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119-815: Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel , in Padua , also known as the Arena Chapel, which was completed around 1305. The fresco cycle depicts the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ . It is regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Early Renaissance. The fact that Giotto painted the Arena Chapel and that he was chosen by the Commune of Florence in 1334 to design

238-684: A lunette with Christ in glory, and two episodes from the Passion (the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Flagellation of Christ , which together give an overall sense of disharmony. The artist who painted these scenes also painted the greater part of the apse, an unknown artist called "The Master of the Scrovegni Choir" who worked at the Chapel about twenty years after Giotto's work

357-653: A baby from its screaming mother in the Massacre of the Innocents does so with his head hunched into his shoulders and a look of shame on his face. The people on the road to Egypt gossip about Mary and Joseph as they go. Of Giotto's realism, the 19th-century English critic John Ruskin said, "He painted the Madonna and St. Joseph and the Christ, yes, by all means... but essentially Mamma, Papa and Baby". Famous narratives in

476-409: A ball, ready to fall, on a motley marble floor signifying the lack of "unity" ("constancy") which characterizes an inconstant mind. Here is the sphere of Will. Wrath, the third vice, is "tempered" by Temperantia , Temperance. According to Saint Augustine, Temperantia is the inner balance which ensures the will's stable dominion over instincts and keeps human desires within the boundaries of honesty. It

595-527: A condition rarely found outside sites such as Pompei . The Augustan age poet Propertius is considered to have been born in what is now the city of Assisi. In 238 AD Assisi was converted to Christianity by bishop Rufino , who was martyred at Costano . According to tradition, his remains rest in the Cathedral Church of San Rufino in Assisi. The Ostrogoths of king Totila destroyed most of

714-631: A deep decline through the plague of the Black Death in 1348. The city came again under papal jurisdiction under the rule of Pope Pius II (1458–1464). In 1569 construction was started of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli . During the Renaissance and in later centuries, the city continued to develop peacefully, as the 17th-century palazzi of the Bernabei and Giacobetti attest. Now

833-467: A festival of Love and tyranny resulting in wartime rape. Between the narrative scenes are quatrefoil paintings of Old Testament scenes, like Jonah and the Whale , that allegorically correspond to and perhaps foretell the life of Christ. Much of the blue in the frescoes has been worn away by time. The expense of the ultramarine blue pigment used required it to be painted on top of the already-dry fresco (

952-649: A fresco portraying the Lamentation of Christ in the church of Santa Chiara and the Illustrious Men that is painted on the windows of the Santa Barbara Chapel of Castel Nuovo , which are usually attributed to his pupils. In 1332, King Robert named him "first court painter", with a yearly pension. Also in this time period, according to Vasari, Giotto composed a series on the Bible; scenes from

1071-644: A large Last Judgement . There are also panels in grisaille (monochrome) showing the Vices and Virtues. The church was dedicated to Santa Maria della Carità at the Feast of the Annunciation , 1303, and consecrated in 1305. Much of Giotto's fresco cycle focuses on the life of the Virgin Mary and celebrates her role in human salvation . A motet by Marchetto da Padova appears to have been composed for

1190-504: A learned theologian who drew his inspiration from Saint Augustine. The Vice-Virtue section of the Arena Chapel illustrates the philosophical-theological message underlying the overall project and is key to clarifying several points previously considered to be either obscure or the result of Giotto's only approximate theological knowledge. For instance, in the Arena Chapel the vices are not the traditional capital vices or deadly sins (Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony and Lust), just like

1309-453: A messenger to Giotto, asking him to send a drawing to demonstrate his skill, Giotto drew a red circle so perfect that it seemed as though it was drawn using a pair of compasses and instructed the messenger to send it to the Pope. The messenger departed ill-pleased, believing that he had been made a fool of. The messenger brought other artists' drawings back to the Pope in addition to Giotto's. When

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1428-485: A motif of the saint holding up the collapsing church, previously included in the Assisi frescoes. The authorship of a large number of panel paintings ascribed to Giotto by Vasari, among others, is as broadly disputed as the Assisi frescoes. According to Vasari, Giotto's earliest works were for the Dominicans at Santa Maria Novella . They include a fresco of The Annunciation and an enormous suspended Crucifix , which

1547-504: A notoriously unreliable "science", but technical examinations and comparisons of the workshop painting processes at Assisi and Padua in 2002 have provided strong evidence that Giotto did not paint the St. Francis Cycle . There are many differences between it and the Arena Chapel frescoes that are difficult to account for within the stylistic development of an individual artist. It is now generally accepted that four different hands are identifiable in

1666-546: A number of Saint Augustine's writings. Prudence, Fortitude and Temperance pertain to each individual's ethical sphere of action and have as their goal the cure of each individual "self". Ethical virtue takes form in practical application, through action and behaviour that pertain both to the personal and the social sphere and affect human relations. The notions of Justice and Injustice, the central "pair" in Giotto's Arena Chapel, emanate from this notion. Justice' perfect centrality

1785-620: A painter. Giotto worked in Rome in 1297–1300, but few traces of his presence there remain today. By 1301, Giotto owned a house in Florence, and when he was not traveling, he would return there and live in comfort with his family. By the early 1300s, he had multiple painting commissions in Florence. The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran houses a small portion of a fresco cycle, painted for the Jubilee of 1300 called by Boniface VIII . He also designed

1904-513: A period in Rome sometime beforehand. It is now thought that he produced the design for the famous Navicella mosaic for the courtyard of the Old St. Peter's Basilica in 1310, commissioned by Cardinal Giacomo or Jacopo Stefaneschi and now lost to the Renaissance church except for some fragments and a Baroque reconstruction. According to the cardinal's necrology , he also at least designed

2023-566: A preparation study lasting over 20 years, the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro (Central Institute for Restoration) of the Ministry for Cultural Activities, in collaboration with Padua's Town Hall in its capacity of owner of the Arena Chapel, started a full-scale restoration of Giotto's frescoes under the late Giuseppe Basile's technical direction. In 2000 the consolidation and restoration of the external surfaces had been completed and

2142-846: A secco ) to preserve its brilliance. That is why it has disintegrated faster than the other colours, which were painted on wet plaster and have bonded with the wall. An example of the decay can clearly be seen on the robe of the Virgin, in the fresco of the Nativity . Giotto's style drew on the solid and classicizing sculpture of Arnolfo di Cambio . Unlike those by Cimabue and Duccio, Giotto's figures are not stylized or elongated and do not follow Byzantine models. They are solidly three-dimensional, have faces and gestures that are based on close observation, and are clothed, not in swirling formalized drapery, but in garments that hang naturally and have form and weight. He also took bold steps in foreshortening and having characters face inwards, with their backs towards

2261-582: A seriously-deteriorated condition. Scholars who date the cycle earlier in Giotto's career see the growing interest in architectural expansion that it displays as close to the developments of the giottesque frescoes in the Lower Church at Assisi, but the Bardi frescoes have a new softness of colour that indicates the artist going in a different direction, probably under the influence of Sienese art so it must be later. The Peruzzi Chapel pairs three frescoes from

2380-416: A small portion and three towers being open to the public. Other sights include: Assisi has had a rich tradition of art through the centuries and is now home to a number of well-known artistic works. Artists Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini worked shoulder to shoulder at Assisi. The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi includes a number of artistic works. Simone Martini's 1317 fresco there reflects

2499-459: A theological-philosophical viewpoint, without forgetting that Justice is what cures the soul of the sickening effects of Injustice (on the chapel's other side). Those who have successfully progressed in their therapeutic path have attained Justice. Those who have not, have attained Injustice. Those who have attained Justice have practiced a soul's therapy that can be defined as "human" and that led them to earthly happiness. They used as their therapy

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2618-527: A very short man, little over four feet tall, who may have suffered from a form of congenital dwarfism . That supports a tradition at the Church of Santa Croce that a dwarf who appears in one of the frescoes is a self-portrait of Giotto. On the other hand, a man wearing a white hat who appears in the Last Judgement at Padua is also said to be a portrait of Giotto. The appearance of this man conflicts with

2737-399: Is a form of counted-thread embroidery which has been practised in Assisi since the 13th century. Today many groups gather in Assisi for a variety of cultural and religious activities. One such group restored an 11th-century room and added altars to the world's religions. Other organizations, such as Assisi Performing Arts, host musical performances and other cultural events. Assisi was

2856-489: Is a story that Dante visited Giotto while he was painting the Scrovegni Chapel and, seeing the artist's children underfoot asked how a man who painted such beautiful pictures could have such plain children. Giotto, who according to Vasari was always a wit, replied, "I make my pictures by day, and my babies by night." The cycle is divided into 37 scenes, arranged around the lateral walls in three tiers, starting in

2975-621: Is a town and commune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region , on the western flank of Monte Subasio . It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius , born around 50–45 BC. It is the birthplace of St. Francis , who founded the Order of Friars Minor in that town in 1208, and of St. Clare of Assisi ( Chiara d'Offreducci ), who, with St. Francis, founded

3094-709: Is about 5 metres (16 feet) high. It has been dated to about 1290 and is thought to be contemporary with the Assisi frescoes. Earlier attributed works are the San Giorgio alla Costa Madonna and Child , now in the Diocesan Museum of Santo Stefano al Ponte , Florence, and the signed panel of the Stigmatization of St. Francis housed in the Louvre . An early biographical source, Riccobaldo of Ferrara , mentions that Giotto painted at Assisi but does not specify

3213-506: Is an attitude consisting in actively waiting for God's future blessings which descend from trust in God and in His word, and also consisting in love, through the love of God, of the whole of humankind. The sources of this extraordinary program were identified by Pisani in a number of passages of Saint Augustine's works. Everything finds a perfect correspondence with something else. It is the theme of

3332-580: Is depicted mainly in profile, and his eyes point continuously to the right, perhaps to guide the viewer onwards in the episodes. The kiss of Judas near the end of the sequence signals the close of this left-to-right procession. Below the narrative scenes in colour, Giotto also painted allegories of seven Virtues and their counterparts in monochrome grey ( grisaille ). The grisaille frescoes are painted to look like marble statues that personify Virtues and Vices. The central allegories of Justice and Injustice oppose two specific types of government: peace leading to

3451-413: Is in the sphere of Knowledge. Next comes the pair Inconstantia , Inconstancy, (north wall) and Fortitudo , Fortitude, (south wall). Fortitude (moral and mental strength) triumphs over Inconstancy's lewd oscillations by means of will. "Inconstancy" is literally "the lack of a stable seat"; it is a mix of light-headedness, volubility, and inconsistency. "Inconstancy" is portrayed as a young woman rolling over

3570-418: Is likely that, as a consequence of this complaint, the monumental apse and the wide transept were demolished. Both are visible on a model of the church painted by Giotto on the counter-facade (the Last Judgement ). The apse was the section where Enrico Scrovegni had meant to have his tomb. The presence of frescoes dating to after 1320 supports the demolition hypothesis proposed by Giuliano Pisani . The apse,

3689-429: Is portrayed with Envy , forming with it a fundamental component of a more comprehensive sin. For this reason Envy is placed facing the virtue of Charity, to indicate that Charity is the exact opposite of Envy, and that in order to cure oneself of the sin of Envy one needs to learn from Charity . Charity crushes Envy's money bag under her feet, while on the opposite wall red flames burn under Envy's feet. Giotto frescoed

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3808-405: Is probable that he was already leading a large workshop and receiving commissions from throughout Italy. Around 1305, Giotto executed his most influential work, the interior frescoes of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua that in 2021 were declared UNESCO World Heritage together with other 14th-century fresco cycles in different buildings around the city centre. Enrico degli Scrovegni commissioned

3927-460: Is the therapy necessary to prevail over passions, which are symbolized by Wrath, because Wrath is the most perilous of all the passions: it is sudden and destructive, even against own's dearest ones, and is therefore the passion that human beings first need to learn how to control. This notion is a tenet of ancient Greek and (in its footprints) Roman philosophy, which Saint Augustine made his own and Giotto's theologian transmitted to him, fusing together

4046-435: Is visually emphasized by an architectural "die", a small cube that runs above each of the various personifications in a slightly slanted way, pointing either toward the apse or the counter-façade, everywhere but above the head of Justice (south wall) and Injustice (north wall), where the small die falls in a perpendicular line, marking at the same time the exact physical half of the chapel as well as Justice's curing function from

4165-585: The Navicella , a mosaic that decorated the facade of Old St Peter's Basilica . In this period Giotto also painted the Badia Polyptych , now in the Uffizi , Florence. Cimabue went to Assisi to paint several large frescoes at the new Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi , and it is possible, but not certain, that Giotto went with him. The attribution of the fresco cycle of the Life of St. Francis in

4284-578: The Ognissanti Madonna , which is now on display in the Uffizi, where it is exhibited beside Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna and Duccio 's Rucellai Madonna . The Ognissanti altarpiece is the only panel painting by Giotto that has been universally accepted by scholars, despite the fact that it is undocumented. It was painted for the church of the Ognissanti (all saints) in Florence, which

4403-716: The Stefaneschi Triptych (c. 1320), a double-sided altarpiece for St. Peter's, now in the Vatican Pinacoteca . It shows St Peter enthroned with saints on the front, and on the reverse, Christ is enthroned, framed with scenes of the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. It is one of the few works by Giotto for which firm evidence of a commission exists. However, the style seems unlikely for either Giotto or his normal Florentine assistants so he may have had his design executed by an ad hoc workshop of Romans. The cardinal also commissioned Giotto to decorate

4522-521: The Annunciation to Mary . The narrative continues with the stories of Joachim and Anne (first tier from the top, south wall) and the stories of Mary (first tier from the top, north wall). After a return to the triumphal arch, the scenes of the Annunciation and the Visitation follow. The stories of Christ were placed on the middle tier of the south and north walls. The scene of Judas receiving

4641-635: The Arena Chapel , is a small church, adjacent to the Augustinian monastery, the Monastero degli Eremitani in Padua , region of Veneto , Italy . The chapel and monastery are now part of the complex of the Musei Civici di Padova . The chapel contains a fresco cycle by Giotto , completed around 1305 and an important masterpiece of Western art . In 2021, the chapel was declared part of

4760-629: The Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. They built the flourishing municipium Asisium on a series of terraces on Monte Subasio . Roman remains can still be found in Assisi: city walls , the forum (now Piazza del Comune), a theatre , an amphitheatre and the Temple of Minerva (now transformed into the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva ). In 1997, the remains of a Roman villa were also discovered containing several well-preserved rooms with frescoes and mosaics in

4879-702: The Book of Revelation were based on ideas by Dante. After Naples, Giotto stayed for a while in Bologna , where he painted a Polyptych for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli and, according to some sources, a lost decoration for the Chapel in the Cardinal Legate's Castle. In 1334, Giotto was appointed chief architect to Florence Cathedral . He designed the bell tower, known as Giotto's Campanile , begun on July 18, 1334. After Giotto's death three years later, Andrea Pisano and finally Francesco Talenti took over

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4998-715: The Catholic Church started the Assisi Network and hid Jews in the city. As the Allies moved up Italy, Germany declared Assisi an open city and pulled out, turning the city over to Italian partisans . The 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales) entered the city on 17 June 1944. Colonel Valentin Müller, a German medical officer and a Catholic, was able to make Assisi a German hospital city for German troops in Italy in

5117-582: The Golden Legend ( Legenda aurea ) by Jacobus de Voragine and, for a few minute iconographic details, Pseudo-Bonaventure 's Meditations on the Life of Jesus Christ , as well as a number of Augustinian texts, such as De doctrina Christiana , De libero arbitrio , De Genesi contra Manicheos , De quantitate animae , and other texts from the Medieval Christian tradition, among which is

5236-675: The Phisiologus . Most Giotto scholarship believes that Giotto had made a number of theological mistakes. For instance, Giotto placed Hope after Charity in the Virtues series, and did not include Avarice in the Vices series, due to the usual representation of Enrico Scrovegni as a usurer. Giuliano Pisani asserts that Giotto followed a careful and deliberate theological programme based on Saint Augustine and devised by Friar Alberto da Padova. Avarice, far from being "absent" in Giotto's cycle,

5355-676: The St Francis Cycle : "What kind of art [Giotto] made is testified to by works done by him in the Franciscan churches at Assisi, Rimini, Padua..." Since the idea was put forward by the German art historian Friedrich Rintelen  [ de ] in 1912, many scholars have expressed doubt that Giotto was the author of the Upper Church frescoes. Without documentation, arguments on the attribution have relied upon connoisseurship,

5474-539: The UNESCO World Heritage Site of 14th-century fresco cycles composed of 8 historical buildings in Padua city centre. The Scrovegni Chapel contains the most important frescoes that marked the beginning of a revolution in mural painting and influenced fresco technique, style, and content for a whole century. Giotto and his team covered all the internal surfaces of the chapel with frescoes, including

5593-429: The "corresponding" virtues do not reflect the traditional order, consisting in four "cardinal virtues" (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance) and three "theological virtues" (Faith, Hope and Charity). A twofold therapeutic path leading to salvation is presented. The first, composed of four virtues, brings a cure by means of the opposing force provided by the cardinal virtues. The arrival point in this first part of

5712-489: The "medicina animi", the "soul's medicine" provided by the cardinal virtues (in the sequence Prudence-Fortitude-Temperance-Justice), namely the moral and intellectual virtues with whose "medicine" human beings can be cured of, and are able to prevail over, the opposing vices. Next come the theological virtues. In order to be able to aspire to heavenly Paradise one needs divine teaching, the revelation of truth, with which one overcomes and transcends human reason, and to practice

5831-634: The "therapy of opposites", the sequential order of the cardinal and theological virtues, and the centrality of Justice. Giotto's painting of Charity is frequently cited in Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust . Mr. Swann likens the kitchen maid to this painting and it becomes something of a joke between him and the narrator. Assisi Assisi ( / ə ˈ s iː s i / , also US : /- iː z i , ə ˈ s ɪ s i , - ɪ z i / , Italian: [asˈsiːzi] ; from Latin : Asisium ; Central Italian : Ascesi )

5950-756: The Assisi St. Francis frescoes and that they came from Rome. If this is the case, Giotto's frescoes at Padua owe much to the naturalism of the painters. Giotto's fame as a painter spread. He was called to work in Padua and also in Rimini , where there remains only a Crucifix painted before 1309 and conserved in the Church of St. Francis . It influenced the rise of the Riminese school of Giovanni and Pietro da Rimini . According to documents of 1301 and 1304, Giotto by this time possessed large estates in Florence, and it

6069-432: The Baptist and St. John the Evangelist , perhaps including a polyptych of Madonna with Saints now in the Museum of Art of Raleigh , North Carolina ) and the lost Giugni Chapel ( Stories of the Apostles ) and the Tosinghi Spinelli Chapel ( Stories of the Holy Virgin ). As with almost everything in Giotto's career, the dates of the fresco decorations that survive in Santa Croce are disputed. The Bardi Chapel, immediately to

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6188-458: The Bishop of Assisi. The Stigmatization of St. Francis , which chronologically belongs between the Appearance at Arles and the Death , is located outside the chapel, above the entrance arch. The arrangement encourages viewers to link scenes together: to pair frescoes across the chapel space or relate triads of frescoes along each wall. The linkings suggest meaningful symbolic relationships between different events in St. Francis's life. In 1328,

6307-434: The Franciscan friars in Assisi and Rimini , and had been in Padua for some time, working for the Basilica of Saint Anthony in the Sala del Capitolo and in the Blessings's Chapel. A number of 14th-century sources ( Riccobaldo Ferrarese , Francesco da Barberino , 1312–1313) testify to Giotto's presence at the Arena Chapel's site. The fresco cycle can be dated with a good approximation to a series of documentary testimonies:

6426-433: The Franciscan structures of Assisi as a World Heritage Site in 2000. The town is dominated by two medieval castles . The larger, called Rocca Maggiore , is a massive reconstruction by Cardinal Albornoz (1366) and expanded by popes Pius II (polygonal tower, 1458) and Paul III (the cylindrical bastion near the entrance, 1535–1538). The smaller of the two was built in Roman era : it has been only partially preserved,

6545-423: The Life of Christ as well as the Bible. The frescoes are more than mere illustrations of familiar texts, however, and scholars have found numerous sources for Giotto's interpretations of sacred stories. Vasari, drawing on a description by Giovanni Boccaccio , a friend of Giotto's, says of him that "there was no uglier man in the city of Florence" and indicates that his children were also plain in appearance. There

6664-454: The Order of Poor Ladies, which later became the Order of Poor Clares after her death. The 19th-century St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also born in Assisi. The earliest attested people of Assisi were the Umbri . In 77AD Pliny the Elder described Regio VI Umbria and said that the Umbri were thought to be the oldest inhabitants of Italy. The people of Assisi were mentioned by name. The Romans took control of central Italy after

6783-443: The Upper Church has been one of the most disputed in art history. The documents of the Franciscan Friars that relate to artistic commissions during this period were destroyed by Napoleon 's troops, who stabled horses in the Upper Church of the Basilica, so scholars have debated the attribution to Giotto. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it was convenient to attribute every fresco in the Upper Church not obviously by Cimabue to

6902-415: The Virgin , now in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie , and the Crucifix in the Church of Ognissanti . According to Lorenzo Ghiberti , Giotto painted chapels for four different Florentine families in the church of Santa Croce , but he does not identify which chapels. It is only with Vasari that the four chapels are identified: the Bardi Chapel ( Life of St. Francis ), the Peruzzi Chapel ( Life of St. John

7021-400: The adjacent "Corpo Tecnologico Attrezzato" (CTA) had been installed. In this "equipped technological chamber" visitors wait for fifteen minutes to allow their body humidity to be lowered and any accompanying smog dust to be filtered out. In March 2002 the chapel was reopened to the public in its original splendor. A few problems remain unsolved, such as flooding in the crypt under the nave due to

7140-474: The affluent Paduan banker, Enrico Scrovegni . In the early 1300s Enrico purchased from Manfredo Dalesmanini the area on which the Roman arena had stood. Here he had his luxurious palace built, as well as a chapel annexed to it. The chapel's project was twofold: to serve as the family's private oratory and as a funerary monument for himself and his wife. Enrico commissioned Giotto, the famous Florentine painter, to decorate his chapel. Giotto had previously worked for

7259-410: The altarpiece of the Baroncelli Chapel , Santa Croce, Florence , was completed. Previously ascribed to Giotto, it is now believed to be mostly a work by assistants, including Taddeo Gaddi , who later frescoed the chapel. The next year, Giotto was called by King Robert of Anjou to Naples where he remained with a group of pupils until 1333. Few of Giotto's Neapolitan works have survived: a fragment of

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7378-452: The apse of St. Peter's Basilica with a cycle of frescoes that were destroyed during the 16th-century renovation. According to Vasari, Giotto remained in Rome for six years, subsequently receiving numerous commissions in Italy, and in the Papal seat at Avignon , but some of the works are now recognized to be by other artists. In Florence, where documents from 1314 to 1327 attest to his financial activities, Giotto painted an altarpiece, known as

7497-413: The arrangement of the figures in the Mocking of Christ and Lamentation in which the viewer is bidden by the composition to become mocker in one and mourner in the other. Giotto's depiction of the human face and emotion sets his work apart from that of his contemporaries. When the disgraced Joachim returns sadly to the hillside, the two young shepherds look sideways at each other. The soldier who drags

7616-459: The better-known Giotto, including those frescoes now attributed to the Master of Isaac . In the 1960s, art experts Millard Meiss and Leonetto Tintori examined all of the Assisi frescoes, and found some of the paint contained white lead—also used in Cimabue's badly deteriorated Crucifixion (c. 1283). No known works by Giotto contain this medium. However, Giotto's panel painting of the Stigmatization of St. Francis (c. 1297) includes

7735-404: The chancel are complementary paintings of the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, depicting the Annunciation. The scene is incorporated into the cycles of The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Life of Christ . Giotto's inspiration for The Life of the Virgin cycle was probably taken from The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine and The Life of Christ draws upon the Meditations on

7854-430: The chapel received its definitive consecration. Giotto's work thus falls in the period from 25 March 1303 to 25 March 1305. Giotto, who was born around 1267, was 36–38 years old when he worked at Enrico Scrovegni's chapel. He had a team of about 40 collaborators, and they calculated that 625 work days ( giornate ) were necessary to paint the chapel. A "work day" meant that portion of each fresco that could be painted before

7973-409: The chapel to serve as family worship, burial space and as a backdrop for an annually performed mystery play . The theme of the decoration is Salvation , and there is an emphasis on the Virgin Mary , as the chapel is dedicated to the Annunciation and to the Virgin of Charity. As was common in church decoration of medieval Italy, the west wall is dominated by the Last Judgement . On either side of

8092-419: The chapel's whole surface, including the walls and the ceiling. The fresco cycle is organized along four tiers, each of which contains episodes from the stories of the various protagonists of the Sacred History. Each tier is divided into frames, each forming a scene. The chapel is asymmetrical in shape, with six windows on the longer south wall, and this shape determined the layout of the decoration. The first step

8211-428: The commission. Allowing for this, the selection and iconography of the scenes is broadly comparable to other contemporary cycles; Giotto's innovation lies in the monumentality of his forms and the clarity of his compositions. The cycle recounts the story of salvation. It starts from high up on the lunette of the triumphal arch, with the uncommon scene of God the Father instructing the Archangel Gabriel to perform

8330-402: The dedication on 25 March 1305. The chapel is also known as the Arena Chapel because it was built on land purchased by Enrico Scrovegni that abutted the site of a Roman arena . The space was where an open-air procession and sacred representation of the Annunciation to the Virgin had been played out for a generation before the chapel was built. The Arena Chapel was commissioned to Giotto by

8449-438: The deteriorated condition of the frescoes, it is difficult to discuss Giotto's style in the chapel, but the frescoes show signs of his typical interest in controlled naturalism and psychological penetration. The Peruzzi Chapel was especially renowned during Renaissance times. Giotto's compositions influenced Masaccio 's frescos at the Brancacci Chapel , and Michelangelo is also known to have studied them. The Bardi Chapel depicts

8568-552: The eighth day, the time of eternity, God's time, with eight planets (the tondos which enclose the seven great prophets of the Old Testament plus John the Baptist) and two suns (which show God and the Madonna and Child), while the blue sky is studded with eight-point stars (8, sideways, symbolises infinity). The bottom tiers of the side walls feature 14 personifications in grisaille , representing single figures of Vices on

8687-576: The elliptical ancient Roman arena. The palace was demolished in 1827 in order to sell the precious materials it contained and to erect two condominiums in its place. The chapel was purchased by the Municipality of the City of Padua in 1881, a year after the City Council's deliberation of 10 May 1880 leading to a decision to demolish the condominiums and restore the chapel. In June 2001, following

8806-458: The events that eventually led him to live as a beggar, renounce the world and establish the Order of Friars Minor . The city, which had remained within the confines of the Roman walls, began to expand outside these walls in the 13th century. In this period the city was under papal jurisdiction. The Rocca Maggiore , the imperial fortress on top of the hill above the city, which had been plundered by

8925-494: The fly off. Many scholars today are uncertain about Giotto's training and consider Vasari's account that he was Cimabue's pupil a legend; they cite earlier sources that suggest that Giotto was not Cimabue's pupil. The story about the fly is also suspect because it parallels Pliny the Elder 's anecdote about Zeuxis painting grapes so lifelike that birds tried to peck at them. Vasari also relates that when Pope Benedict XI sent

9044-469: The frescoes. Another claim was that the theological program followed by Giotto is based on St Thomas Aquinas , whereas Pisani claims it to be wholly Augustinian. Pisani also argued against the conjecture that the Frati Gaudenti fraternity, of which Enrico Scrovegni was a member, influenced the content of Giotto's fresco cycle. He also argued against the belief that Enrico Scrovegni required that

9163-597: The greatness of his living contemporary by the words of a painter in Purgatorio (XI, 94–96): "Cimabue believed that he held the field/In painting, and now Giotto has the cry,/ So the fame of the former is obscure." Giotto died in January 1337. According to Vasari, Giotto was buried in the Cathedral of Florence, on the left of the entrance and with the spot marked by a white marble plaque. According to other sources, he

9282-466: The home of several saints , including: It is also the final resting place of Blessed Carlo Acutis Assisi railway station , opened in 1866, forms part of the Foligno–Terontola railway, which also links Florence with Rome . The station is located at Piazza Dante Alighieri , in the frazione of Santa Maria degli Angeli , about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southwest of the city centre. Assisi

9401-528: The iconography program have no emphasis placed on the sin of usury . Giuliano Pisani pointed out that Dante's condemnation of Scrovegni's father, Reginaldo, as a usurer in Canto 17 of the Inferno dates to a few years after Giotto's completion of the chapel, so it cannot be regarded as a motive behind any theological anxieties on the part of Enrico Scrovegni. Pisani's arguments have not yet been widely embraced by

9520-476: The image in Santa Croce, in regards to stature. Forensic reconstruction of the skeleton at Santa Reperata showed a short man with a very large head, a large hooked nose and one eye more prominent than the other. The bones of the neck indicated that the man spent a lot of time with his head tilted backwards. The front teeth were worn in a way consistent with frequently holding a brush between the teeth. The man

9639-687: The influence of Giotto in realism and the use of brilliant colours. Lorenzetti's fresco at the lower church of the Basilica includes a series of panels depicting the Crucifixion of Jesus , Deposition from the Cross , and Entombment of Christ . The figures Lorenzetti painted display emotions, yet the figures in these scenes are governed by geometric emotional interactions, unlike many prior depictions which appeared to be independent iconic aggregations. Lorenzetti's 1330 Madonna dei Tramonti also reflects

9758-424: The itinerary is Justice, Iusticia , who makes peace possible and therefore ensures Paradise on earth and earthly happiness. The first Vice in this first section is Stultitia, namely the incapacity to distinguish good and evil. Its cure (opposite wall) is Prudencia , Prudence, which in classical and theological terms is not "cautiousness" but "moral intelligence" or the capacity to distinguish good and evil. The viewer

9877-419: The life of St. Francis , following a similar iconography to the frescoes in the Upper Church at Assisi, dating from 20 to 30 years earlier. A comparison shows the greater attention given by Giotto to expression in the human figures and the simpler, better-integrated architectural forms. Giotto represents only seven scenes from the saint's life, and the narrative is arranged somewhat unusually. The story starts on

9996-595: The life of St. John the Baptist ( The Annunciation of John's Birth to his father Zacharias; The Birth and Naming of John; The Feast of Herod ) on the left wall with three scenes from the life of St. John the Evangelist ( The Visions of John on Ephesus ; The Raising of Drusiana ; The Ascension of John ) on the right wall. The choice of scenes has been related to both the patrons and the Franciscans . Because of

10115-498: The likely fictional incident in which a civilian commissioned Giotto to paint a shield with his coat of arms ; Giotto instead painted the shield "armed to the teeth", complete with a sword, lance, dagger, and suit of armor. He told the man to "Go into the world a little, before you talk of arms as if you were the Duke of Bavaria", and in response was sued. Giotto countersued and won two florins. In The Divine Comedy , Dante acknowledged

10234-404: The location given by Vasari but unmarked on either level. Forensic examination of the bones by anthropologist Francesco Mallegni and a team of experts in 2000 brought to light some evidence that seemed to confirm that they were those of a painter (particularly the range of chemicals, including arsenic and lead , both commonly found in paint, which the bones had absorbed). The bones were those of

10353-411: The messenger related how he had made the circle without moving his arm and without the aid of compasses the Pope and his courtiers were amazed at how Giotto's skill greatly surpassed all of his contemporaries. Around 1290 Giotto married Ricevuta di Lapo del Pela (known as 'Ciuta'), the daughter of Lapo del Pela of Florence. The marriage produced four daughters and four sons, one of whom, Francesco, became

10472-930: The money to betray Jesus is on the triumphal arch. The lower tier of the south and north walls shows the Passion and Resurrection; the last frame on the north wall shows the Pentecost. The fourth tier begins at ground level with the monochromes of the Vices (north wall) and the Virtues (south wall). The west wall (counter-façade) presents the Last Judgment. The scenes depicted are as follows: Sacred stories: Triumphal arch (lunette): Upper tier, south wall: Upper tier, north wall: Triumphal arch: Middle tier, south wall: Middle tier, north wall: Triumphal arch: Lower tier, south wall: Lower tier, north wall; Bottom tier, north wall: Vices: Bottom tier, south wall: Seven virtues : Counter-façade: The vault presents

10591-453: The most significant area in all churches, is where Enrico and his wife, Jacopina d'Este, were buried. This apse presents a narrowing of the space which gives a sense of its being incomplete and inharmonious. When one observes the lower frame of the triumphal arch , right above Saint Catherine of Alexandria's small altar piece , Giotto's perfect symmetry is altered by a fresco decoration representing two medallions with busts of female saints,

10710-602: The new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral are among the few certainties about his life. Almost every other aspect of it is subject to controversy: his birth date, his birthplace, his appearance, his apprenticeship, the order in which he created his works, whether he painted the famous frescoes in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi , and his burial place. Tradition says that Giotto

10829-399: The north wall and Virtues on the south wall. The Vices are Stultitia, Inconstantia, Ira, Iniusticia, Infidelitas, Invidia , and Desperatio . The Virtues are grouped as follows: the four cardinal virtues : Prudentia, Iustitia, Temperantia, Fortitudo , followed by the three theological ones: Fides, Karitas, Spes . Each virtue and vice is embedded within a mirror-like marble frame. The name of

10948-410: The observer, creating the illusion of space. The figures occupy compressed settings with naturalistic elements, often using forced perspective devices so that they resemble stage sets. This similarity is increased by Giotto's careful arrangement of the figures in such a way that the viewer appears to have a particular place and even an involvement in many of the scenes. That can be seen most markedly in

11067-526: The ongoing influence of Giotto on his Marian art , midway through his career. The Calendimaggio Festival takes place on the first four days of May ending on a Saturday. The festival is a re-enactment of medieval and Renaissance life in the form of a challenge between the upper faction (parte de sopra) with a blue flag and the lower faction of the town (parte de sotto) with a red flag. It includes processions, theatrical presentations, choirs, crossbow , flag-waving and dancing contests. Assisi Embroidery

11186-418: The people in 1189, was rebuilt in 1367 on orders of the papal legate , cardinal Gil de Albornoz . In the beginning, Assisi fell under the rule of Perugia and later under several despots, such as the soldier of fortune Biordo Michelotti , Gian Galeazzo Visconti and his successor Francesco I Sforza , dukes of Milan , Jacopo Piccinino and Federico II da Montefeltro , lord of Urbino . The city went into

11305-537: The plaster dried and was no longer "fresh" ( fresco in Italian ). In January 1305, friars from the nearby Church of the Eremitani filed a complaint to the bishop, protesting that Scrovegni had not respected the original agreement. Scrovegni was transforming his private oratory into a church with a bell tower, thus producing unfair competition with the Eremitani's activities. We do not know what happened next, but it

11424-468: The presence of an underlying aquifer, and the negative effect on the building's stability of the cement inserts that replaced the original wooden ones in the 1960s. Giuliano Pisani 's studies argued that a number of commonly held beliefs concerning the chapel are groundless, among them, the notion that Dante inspired Giotto. However, a posthumous portrait of Dante was included in the Paradise section of

11543-476: The purchase of the land took place on 6 February 1300; the bishop of Padua, Ottobono dei Razzi, authorised the building some time prior to 1302 (the date of his transferral to the Patriarcato of Aquileia); the chapel was first consecrated on 25 March 1303, the feast day of the Annunciation ; on 1 March 1304 Pope Benedict XI granted an indulgence to whoever visited the chapel; one year later on 25 March 1305

11662-531: The right of the main chapel of the church, was painted in true fresco, and to some scholars, the simplicity of its settings seems relatively close to those of Padua, but the Peruzzi Chapel's more complex settings suggest a later date. The Peruzzi Chapel is adjacent to the Bardi Chapel and was largely painted a secco . The technique, quicker but less durable than a true fresco, has left the work in

11781-587: The scholarly community, and that debates persist regarding the impetus for the chapel's creation and the reasons behind its design. According to Pisani, Giotto painted the chapel's inner surface following a comprehensive iconographic and decorative project devised by the Augustinian theologian, Friar Alberto da Padova. Among the sources utilized by Giotto following Friar Alberto's advice are the Apocryphal Gospels of Pseudo-Matthew and Nicodemus ,

11900-776: The series include the Adoration of the Magi , in which a comet-like Star of Bethlehem streaks across the sky. Giotto is thought to have been inspired by the 1301 appearance of Halley's comet , which led to the 1986 space probe Giotto being named after the artist. Giotto worked on other frescoes in Padua, some now lost, such as those that were in the Basilica of St. Anthony and the Palazzo della Ragione . Numerous painters from northern Italy were influenced by Giotto's work in Padua, including Guariento , Giusto de' Menabuoi , Jacopo Avanzi , and Altichiero . From 1306 from 1311 Giotto

12019-522: The site of many a pilgrimage, Assisi is linked in legend with its native son, St. Francis. The gentle saint founded the Franciscan order and shares honours with St. Catherine of Siena as the patron saint of Italy. He is remembered by many, even non-Christians, as a lover of nature (his preaching to an audience of birds is one of the legends of his life). During World War II Assisi was occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1943. To save Jews in Italy

12138-436: The summer of 1944, helping save Assisi from destruction, unlike Cassino . Assisi was hit by two devastating earthquakes that shook Umbria in September 1997. But the recovery and restoration have been remarkable, although much remains to be done. Massive damage was caused to many historical sites, but the major attraction, the Basilica di San Francesco , reopened less than 2 years later. UNESCO collectively designated

12257-481: The theological virtues. The "divine therapy" begins with the rejection of false beliefs ( Infidelitas ) through Faith in God ( Fides ). Only with the "medicine" of Charity (Karitas) can man overcome Selfishness and Envy ( Invidia ), which lead him to look with malevolent eyes (Latin in-vidēre ) at his neighbour, who is also made by God in His likeness. Finally, with the aid (the medicine), Hope ( Spes ) can be contrasted with Lack of Hope, or Desperation ( Desperatio ). Hope

12376-536: The tower's construction, completed in 1359 and not entirely to Giotto's design. Before 1337, he was in Milan with Azzone Visconti , but no trace of works by him remains in the city. His last known work was with assistants' help: the decoration of Podestà Chapel in the Bargello , Florence. Giotto appears in the writings of many contemporary authors, including Boccaccio, Dante and Franco Sacchetti . Sacchetti recounted

12495-610: The town in 545. Assisi then came under the rule of the Lombards as part of the Lombard and then Frankish Duchy of Spoleto . The thriving commune became an independent Ghibelline commune in the 11th century. Constantly struggling with the Guelph Perugia , it was during one of those battles, the battle at Collestrada, that Giovanni di Bernardone (better known as St. Francis of Assisi ) was taken prisoner, setting in motion

12614-679: The upper left wall with St. Francis Renounces his Father. It continues across the chapel to the upper right wall with the Approval of the Franciscan Rule , moves down the right wall to the Trial by Fire , across the chapel again to the left wall for the Appearance at Arles , down the left wall to the Death of St. Francis , and across once more to the posthumous Visions of Fra Agostino and

12733-465: The upper register with the story of St. Joachim and St. Anne , the parents of the Virgin, and continuing with her early life. The life of Jesus occupies two registers. The top south tier deals with the lives of Mary's parents, the top north with her early life and the entire middle tier with the early life and miracles of Christ. The bottom tier on both sides is concerned with the Passion of Christ . He

12852-482: The vice or the virtue is written in Latin on top of each figure, indicating what these figures represent, namely, the seventh day (the time between Jesus's birth and the Final Judgement). According to the controversial theory of Giuliano Pisani , the Vices and Virtues read starting from the altar's side, going towards the counter-façade (Final Judgement), and the sequence is not "Vices first, then Virtues" as

12971-400: The walls and the ceiling. The nave is 20.88 metres long, 8.41 metres wide, and 12.65 metres high. The apse area is composed of a square area (4.49 meters deep and 4.31 meters wide) and a pentagonal area (2.57 meters deep). The largest element is extensive cycles showing the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin . The wall at the rear of the church, through which the chapel is entered, has

13090-701: Was about 70 at the time of death. While the Italian researchers were convinced that the body belonged to Giotto and it was reburied with honour near the grave of Filippo Brunelleschi , others have been highly sceptical. Franklin Toker, a professor of art history at the University of Pittsburgh, who was present at the original excavation in 1970, says that they are probably "the bones of some fat butcher". Footnotes Citations Scrovegni Chapel The Scrovegni Chapel ( Italian : Cappella degli Scrovegni [kapˈpɛlla deʎʎi skroˈveɲɲi] ), also known as

13209-404: Was born in a farmhouse, perhaps at Colle di Romagnano or Romignano. Since 1850, a tower house in nearby Colle Vespignano has borne a plaque claiming the honor of his birthplace, an assertion that is commercially publicized. However, recent research has presented documentary evidence that he was born in Florence, the son of a blacksmith. His father's name was Bondone. Most authors accept that Giotto

13328-513: Was built by an obscure religious order, known as the Humiliati. It is a large painting (325 × 204 cm), and scholars are divided on whether it was made for the main altar of the church, where it would have been viewed primarily by the brothers of the order, or for the choir screen, where it would have been more easily seen by a lay audience. He also painted around the time the Dormition of

13447-402: Was buried in the Church of Santa Reparata . The apparently-contradictory reports are explained by the fact that the remains of Santa Reparata are directly beneath the Cathedral and the church continued in use while the construction of the cathedral proceeded in the early 14th century. During an excavation in the 1970s, bones were discovered beneath the paving of Santa Reparata at a spot close to

13566-414: Was choosing to place two frames between each double window set on the south wall; secondly, the width and height of the tiers was fixed in order to calculate the same space on the opposite north wall. Cycles of scenes showing the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin were the grandest form of religious art in the period, and Giotto's cycle is unusually large and comprehensive, showing the ambition of

13685-468: Was completed. The main focus of the unknown artist's work is constituted by six monumental scenes on the side walls of the chancel that depict the last period of Mary's earthly life. This choice is in tune with the iconographic program inspired by Alberto da Padova and painted by Giotto. The chapel was originally connected with the Scrovegni palace, which was built on what remained of the foundations of

13804-580: Was his real name, but may have been an abbreviation of Ambrogio ( Ambrogiotto ) or Angelo ( Angelotto ). In his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects Vasari states that Giotto was a shepherd boy, a merry and intelligent child who was loved by all who knew him. The great Florentine painter Cimabue discovered Giotto drawing pictures of his sheep on a rock. They were so lifelike that Cimabue approached Giotto and asked if he could take him on as an apprentice. Cimabue

13923-694: Was in Assisi, where he painted the frescoes in the transept area of the Lower Church of the Basilica of St. Francis, including The Life of Christ , Franciscan Allegories and the Magdalene Chapel, drawing on stories from the Golden Legend and including the portrait of Bishop Teobaldo Pontano, who commissioned the work. Several assistants are mentioned, including Palerino di Guido. The style demonstrates developments from Giotto's work at Padua. In 1311, Giotto returned to Florence. A document from 1313 about his furniture there shows that he had spent

14042-470: Was long believed. It rather proceeds from Vice 1 ( Stultitia ) (north wall, right hand side) to Virtue 1 ( Prudencia ) (south wall, left hand side), to Vice 2 ( Inconstantia ) (north wall) to Virtue 2 ( Fortitudo ) (south side), and so on. Vices and Virtues symbolise humanity's progress toward bliss (heavenly happiness). With the aid of Virtues, humanity can overcome obstacles (Vices). This is the philosophical-theological itinerary designed by Giotto's theologian,

14161-454: Was one of the two most highly renowned painters of Tuscany , the other being Duccio , who worked mainly in Siena . Vasari recounts a number of such stories about Giotto's skill as a young artist. He tells of one occasion when Cimabue was absent from the workshop, and Giotto painted a remarkably lifelike fly on a face in a painting of Cimabue. When Cimabue returned, he tried several times to brush

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