6Arena Chapel (Scrovegni Chapel), Padua, Italy
For frescoes from the early stages of the Italian Renaissance, look no further than Giotto’s work in the Arena Chapel in Padua. Giotto, considered a pioneer of Renaissance art, completed this cycle of frescoes between 1303 and 1305. The chapel’s frescoes tell the story of the Virgin Mary and the life of Christ, with a particular focus on human emotion and narrative clarity—qualities that were revolutionary at the time.
The brilliance of Giotto’s frescoes lies in his attention to human expressions and body language, which imbue the figures with a profound sense of drama and humanity. These frescoes influenced generations of artists and marked a turning point in Western art, moving away from Byzantine stiffness and toward more naturalistic representation.
