Enrico Scrovegni built it to redeem the soul of his father Reginaldo, a moneylender so notorious Dante placed him in Hell; he hired Giotto, and between 1303 and 1305 Western painting changed course. The Stories of Joachim, of Mary and of Christ beneath an ultramarine sky mark the point where figures stop being symbols and become people: since 2021 the chapel leads the UNESCO site "Padua's fourteenth-century frescoes".
What to see
Joachim and Anna's kiss at the Golden Gate — arguably painting's first true kiss —, the Lamentation with angels tearing the sky, the Last Judgement where Enrico offers a model of the chapel itself, and the starred vault. Along the base, the grisaille Vices and Virtues: Giotto inventing painted sculpture.
Visiting
Mandatory timed booking: small groups enter after fifteen minutes in a climate-stabilising room that settles humidity and dust, then fifteen minutes inside — twenty in the evening slots when offered. The ticket includes the Civic Museums at the Eremitani. The short time is deliberate: arrive knowing what you are looking for.
Getting there
The chapel stands in the gardens of the Roman arena, ten minutes' walk from Padua station. The Eremitani complex, with Mantegna's Ovetari chapel, is next door.
Our editors' tip
Use the fifteen acclimatisation minutes for the introductory film: inside you will not waste a second. And give the final minute to the vault alone — that blue with its eight-pointed stars is what follows you home.