Giotto di Bondone, a key figure in fourteenth-century Italian painting, is the artist who historically closes the medieval era and opens the door to a new kind of painting.

His vision is realistic: he brings perspective into his works and, for the first time, religious figures are depicted with pathos and humanity, as close to man as to nature.

Giotto’s Starry Sky in Padua – The Scrovegni Chapel

The fresco cycle of the Scrovegni Chapel was painted by Giotto between 1303 and 1305: for more than two years, almost a hundred workers laboured under Giotto’s direction to complete the immense pictorial work depicting the stories of Mary and Jesus, a total of 850 m2 of frescoes.

Inside the Scrovegni Chapel we are watched over by a starry sky made of pure colour and brilliant light. The Virgin observes and protects us from the exact centre of the vault.

The golden eight-pointed stars that Giotto painted in gold leaf on an azurite background are a metaphor for the divine, for perfection and harmony.