Cappella degli Scrovegni

This modest brick chapel in Padua contains one of the supreme masterpieces of European painting, a complete fresco cycle by Giotto executed in the early 14th century. Its walls are covered with scenes from the lives of the Virgin and Christ, painted with a new sense of weight, emotion and space that helped set Western art on a fresh course. A serene blue starry vault arches overhead, and a vivid Last Judgement fills the entrance wall. Visitors enter in timed groups to protect the plaster.