Some take it to argue that the work is devoid of the inherent Giotto's expression, and her composition - clarity. Opinions about this Giotto fresco are different. It is believed that the 'Last Judgment' could be written before the design of the main part of the chapel (and therefore the layout of the Enrique is somewhat different from the appearance that the chapel acquired in its final form), and most of the work on the drawings of Giotto was carried out by his students. It is known that Giotto, driven by the customer, was working on the Scrovegni Chapel in great haste. They fall, are subjected to violence and devoured with four tongues of flame. Further, the characters are ranked according to the degree of closeness to God: the apostles and angels are larger, the mere mortals in the 'paradise' half are smaller, and the figures of sinners in hell surrounding the ape-like Satan are very small, insignificant. The largest, of course, is the figure of Christ. Catherine.Īn important expressive tool in Giotto, as in all medieval aesthetics based on the idea of hierarchy, are the dimensions and proportions. On the fresco of Giotto Enrico, Scrovein presents the model of the chapel of the Virgin Mary, John and St. In the Middle Ages usury was equated with mortal sins, and even Dante in the 'Divine Comedy' places Scrovegni the father in the seventh circle of hell. It was he who ordered the construction of the Chapel del Arena in order to beg God for forgiveness for his father-usurer. In Paradise, among the saints, righteous, kings and other secular and church nobles, Giotto also places himself, depicted in profile, in the artist's recognizable hat.Īt the bottom of the fresco, above the entrance, we see the kneeling figure of Enrico Scrovegni. Or Giotto alludes to us that everything he wrote on the wall of the Scrovegni Chapel, with all the naturalism, is just art.īelow Christ there is a cross, which simultaneously acts as a dividing line between heaven and hell. Either all the earthly manifestations are illusory before the higher heavenly reality. They proclaim the discovery of the New Jerusalem and, as it were, wrap the edges of a canvas or parchment, emphasizing the illusory nature of what is happening. The most interesting are two separate angelic figures under the very vault. Above them are the angels' arms, the slender ranks of the heavenly host. To the left and to the right in a row with Him, each on a separate throne, sit the apostles (the most luxurious throne belongs to the apostle Peter). In the center, in an oval frame supported by angels, Jesus sits in all his splendor.

It's called - of course! - 'The Last Judgment' ( please see general view and details of the fresco). But the 38th, the largest fresco occupies an entire wall. Scenes from the life of the saints Joachim and Anna, 'Wedding cortege of the Virgin Mary', 'Kiss of Judas', 'Lamentation of Christ' and many other famous works - only 37 frescoes were arranged by Giotto in three tiers running along the walls. But still not they, but a small and modest outside Scrovegni Chapel is the main attraction of Padua, because Giotto, the great reformer of Italian painting, has painted its interior space, and for 7 centuries the pilgrims and tourists are amazed by the bright blue ceiling and three tiers of wonderful frescos dedicated to genealogy and life of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. It is decorated with the building of the University of Padua, similar to a small Renaissance fortress, and two giant basilicas - San Antonio and Santa Giustina. In the northern part of Italy, between Venice and Verona, there is the ancient and beautiful city of Padua, the university center, often called the 'city of saints and scholars'.

The last judgment michelangelo