TO Padua Giotto’s masterpiece, lto Cappella degli Scrovegni, to be at the top of the Italian cities of art. Instead, this is only the starting point to discover various amazing frescoes, hidden in churches and palaces, which since last July thanks to the “Padova Urbs Picta” initiative have become part of the Unesco world heritage. They tell us about a golden age, the fourteenth century, in which the lords of the city and the religious leaders competed to surround themselves with beauty, hiring the most famous painters. These treasures are enclosed in the pedestrian-friendly historic center. And then, until next June there is an art exhibition that seduces those who love the mountains: the San Gaetano Center hosts until 5 June the exhibition “From romantics to Segantini”.
From the cliffs of Rügen to the Jungfrau
Thanks to 75 works from the Oskar Reinhart Foundation of Winterthuryou travel long 150 years of Swiss and German art, in which nature and the mountains play a predominant role. There are five masterpieces by the great romantic master Caspar David Friedrich, for the first time in Italy. Not to be missed: the magic of the Jungfrau painted by Ferdinand Hodler, Segantini’s “Alpine landscape with a woman at the drinking trough” that reverberates in gold and silver, the Pan di Bocklin hidden in the reeds. And then, the portraits: the daughters Ottilia by Giovanni Giacometti and Louise by Albert Anker. Info: www.lineadombra.it
Caspar David Friedrich: The white cliffs of Ruegen
A chapel for the rich Henry
Scrovegni Chapel Padua
The banker Enrico Scrovegni wanted to erect a family chapel for the salvation of his soul, but also to show his power to his fellow citizens. And when he comes to know that the superstar of fourteenth-century painters, Giotto, will be in town for the basilica of Sant’Antonio, he convinces him to work for him. The result is prodigious: the hall of the Scrovegni Chapel, painted from 1303 to 1305, tells the life of Mary, the stories of Joachim and Anna, the life and death of Christ as in an ante litteram cartoon. A curiosity: thanks to the Paduan authorities who in the nineteenth century prevented the then owners from removing the frescoes and selling them at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Info: www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it
Superstar Christ for Fina
Sometimes in the fourteenth century there were also women among the rich patrons of the artists. Fina de ‘Buzzacarini, wife of Francesco I da Carrara, lord of Padua, had the Baptistery of the Cathedral rearranged and called upon the painter Giusto de’ Menabuoi to fresco it. The noblewoman wants her to be more beautiful than Henry’s Chapel. And Giusto applies: the blessing Christ of the dome is spectacular, while the fantastic animals inspired by the Apocalypse are surprising. With a touch of malice towards Venetian rivals, portrays Pontius Pilate dressed as a doge. Don’t miss the fresco of Christ’s miracles that he portrays Petrarch from the crowd: close to him are Fina and Francesco. Info: www.battisteropadova.it
Padua Baptistery
Like a capsized ship
When it was built in the thirteenth century, the Palazzo della Ragione is an architectural marvel: it houses the largest hanging room (80 m long and 27 wide), resting on a portico. Inside, the court of Padua. It was in the fourteenth century that an engineer friar, fra ‘Giovanni degli Eremitani, is called for a restyling of the building, to give prestige to an ever more powerful city. It is he who creates the wooden roof “in the shape of an inverted ship”, which together with the frescoes on the walls leaves the visitor breathless. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed Giotto’s original frescoes: the ones you see today are from Nicola Miretto, however amazing. Info: www.padovacultura.it
Palace of reason Padua
Padua, in the patriots’ café
A stop for a dessert or an aperitif in the heart of the historic center is a must at Caffè Pedrocchi, a bizarre building with neoclassical references and Masonic symbolism. Since its opening in 1831 it becomes a meeting point for the patriots of the Risorgimento. Today it is perfect for a spritz, which here are also green, with herbs. Info: www.caffepedrocchi.it
Pedrocchi Coffee Padua
The most beautiful markets
In Padua there is nothing but spoiled for choice for those wandering around the stalls. Every day, from Monday to Saturday, the markets are in Piazza delle Erbe (food), piazza dei Frutti (food and various), Piazza dei Signori (food and various) and Prato della Valle (Saturday: plants and flowers and non-food products , fruit and vegetables the rest of the week). Info: www.padovanet.it/informazione/mercati-padova
Padua, piazza delle Erbe
The oratory of Lupi
Near the Basilica del Santo, theOratorio di San Giorgio is a fourteenth-century jewel frescoed by Altichiero da Zevio, built by Raimondino Lupi di Soragna, a man of arms at the service of the powerful from Carrara. To please his client, Altichiero also includes the family of Raimondino, Petrarca and the da Carrara in the stories of San Giorgio, Santa Caterina and Santa Lucia. Info: www.santantonio.org
San Giorgio Oratory in Padua
The surviving church
Apart from the magnificent frescoes by Guariento in the apse and in the presbytery, dedicated to the stories of Saints Philip, James and Augustine, the superb church of the Eremitani today may appear a little bare. Some parts of the work of Mantegna and Giusto de ‘Menabuoi remain. The fault of the war: the building was bombed by the Americans. Even earlier, in the Napoleonic era, they even wanted to demolish it. It is therefore a miracle to be able to visit it and enjoy its treasures.
Fresco of the Eremitani Church in Padua
All the Artists for Sant’Antonio
The Basilica of Sant’Antonio is an authentic concentrate of the crème of the artists of the time: Giotto, Giusto de ‘Menabuoi, Altichiero da Zevio and Jacopo Avanzi. Bonifacio Lupi di Soragna, a relative of Raimondino, had the chapel of San Giacomo built inside the basilica, recruiting Jacopo and Altichiero. Not to be missed: the representation of the council of Charlemagne, where the king is portrayed with the likeness of the king of Hungary, an ally of Padua, and other characters recall notables of the Carraresi court of the time, from Petrarch to Bonifacio Lupi himself. As in a giant manga, viewers of the time could recognize their most famous contemporaries. Info: www.santantonio.org
San Giacomo Chapel in Padua
Green masterpieces
The last stop is the botanical garden, the oldest in Europe in its original historical location. Founded in 1545 to cultivate medicinal plants, over time it was enriched with exotic plants from the countries with which Venice traded. Not to be missed: the greenhouses of the biodiversity garden with 1300 species from every continent, the venerable Ginkgo biloba which arrived in Padua in 1750 and the palm of St. Peter of 1585, also known as Goethe’s palm because when the writer dedicated some botanical writings to it. Info: www.ortobotanicopd.it
Botanical garden of Padua
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