They tell you when you buy the ticket to get there 20 minutes in advance. We were so grateful to have tickets after the mess I made of things that we actually did what they said. But, when we showed up, they told us to come back in 10 minutes. Okay.
We waited on a bench outside. Then we went back, and they told us just to wait some more. Finally, they had us all line up, walk outside near some Roman ruins, and then wait to be let into the anteroom, which has a interesting 15 minute video (with English subtitles, yay!). It also allows them to even out the humidity levels.
After the current group's time is up and they leave the chapel, they let us, by now ravenous wolves waiting to get at the frescoes, in.
The son of Reginaldo degli Scrovegni ("Reggie" to his friends) had the chapel built, allegedly because he felt guilt over daddy charging very high interest rates at a time when the Catholic Church said that was a no-no. Apparently Reggie was so infamous in certain circles that Dante placed degli Scrovegni in one of his levels of hell in some book that became modestly famous.
(Editor: Good one -- "infamous in certain circles" and "levels of hell" into the same sentence, but only obliquely referring to each other. Writer: Blind squirrel meets acorn.)
Reggie was denied a Christian burial. His son Enrico had the chapel built to make amends. After seeing Giotto's frescoes in St. Anthony's, Enrico hired Giotto to decorate the interior.
(Trivia -- "Giotto" means "God's Peace" in Italian, which is pretty cool.)
From Florence, Giotto spent ten years in Padua, creating some of the most vivid art of the early Renaissance. He lived 69 years, and was considered the top painter of his time.
His work at the Scrovegni Chapel is considered one of the supreme masterpieces of the early Renaissance. And, let me tell you, it lives up to its reputation.
We entered the long narrow chapel, and were instantly blown away by how impressive it is. I got goosebumps. People in the group whispered exclamations of wonder and joy.
Seeing it at night turned out to be wonderful. There was no daylight to distract. Now, my photos didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but there are still a number of them in the next post that will give you the idea.
The ceiling is a blue starry sky. The story of Jesus and his family are two higher levels on the two sides, with the lowest (third) level being the virtues on the left, and the other being the vices.
On the left at the top is Jesus's grandparents, Joachim and his wife. Then there are quite a few about Mary's life, and then the birth and life of Jesus. Not surprisingly, most of the frescoes are about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
At the very back of the chapel is the striking and massive Last Judgement.
We had plenty of time to admire and wonder at the frescoes. Still, when the bell sounded our time was up, it was hard to leave. Of course, there were still some people waiting with even later tickets than we had.
If you are going to be in northern Italy (Milan, Venice, the Dolomites, Verona, etc.), it is worth going to Padua to see the Scrovegni Chapel. Just make sure you get tickets well in advance. We were lucky, but I won't ever make that mistake again!
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