Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel on Sky Arte's 'Sette Meraviglie'

Sky Arte HD dedicates a new episode of 'Sette Meraviglie' to the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, frescoed by Giotto. The episode airs Tuesday, June 23 at 21:10. The chapel was commissioned by wealthy banker Enrico Scrovegni, who hired Giotto after the artist worked in Assisi and Rimini. Giotto arrived in Padua in the early 14th century, called by the Franciscan friars to paint in the Basilica of Sant'Antonio. He then fully frescoed the Scrovegni Chapel with a unified cycle of paintings and decorations, making the oratory a single monumental work. The chapel is notable for Giotto's mastery in fusing real architectural space with painted representation, using ornamental bands that mimic contemporary wall decorations—a technique not seen since Greco-Roman art. The Last Judgment, painted around 1306, features a multitude of figures without spatial division, influencing the entire Italian Renaissance, including Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. Padua's UNESCO recognition began in 1997 with the Botanical Garden (founded 1545). In 2006, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage submitted the Scrovegni Chapel for UNESCO candidacy.