Lecture 7: Giotto and the Arena Chapel—Part II

Giotto and the Arena Chapel—Part II ...............................................

Lecture 7

When we left off our examination of Giotto’s Arena Chapel yesterday,

I wanted to return directly with the scenes devoted to the life of Christ.

These are the majority of scenes in the Arena Chapel.

W

e will discuss Giotto’s powerful renditions of popular Christian

subjects by describing speci¿ c details of the narrative. Two scenes

are fairly visible in our example. On the right-hand wall, in the

middle tier, is the Flight into Egypt. On the left-hand wall, also in the middle

tier, is the Baptism of Christ. We will look at both of these more closely,

but before we continue, let’s look brieÀ y at the Annunciation again. The

Annunciation takes place on either side of the arch, with the Angel Gabriel on

the left, the Virgin Mary on the right, and God the Father shown above. Note

the rooms that Gabriel and the Virgin Mary inhabit. The architecture in the

painting is tilted so that the ¿ gures can be seen from the center, conveying a

sense of space and of volume. Observe the consistent use of light connecting

the three ¿ gures. Remember that everything in the chapel is painted except

for the windows and arch. What ¿ rst appear to be marble, sculptures, and

horizontal bands are all painted.

Let us continue to the south wall on the right. In Flight into Egypt, once

more, a dream plays an important role in the cycle of the Arena Chapel. An

angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him to À ee with his family

to Egypt because Herod was seeking to kill the child who would become

king of the Jews. This scene shows Joseph leaving with his family. Note that

the Madonna is a monumental ¿ gure. Her ¿ gure and the mountain behind her

create a ledge of space that implies a sense of danger. Giotto used this scene

to present an “everyday” moment, one of his favorite themes. The Madonna

appears beige, but her robes were originally painted with azurite. The secco

technique was used because azurite was too expensive to wash into the

plaster, but the blue on the surface has disappeared over time. However, the

¿ gure’s form still reveals a strong, expressive image.