168 – Michelangelo: Leaning back, looking forward

Michelangelo, Jonah, c. 1511-12. Sistine Chapel, Vatican City. I’m just about to start a new series of lectures, Almost All of Michelangelo, and we kick off this Monday 5 September with The Paintings. Unlike my previous online talks, these will be two hour sessions, and will last from 5.30-7.30pm – with a ten minute gapContinue reading “168 – Michelangelo: Leaning back, looking forward”

112 …and so, ‘Farewell’…

Giotto, The Scrovegni Chapel, c. 1305, Padua. This is it, the very last ‘Scrovegni Saturday’. When I started out on this strand I had no idea what was coming, but I feel I understand Giotto’s decoration far better than I did before – and inevitably I also have far more questions about it than previously!Continue reading “112 …and so, ‘Farewell’…”

111 – Full circle

Giotto, Pentecost, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. One last image for Scrovegni Saturday before a final summing up next week: Pentecost, in which God hands over responsibility to man, and Giotto remains entirely human, and entirely poetic. I have covered the story before – twice, in fact: on the day itself, with Plautilla Nelli’s littleContinue reading “111 – Full circle”

110 – The Ascension

Giotto, The Ascension of Christ, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. Welcome back to Scrovegni Saturday – and I mean the Saturday bit specifically! Having said that, I think there are only two more to go. One next week (or the week after, to be honest), to look at the final image, and a ‘coda’ toContinue reading “110 – The Ascension”

108 – The Crucifixion

Giotto, The Road to Calvary and The Crucifixion, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. And so we begin the final chapter in the epic that is the Scrovegni Chapel, and to give you a better sense of where we are, I have found an image of the whole of the North Wall – clearly taken fromContinue reading “108 – The Crucifixion”

107 – Jesus in Custody

Giotto, Christ before Caiaphas and The Mocking of Christ, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. OK – so – Scrovegni Monday. Apologies… However, I will cover two pictures today – I will, I will, I will… They are the scenes which lead directly up to the Crucifixion of Christ, and as such form a cliff-hanger inContinue reading “107 – Jesus in Custody”

106 – The Arrest of Christ

Giotto, The Arrest of Christ, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. Happy Saturday! If you’re new to the blog, (a) Welcome! And (b) this is just one in a long series about Giotto’s decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua: at the bottom of this page you will find a link labelled ‘Scrovegni’ Chapel’, which willContinue reading “106 – The Arrest of Christ”

105 – Wash one another’s feet

Giotto,  Christ washing the Feet of the Disciples, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. After a socially distanced Jesus and Mary Magdalene, we arrive at the issue of washing our hands, something I know that, by now, we are all more than used to. Not that we didn’t do it before, of course. I imagine relativelyContinue reading “105 – Wash one another’s feet”

103 – The Last Supper

Giotto, The Last Supper, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. I know, it’s supposed to be Scrovegni Saturday, not Scrovegni Sunday, but it’s been one of those weeks. Apart from anything else, this is the first thing I’m typing on a new laptop, the old one having gradually wound down throughout lockdown. I’ve spent the lastContinue reading “103 – The Last Supper”

102 – Jesus… and Judas

Giotto, The Entry into Jerusalem, The Expulsion of the Money-changers from the Temple and The Betrayal of Judas, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. Welcome back to Scrovegni Saturday! We are, in some ways, approaching the beginning of the end, as we head towards the end of the sequence of Jesus’s life in the middle of the walls, andContinue reading “102 – Jesus… and Judas”