The Arena Chapel as an Important Part of Italian Medieval Culture - Essay Example

Reflections on Questions Arena Chapel The Arena Chapel is an important part of Italian Medieval Culture. Around about 1300, Enrico Scrovegni purchased a piece of land in Padua that was located on an area that had previously been a Roman arena. He proceeded to build a large palace on the location and within his palace had a chapel constructed to the memory of the Virgin of the Annunciation, Santa Maria Annunziata, and the Virgin of Chastity, Santa Maria del Carita. We know this chapel today as the Arena Chapel. Scovegni had a reason and a purpose for purchasing the land and building his chapel, and most of this had to do with the history of his family. Scorvegni's wealth had been obtained by his father, a figure also reported in Dante's Inferno as a usurer. The collection and distribution of money in order to obtain a profit, or usuring, was a very serious sin during this time period. Scorvegni thus more than likely had the chapel made in order to atone for his father's crimes. This was a way for Scorvegni to regain his family's name and thus to cleanse himself of anything his father may have done in the past. This can best be displayed by Scorvegni's dedication of the chapel in part to Santa Maria del Carita de Arena, the Virgin of Chastity, to try and remove the greedy stamp that had been applied to the family. Furthermore, within the Chapel itself, the sin of usury can be viewed in several of the chapel's frescoes. Perhaps the most powerful vision of this present in the chapel is the picture of Judas accepting money to betray Christ. Another picture displaying this image depicts Christ banishing the Temple merchants, and the addition of the usurers being hanged in Hell from their money bags. Scorvegni thus made a serious attempt to let others know that he did recognize the sins of his family as serious ones. Scrovegni's development of the chapel was meant to be viewed as a reflection of his piety, and his atonement for the sins of his father. He was also following in the footsteps of the practice of the time, for several wealthy merchants had chapels constructed within their palaces. This seems to present us with a bit of conflict of motivation for the chapel's creations, which is also reflected in some of the chapel's pictorials: Among the factors that relate specifically to Enrico Scrovegni are a possible desire to expiate his father's usury and at the same time to make his own expenditure conspicuous; an ambition for status combined with a fear of damnation; a desire, on the one hand, to be regarded as an ascetic devoted to the cult of the Virgin, and, on the other, to secure for himself a fitting property to serve as his personal monument. (Norman 92) It appears quite possible that the Chapel was consecrated on March 25, 1305, during the Feast of the Annunciation (Norman 92). The first reference to the Arena Chapel was discovered in the poem The Documents of Love composed by Barberino. The poem alludes to Envy which "Giotto painted excellently in the Arena at Padua." Envy is just one figure of sins and vices found on the walls of the chapel. The chapel is a very interesting composition that tells a story within the cycle of its frescos. The cycle of the pictures displays the story of the Life of the Virgin as well as the Life of Christ. The presentation of the Virgin's story seems highly significant since the chapel itself is dedicated to the Virgin. Another interesting part of the chapel's dedication is the area reserved for the Virgin of the Annunciation, which also helps to contribute to the Annunciation on the Chancel Arch. The frescos here represent the end of the story of the Virgin and the beginning of the story of Christ (Cole 98). The story starts on the higher level on the south wall, with Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin. The story then progresses from east to west. Viewers first see the Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple and the finale of this occurrence, when Joachim and Anna discover each other at the Golden Gate. After this beings the story of the Virgin, starting on the top register of the north wall, and the frescos progress from west to east all the way through the Virgin's Marriage. After this, viewers see the story of Christ, starting on the Chancel Arch. The story progresses to tell about Christ's Ministry. The most impressive frescos and the most passionate part of the story are demonstrated through Christ's Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost (Basile 36). Giotto Giotto di Bondone, the painter of the Arena Chapel, has been remembered for his revolutionary naturalism, which was a new style of art introduced to Italy. This type of naturalism is represented in his Arena Chapel, discussed above. Giotto's contemporaries loved his emotional intensity, which produced a sense of dramatic realism within his art. Giotto has been recognized for deciphering what he believed was the crude work of the Byzantine paintings into the natural artistry that was usually considered a part of ancient Roman art. His belief in this is strongly presented in the Arena Chapel in Padua, where his paintings grasp the concept of monumental human forms to explain a narrative and thus to very dramatically set the stage for future artistry. Giotto set the stage for a new generation of painters and ideas, and thus many of his concepts have been considered revolutionary. The artist often depicted the artistic desires of the upper class. The Arena Chapel is a perfect example of this, Enrico Scrovegni was a member of the upper class, for Giotto was often hired by the aristocracy to paint their chapels and altarpieces. Giotto differentiated himself from other artists; instead of being poorer, like most artists, he was a very intelligent marketer of his talents who had earned the renowned title of Official Architect of the city. He also participated in money lending and earned a fortune by doing so. His financial status played a very important role in his life, as he even composed a poem denouncing people in the state of poverty (Konneman 161). This focus on financial status comes across strongly in his works and paintings. Much of Giotto's inspirations came from traditional and contemporary concepts of art occurring in Rome at this time. The classic styles were becoming more fashionable, and we see one of these trends in Giotto's paintings. This trend is a rationalist approach to painting. For example, in the composition Confirmation of the Rule of the Franciscan Order, Giotto dove far into his fascination with the human body (Konneman 82). The drapery hangs with gravity in mind in relation to the body found below it. Furthermore, the painting aspects are presented with a type of equality. We do not see a distinction between the subject and the background. The entire painting is to be seen as one whole, with no figure of primary importance being put forth. Furthermore, the composition is simply and presents a sense of solid realism because unnecessary detail is left out. Antiquity played a big part in Giotto's works. Most of this had to do with the significance of Giotto's location at the time, for Rome was attempting to recreate a remembrance of its strength and power. Furthermore, the desire of the aristocracy to have such paintings produced allowed Giotto an opportunity to develop his own personal interests in this style. Giotto was therefore lucky in that his own interests coincided with those of the aristocracy, who would happily seek him out and hire him to produce magnificent paintings and decorations. In order to gain a better understanding of Giotto's style, we will take a closer look at one of his paintings, The Mourning of Christ, painted about 1305 in Padua (Konneman 89). Here we see the subject mourning above Christ's deceased body, while the Virgin holds her son for the final time. We can see that Giotto did not care to demonstrate the scene of Christ's death as it actually may have happened. Instead, he changes the figures' sizes so that they fit precisely into the painting, and therefore everything is mashed together. We can see that the artist did not pay much attention to space. Giotto has a different method than most artists, for he believes that painting is a reflection of writing. Therefore, we are seeing real events almost as if they were being played out in a drama, on stage, in front of an audience. The usual gesture of St. John's mourning is not even presented in this picture. Furthermore, if we attempt to envision the distance between each of the subjects and St. John, we feel that there is, for sure, space between them, but this space allows for little movement. Thus, Giotto's art was a very new concept. The previous ideas had believed that each story had to demonstrate a figure completely, but Giotto does not use this concept at all; he decided to throw out these simplistic concepts. Instead, he demonstrates, rather matter-of-factly, how the subjects can demonstrate grief without these normal conventions. Dante Dante is recognized as perhaps one of the greatest, if not the greatest, poet who wrote in the Italian language, alongside Boccaccio and Petrach. He is considered part of the trio of Italian authors. Dante's work was usually influenced by love and politics, as many of his writings deeply reflected his own emotional states. During Dante's tenure in Italy, Florence was a thriving, popular cite but it was certainly not a peaceful one. There was a continuous fight of faction in opposition with each other, and these two factions constantly fought for power and control within the city walls. Dante and Giotto's presentation of the Arena Chapel seem to share a common dramatic feel. A viewer who stands in the Arena Chapel will view, above the chancel arch, God the Father as he sends Gabriel to the Annunciation. Then, on the west wall, the Last Judgment demonstrates a divine intention to the final closure. One an move through the stories and there awesome frescoes, feeling the drama behind the powerful narrative that demonstrated what he medieval mind though of as history, and the progression of God's will. Above the viewer appears a starry azure vault, as the concept of eternity views those who exit and enter this perpetual masterpiece. Present on the dado are Virtues as well as Vices, and the Last Judgment presents a solid conflict of opposites, Christ versus Satan. This picture narrative demonstrates the type of consistency and symmetry that can be found in Dante's Divine Comedy. Furthermore, the dramatic technique of the story, which reflects on the classic Roman technique, is also akin to Dante's style. This is perhaps, in part, due to Giotto's belief that pictures should be used to tell stories, and not stories alone, but dramatic ones. Dante believed in the same concepts, and used the same sort of structure and composition with his written word in the Divine Comedy. Thus, Dante and Giotto possess similar themes about art and the written word, and their styles, although using two different types of artistic mediums, do reflect several similarities (Antal 67). The focus on the classical had a huge impact on Masaccio and Michelangelo as well; both of these artists can be considered divine artists, as Dante could be considered a divine writer, and Giotto could be considered a divine painter. Similar to Giotto, Masaccio transcribes the outer image and is very dramatic, not necessarily visionary, with his paintings. This is similar to Dante, who also presents his writing as if he is an impassive spectator viewing the action. The dramatic techniques and the focus on the classical thus tie all of these painters together. Therefore, Dante's focus on the classical and the dramatic helped to pave the way for Masaccio and Michelangelo. However, Masaccio and Michelangelo did have their own concepts regarding paintings and art. For Michelangelo, art does not always tell a story. Sometimes it works as a symbol, or a reflection, of something else. Still yet, Michelangelo did remain in the classical tradition when he produced his artwork. Masaccio was also more likely to focus on the symbolic. Works Cited Antal, Frederick. Florentine Painting and its Social Background. London: Kegan Paul, 1947. Konemann, L. The Art of the Italian Renaissance. Architecture. Sculpture. Painting. Drawing. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. Cole, Bruce, Giotto: The Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, New York: Westing Press, 1993. Norman, Diana. Siena, Florence, and Padua: Art, Society and Religion 1280-1400. Volume II: Case Studies, p. 92. Stubblebine, James (ed.), Giotto: The Arena Chapel Frescoes/ New York: Advant Press, 1969. Read More