Scrovegni Chapel  

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The Scrovegni Chapel, or Cappella degli Scrovegni, also known as the Arena Chapel is a church in Padua, Veneto, Italy. It contains a fresco cycle by Giotto, completed about 1305, that is one of the most important masterpieces of Western art. The church was dedicated to Santa Maria della Carità at the Feast of the Annunciation, 1305. Giotto's fresco cycle focuses on the life of the Virgin and celebrates her role in human salvation. 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. This space is 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. A motet by Marchetto da Padova appears to have been composed for the dedication on March 25, 1305.

Anthology of images

The iconography of the fresco cycles are those of the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin. The Annunciation occupies a central position over the chancel arch.

• Joachim is sent away from the temple
• Prelude to the stories of Mary
• Prelude to the stories of Christ
• Joachim amongst the shepherds
• An angel comes to Anna in prayer
• Joachim sacrifices a kid goat to the Lord
• Joachim's dream
• Joachim meets Anna at the Golden Gate
• Nativity of Mary and bathing the infant
• Presentation of Mary at the Temple
• The bringing of the branches
• Prayer for the blossoming of the branches
• The marriage of the Virgin
• The nuptial cortege
• The mission of the Annunciation to Mary
• The Annunciation
• Visitation
• The Nativity of Jesus
• The Adoration of the Magi
• The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
• The Flight into Egypt
• The Massacre of the Innocents
• The Finding in the Temple (Jesus among the doctors)
• The Baptism of Jesus
• The Wedding at Cana
• The Resurrection of Lazarus
• Christ enters Jerusalem
• The expulsion of the dealers from the Temple
• Judas's Betrayal
• The Last Supper
• The washing of the feet
• The Kiss of Judas
• Jesus before Caiaphas
• Flagellation of Christ
• The ascent to Calvary
• Crucifixion
• Lamentation of Christ
• The Resurrection of Jesus — "Noli me tangere"
• Ascension
• Pentecost
• The Last Judgment
• Allegories of the Vices and the Virtues