Redefining art in Padua

I want to tell you about the UNESCO World Heritage Scrovegni Chapel in Padua but you need to be patient for a minute. We took the train over there this morning and I had done some serious research to get us sought-after tickets. For 14 Euros, you get 15 minutes of access to the chapel and only 25 people are allowed in at a time. Before you get to enter, you spend 15 minutes in a dehumidifying room.

The key thing here is that I had my 15 minutes, and, quite honestly, I could have been done in 5. It’s a really neat place and I’m going to show you a couple of pictorial highlights but the most amazing thing about Scrovegni Chapel is that we ran into our Vicenza tour guide, Roberta, there! She had an American couple with her who were so serious about the chapel that they could not be satisfied with the 15 minutes.

Instead, this couple bought 3 consecutive entries – so they would get 45 minutes in the chapel. But – even more – they didn’t want anyone else in there with them. So they bought 25 entries for 3 consecutive viewings. Roberta told us the staff was totally shocked by this – but in they went, leaving Roberta to chat with us for awhile. My math indicates that they spent over $1000 for that time in the chapel, plus the fee they paid to Roberta to wait outside.

It all struck me as funny because Roberta spent Friday with someone who, when shown a piece of valid art, asked a question about the doorknob, only to spend Saturday with someone who was, reportedly, weeping as she entered the Scrovegni.

The chapel was opened in 1305. It contains a fresco cycle by a painter named Giotto, who I have never in my life heard of until today. At any rate, here’s the fantastic blue ceiling, which reminded me of that beautiful Albi cathedral back in France. Together, this information helps shape my personal art journey: I am emotionally drawn to blue art.

The most interesting thing about the front wall was the section that depicted hell, with all of its various punishments. Look at all of the forms of torture depicted in this. The big devil guy in gray has two legs hanging out of his mouth and a body in each arm, and then dozens of other sinners are falling down towards him. It’s a really disturbing scene and speaks strongly in favor of a moral life.

From the chapel, we headed out to explore the rest of the town. Here’s a couple of pics from along our walk. First, this piece of art that I admired (not blue, but still reacted emotionally):

Then this picture of Ron, having his own reaction to art, i.e. frustrated with me because I stopped walking to gape at the car:

But I don’t know why he finds me so exasperating when he has his quirks of his own. For example, here he is in the University of Padua bookstore, acquiring his first sweatshirt of the trip.

This is the Basilica of St. Anthony, from about 1250. St Anthony was the patron saint of the lost and this makes the Basilica a big pilgrimage site. There was a line of people, waiting to lay their hands on the tomb of St. Anthony, and off to the side there was a photo montage wall of “lost” loved ones. There was a lady there while we waited, working really hard to tie a picture of her loved one to the montage.

Here’s a look at a line of pilgrims with the photo montage visible on the right (Photo not mine – no photos allowed):

The main church itself is beautiful inside. (Photo not mine)

While we were in St. Anthony’s this group of people, carrying a cross, set out on a little pilgrimage:

And we ran into them a bit later, on the Prato de Valle – the largest public square in Italy (Basilica of Santa Giustina in the background – from the 10th century):

Here’s another part of the Prato:

We walked back via the University to get to our train and were able to stop in to see some of the buildings. Here’s the courtyard of Palazzo Bo, a main building for the University of Padua, from 1595, with a big piece of art slapped down into the middle:

And we got to sneak into the Anatomical Theatre – the first indoor viewing room for dissections – from 1595. Here’s the theatre:

And here’s what it looked like in use. The most senior anatomy students got the lowest/best viewing points. For our visit, we got to poke our heads up from a hole in the floor and take a dizzying look up into the place. Bonus anatomy question: Did Ron hit his head on the theatre wall as he tried to gaze up? YES!

And that’s it! Two (mostly) successful day trips in a row! We’ve got a day to relax in Venice and then we’re headed south to Rome:)