble council of Padua. The family's wealth was based on financial transactions, with his father, Rinaldo di Ugolino Scrovegni († before 1289), who particularly distinguished himself by ruining customers from all walks of life through his usurious business. This made him so well known that Dante Alighieri (* around 1265, † 1321) set him an unflattering memorial in his " Divine Comedy ". There, in the seventh circle of hell, Dante meets the greatest usurers of his time who are tormented by fire and heat. Although they are not named, they can be recognized by the coats of arms that adorn their money bags. Members of the families of the Gianfigliazzi from Florence , the Embriachi from Genoa and the del Dente from Vicenza appear there . On the basis of his coat of arms - a blue pregnant pig on a white background - Rinaldo di Ugolino Scrovegni, Enrico's father, can also be identified, about whom Dante writes:

But he is a blue pregnant sow

Pointed to his white pocket, exclaimed:

What are you doing in this pit?

So go then, and because you are still alive

I understand that soon my neighbor Vitaliano

Sitting here is to my left.

They're from Florence, I'm from Padua.

Often times they hurt my ears with theirs

Shouting: where is the chief of the knights

Who should bring the bag with the three goats?

He screwed up his mouth, and like the ox,

He who licks his nose showed his tongue.

Enrico's father managed to play a social, economic and political role through his fortune and to raise the social status of his family through a clever family policy. After he had established important connections outside the city of Padua through his marriage to Capellina Malcapelli, who came from a noble family from Vicenza, he devoted himself to the consolidation of his property through the acquisition of numerous own estates and fiefs, including in Sevazzano and Saccolongo . When he died around 1288/90, however, the hatred of the borrowers he had taken advantage of broke out, who stormed and looted his house. Besides Enrico, Rinaldo left a son named Manfredo Scrovegni.

Life

youth

Errico di di Rinaldo Scrovegni grew up in his youth in Padua in the highest comfort in the house of a former "oligarch" and probably enjoyed a correspondingly comprehensive upbringing not only in business, but also in cultural issues through the contacts with his father's business friends and through the Proximity to the Augustinian order founded in 1244, which was known for promoting good education. After the death of his father, Enrico inherited his father's company around 1290 - together with his brother Manfredo di Rinaldo and his nephew, Pietro di Bellotto - whereby he succeeded in multiplying the financial operations he had taken over from his father and thereby not only his assets , but also to further increase his political influence and the social status of his family.

Marriage policy

In implementing the strategy of continuous social advancement, marriage policy played a not insignificant role among the Srcovegnis, using their wealth as a means to an end. Enrico's sisters Leonora and Adelaide Scrovegni and his niece Agnola di Bellotto were married to men from the old Paduan nobility, such as the Patario, the Papafava and the Capodivacca. Enrico's niece, Bartolomea di Manfredo Scrovegni, married Marsilio da Carrara, the second lord of Pavia from the Carrara family, but died young in 1333 with no offspring. Enrico perfected this policy by marrying a sister of Ubertino da Carrara in his first marriage and a daughter of Margrave Francesco d'Este in his second marriage.

The Cappella degli Scrovegni

→ Main article : Cappella degli Scrovegni

Exterior view of the Cappella degli Scrovegni

The most visible expression of these social ambitions, as well as Enrico's connection to the faith and, last but not least, the desire to erect a permanent monument to himself, is the Cappella degli Scrovegni , also known as the arena chapel, which Enrico in Padua in the Arena district with great effort built and which is almost reminiscent of princely prestige buildings. According to legend, however, he was driven by nobler motives, namely to make forgiveness for the usurious business conducted by his father at the expense of the citizens of Padua, many of whom had lost their property as a result.

As a first step, on February 6, 1300, he acquired the land required for a large-scale project, the so-called “arena” on the outskirts of Padua, on which the remains of the ruined Roman amphitheater stood. In the spirit of his time, when financial magnates pushed back the influence of the old nobility and bought up their property, Scrovegni acquired the property from the nobleman Manfredo Dalesmanini († 1311), the last representative of his family in decline.

The fact that Enrico Scrovegni was not lacking in self-confidence is also shown by the description of himself in the sales contract, where he describes himself as “nobilis et potens Miles D. Henricus Scovignius Magnificus civis Paduae” (for example: “the noble and powerful knight, Mr. Enrico Scrovegni, great citizen of Padua ”).

Scrovegni had a splendid palazzo built on this property - in line with his enormous fortune - and an appropriate house chapel next to it for the family, the construction of which had already begun in 1302. Today nothing can be seen of this magnificent Scrovegni Palazzo. The chapel, on the other hand, was preserved, although its planned demolition in the 19th century was only prevented by a private initiative of Marchese Pietro E. Selvatico. In 1880 the chapel was acquired by the city of Padua and restored with modern technology in the 19th and especially in the 20th century. But it is only thanks to a coincidence that the bombs of the Allies, which hit the church of the Augustinian Hermits and the frescoes there by Andrea Mantegna (* 1431; † 1506), only a few meters away , did not fall on the Scrovegni Chapel and she destroyed.

Seen from the outside, the free-standing chapel is not very impressive as a brick building with a length of around 21 meters, a width of a little over eight meters and a height of just over 18 meters. The interior is, however, overwhelming due to the frescoes by Giotto di Bondone (* 1266/67; † January 8, 1337), probably created between 1304 and 1306, and makes this chapel not only the master's main work, but also one of the most important works of art of the western art at all.

View of the interior of the Scrovegni Chapel

For the decoration of his chapel, Enrico Scrovegni chose not just any painter, but the best and most famous of his time, Giotto di Bondone, who after numerous successfully completed commissions in Florence, in Assisi (painting of the main Franciscan shrine), in Rome for Pope Boniface VIII, etc. was at the height of his work. At the same time he commissioned Giovanni Pisano (* around 1250, † 1314) to carry out the sculptural decoration of the altar.

It is not easy to determine who had what influence on the architecture and the picturesque decoration of the chapel.

The client Scovregni probably provided the guidelines for the project, such as the size of the chapel and the theme for the planned cycle of paintings, which - since he was a great admirer of Mary - is dedicated to her life. In the conception of the representation, the fact that he was religiously close to the ideas of the Augustinian order , which was created in 1245 through the union of several groups of hermits as a mendicant order, was characterized by democratic structures in which lay people played an important role and preached , Pastoral care and education in the cities. Scrovegni was therefore in close contact with Alberto da Padova (* 1269, † 1328), who was then considered the most important theologian of the order. Today it is assumed that the continuous theological overall conception of the frescoes, which lead the viewer through the life of Mary in three superimposed image sequences - starting with the life of her parents, through the epic of their own life, to the drama and the glory of Christ, was significantly influenced by Alberto da Padova.

This theological concept was then implemented with the artistic freedom corresponding to Giotto's genius.

Work on the construction of the magnificent palace probably began as early as 1301. The chapel was primarily intended to serve as a private oratory and as the grave of his family. At least according to legend, one of his motives for building the chapel was the desire to make atonement for his father's rampant activity through this building.

The necessary approval for the construction of the chapel was given by the Bishop of Padua Ottobono di Razzi († 1302), whereupon construction of the building began immediately, since the still unfinished but ready-to-use chapel was already in the presence of Enrico on March 25, 1303 and his family by the new bishop of Padua, Pagano della Torre, who ruled as Bishop of Padua from 1302 to 1319 and as Patriarch of Aquileia from 1319 to 1332 , was consecrated with the patronage of Santa Maria della Carità.

However, the chapel also had a public function as it was the destination of an annual procession that took place on the day of the Annunciation, which ended with a mystery play in the arena.

In order to give the chapel not only an artistic, but also a religious special position, Enrico let his contacts with the Holy See play and thereby obtained from Pope Benedict XI in 1304 . (Niccolo di Boccasio) († 1304) the privilege of granting a discount for sin to every pilgrim who visited the chapel.

After all the work was completed, the chapel was consecrated again on March 25, 1305 - on the day of the Annunciation - to Maria Annunziata, a motet composed by Marchetto da Padova was played on this occasion .

Not everyone, however, was enthusiastic about the construction of this magnificent chapel, because there was a dispute with the neighboring monastery of the Augustinian hermits, who complained in a letter in 1305 about the building itself and about the (now disappeared) campanile and bells, as this "potius ad pompam et at vanam gloriam “(ie, for example: full of ostentation and vain lust for fame).

It is noteworthy that the main attraction of the chapel, namely the frescoes by Giotto, was not mentioned either at the consecration or in the letter of complaint from the beggar monks, which some art historians took as an opportunity to date them later. The first written evidence that mentions the frescoes are the notes of Riccobaldo Ferrarese and Francesco da Barberino from around 1312/1313, which confirm that the work on the frescoes was in any case completed before that time.

Giotto decorated the walls of the chapel with 40 images in three rows one on top of the other, depicting scenes from the lives of the parents of Mary, St. Joachim and St. Anne, the life of Mary and the life of Jesus Christ . It is noteworthy that approaches to a perspective representation can already be found in several of the architectural elements shown , although this was mathematically recorded by Filippo Brunelleschi (* 1377; † 1446) only 100 years later, around 1410 .

In the bottom row there are monochrome depictions of the seven vices and the seven virtues.

Giotto di Bondone - The Last Judgment - with Enrico Scrovegni in front of the cross as the founder of the chapel

On the western inner wall opposite the main altar is a depiction of the Last Judgment with visions of Hell and Paradise, which anticipates the depiction of this subject in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, completed by Michelangelo in 1541 . There Enrico Scrovegni immortalized himself as the founder of the chapel, who presented a model of the same three angels.

Enrico was immortalized twice more in his chapel. In the sacristy there is a sculpture of the praying Enrico and finally, behind the altar, there is his grave monument made of white marble, where he is depicted lying down.

Political role

Exceptionally wealthy and ambitious, Enrico Scrovegni also gained influence domestically in Padua. The domain of Padua at the beginning of the 14th century included not only the city and the lands dependent on it, but also the control of important other cities, such as Vicenza, Bassano del Grappa and Rovigo . In view of the simmering quarrel between the Guelfs and Ghibellines , the Guelf-dominated Padua had made alliances with the Patriarchate of Aquileia , with the Marquis of Este and with the Republic of Venice . The trip to Rome of the Roman-German King Henry VII (* 1278/79; † 1313) from the House of Luxembourg , who was aiming for the imperial coronation, was decisive. At the same time he wanted to continue the Renovatio Imperii Romanorum , that is, the reform policy that he had already begun in the empire to strengthen imperial rule in Italy. He justified this program in his heretic law, where he stated that just as God commands everything in heaven, all people on earth have to obey the emperor, for it is his task to overcome the fragmentation of worldly dominions. A conflict with the Guelfi cities in Italy was therefore inevitable, which, due to their lack of voluntary submission, were forced to do so by military measures. The Guelfi regime in Padua was therefore also on the hit list. Finally, diplomatic efforts, in which Scrovegni may have participated through his extensive relations, succeeded in avoiding a siege of the city by renouncing Vicensea. The formal transfer of Vicenza to the lords of the city of Verona, which rivaled Padua for influence, Cangrande I della Scala (* 1291, † 1329), led in 1312 to Padua formally declaring war on Verona. With considerable financial support from Scrovengi, Giacomo da Correggio led the forces of Padua to the siege of Verona, which, however, was unsuccessful in view of the fortifications of Verona and the military competence of Cangrande. After a period of mutual devastation, an armistice was not reached until after the death of Emperor Henry VII in 1313. The peace negotiations were conducted in 1318 by Enrico Scovrengi with Cangrande della Scala.

This external conflict led to internal disagreements and government reshuffles in Padua, until finally in 1318 - thanks to the massive financial and political support of Enrico Scrovegni - Giacomo da Carrara was installed because of his balanced attitude to the official mediator and military commander and thus de facto the one that lasted until 1405 The da Carrara family began to rule Padua.

Emigration and death

The good rapport with the da Carrara family, which owed its power largely to Scovregni, soon broke due to differences of opinion between Giacomo da Carrara and Scovregni. The occupation of Padua by Cangrande della Scala finally caused Enrico in 1320 to leave Padua - and with it his newly built palace and the magnificent chapel - and to settle with his family in Venice. He returned to Padua for a short time in 1328, but got into a quarrel with Marsilio da Carrara, the second lord of Pavia, who was married to Enrico's niece, Bartolomea di Manfredo Scrovegni, and returned to Venice, where he now had his financial affairs had relocated. He died in exile, probably in Venice in 1336.

Marriage and offspring

Enrico Scrovegni married a - by name unknown - daughter of Jacopino da Carrara and Fina Fieschi from Genoa, who was a sister of Ubertino Novello da Carrara, who ruled as lord of Padua from 1338 to 1345. In his second marriage he married Jacopina d'Este, a daughter of Francesco d'Este († 1312) who had inherited the estate of the Este in Padua in 1282 and was lord of Reggio and Orsina Orsini, a daughter of Bertoldo Orsini. and niece of Nicholas III. (Giovanni Gaetano Orsini) who ruled as Pope from 1277 to 1280. Enrico was not only with the lords of Ferrara, Carrara and Padua, but also with the old Roman patrician family of the Orsini and, through his brother-in-law Bertoldo d'Este, also with the counts of Camino and with the lords of Milan from the house of the Visconti related by marriage. He had thereby become part of the network of leading political families in northern Italy.

progeny

Unknown from which marriage Enrico Scrovegni had at least one daughter and two sons:

• Giovanna Scrovegni, ∞ Marco Cornaro (* around 1288; † 1368) 59. Doge of Venice from 1365 to 1368 the wing of the Doge's Palace, which was built across from San Marco, goes back to him.
  • Three sons and two daughters
• Bartolomeo di Enrico Scrovegni. He returned to Padua with his brother in the mid-14th century and played a certain political role in Padua under the rule of Francesco "il Vecchio" (the old man) da Carrara.
• Ugolino di Enrico Scrovegni. ∞ Luca de 'Rossi di Parma. He was from 1361 to 1362 and from 1369 to 1371 Podestà of Belluno and 1374 to 1375 and 1376 to 1390 "Capitano del Populo" (approximately civil city commander) of Florence . However, he later took part in an unsuccessful uprising against Francesco “Novello” da Carrara - Lord of Padua from 1388 to 1406, the successor to Francesco il Vecchio - was therefore imprisoned in the dungeons of the castle in Padua, but later fled to Venice.
  • His sons Giacomo and Enrico di Ugolino Scrovegni distinguished themselves in the service of Francesco "il Vecchio" da Carrara, Lord of Padua from 1360 to 1388, as Kondottieri in the battle of Piove di Sacco and accompanied him on his campaigns against Chioggia and Treviso .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Scovrengi. In: Enciclopedia Treccani.
2. ^ Karl Witte (ed. And translator): Dante Alighieri: The divine comedy. Hell, XVII. Singing verses 64 to 75, Anaconda Verlag, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-7306-0277-5 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Walter Euler: Giotto frescos. The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Parkland Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, ISBN 3-88059-180-6 , p. 3.
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Walter Euler: Giotto frescos. The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Parkland Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, ISBN 3-88059-180-6 , p. 1.
5. ^ ^{A b} Walter Euler: Giotto frescos. The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Parkland Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, ISBN 3-88059-180-6 , p. 4.
6. ^ F. Bottin: Alberto da Padova e la cultura degli agostiniani. Padova University Press, 2014.
7. ↑ Michael Viktor Schwarz: Padua, its Arena and the Arena Chapel: a liturgical ensemble. In: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 2010, pp. 39-64.
8. ^ Anne Robertson: Remembering the Annunciation in Medieval Polyphony. In: Speculum. 2, 1995, pp. 275-304.
9. ↑ Jakob Schwalm (arrangement): MGH Constitutiones et acta publica imperatorum et regum. Volume 4.2, Hanover 1911, No. 801-803.
10. ↑ Malte Heidemann: Heinrich VII. (1308-1313). Warendorf 2008, pp. 170-177.
11. ^ Genealogy: Charles Cawley, Mediaeval Lands, fmg.ac
12. ^ Edgcumbe Staley: The dogaressas of Venice: The wives of the doges. TW Laurie, London 1910. archive.org

literature

• Charles Cawley, Mediaeval Lands, fmg.ac
• Walter Euler: The representation of architecture in the arena chapel, its significance for Giotto's image. Bern 1967.
• Walter Euler: Giotto frescoes. The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Parkland Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, ISBN 3-88059-180-6 .
• Edgcumbe Staley: The dogaressas of Venice: The wives of the doges. TW Laurie, London 1910. archive.org
• Malte Heidemann: Heinrich VII. (1308-1313). Warendorf 2008.
• Jakob Schwalm (arr.): MGH Constitutiones et acta publica imperatorum et regum. Volume 4.2, Hanover 1911.
• F. Bottin: Alberto da Padova e la cultura degli agostiniani. Padova University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-88-6938-009-9 .
• Anne Robertson: Remembering the Annunciation in Medieval Polyphony. In: Speculum. 2, 1995, pp. 275-304.
• Scovrengi. In: Enciclopedia Treccani.
• Michael Viktor Schwarz: Padua, its Arena and the Arena Chapel: a liturgical ensemble. In: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 2010, pp. 39-64.
• Vittorio Sermonti: Inferno. Rizzoli 2001.
• Karl Witte (ed. And translator): Dante Alighieri: The divine comedy. Anaconda Verlag, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-7306-0277-5 .

Web link

Virtual visit of the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Italian