Tag: Giotto
Rome: San Giovanni in Laterano
Florence: Giotto at the Uffizi

I will not hide the fact that I consider Giotto di Bondone (ca. 1266-1337) one of the greatest painters of all time. Giotto broke with Byzantine formalism and rigidness and started painting people as people again, with natural forms, intricate details and brilliant colours. His year of birth is uncertain,…
Padova: Eremitani Museums
Padova: Cappella degli Scrovegni

The Cappella degli Scrovegni is arguably Padova’s most famous monument. I had been looking forward to visiting it for quite some time and had made my reservation to see the chapel weeks in advance. These reservations are compulsory, and to protect the vulnerable frescoes inside, a maximum of 25 visitors…
Padova: Il Santo
Padova: Palazzo della Ragione
Padova: The Baptistery of the Duomo

The Duomo of Padova, i.e. the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, is a bit of a disappointment. The building we see today was constructed between 1551 and 1754, replacing an earlier edifice. Its exterior, with an undecorated facade in naked brick, is simple and unimpressive. Somehow the builders never got…
Arezzo: The Duomo
Florence: Santa Reparata
Florence: Santa Croce
Florence: Santa Maria Novella
Florence: Badia Fiorentina
Florence: The Duomo
Florence: The Baptistery of San Giovanni

An old legend claims that Florence’s beautiful Baptistery of San Giovanni was originally a temple of Mars, the Roman god of war. The Roman emperor Augustus supposedly had it built to celebrate the subjugation of nearby Fiesole (Faesulae in those days) and the early Christians later converted it into a…