The History of the
Arena Chapel
The history of the Arena Chapel is closely tied
to the frescoes painted inside by Giotto. The chapel was commissioned by Enrico
Scrovegni, the grandson of a wealthy moneylender, as a way to secure
forgiveness for his family’s sins. In the Catholic Church, an indulgence
was a form of spiritual pardon, often granted in exchange for acts of charity
or religious devotion. Wealthy patrons sometimes funded churches or religious
artworks in hopes of having their sins—or those of their ancestors—pardoned by
the Church.
The Scrovegni family lived in Padua, Italy, in the
13th and 14th centuries. Their fortune came from usury, or lending money
with interest, which was considered a mortal sin by the Catholic Church
at the time. According to Church doctrine, those who profited from moneylending
risked eternal punishment. Enrico Scrovegni likely commissioned the chapel to
atone for his grandfather’s involvement in usury. Dante even mentions a
member of the Scrovegni family in The Divine Comedy, placing him in hell
among the usurers.
There is some debate about whether Giotto’s frescoes
in Padua and Assisi were painted using buon fresco or fresco secco.
Understanding the difference is important because most large-scale paintings
from this period were executed directly onto plaster walls. The word fresco
means "fresh" in Italian, and there are two types: buon fresco
and fresco secco. In buon fresco ("true fresco"),
pigments are mixed with water and painted onto damp plaster. As the plaster
dries, the colors become part of the wall, creating a permanent stain that can
penetrate up to half an inch. In fresco secco ("dry fresco"),
paint is applied to dry plaster, which allows for more detail but is less
durable over time.
It's my opinion that he probably used the buon fresco
technique, however, I attended a talk at the Legion of Honor Museum in
San Francisco. The speaker, sorry I
can’t recall her name, stated that the Assisi frescoes were done in fresco
secco and suggested the same may be true for those in Padua. However, some
evidence suggests Giotto used buon fresco at least in part. In certain
areas, outlines around figures indicate the use of giornata—sections of
plaster applied and painted in a single day, which is typical of buon fresco
technique.
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Giotto’s Arena
Chapel and Dante’s Divine Comedy
Dante and Giotto lived in the same time period and
were shaped by the same religious and political world. Some scholars suggest
they may have known each other, or at least been aware of each other’s work,
but there is no solid evidence to confirm a personal connection. Both Cimabue
and Giotto are mentioned in Canto XI of the Purgatorio, Dante drops Giotto's
name in suggesting the ethereality of worldly fame:
"Once Cimabue thought to hold the field
as painter; Giotto now is all the rage,
Dimming the luster of the other's fame."
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 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."
What is clear is that both were influenced by
long-standing Christian traditions and by changes in religious thought that
took place in the centuries before them.
Dante wrote The Divine Comedy between 1308 and
1321 while in exile from Florence. The poem describes a journey through Inferno,
Purgatorio, and Paradiso, where Dante, guided first by the Roman
poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, learns about sin, redemption,
and divine justice. His writing was deeply shaped by the politics of Florence,
particularly the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.
Dante, a White Guelph, was exiled when the Black Guelphs took
control, leading him to spend his final years as a political exile in various
cities.
At the same time, Giotto was working on the frescoes
in the Arena Chapel in Padua, commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni around
1303. The fresco cycle tells the story of the Virgin
Mary and Jesus,
ending with a large Last Judgment scene. This mirrors some of the themes
found in The Divine Comedy, where Dante describes the punishments of
sinners and the rewards of the righteous. Enrico Scrovegni’s father, Reginaldo,
was placed in Inferno by Dante among the usurers, reflecting the
Church’s view on lending money with interest.
Both Dante and Giotto were working in a period shaped
by Scholasticism, a system of thought that tried to reconcile faith with
reason. One of the key figures of this movement was Thomas Aquinas, who
wrote about the structure of the universe, divine justice, and the relationship
between human reason and God’s law. His ideas influenced both The Divine
Comedy and the way Giotto arranged his frescoes, particularly in their
sense of order and hierarchy.
Another major influence on both was St. Francis of
Assisi, who preached about humility, the importance of nature, and a direct
personal connection with God. Franciscan ideas led to a shift in
religious art, with more emphasis on human emotion and naturalistic figures.
Giotto’s frescoes in the Arena Chapel reflect this change, with
expressive figures and a more natural sense of space. Dante’s writing also
follows this, as he describes sinners and saints in personal, relatable terms
rather than as distant figures.
Both Dante and Giotto were shaped by the same
religious and cultural shifts, particularly the rise of Franciscan
thought and the spread of Scholasticism. They were also working in a
time when Italy’s cities were growing wealthier through trade, leading to
tensions over economic practices like usury. Their works reflect these
changes, each in their own medium—Dante through poetry, Giotto through
painting.
Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy in the
early 14th century, likely between 1308 and 1321, while he was living in exile
from Florence. The poem is divided into three sections—
Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso—and
follows a fictional version of Dante himself as he travels through Hell,
Purgatory, and Heaven. It was written in vernacular Italian rather than Latin,
which was the language typically used for scholarly and religious texts at the
time.
Dante was born in Florence in 1265 and was involved in
the city’s politics before being exiled in 1302. Florence was divided between
two political factions, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Dante
was part of the White Guelphs, who were opposed to the influence of the
Pope in Florentine government. When the Black Guelphs took control of
Florence, Dante was sentenced to exile, forcing him to live in various cities
in northern Italy for the rest of his life. His exile and the political
struggles of Florence shaped much of The Divine Comedy. Many of the
people he places in Inferno were real figures from Florence, including
political enemies and corrupt church officials.
Dante wrote The Divine Comedy without a formal
patron, relying instead on support from noble families who gave him shelter
during his exile. The poem was widely read after his death and played a role in
shaping the Italian language. Before Dante, most literature was written in Latin,
making it inaccessible to people who were not part of the educated elite. By
writing in Tuscan Italian, Dante helped establish the vernacular
as a literary language.
The world in The Divine Comedy is symbolic and structures
Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven in a detailed and hierarchical way. Inferno
is a deep pit with descending circles of punishment, Purgatorio is a
mountain that souls climb toward purification, and Paradiso is a series
of celestial spheres. These settings were influenced by medieval Christian
beliefs and earlier works, including Virgil’s Aeneid and theological
writings about the afterlife.
When it was first written, The Divine Comedy
gained attention among scholars, poets, and religious figures. Some supported
Dante’s portrayal of morality and justice, while others criticized his
placement of political and religious figures in Hell. Over time, the poem
became a foundational text in Italian literature and influenced later writers
and artists.
While there is no definitive proof that Giotto and
Dante collaborated or had a personal relationship, the similarities between
Giotto’s fresco cycle and Dante’s literary vision suggest that both were
engaging with the same religious and artistic themes of their time. There is no direct historical evidence
confirming that Giotto and Dante personally knew each other, but they lived
during the same period and moved in similar circles. Dante was born in 1265 and
was
active as a poet and
political figure in Florence, while Giotto was born around 1267 and was working
in various cities in Italy. Both men were associated with the ruling elites and
cultural life of Florence, and it is possible they met or were aware of each
other's work.
Several scholars have explored connections between Giotto’s
frescoes in the Arena Chapel and Dante’s Divine Comedy. One study
suggests that Dante's descriptions of the Last Judgment and the
afterlife share similarities with Giotto’s visual depictions in the chapel (Edson,
1989). The Last Judgment fresco on the chapel’s back wall includes
figures that resemble Dante’s descriptions of the damned and saved, reinforcing
common religious themes of the time.
Enrico Scrovegni, the patron of the chapel, is also directly
linked to Dante’s work. In the Inferno, Dante places Enrico’s father,
Reginaldo Scrovegni, among the usurers in the Seventh Circle of Hell.
Enrico’s inclusion in Giotto’s Last Judgment fresco, kneeling before the
chapel as an act of repentance, could be seen as a response to the family’s
negative portrayal in Dante’s poem
Other scholars argue that both Dante and Giotto were
influenced by similar theological and philosophical ideas rather than directly
referencing each other’s work. Their representations of morality, divine
justice, and human emotion reflect broader intellectual currents in early
14th-century Italy.
The Arena Chapel frescoes and The Divine Comedy
share similar religious themes and use visual and literary symbols to
communicate ideas about sin, redemption, and divine justice. Both works were
created in early 14th-century Italy and reflect Christian theology,
particularly ideas about salvation and punishment. Giotto painted the frescoes
inside the Arena Chapel
between 1303 and
1305, and Dante wrote The Divine Comedy between 1308 and 1321. Both
artists were influenced by Scholasticism, a system of thought that
sought to explain religious beliefs using reason, and Franciscan
spirituality, which emphasized humility, personal faith, and the human
experience of divine grace.
The fresco cycle inside the Arena Chapel tells the
story of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, ending with a large Last Judgment
scene on the back wall. The Divine Comedy follows Dante as he travels
through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, encountering
sinners, penitents, and the blessed. Both works structure their narratives
hierarchically, with clear divisions between different levels of morality and
justice. In the Arena Chapel, virtues and vices are arranged at the
bottom of the fresco cycle, while biblical events unfold in registers above.
Dante organizes Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven in a structured way, with
increasing levels of purification leading toward divine presence.
The use of buildings to tell a story and organize ideas was
important in the medieval period and carried into the early Renaissance. This
approach to structuring space and narrative can be seen later in the
Renaissance, particularly in the Sistine Chapel, which follows organizational
principles developed during the medieval period.
The Arena Chapel, also called the Scrovegni Chapel, is
arranged into five sections. One entire wall is dedicated to the Last
Judgment, placed in the most visually dominant position in the chapel. The
other four sections focus on the life of Christ, reinforcing his central role
in Christian belief.
Along the lowest section of the walls, a continuous band
depicts personified virtues and vices, except at the entrance and below the Last
Judgment. Above these, scenes from the life of Jesus appear, visually
resting on the virtues and vices below them. This arrangement suggests a
connection between Christ’s story and the moral principles represented beneath
it.
Above these two
bands, the uppermost section contains scenes from the lives of Christ’s
ancestors, including the life of the Virgin Mary and Joachim. These form the
uppermost layer of the chapel’s visual program, capping the narrative of
Christ’s life and the moral lessons below it.
A way to think about this structure is like a sandwich: the
virtues and vices on the bottom and the ancestors of Christ on the top act as
the bread, while the life of Christ is in the center. This kind of structured
organization reflects a broader medieval interest in categorization and
hierarchy, influenced in part by Scholasticism, a method of learning
associated with thinkers like St. Thomas Aquinas.
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