Scrovegni Chapel From Top to Bottom

Fabulous three week online course from a new online course provided ARTscapes looking at the history and iconography of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua by Giotto.

Richard Stemp lead this course bringing his dry wit to it but backed up with a deep and scholarly knowledge of the subject.

In week one we looked at the construction of the chapel and it’s possible use followed by looking at the Great Last Judgement and the pictures of the virtues and vices in the lower register of the church. He had lovely illustrations showing interesting and quirky details.

Week 2 we went through the frescos of the life of the Virgin and her parents up to the Massacre of the Innocents. I love the attention to detail in telling the stories. Week 3 was the Mission, Passion and afterlife of Christ followed by a discussion of the added depth of meaning when you look at how the pictures are paired up both above and below each other and across the church as well as the how the Old Testament vignettes between the pictures on the north wall without windows add another layer of meaning.

Given you can only spend about 20 minutes in the chapel when you visit, having gone through various airlocks, it was a real luxury to spend over three hours examining all the detail and nuance of this wonderful place.

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