How big is the Arena Chapel?
Giotto and his team covered all the internal surfaces of the chapel with frescoes, including the walls and the ceiling. The nave is 20.88 metres long, 8.41 metres wide, and 12.65 metres high.
How many registers are in the Arena Chapel?
Content: 3 registers of narrative. top: Yoakim and Anna (Christ’s maternal grandparents) and birth and life of Mary. middle: scenes of Christ’s life (the miracles, etc)
How many frescoes are in the Arena Chapel?
The remaining walls are covered with three tiers of frescoes: the top tier is devoted to scenes from the Life of the Virgin Mary (to whom the chapel is dedicated); the middle and lower tiers depict scenes from the Life of Jesus; in all, a total of 39 scenes.
When was Arena Chapel built?
1305
Scrovegni Chapel/Opened
Arena Chapel, also called Scrovegni Chapel, (consecrated March 25, 1305) small chapel built in the first years of the 14th century in Padua, Italy, by Enrico Scrovegni and containing frescoes by the Florentine painter Giotto (see photograph). A “Last Judgment” covers the entire west wall.
Why did Enrico Scrovegni build the Arena Chapel?
According to the Church, usury (charging interest for a loan) was a sin, and so perhaps one of Enrico’s motivations for building the chapel and having it decorated by Giotto was to atone for the sin of usury.
Why did Scrovegni commissioned Arena Chapel?
Enrico’s father, Riginaldo Scrovegni, accumulated a large amount of wealth lending money at usurious rates, contrary to the catholic virtue of charity. It is believed that Enrico commissioned the Chapel to expiate his father’s sins and to provide a fitting burial place for members of his family.
Why is Giotto famous?
For almost seven centuries Giotto has been revered as the father of European painting and the first of the great Italian masters. He is believed to have been a pupil of the Florentine painter Cimabue and to have decorated chapels in Assisi, Rome, Padua, Florence, and Naples with frescoes and panel paintings in tempera.
What color is the ceiling of the Arena Chapel?
blue
1. Giotto, compositional elements of the Arena Chapel, Padua. The same ‘heavenly’ deep blue of the vaulted ceiling is used as sky in the narrative scenes, which creates an eerie light, somewhere between night and day.
What is the significance of the Arena Chapel?
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.
Why is the Scrovegni chapel also called the Arena Chapel?
The chapel is known as the Arena Chapel since it is on the site of an ancient Roman arena (or amphitheater) that later became the property of Scrovegni, whose palace abutted the chapel (the palace was torn down in the nineteenth century, though parts of the arena remain).
Who painted a perfect circle?
Giotto
The Pope hoped to hire a fresco artist and sent to Giotto a messenger, who asked for a competitive sample drawing. With just paper and a pen, Giotto flicked his wrist and drew a perfect circle.