Episode 19: The Giottosphere: Giotto di Bondone - Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel frescoes, c.1303-05
Interior view of the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel frescoes by Giotto. Padua, Italy. C. 1303-05
Stephanie Dueñas and Russell Shoemaker are back to take you way, WAY further back than ever - to the Giottosphere where they explore the frescoes of Italian artist and architect Giotto in the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel - an Early Renaissance masterpiece.
Join them as they discuss Giotto’s early life from his humble shepherd boy beginnings to his coming of age as a prodigy under the (former) GOAT painter Cimabue.
Giotto’s talent, personality, and fame landed him his most famous commission: the Scrovegni Chapel - commissioned by LendNation Loan Shark CEO Enrico Scrovegni - where he depicts the lives of the Virgin Mary and Jesus (oh, the irony).
At the end of Medieval times and on the cusp of the Renaissance, Giotto’s work reminds his audience that art can, in fact, depict actual humans through the use of attention to details like a figure’s emotional expression, babies (no, not shrunken men), the curl of a sheep’s wool or the drapery of a figure’s clothing. Giotto’s realistic and natural style would go on to inspire Renaissance masters like Michelangelo as well as stir emotions within those who experience the chapel.
Topics include: medieval flyswatters, T-clinic lawn signs, Lord Farquaad haircuts, and ancient comets.
The Art Pantry this week is Trompe L’oeil.
You can experience 360 VR of the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel here.
Be sure to listen to all the cuts that didn’t make it into the episode on our Patreon.
The song featured in this episode was “En attendant domain (Waiting for Tomorrow)” which is one of a hundred incredible songs by Rrrrrose of Loyalty Freak Music. Support Rrrrrose’s mission to create queer, free music against Capitalism and Fascism on Patreon. Consider supporting their work!
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@artslicepod Here’s a sneak peak at next week’s episode #giotto #giottodebondone #arthistory #arthistorytok #scrovegnichapel ♬ original sound - ArtSlice Palatable Art History
Exterior of the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel built circa early 1300s, Padua, Italy.
Codex Manesse, Reinmar v. Brennenburg. Illumination, Zurich, c. 1310–1340. 13” x 16”.
The cropped tumblr version of the page from the Codex Manesse Stephanie and Russell discussed.
Medieval depiction of a whale from the Peraldus’ Theological Miscellany manuscript, c. 1236-1250.
Mosaic of Queen Theodora (AD 547) in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.
Early example of Trompe l’oiel (pantry) Still life in the Second style. Fresco from the home of Julia Felix, Pompeii (1st century BC).
“The Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
“Joachim Among the Shepherds”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
“Annunciation to St. Anne”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
Leonora Carrington uses a similar cutaway structure in her oil painting A House Opposite (1945) as Giotto does in Annunciation to St. Anne (c. 1303-05).
Giotto’s Bell Tower, part of the Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy. 1334 -1359 (completed after Giotto’s death in 1337).
Another view of Giotto’s Bell Tower (Campanile) next to the Duomo (1296) - an iconic symbol of Florence.
“Joachim’s Sacrificial Offering”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
“Nativity - Birth of Jesus”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
“Adoration of the Magi”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
“Presentation of Christ at the Temple”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
“Baptism of Christ”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
“Entry into Jerusalem”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
16th century Lord Farquaad from Shrek (2001), sporting a haircut similar to the figures climbing the trees in Entry to Jerusalem.
Dee Dee Ramone and his long hair, short bangs ‘do c. late 1970s
“The Lamentation (Mourning of Christ)”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 79” x 73”.
“The Last Judgement”, fresco, by Giotto. Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, c.1303-05. 33’ x 27.5’.
