Florid Frescoes & Fancy Faculty Furnishings

Hello again, Blogonauts!

Padova continues to amaze!

The city is simultaneously bustling and mellow. Always milling about are smoking students, many of whom seem also seem to enjoy cigarettes. Cafés abound, starting each day caffeinating the citizenry and, later in the afternoon, soothing them with the ubiquitous spritz (a cocktail made from Aperol or Campari, prosecco, and club soda).

But in Venetto, that's humdrum. Let's talk more about what makes Padova unique.

One of the city's biggest claims to fame is the number and quality of its frescoes from the Middle Ages & Renaissance. They are, quite literally, plastered all over the city. The works are so artistically and historically renowned that in 2021 the United Nations named Padova's collection of frescoes a World Heritage Site.

Chances are that you already know of some famous frescoes: Michelangelo's paintings in the Sistine Chapel and Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper"come to mind.

Indeed, fresco painting developed in various places, and was well known even among the ancient Romans. Many surviving frescoes we excavated in Pompeii.

Essentially, the artist uses water colors to paint walls freshly coated with wet plaster. The color becomes incorporated into the wall itself as both the paint and plaster dry. Plaster usually dries in only a few hours, so the artist has to be quick and accurate. Often they'll plaster over a small area at a time so as to give themselves a chance of winning the battle against dehydration.

Padova's frescoes serve both religious and secular purposes. In religious settings, both Jesus and a variety of saints play central roles in the art. Martyrdom (though it has a few super-obvious downsides) eased ones way on the road to sainthood. And in keeping with that theme, many of the churchy frescoes depict crucifixions, torture, beheadings, stabbings, and mob violence suffered by the faithful, as well as a few miracle healings....which are often just as agonizing and bloody. All in all, there is an abundance of anguish.

St. Lucy being towed to a brothel by oxen

One wall of The Oratory of St. George, showing him tortured on the wheel

St. George's behading

Jesus' betrayal and St. Peter cutting off the ear of the High Priest's slave

God in heaven surrounded by angels & saints. (Ceiling of the Baptistery)

Perhaps the lives of Renaissance Padovans were so wretched that they could identify with the art on the walls where they worshiped. That would support the notion that misery loves company.

These themes, however, differ starkly from the more light and joyful religious themes I've seen depicted in other parts of Europe, and even in places like nearby Florence and Rome. (Don't get me wrong: There are still depictions of Jesus' crucifixion and, an odd favorite, of St. Sebastian's "unskilled acupuncture from 20 paces").

(By the way, even though I saw loads of Padua's religious frescoes, I missed the most famous, those by Gotti in the Scrovegni Chapel. Reservations were sold out long before I arrived.)

For Padova's secular frescoes, look to the walls of the Palazzo della Ragione (Palace of Reason). This enormous hall, 80 meters long, is covered by a ceiling that looks much like an upturned ship's hull. So close is the resemblance, you would almost expect to see leftover barnacles on the roof.

Now a self-referential museum, this multipurpose gathering spot served as courtroom, town council meeting space, social hall, and of course, a place where those who violated social norms were placed on a stool in the center of the room so that their fellow citizens could heap scorn upon them. They still have the stool on display.

I mean, doesn't all that sound like a New England town meeting?

 

To be sure, the frescoes that adorn the walls of the Palazzo della Ragione include religious depictions in the mix. (Separation of church and state was not a widespread Padovan value.) However, there are also depictions of town heroes, daily life like hunting and farming, signs of the zodiac, and various animal (both actual and mythic).

Of course we must also mention the elephant in the room...or rather the elephantine wooden horse that stands at one end of the hall. It was a gift to a Padovan nobleman in 1466 "on the occasion of a joust," according to the audio guide.

Yes, there are real people in that photo.

I could go on at length about Padova's frescoes (or perhaps you're thinking that I already have). So, now for something completely different!

I may have mentioned earlier that The University of Padova was founded in 1222. It owes its existence to a group of faculty and students who declared that what they were teaching at the University of Bologna was baloney, and they pulled up steaks...err...stakes and relocated to Padua. Initially the only areas of study were Law and Theology, but they soon expanded, including into the areas of Astronomy and Medicine.

And thus, from 1592 to 1610, Galileo Galilei, discoverer of the moons of Jupiter, taught to packed classrooms at the university. He was an astronomical rock star. By this point the primary lecture halls were in the Palazzo Bo. The students built Galileo a podium from which to teach, and made it so large that it would fit only in the largest lecture hall in the building. AND IT'S STILL THERE (although they've moved it just outside of the big hall.

 

Also in Palazzo Bo is what is euphemistically called the Anatomical Theater. The church had roundly condemned dissections of human remains, and unless you were super sneaky, what the clergy said had to be obeyed. However, the study of anatomy was becoming more important for medical practitioners. (Well...duh!) So eventually assent was given to perform dissections on dead criminals (who were probably going to hell anyway) for study and education.

Padova's anatomical theater was constructed in 1595 as an upside-down elliptical cone, surrounded by ringed platforms where students could stand to watch the professor and a barber (you read that right) dissect a corpse. Initially there no rails on the rings, but since an occasional student grew faint at the sight of human giblets, they installed a banister to stop the squeamish from falling onto the stage below. (Here's a photo of a miniaturized replica.)

It's too dangerous for tourists to parade up into the gallery, but the tour group got to go see the space, not from the viewpoint of the students, but from that of the corpse. It's a dim room, but photography is possible.

I'll close with one more dining delight: It's Italy, so of course I need to eat at least one pizza!

That's all for now from Padova. Next up: Vicenza.

Blog to you later!