by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
Vices and Virtues in the Scrovegni Chapel: Introduction
Below the blue skies and crowded biblical scenes of Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel, fourteen pale figures occupy a quieter architectural world. They stand, sit, stumble or rise within narrow painted compartments, surrounded by imitation stone. A woman examines a mirror; another pulls her clothing apart. A crowned ruler holds two small figures in balance. Envy grips a purse while a snake turns from her mouth towards her eyes. These are the chapel’s Vices and Virtues, painted as part of the great fresco cycle of 1303–05. Their position near the visitor’s own level makes the moral argument of the chapel unusually immediate. [1]
The fourteen belong together. Seven Virtues face seven opposing Vices across the nave, and both sequences lead towards the Last Judgement on the entrance wall. Their argument unfolds through objects, gestures, weight and direction. Fortitude holds her ground while Inconstancy loses hers; Charity opens an exchange with heaven while Envy remains trapped in a circuit of possession and injury. Looking across the room is as important as following either wall.
At a Glance
- ProgrammeFourteen Vices and Virtues in the Scrovegni Chapel, painted within the cycle of 1303–05. [1]
- PositionVirtues on the south wall face Vices on the north wall, in the chapel’s lower zone. [2]
- DirectionBoth sequences run from the altar end towards the entrance and Last Judgement. [2]
This work across Giotto’s career
Santa Maria Novella Crucifix
Late 13th century; c.1288–89 or 1298–1301; disputed; track: c.1288–89 [3]Life of Saint Francis — Upper Church cycle, Assisi
Traditionally Giotto; late 13th–early 14th century; authorship and date disputed; track: c.1290–95 convention [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]Ognissanti Madonna
c.1300–05 (Uffizi); c.1310 also proposed; track: c.1300–05 [9]Scrovegni Chapel — painted decoration
c.1303–05 (chapel campaign); Giotto and workshop (painted decoration) [10] [11] [12]Vices and Virtues — complete fourteen-figure programme (current article)
c.1303–05 (chapel campaign); Giotto and workshop [13] [14]Madonna and Child — Washington / Goldman Madonna
c.1310–1315 (National Gallery of Art) [15]Stefaneschi Triptych
c.1320; 1315–20 (Vatican Museums); Giotto and workshop [16]Bardi Chapel — painted decoration
After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed; Giotto and workshop / Giottesque painters; individual hands disputed [17] [18]Baroncelli Polyptych
After 1328; completion uncertain; band continues to axis edge; Giotto and workshop [19]Giotto’s Campanile — Florence Cathedral bell tower
Giotto’s phase 1334–37; completed 1359 by successors [20] [21] [22]Contents
- Where the figures stand
- Painting that takes the form of stone
- Prudence and Folly: how to look
- Fortitude and Inconstancy: standing and slipping
- Temperance and Wrath: governing the body
- Justice and Injustice: what government does to others
- Faith and Infidelity: competing acts of attention
- Charity and Envy: giving, grasping and being consumed
- Hope and Despair at the threshold of Judgement
- The moral figures and the stories above
Where the figures stand
Stand inside the chapel facing the altar. The Virtues occupy the lower part of the wall on your right, the south wall; the Vices occupy the corresponding zone on your left, the north wall. Both sequences begin at the altar end and move towards the entrance and the Last Judgement behind you. Prudence and Folly stand nearest the altar end, Justice and Injustice occupy the middle positions, and Hope and Despair come nearest the Judgement. Nadia Munari’s study of the chapel’s narrative routes confirms this east-to-west movement along both walls. [2]
| From the altar end towards the entrance | Virtue, south wall | Opposing Vice, north wall |
|---|---|---|
| First pair | Prudence | Folly |
| Second pair | Fortitude | Inconstancy |
| Third pair | Temperance | Wrath |
| Fourth pair | Justice | Injustice |
| Fifth pair | Faith | Infidelity, catalogued by Padova Musei as Idolatry |
| Sixth pair | Charity | Envy |
| Seventh pair | Hope | Despair |
The distinction between this arrangement and the familiar seven deadly sins matters. The Virtues comprise four cardinal virtues—Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance and Justice—and three theological virtues—Faith, Charity and Hope. Their opponents have been chosen to answer these particular qualities. Folly, Inconstancy, Injustice, Infidelity and Despair would not fit a simple checklist of Pride, Avarice, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath and Sloth. Michael Viktor Schwarz emphasises that the sequence and its opposing figures constitute deliberate choices: Justice’s central place and Hope’s proximity to the Judgement give the arrangement its particular force. [23]
This is also a different route from the biblical narrative above. The stories require the eye to travel through successive registers and around the room; the moral figures move steadily towards one end. They supply a continuous lower accompaniment to the changing episodes overhead. A visitor turning towards the exit therefore encounters the destination of both paths: the division of the blessed and the damned in the Last Judgement. The people standing in the nave occupy the space between the alternatives.
Painting that takes the form of stone
The figures are often described as monochrome frescoes or grisaille. Their pale bodies and garments do resemble sculpture, but the setting is richer than an absence of colour. Dark backgrounds, reddish ledges and carefully veined imitation marble give the wall the appearance of costly stonework. Envy’s red flames are especially conspicuous against her pale dress. The effect depends on several imagined materials, all made with paint.
Schwarz gives this illusion a precise interpretation. He understands the figures as painted representations of shallow sculptural reliefs set into marble revetment, rather than simply statues standing in deep niches. He points to the coloured backgrounds and details as part of an imagined assemblage of different stones. This reading helps explain why the figures can look at once substantial and strangely constrained: their limbs suggest living movement, while their narrow compartments maintain the character of an architectural surface. [24]
Look at the feet. Fortitude’s drapery settles heavily on the ledge. Folly’s bare feet spread awkwardly below an unstable-looking body. Inconstancy’s footing is visibly compromised, while Hope rises clear of an ordinary standing position. The lower border becomes a measuring line against which Giotto tests each figure’s relation to the ground. A philosophical quality acquires a bodily condition: steadiness, restraint, imbalance, release.
Frontality is equally expressive. Faith presents her cross and scroll almost ceremonially towards the room. Justice faces out from an elaborate throne. Envy, by contrast, appears sharply in profile, her projecting nose, long ear and looping snake concentrating attention around the head. The shared architecture makes such differences legible. Because the figures inhabit comparable fields, the viewer can register the variations in their stance and equipment without needing a new setting for every idea.
Words participate in the illusion. Names appear above the figures, and longer explanatory texts occupy painted tablets below them. Schwarz identifies these tituli as short rhyming Latin verses and notes the uneven survival of their lettering, applied on the dry surface. The inscriptions make the personifications both objects to inspect and subjects to interpret. Their placement beneath the bodies resembles the explanatory authority of an inscribed monument. [24]
The worn lettering also changes the modern encounter. A name may remain readable where much of the verse below has faded, leaving gesture and attribute to carry more of the meaning. The present surface should not be treated as an untouched record of every original colour or letter. Yet enough survives to show that Giotto’s moral images were conceived within a setting where painting, imagined carving and written explanation worked together.
Prudence and Folly: how to look
Prudence sits behind a large desk, with a book before her and a mirror raised towards her face. The furniture has a solidity comparable to the lecterns and thrones of the narrative scenes. Its projecting front occupies much of the lower field, placing her in a recognisable setting of study and judgement. Behind the main face, at the back of the head, a second, older profile is visible. Padova Musei connects this backward-looking head and the mirror with knowledge of the past. [25]
Prudence with mirror, book and desk, photographed in 2017 with the painted surround and lower tablet. Photo: © Jörgens.Mi/Wikipedia. Image source. CC BY-SA 3.0. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
The mirror is small, but the act of attending to it directs the whole upper body. Prudence’s gaze moves away from the viewer towards an object requiring examination. Her book adds another kind of consultation. Taken together, these attributes make deliberation an activity: looking, remembering and testing what is known. The figure’s stillness contains work.
Across the nave, Folly carries a heavy club and wears a conspicuous feathered headdress. The mouth is open, the chin lifted, and the short costume leaves the legs exposed. A thick, uneven belt and trailing cloth interrupt the body’s outline. The civic museum describes the figure as a jester representing folly. [25] The club rises beyond the inner frame, giving the ungainly stance an additional, obtrusive energy.
Folly, or Foolishness, with the oversized club and feathered headdress. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
The pair offers two conspicuously different relationships to an object in the hands. Prudence examines a small reflective surface; Folly handles an oversized implement. One body is organised around a desk and concentrated attention, the other around display and awkward physical force. At the beginning of the two sequences, Giotto gives the visitor a lesson in looking itself. The attributes make sense only when their use, scale and relation to the body are observed together.
Fortitude and Inconstancy: standing and slipping
Fortitude’s large shield occupies nearly half her field. Its face bears a lion, and broken shafts project from its surface. She holds a club across her body, while a lion skin covers her head and shoulders. These are the attributes identified in the institutional catalogue. [26] Their density makes her comparatively narrow painted compartment feel strongly defended.
Fortitude with shield, club and lion skin. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
Her head turns, but the figure does not appear to turn with it. The body remains upright beneath layers of armour, fabric and animal skin. Broad folds fall towards the feet, and the shield supplies an almost architectural vertical beside her. The damaged weapons on its surface introduce the evidence of pressure resisted: the defence has been tested. The club is held ready without becoming the cause of an uncontrolled swing.
Inconstancy brings a radically different rhythm to the opposite wall. She leans backwards, arms opening in different directions, her long dress sweeping diagonally through the compartment. A broad curved form fills the space behind her upper body, while her feet meet the rounded support below. The institutional account identifies a young woman on a wheel about to fall backwards. [26] In the photograph, the red and pale mottling of the lower support further disturbs any expectation of a simple level base.
Inconstancy leaning backwards on an unstable rounded support. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
The fall remains suspended. Her hand reaches towards the border, but it secures no firm hold. Giotto makes the surrounding rectangle feel steady because the body within it is not. Fortitude’s shield and Inconstancy’s unstable support supply opposed physical conditions: defence against pressure and exposure to movement. The pairing translates constancy into the practical experience of being able to stand.
Temperance and Wrath: governing the body
Temperance stands almost frontally, wrapped in an ample cloak. Her sword remains controlled within its covering, and a strap passes across her mouth. Padova Musei identifies the latter as a bridle and the sword as bound, attributes of the need for moderation. [27] The image makes restraint visible in two different places: the instrument that could strike and the mouth that could speak.
Temperance with restrained mouth and bound sword. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
Her hands hold the sword close to the torso. The composition gathers its potential force inward, and the cloak falls in broad, orderly folds. The small bridle is easy to miss when looking only at the whole figure. Once noticed, it gives the calm face a different significance: measured conduct is represented through an active means of control.
Wrath tears open her dress. Both hands seize the fabric at the chest, pulling in contrary directions as the head tilts back. Her long hair falls loose behind one side of the body. The elbows widen the silhouette, creating a forceful triangle across the shoulders and upper torso. The institutional description is brief—a woman tearing her clothing—but Giotto gives this single action enough physical specificity to fill the panel. [27]
Wrath pulling her clothing apart. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
Temperance’s hands contain an implement; Wrath’s hands attack the covering of her own body. The contrast is carried by the management of cloth as much as by the faces. Folded, bound and gathered forms oppose a garment being forcibly divided. A viewer can follow the strain from Wrath’s clenched hands into the taut edges of the neckline, then compare it with the gathered cloak across the nave.
Justice and Injustice: what government does to others
At the midpoint of each wall, the moral argument expands into public life. Justice and Injustice are given substantial seats, and both include small scenes below the principal figure. These lower friezes are essential. They show what happens in the world governed by the quality above.
Justice wears a crown and sits beneath an elaborate Gothic canopy. Its pointed central arch, flanking pinnacles and slender columns frame her almost like an enthroned ruler. Her face and shoulders are presented with a composure reinforced by the spread of her cloak. She supports a balance with small figures representing opposed actions; the institutional catalogue explains these as the weighing of good and bad conduct. [28]
Justice with the lower frieze of peaceful travel and recreation retained. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
In the lower band, riders travel at either side of a small group of women. The women raise their arms in a dance, with a round musical instrument visible beside them. The scale is tiny compared with Justice’s body, yet the figures remain distinct enough to communicate movement, company and recreation. The horsemen’s passage and the women’s open gestures make the landscape appear usable and shared. The peaceful consequences of judgement become everyday freedoms: travelling through the countryside and gathering without attack.
Injustice occupies a much rougher architectural setting. A crenellated structure replaces Justice’s delicate canopy. The seated, bearded figure turns his head to the side and holds a long hooked weapon; the institutional description also identifies a sword. Trees and undergrowth rise in front of the body, obscuring much of the lower half. The throne is monumental, but its occupant appears cut off from direct engagement with the viewer. [28]
Injustice with the lower frieze showing the violent consequences of bad government. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
Below, the violence is explicit. Armed men stand over people on the ground; a figure bends towards a prone body, while another lies exposed across the foreground. A mounted traveller at the left and the armed group at the right turn the strip into a place of confrontation. Padova Musei describes these as the effects of bad government: war, crime and plunder. [28] The contrast with Justice’s riders and dancers is exact in its social scale. The same broad category of public space can support circulation and pleasure or become a site of predation.
The pairing gives Justice a centrality that extends beyond the symmetrical order of seven compartments. Prudence, Fortitude and Temperance concern how conduct is directed and controlled; the middle images reveal the consequences for people beyond the principal body. The viewer must move from a large emblematic ruler to very small human beings beneath it. Giotto makes looking down an ethical action within the picture: the meaning of authority is tested by the lives taking place at its feet.
Scholars have related the contrast to Padua’s memory of tyrannical rule under Ezzelino da Romano and its overthrow. Laura Jacobus, reviewing Anne Derbes and Mark Sandona’s interpretation of the chapel, regards this political context as more persuasive than attempts to connect every element to a single story of Enrico Scrovegni’s conversion from usury. [29] The historical association is valuable without turning Injustice into a securely documented portrait of a particular ruler. The visible contrast already establishes the cycle’s concern with government and the common life.
Faith and Infidelity: competing acts of attention
Faith faces the nave holding a cross in one hand and a large unfurling scroll in the other. Her cloak spreads outwards, giving the body an imposing breadth. Books and other objects lie beneath her feet. The institutional catalogue interprets the scene through the authority of sacred scripture and the rejection of writings it calls false. [30] This is the language of the chapel’s medieval Christian polemic.
Faith holding the cross and unfurling scroll. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
The opposite figure bears the painted Latin name Infidelitas, normally translated as Infidelity or Unbelief. Padova Musei catalogues the fresco as Idolatria, Idolatry. Both titles point towards its visible action: a person carries a small idol connected by a cord to the neck. At the upper right, a figure with a scroll addresses the scene, while the principal figure’s head inclines away. The museum explains this as a failure to see and hear the sacred text. [30]
Infidelity in an Alinari photograph dated circa 1875–1900, including the upper scroll-bearing figure; this is a historical reproduction. Fratelli Alinari, named on object. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
There is an unusually pointed reversal between the scale of these objects. Faith’s scroll opens in a broad arc above her hand, while Infidelity’s attention is occupied by a miniature figure held out at arm’s length. The cord makes the apparent possession reciprocal: the person holds the object but is also attached to it. That visual entanglement gives the allegory more force than the simple presence of an idol would have done.
The pair belongs to the chapel’s account of recognition and belief. It cannot provide neutral portraits of other religions or a general description of people outside Christianity. Its images distinguish authorised and rejected forms of attention within a specific historical theology. Read in that setting, the contrast continues a concern already present in Prudence and Folly: what the eyes and ears are directed towards, and how a person responds to what is offered.
Charity and Envy: giving, grasping and being consumed
Charity raises a heart towards a heavenly figure appearing in the upper corner. Her other hand supports a bowl filled with flowers and fruit. Her gaze follows the lifted arm, creating a clear diagonal from the face to the exchange above. Below her feet lie bulging money bags. Padova Musei identifies the offering of the heart to God, the flowers and fruit as signs of love, and the bags beneath her as money overcome. [31]
Charity offering a heart above and holding a bowl of fruit and flowers. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
The arrangement sets different kinds of value at distinct heights. Money lies on the ground; the produce of living growth is held out to the side; the heart rises above the head. Her hands have separate tasks, yet the whole figure remains open. The bowl projects towards the viewer’s space, while the raised hand reaches beyond the dark inner field. Giving is made a movement across the boundaries of the compartment.
Envy grips her purse close to her body. Her free hand extends in front, its fingers curved, while the head projects in profile. An exaggerated ear rises behind the face. A snake emerges from the mouth and loops back towards the eyes. Flames surround the lower dress, climbing in red tongues from the ledge. The visual circuit is tightly closed: the destructive thing issuing from her mouth returns against her own sight. [31]
Envy with purse, looping snake and flames. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
Chiara Ponchia discusses precisely these details—the purse, long ears, serpentine tongue and difficult-to-see eyes—and connects them with the idea of seeing another person’s goods wrongly. She also points to the structural importance of Charity on the opposite wall. [32] The bags beneath Charity and the purse in Envy’s hand give their opposition a material focus. One body rises above money while making an offering; the other keeps money within its grasp while the flames enclose it.
This particular invention attracted attention early. Francesco da Barberino praised Giotto’s representation of Envy in his Documenti d’Amore, explicitly locating it in the Arena at Padua. Ponchia reproduces the testimony, which links the envious person’s inward and outward burning with Giotto’s image. [32] It is a concrete witness to the fresco’s reception: a contemporary writer recognised the painting as an exceptionally effective formulation of an idea.
Ponchia also explores possible connections between Giotto’s moral oppositions and Dante’s treatment of Envy and Charity in the Purgatorio. Those comparisons remain arguments about influence. A personal meeting between Giotto and Dante is undocumented, and resemblance does not establish that Dante supplied the chapel’s programme. [32] Barberino’s recorded praise and a proposed exchange of ideas between poet and painter carry different kinds of historical weight.
Money’s prominence here naturally invites questions about Enrico Scrovegni, the chapel’s patron. The dedication to Santa Maria della Carità gives Charity an especially resonant place in the building. [1] Nevertheless, Jacobus’s review cautions against making the entire chapel an illustration of an inadequately documented personal renunciation of usury. [29] Charity and Envy address possession, generosity, speech and sight within a larger programme. Their force does not depend on reducing every object to a coded reference to the patron’s finances.
Hope and Despair at the threshold of Judgement
Hope is winged. Her body rises diagonally across its field, both hands reaching towards a crown held above by an angel. The trailing dress and exposed feet make the lift unmistakable. The institutional record describes her as flying and about to receive the crown. [33] After the heavy furniture, shields and grounded feet of earlier panels, the absence of ordinary support is striking.
Hope reaching towards the angel and crown, in a 2017 photograph retaining both feet and the lower tablet. Photo: © Jörgens.Mi/Wikipedia. Image source. CC BY-SA 3.0. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
Her outstretched hands have not yet closed around the reward. That small interval is the subject of the image: Hope extends towards something promised and still beyond immediate possession. The figure approaches the entrance end of the south wall, beside the blessed side of the Judgement. Her upward movement prepares the eye for the ascent represented on the adjoining wall.
Despair is also removed from secure standing, but in a devastatingly different way. The figure hangs with the head bent to one side and the arms lowered. Above, a demon seizes a small human form representing the soul. The hanging body fills the central field; the demon intrudes across its upper boundary. The medieval allegory associates the loss of hope with self-destruction and damnation, an interpretation expressed bluntly in the institutional catalogue. [33]
Despair at the end of the Vices sequence, opposite Hope. Image source. Public domain. Proportionally reduced reproduction; no colour or content enhancement.
That judgement belongs to the historical programme. The fresco does not establish a modern medical explanation of suicide, or justify applying its moral verdict to people who have died in that way. Its place here is specific: Despair stands opposite Hope at the end of the chapel’s two allegorical paths. Giotto makes the opposition visible through direction, agency and destination. Hope reaches upwards towards an offered crown; Despair’s lowered hands and suspended body answer that movement with its collapse.
The two endpoint figures also test the illusion of sculptural stillness. Both represent conditions in which the body ceases to rest naturally on the base of its compartment. The painted stone setting holds these impossible instants before the viewer: ascent on one wall, fatal suspension on the other. Their proximity to the Judgement gives the last pair an urgency that would be diminished if the figures were seen only as isolated illustrations.
Annotated Details from Vices and Virtues in the Scrovegni Chapel
The numbered points identify visible features discussed in this article. Return from each detail to the numbered overview. Each caption identifies the work shown.
Prudence - full photograph
Prudence. Photo: © Jörgens.Mi/Wikipedia. Image source. CC BY-SA 3.0. Numbers added to a separate resized overview; detail crops made from the unchanged native source. No upscaling, recolouring, retouching or reconstruction. The overview and crop derivatives are licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Hope - full photograph
Hope, Scrovegni Chapel: the figure, angel and crown in a 2017 photograph. Photo: © Jörgens.Mi/Wikipedia. Image source. CC BY-SA 3.0. Numbers added to a separate resized overview; detail crops made from the unchanged native source. No upscaling, recolouring, retouching or reconstruction. The overview and crop derivatives are licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Infidelity - historical Alinari view
Infidelity in the Scrovegni Chapel: historical Fratelli Alinari reproduction, c.1875–1900, with the upper scroll figure, lower tablet and mount retained; not a current-colour record. Fratelli Alinari, named on object. Image source. Public domain. Numbers added to a separate resized overview; detail crops made from the unchanged native source. No upscaling, recolouring, retouching or reconstruction.
Details from VICES AND VIRTUES IN THE SCROVEGNI CHAPEL
Compare each detail with the complete source overview. The article and captions retain the stated source, identity and attribution qualifications.
Prudence - full photograph
Prudence consults mirror and book
Prudence sits behind a large desk, with a book before her and a mirror raised towards her face. The furniture has a solidity comparable to the lecterns and thrones of the narrative scenes. Its projecting front occupies much of the lower field, placing her in a recognisable setting of study and judgement. Behind the main face, at the back of the head, a second, older profile is visible. Padova Musei connects this backward-looking head and the mirror with knowledge of the past. The mirror is small, but the act of attending to it directs the whole upper body. Prudence’s gaze moves away from the viewer towards an object requiring examination. Her book adds another kind of consultation. Taken together, these attributes make deliberation an activity: looking, remembering and testing what is known. The figure’s stillness contains work.
The painted name above Prudence
Words participate in the illusion. Names appear above the figures, and longer explanatory texts occupy painted tablets below them. Schwarz identifies these tituli as short rhyming Latin verses and notes the uneven survival of their lettering, applied on the dry surface. The inscriptions make the personifications both objects to inspect and subjects to interpret. Their placement beneath the bodies resembles the explanatory authority of an inscribed monument.
The worn explanatory tablet
Words participate in the illusion. Names appear above the figures, and longer explanatory texts occupy painted tablets below them. Schwarz identifies these tituli as short rhyming Latin verses and notes the uneven survival of their lettering, applied on the dry surface. The inscriptions make the personifications both objects to inspect and subjects to interpret. Their placement beneath the bodies resembles the explanatory authority of an inscribed monument.
Hope - full photograph
Hope reaches for the crown
Hope is winged. Her body rises diagonally across its field, both hands reaching towards a crown held above by an angel. The trailing dress and exposed feet make the lift unmistakable. The institutional record describes her as flying and about to receive the crown. After the heavy furniture, shields and grounded feet of earlier panels, the absence of ordinary support is striking. Her outstretched hands have not yet closed around the reward. That small interval is the subject of the image: Hope extends towards something promised and still beyond immediate possession. The figure approaches the entrance end of the south wall, beside the blessed side of the Judgement. Her upward movement prepares the eye for the ascent represented on the adjoining wall.
Hope’s feet above the ledge
The two endpoint figures also test the illusion of sculptural stillness. Both represent conditions in which the body ceases to rest naturally on the base of its compartment. The painted stone setting holds these impossible instants before the viewer: ascent on one wall, fatal suspension on the other. Their proximity to the Judgement gives the last pair an urgency that would be diminished if the figures were seen only as isolated illustrations.
Infidelity - historical Alinari view
Idol and tether
The opposite figure bears the painted Latin name Infidelitas, normally translated as Infidelity or Unbelief. Padova Musei catalogues the fresco as Idolatria, Idolatry. Both titles point towards its visible action: a person carries a small idol connected by a cord to the neck. At the upper right, a figure with a scroll addresses the scene, while the principal figure’s head inclines away. The museum explains this as a failure to see and hear the sacred text. There is an unusually pointed reversal between the scale of these objects. Faith’s scroll opens in a broad arc above her hand, while Infidelity’s attention is occupied by a miniature figure held out at arm’s length. The cord makes the apparent possession reciprocal: the person holds the object but is also attached to it. That visual entanglement gives the allegory more force than the simple presence of an idol would have done.
The scroll-bearing figure
The opposite figure bears the painted Latin name Infidelitas, normally translated as Infidelity or Unbelief. Padova Musei catalogues the fresco as Idolatria, Idolatry. Both titles point towards its visible action: a person carries a small idol connected by a cord to the neck. At the upper right, a figure with a scroll addresses the scene, while the principal figure’s head inclines away. The museum explains this as a failure to see and hear the sacred text.
The moral figures and the stories above
The two paths are woven into the Scrovegni Chapel’s wider programme. Munari draws attention to the scenes beside the chancel arch: the Visitation on the south side and Judas’s bargain on the north. In her reading, Mary and Judas offer narrative examples of the opposed conduct expressed more abstractly below. The moral sequences lead onwards to the alternatives displayed in the Judgement. [2]
This connection gives the allegories a different kind of time from the stories. Mary and Judas act within episodes; Prudence and Folly embody dispositions that might be exercised repeatedly. Justice’s small public scenes occupy an intermediate position, showing a continuing condition of communal life. The chapel can therefore hold a historical narrative, a present choice and an ultimate consequence in a single visual field.
Francesca Leto adds the setting of worship to this account. She interprets the images in relation to liturgical texts and the movements of worshippers, including the act of turning from the altar towards the Judgement when leaving. Her discussion of the Virtues places them within a hopeful movement towards Christ, while Munari places greater emphasis on the warning of the infernal imagery. [34] These emphases can coexist. The room offers crowns, flowers, peaceful travel and heavenly welcome as well as images of destruction.
Such readings explain relationships visible in the building; no surviving instructions from Enrico identify the meaning of every figure. The additional monochrome personification called Circumspectio, above the former doorway to the palace, occupies a separate position from the main sequence of fourteen. Ponchia discusses its relation to Francesco da Barberino’s imagery. It belongs to the chapel’s wider intellectual setting, beyond the seven opposed pairs along the lower walls. [32]
To see the programme fully, return from the attributes to the bodies and then to the room. Compare the two rulers with the people beneath them. Follow Charity’s lifted hand across the nave to Envy’s returning snake. Look from Hope’s bare, airborne feet towards the blessed in the Judgement. Giotto’s painted architecture gives each figure a place; their oppositions turn the space between them into part of the work. The visitor’s own movement joins the series, carrying the argument from the lower walls towards the great image over the door.
Watch: Explore Giotto’s Art
Choose an overview or a closer look at three major works. These films provide wider Giotto context alongside this article.
Artworks directory
This directory brings together 209 records for paintings, ensembles, individual scenes and components, architectural work, an associated disputed design, and reported or lost projects connected with Giotto. Ensembles and their parts appear separately, so 209 is a count of records rather than independent paintings or commissions. Attributions and dates remain qualified where disputed; inclusion does not establish Giotto’s own hand throughout.
| Name | Date | Medium, attribution and status |
|---|---|---|
| Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Joachim among the Shepherds — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Annunciation to Saint Anne — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Sacrifice of Joachim — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Joachim’s Dream — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Meeting at the Golden Gate — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Birth of the Virgin — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Delivery of the Rods — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Prayer of Joseph and the Suitors — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Marriage of the Virgin — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Wedding Procession of Mary — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Annunciation on the triumphal arch — complete ensemble (Scrovegni Chapel, Padua) | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Wall painting with a central painted wooden panel. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble. Includes the Mission of Gabriel and the lower Annunciation pair; the original central wooden panel is in the Musei Civici agli Eremitani, with a conservation copy in the chapel. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Scholarly study. Chapel overview. |
| Visitation — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Nativity — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Adoration of the Magi — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Presentation of Christ at the Temple — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Flight into Egypt — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Massacre of the Innocents — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Christ among the Doctors — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Baptism of Christ — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Marriage at Cana — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Raising of Lazarus — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Entry into Jerusalem — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Expulsion of the Money Changers — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Judas Receiving the Payment — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Last Supper — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Washing of the Feet — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Arrest of Christ — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Christ before Annas and Caiaphas — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Mocking of Christ and Flagellation — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Road to Calvary — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Crucifixion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Lamentation — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Resurrection / Noli me tangere — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Ascension — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Pentecost — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Coretto — right painted recess (Scrovegni Chapel, Padua) | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / painted fictive architecture. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Scholarly study. Chapel overview. |
| Coretto — left painted recess (Scrovegni Chapel, Padua) | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / painted fictive architecture. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Scholarly study. Chapel overview. |
| Envy — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Despair — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Prudence — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Fortitude — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Temperance — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Justice — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Faith — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Charity — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Hope — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Folly — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Inconstancy — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Wrath — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Injustice — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Infidelity / Idolatry — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Starry vault — complete ensemble (Scrovegni Chapel, Padua) | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Vault painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. |
| Last Judgement — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Prophet Malachi — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Prophet Baruch — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Prophet Isaiah — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Prophet Daniel — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Christ Pantocrator — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Virgin and Child — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Prophet Ezekiel — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Prophet Micah — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Saint John the Baptist — vault medallion — Scrovegni Chapel, Padua | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. |
| Scrovegni Chapel — painted decoration | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting, with a painted wooden panel. Giotto and workshop (painted decoration). Ensemble. Includes separately listed scenes and components. The original central God the Father panel is in the Musei Civici agli Eremitani; a conservation copy is in the chapel. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Source. Source. Source. Padova Musei. Scholarly study. |
| Vices and Virtues — complete fourteen-figure programme | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Grisaille fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble. Fourteen figures: seven virtues and seven opposed vices. Padova Musei. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. |
| Coretti — paired fictive chapels | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / painted fictive architecture. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble. Two separate painted recesses, also listed individually. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Scholarly study. |
| Mission of Gabriel — heavenly assembly | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Wall painting with central painted wooden image. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Central wooden God the Father panel preserved at the Musei Civici agli Eremitani; conservation copy in the chapel. Chapel overview. Padova Musei. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| Annunciation — Gabriel and Mary in facing chambers | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Chapel overview. Scholarly study. Padova Musei. |
| God the Father — central wooden panel of the Mission of Gabriel | c.1303–05 (chapel campaign) | Painting on wood. Associated with Giotto. Ensemble component. Original at the Musei Civici agli Eremitani, Padua; conservation copy in the Scrovegni Chapel. Padova Musei. Padova Musei. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Life of Saint Francis — Upper Church cycle, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Fresco / wall-painting cycle. Traditionally associated with Giotto; Giotto, Roman-school and other attributions disputed. Ensemble. Twenty-eight-scene nave cycle; scenes also listed individually. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Basilica catalogue. Source. Source. |
| Homage of a Simple Man — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Gift of the Mantle — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Dream of the Palace Full of Arms — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Prayer before the Crucifix at San Damiano — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Renunciation of Worldly Goods — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Dream of Innocent III — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Confirmation of the Rule — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Vision of the Flaming Chariot — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Vision of the Thrones — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Expulsion of Devils from Arezzo — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Trial by Fire before the Sultan — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Ecstasy of Saint Francis — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Nativity at Greccio — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Miracle of the Spring — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Sermon to the Birds — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Death of the Knight of Celano — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Sermon before Pope Honorius III — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Apparition at the Chapter of Arles — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Stigmatisation — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Death and Ascension of Saint Francis — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Apparition to Brother Augustine and Bishop Guido — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Zeri catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Verification of the Stigmata — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Mourning of the Poor Clares — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Canonisation of Saint Francis — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Apparition to Pope Gregory IX — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Zeri catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Healing of John of Lerida — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Resurrection of a Woman — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Liberation of the Prisoner Peter — Upper Church, Assisi | Late 13th–early 14th century; dating disputed | Wall painting. Traditionally associated with Giotto; authorship and dating disputed. Scene within a cycle. Source. Source. Scholarly study. Source. Source. Source. |
| Santa Maria Novella Crucifix | Late 13th century; c.1288–89 or 1298–1301; disputed | Tempera and gold on a shaped wooden cross. Giotto. Source. |
| Death of the Virgin / Dormition — Berlin | c.1310 | Tempera and gold on poplar; gabled dossal. Giotto. Source. Source. |
| Peruzzi Altarpiece | c.1311–1315 (North Carolina Museum of Art) | Tempera and gold on panel. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble. Source. |
| Bologna Polyptych | c.1330 | Tempera and gold on panel. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble. Source. |
| Death of Saint Francis, Bardi Chapel | After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed | Wall painting with wet-plaster and dry-applied passages. Giotto. Scene within a cycle. Source. |
| Bardi Chapel — painted decoration | After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed | Wall painting with wet-plaster and dry-applied passages. Giotto and workshop / Giottesque painters; individual hands disputed. Ensemble. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Badia Polyptych | c.1300; proposed dates include 1295–1300 and 1301–02 | Tempera and gold on panel; five cusped compartments. Giotto. Ensemble. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Baroncelli Polyptych | After 1328; detached pinnacle c.1328–35 | Tempera and gold on panel; later altered framing. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble. Detached central pinnacle in San Diego. Santa Croce. |
| Adoration of the Magi / Epiphany — Metropolitan Museum panel | Possibly c.1320; c.1310–18 also proposed for the group | Tempera and gold on wood. Giotto. Part of the dispersed seven-scene board; original function disputed. Met catalogue. Source. |
| Franciscan Allegories | Early 14th century, often c.1315; disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto and workshop / Giottesque painters; individual hands disputed. Ensemble. Basilica catalogue. |
| Navicella — lost / reworked original mosaic | Late 13th–early 14th century; date disputed | Mosaic. Original attributed to Giotto. Original lost / reworked; fragments and later remakes survive. Scholarly study. |
| Pentecost — London panel | Possibly c.1310–18 (Gordon) | Egg tempera on poplar. Giotto and workshop. Part of the dispersed seven-scene board; original function disputed. National Gallery. Source. |
| Saint Stephen — Horne panel | c.1330–1335 (Museo Horne) | Tempera and gold on panel. Giotto. Proposed association with the Washington and Chaalis panels remains hypothetical. Source. |
| Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata — Louvre altarpiece | 1300–25 (Louvre) | Tempera and gold on poplar. Giotto. Louvre catalogue. |
| Stefaneschi Triptych | c.1320; 1315–20 (Vatican Museums) | Tempera and gold on panel; painted on both sides. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble. Vatican Museums. |
| Crucifixion, Berlin | c.1315–1320 | Tempera and gold on poplar. Giotto. Source. |
| Madonna and Child — Washington / Goldman Madonna | c.1310–1315 (National Gallery of Art) | Tempera and gold on poplar. Giotto. Washington panel, distinct from San Giorgio alla Costa; proposed Horne/Chaalis companions remain hypothetical. NGA catalogue. |
| Ognissanti Madonna | c.1300–05 (Uffizi); c.1310 also proposed | Tempera and gold on panel. Giotto. Uffizi. |
| Madonna of Borgo San Lorenzo | c.1290–95; dating and attribution debated | Tempera and gold on a fragment of a wooden panel. Giotto. Fragmentary. Source. |
| Madonna of San Giorgio alla Costa | c.1288–95 (Opera del Duomo); later dates also proposed | Tempera and gold on panel; cut edges. Giotto. Damaged in 1993 and treated in 1995. Source. |
| Magdalene Chapel — painted decoration | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Wall painting with wet-plaster and dry-applied passages. Giotto and workshop / Giottesque painters; individual hands disputed. Ensemble. Basilica catalogue. |
| Ognissanti Crucifix | c.1315–1320 (Opificio) | Painting on a shaped wooden cross. Giotto and workshop. Workshop participation and alternative attributions debated. Source. |
| Padua Crucifix | c.1303–05 (Zeri catalogue) | Tempera and gold on a shaped wooden cross. Giotto. Zeri catalogue. |
| Peruzzi Chapel — painted decoration | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting with substantial dry-applied work and loss. Giotto and workshop / Giottesque painters; individual hands disputed. Ensemble. Santa Croce. |
| Rimini Crucifix | c.1300; late 13th century also proposed | Tempera and gold on a shaped wooden cross. Giotto. Source. |
| Giotto’s Campanile — Florence Cathedral bell tower | Begun 1334; completed 1359 under successors | Marble-clad masonry bell tower. Begun under Giotto; continued by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti. Successive building and sculptural campaigns. Source. Scholarly study. Scholarly study. |
| Tower elevation on parchment, Siena — disputed relation to Giotto | 14th century; date and design context disputed | Brown ink and coloured washes over incised construction on three parchment skins. Attribution disputed; possibly a Giotto design transmitted through another hand. Associated design; autograph attribution unestablished. Alternative attributions include Lando di Pietro. Scholarly study. Source. Source. |
| Seven scenes of Christ — dispersed painted board | Possibly c.1310–18 (Gordon); component dates vary | Tempera and gold on a single wooden board, subsequently divided. Giotto and workshop; individual attributions vary. Reconstructed dispersed ensemble. Common board supported by matching wood grain; predella or dossal function disputed. Source. Source. |
| Presentation of Christ at the Temple — Boston panel | Possibly c.1310–18 (Gordon’s group dating) | Tempera and gold on wood. Giotto and workshop; individual attribution varies within the group. Ensemble component. Source. Source. |
| Last Supper — Munich panel | Possibly c.1310–18 (Gordon’s group dating) | Tempera and gold on wood. Giotto and workshop; individual attribution varies within the group. Ensemble component. Source. Source. Source. |
| Crucifixion — Munich panel | Possibly c.1310–18 (Gordon’s group dating) | Tempera and gold on wood. Giotto and workshop; individual attribution varies within the group. Ensemble component. Source. Source. Source. |
| Descent into Limbo — Munich panel | Possibly c.1310–18 (Gordon’s group dating) | Tempera and gold on wood. Giotto and workshop; individual attribution varies within the group. Ensemble component. Source. Source. Source. |
| Entombment — Villa I Tatti panel | Possibly c.1310–18 (Gordon’s group dating) | Tempera and gold on wood. Giotto and workshop; individual attribution varies within the group. Ensemble component. Source. Source. |
| God the Father with Angels — detached Baroncelli pinnacle | c.1328–1335 (San Diego Museum of Art) | Tempera and gold on wood. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Detached in later remodelling; collection home in San Diego. Source. Source. |
| Saint John the Evangelist — Chaalis panel | c.1320 (INHA/RETIF) | Painting on wood. Giotto (INHA/RETIF attribution). Collection: Musée Jacquemart-André, Fontaine-Chaalis. Chantilly’s exhibition announcement, as of 1 November 2026, gives temporary display from 24 January 2026 with no end date. Association with the Washington/Horne altarpiece remains hypothetical. NGA catalogue. Source. Source. Source. Source. |
| Saint Lawrence — Chaalis panel | c.1320 (INHA/RETIF) | Painting on poplar. Giotto; possible execution by a collaborator (INHA/RETIF). Collection: Musée Jacquemart-André, Fontaine-Chaalis. Chantilly’s exhibition announcement, as of 1 November 2026, gives temporary display from 24 January 2026 with no end date. Association with the Washington/Horne altarpiece remains hypothetical. NGA catalogue. Source. Source. Source. Source. |
| Allegory of Poverty — Lower Church crossing vault, Assisi | Early 14th century, often c.1315; disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto’s workshop / Giottesque painters; alternatives include Stefano. Ensemble component. Basilica catalogue. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Allegory of Chastity — Lower Church crossing vault, Assisi | Early 14th century, often c.1315; disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto’s workshop / Giottesque painters; alternatives include Stefano. Ensemble component. Basilica catalogue. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Allegory of Obedience — Lower Church crossing vault, Assisi | Early 14th century, often c.1315; disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto’s workshop / Giottesque painters; alternatives include Stefano. Ensemble component. Basilica catalogue. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Saint Francis in Glory — Lower Church crossing vault, Assisi | Early 14th century, often c.1315; disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto’s workshop / Giottesque painters; alternatives include Stefano. Ensemble component. Basilica catalogue. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Renunciation of Worldly Goods — Bardi Chapel, Florence | After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed | Wall painting: fresco with extensive dry-applied passages. Giotto and workshop; individual hands uncertain. Scene within a cycle. Source. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Confirmation of the Rule — Bardi Chapel, Florence | After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed | Wall painting: fresco with extensive dry-applied passages. Giotto and workshop; individual hands uncertain. Scene within a cycle. Source. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Apparition at the Chapter of Arles — Bardi Chapel, Florence | After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed | Wall painting: fresco with extensive dry-applied passages. Giotto and workshop; individual hands uncertain. Scene within a cycle. Source. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Trial by Fire before the Sultan — Bardi Chapel, Florence | After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed | Wall painting: fresco with extensive dry-applied passages. Giotto and workshop; individual hands uncertain. Scene within a cycle. Source. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Apparitions to Brother Augustine and Bishop Guido — Bardi Chapel, Florence | After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed | Wall painting: fresco with extensive dry-applied passages. Giotto and workshop; individual hands uncertain. Scene within a cycle. Source. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata — Bardi Chapel, Florence | After 1317, usually the 1320s; disputed | Wall painting: fresco with extensive dry-applied passages. Giotto and workshop; individual hands uncertain. Scene within a cycle. Source. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Saint Louis of Toulouse — Bardi Chapel niche | After 1317; campaign date disputed | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Saint Clare — Bardi Chapel niche | After 1317; campaign date disputed | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Saint Elizabeth of Hungary — Bardi Chapel niche | After 1317; campaign date disputed | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Franciscan virtues — Bardi Chapel vault programme | After 1317; campaign date disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Group of ensemble components. Santa Croce. Source. |
| Annunciation to Zacharias — Peruzzi Chapel, Florence | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting with substantial dry-applied work. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Santa Croce. |
| Birth and Naming of John the Baptist — Peruzzi Chapel, Florence | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting with substantial dry-applied work. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Santa Croce. |
| Feast of Herod — Peruzzi Chapel, Florence | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting with substantial dry-applied work. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Santa Croce. |
| Vision of John on Patmos — Peruzzi Chapel, Florence | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting with substantial dry-applied work. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Santa Croce. |
| Raising of Drusiana — Peruzzi Chapel, Florence | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting with substantial dry-applied work. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Santa Croce. |
| Death and Ascension of John the Evangelist — Peruzzi Chapel, Florence | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting with substantial dry-applied work. Giotto and workshop. Scene within a cycle. Santa Croce. Scholarly study. Santa Croce. |
| Evangelist symbols — Peruzzi Chapel vault | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Group of ensemble components. Santa Croce. |
| Eight prophets — Peruzzi Chapel entrance arch | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Group of ensemble components. Santa Croce. |
| Mystic Lamb — Peruzzi Chapel fragment | c.1310–11 (Santa Croce); 1334–36 proposed by Schwarz | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component; fragmentary. Santa Croce. |
| Meal in the Pharisee’s House — Magdalene Chapel, Assisi | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop; individual hands debated. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Raising of Lazarus — Magdalene Chapel, Assisi | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop; individual hands debated. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Noli me tangere — Magdalene Chapel, Assisi | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop; individual hands debated. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Miracle of the Ruler of Marseille — Magdalene Chapel, Assisi | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop; individual hands debated. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Angelic Elevation of Mary Magdalene — Magdalene Chapel, Assisi | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop; individual hands debated. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Mary Magdalene Clothed by a Hermit — Magdalene Chapel, Assisi | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop; individual hands debated. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Last Communion and Ascent of the Magdalene’s Soul — Magdalene Chapel, Assisi | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop; individual hands debated. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Christ — Magdalene Chapel vault medallion | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Mary Magdalene — Magdalene Chapel vault medallion | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Martha — Magdalene Chapel vault medallion | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Lazarus — Magdalene Chapel vault medallion | c.1307–08 (basilica); disputed | Vault wall painting. Giotto and workshop. Ensemble component. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Teobaldo Pontano before Saint Rufinus — Magdalene Chapel donor image | c.1307–08 (chapel campaign) | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop; donor identified by Schwarz. Ensemble component. Scholarly study. |
| Teobaldo Pontano before Mary Magdalene — Magdalene Chapel donor image | c.1307–08 (chapel campaign) | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop; donor identified by Schwarz. Ensemble component. Scholarly study. |
| Penitential saints — Magdalene Chapel entrance programme | Early 14th century; associated with the c.1307–08 campaign | Wall painting. Giotto and workshop / associated chapel programme. Group of ensemble components. Scholarly study. |
| Life of Mary Magdalene — stained-glass window | Early 14th century; exact date uncertain | Stained glass. Associated chapel programme; designer and maker uncertain. Associated programme. Eleven-episode stained-glass window, distinct from the wall paintings. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Childhood of Christ and Franciscan miracles — Lower Church north transept | Early 14th century, often c.1315; disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto and workshop; Stefano proposed by Schwarz; individual hands disputed. Ensemble. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Flight into Egypt — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop / Giottesque painters; Stefano proposed by Schwarz. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Zeri catalogue. |
| Adoration of the Magi — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop / Giottesque painters; Stefano proposed by Schwarz. Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. Source. Zeri catalogue. |
| Angel medallion from the Navicella — Vatican | Late 13th–early 14th-century original; later restoration | Mosaic. Associated with Giotto’s Navicella; medieval material and later restoration. Fragmentary and restored. Scholarly study. |
| Angel medallion from the Navicella — Boville Ernica | Late 13th–early 14th-century original; later restoration | Mosaic. Associated with Giotto’s Navicella; medieval material and later restoration. Fragmentary and restored. Scholarly study. |
| Dream of Innocent III — Louvre Stigmatisation predella | 1300–25 (Louvre’s dating of the altarpiece) | Tempera and gold on wood. Part of the signed Giotto altarpiece; individual hand uncertain. Ensemble component. Louvre catalogue. Louvre catalogue. |
| Approval of the Rule — Louvre Stigmatisation predella | 1300–25 (Louvre’s dating of the altarpiece) | Tempera and gold on wood. Part of the signed Giotto altarpiece; individual hand uncertain. Ensemble component. Louvre catalogue. Louvre catalogue. |
| Saint Francis Preaching to the Birds — Louvre Stigmatisation predella | 1300–25 (Louvre’s dating of the altarpiece) | Tempera and gold on wood. Part of the signed Giotto altarpiece; individual hand uncertain. Ensemble component. Louvre catalogue. Louvre catalogue. |
| Possible wall decoration at San Francesco, Rimini — lost | c.1300; exact date uncertain | Possibly fresco / wall painting. Possible association with Giotto. Possible lost commission. Programme and extent unknown. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Works at the Basilica of Saint Anthony, Padua — reported, lost | By c.1313 (reported activity); exact date unknown | Painting; wall or panel support uncertain. Giotto’s activity reported by Riccobaldo. Lost works reported in historical accounts. Scholarly study. Scholarly study. |
| Painted heaven / celestial decoration, Palazzo della Ragione — lost | Early 14th century (Giovanni da Nono’s account) | Painting; wooden-vault tempera or wall fresco disputed. Associated with Giotto in historical accounts. Lost. Wooden-vault interpretation proposed by Schwarz; present astrological murals follow the 1420 fire. Scholarly study. |
| Great chapel decoration, Castel Nuovo — disputed / largely lost | Documented 20 May 1331; Neapolitan service 1328–33 | Wall painting with metal decoration and mixed materials. Giotto-led documented commission. Largely lost; attribution of fragments disputed. Other masters participated; surviving window fragments leave the programme uncertain. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Private chapel decoration, Castel Nuovo — documented, lost | Documented 20 May 1331; execution dates unknown | Wall painting / chapel decoration; technique uncertain. Giotto. Documented commission; lost. Separate from the great chapel; programme unknown. Scholarly study. |
| Royal cona made in Giotto’s house, Naples — documented, lost | Recorded 20 May 1331 | Panel painting (cona); exact technique uncertain. Documented in Giotto’s house. Documented object; lost. Movable panel; subject, dimensions and composition unknown. Scholarly study. |
| Calvary and Lamentation / decoration — Santa Chiara, disputed fragments | Late 1320s–early 1330s; exact date uncertain | Wall painting and painted architectural furnishings. Associated with Giotto and collaborators; individual attributions disputed. Fragmentary programme. Extent of surviving decoration disputed. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Apocalypse paintings, Naples — reported, lost | Undated; associated in later accounts with Naples | Painting; support unknown. Attributed to Giotto in later accounts. Lost works reported in historical accounts. Programme uncertain. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Gloria mondana / Worldly Glory — disputed identification | Undated; proposed Milanese context disputed | Painting; support and format unknown. Association with Giotto and identity disputed. Lost; identity and location disputed. Scholarly study. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Marian cycle, Tosinghi-Spinelli Chapel — lost interior | Undated; reported by Ghiberti and Vasari | Wall painting. Attributed to Giotto by Ghiberti and Vasari. Lost cycle reported in historical accounts. Interior cycle distinct from the damaged entrance Assumption. Scholarly study. Scholarly study. |
| Assumption of the Virgin — Tosinghi-Spinelli entrance, badly preserved | Undated; associated with the Santa Croce decoration | Wall painting. Associated with Giotto in scholarship; attribution uncertain. Badly preserved trace reported in scholarship. Trace distinguished from the lost interior cycle by Schwarz and Theis. Scholarly study. Scholarly study. |
| Apostolic histories, Giugni Chapel — reported, lost | Undated; described by Vasari | Wall painting. Attributed to Giotto by Vasari. Lost cycle reported in historical accounts. Scholarly study. |
| Life of John the Baptist, Santa Maria del Carmine — reported, lost | Undated; attributed by Vasari | Wall painting. Attributed to Giotto by Vasari. Lost cycle reported in historical accounts. Scholarly study. |
| Marian wall decoration — Badia Fiorentina, disputed fragments | Undated; attribution disputed | Wall painting. Association with Giotto disputed. Fragmentary programme. Separate from the Badia Polyptych. Source. Scholarly study. |
| Allegory of the Commune Being Robbed — reported, lost | Undated; reported by Ghiberti | Wall painting / civic allegory. Attributed to Giotto by Ghiberti. Lost work reported in historical accounts. Composition uncertain. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Chapel decoration, Castello di Galliera, Bologna — reported, lost | Before 1334; chapel traces reported in 1560 | Wall painting. Associated with Giotto in historical accounts. Lost cycle reported in historical accounts. The chapel survived the fortress’s 1334 demolition; traces reported in 1560; date of final loss unknown. Scholarly study. Source. |
| Crucifixion — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Zeri catalogue. |
| Young Man of Sessa Recovered from the Ruins — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Separate scene from the Resurrection of the Young Man of Sessa. Zeri catalogue. Source. |
| Saint Francis Revives a Child Fallen from a Palace Window — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Revival in Zeri’s title; the child’s identity and alternative harmless-fall interpretation remain disputed. Zeri catalogue. |
| Resurrection of the Young Man of Sessa — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Separate scene from the Recovery of the Young Man of Sessa from the Ruins. Zeri catalogue. Source. |
| Saint Francis with Death — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Ensemble component. Zeri catalogue. |
| Visitation — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Zeri catalogue. |
| Nativity — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Zeri catalogue. |
| Presentation of Christ at the Temple — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Zeri catalogue. |
| Massacre of the Innocents — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Zeri catalogue. |
| Return of the Holy Family after the Temple Episode — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; c.1308–11 (Zeri); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giotto’s workshop (Zeri); alternative attributions disputed. Scene within a cycle. Also titled Return to Bethlehem or Return to Nazareth; one physical painting. Zeri catalogue. |
| Annunciation — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | c.1310 (basilica); disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Collaborator of Giotto (basilica attribution). Scene within a cycle. Basilica catalogue. Scholarly study. |
| Christ among the Doctors — Lower Church north transept, Assisi | Early 14th century; disputed | Fresco / wall painting. Giottesque workshop; Stefano proposed by Schwarz. Scene within a cycle. Scholarly study. |
Discussion
Look again at the images and ideas explored in Vices and Virtues in the Scrovegni Chapel. These editorial prompts invite your observations.
Reader Insights
How does painting the figures as stone change their relation to the stories above?
Which opposing pair communicates its moral argument most clearly through bodily balance?
Join the Conversation
Share a detail, comparison or question about Vices and Virtues in the Scrovegni Chapel below.
References
- Padova Musei, “I Vizi e le Virtù,” institutional programme inventory, Scrovegni Chapel catalogue; Comune di Padova, “La Cappella di Giotto,” for the 1303–05 cycle, dedication and two programme routes, official chapel overview. View source 1. View source 2. (in Italian).
- Nadia Munari, “Storia della Salvezza e visioni dell’Aldilà nella Cappella degli Scrovegni e nel Battistero di Padova,” in Federica Millozzi and Giovanna Valenzano, eds., Inferno e Paradiso. La storia biblica della Salvezza nella Cappella degli Scrovegni e nel Battistero di Padova (Padua: Padova University Press, 2025), pp. 71–78, especially pp. 72–75 (PDF pp. 73–76), open-access volume. View source. (in Italian).
- Opera per Santa Maria Novella, “The Crucifix by Giotto,” current church account, undated, accessed 31 October 2026, . Its early dating, colour symbolism and theological interpretation are identified here as the institution's account. View source.
- Basilica Papale di San Francesco in Assisi, “Chiesa Superiore,” institutional description, accessed 1 November 2026, . Building, decorative registers and explicitly competing Giotto/Roman-school attributions. View source. (in Italian).
- Michael Viktor Schwarz, with Michaela Zöschg, Giottus Pictor, vol. II, Giottos Werke (Vienna, Cologne and Weimar: Böhlau, 2008), pp. 331–344, especially pp. 333–334 on programme relationships, 335–337 on campaigns, 338–342 on comparisons and proposed borrowing, and 343–344 on work sequence and the proposed chronology; . Schwarz's reconstruction is presented as his argument. View source. (in German).
- Felice Autieri, OFMConv, “Il Presepe di Greccio nella Basilica superiore,” Basilica Papale di San Francesco in Assisi, accessed 1 November 2026, . Episode identity, institutional dating and discussion of represented liturgical furniture. View source. (in Italian).
- Miklós Boskovits, “Giotto di Bondone,” Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 55 (2001), sections on the Upper Church biblical paintings, the twenty-eight Storie della leggenda di s. Francesco and the 1307–09 Assisi connection; . The account's attribution and chronology are distinguished from later alternatives. View source.
- Directorio Franciscano, “Vida de San Francisco de Asís: Textos de San Buenaventura e ilustraciones de Giotto,” complete twenty-eight-episode index with paired Legenda maior references, , accessed 1 November 2026; narrative details checked against the Salter edition cited in note 3. View source. (in Spanish).
- Daniela Parenti, “Virgin and Child enthroned, surrounded by angels and saints (Ognissanti Maestà),” Uffizi Galleries, current collection record, accessed 1 November 2026. View source.
- Comune di Padova, Cappella degli Scrovegni, “La Cappella di Giotto,” official overview, programme, dedication, vault and Giovanni Pisano sculpture. View source. (in Italian).
- Padova Musei Civici, Vita di Maria, collection inventory. View source. (in Italian).
- Padova Musei Civici, Dio Padre incarica l’arcangelo Gabriele di dare l’annuncio a Maria, collection record. View source. (in Italian).
- Padova Musei Civici, Vizi e virtù, programme catalogue. View source. (in Italian).
- Padova Musei Civici, Vizi e virtù, programme catalogue. View source. (in Italian).
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, “Madonna and Child,” Giotto, c. 1310/1315, accession 1939.1.256, current artwork overview and object details, accessed 1 November 2026. View source.
- Vatican Museums, “Giotto di Bondone and assistants, Stefaneschi triptych,” Pinacoteca, Room II, current object description, consulted 1 November 2026; date 1315–1320, commission, two-sided arrangement and principal figures. View source.
- Michael Viktor Schwarz, with Michaela Zöschg, Giottus Pictor, vol. 2, Giottos Werke, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar: Böhlau, 2008, pp. 412–14, on the proposed chronology, and pp. 418–26: chapel status and liturgical memoria, pp. 418–19; Ridolfo, burial evidence and patronage, pp. 419–20; programme and memorial interpretation, pp. 420–26. View source. (in German).
- Opera di Santa Croce, , historical dossier, 11 September 2026, on programme, probable patron, post-1317 dating and the conservation history. View source.
- Opera di Santa Croce, “Incoronazione della Vergine tra angeli e santi (Polittico Baroncelli), Giotto,” current institutional catalogue, object information and introductory account, accessed 1 November 2026. View source. (in Italian).
- Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, “Giotto's Bell Tower,” current institutional monument record, sections on structure, building chronology, sculpture and bells, consulted 1 November 2026. . The specialist museum records cited below control the early sculptors' names. View source.
- Michael Viktor Schwarz, with Michaela Zöschg, Giottus Pictor II: Giottos Werke (Vienna, Cologne and Weimar: Böhlau, 2008), “Der Campanile: Nachleben im Bau,” pp. 599–603 and 613–614: site sequence, design experience, structural breaks and sculptural attribution. View source. (in German).
- Michael Viktor Schwarz and Pia Theis, Giottus Pictor I: Giottos Leben (Vienna: Böhlau, 2004), pp. 58–62; appointment of 12 April 1334, pp. 267–269, transcribing Florence, Archivio di Stato, Provvisioni Registri 26, fols. 100v–101r. Foundation, 1335 witness and modern conversion of the death year: pp. 60–61. View source. (in German).
- Michael Viktor Schwarz, with Michaela Zöschg, Giottus Pictor II: Giottos Werke (Vienna, Cologne and Weimar: Böhlau, 2008), “Lieder und Bilder: Die Allegorien,” pp. 133–34 (PDF pp. 151–52), on the choice of opposites and the sequence’s key positions, open-access book. View source. (in German).
- Schwarz, Giottus Pictor II (2008), pp. 136–38 (PDF pp. 154–56), on fictive marble relief, coloured materials, name inscriptions and rhyming Latin tituli, open-access book. View source. (in German).
- Padova Musei, “Prudenza” and “Stoltezza”, institutional object records and whole-figure photographs, Scrovegni Chapel catalogue. View source 1. View source 2.
- Padova Musei, “Fortezza” and “Incostanza”, institutional object records and whole-figure photographs, Scrovegni Chapel catalogue. View source 1. View source 2.
- Padova Musei, “Temperanza” and “Ira”, institutional object records and whole-figure photographs, Scrovegni Chapel catalogue. View source 1. View source 2.
- Padova Musei, “Giustizia” and “Ingiustizia”, institutional object records and whole-figure photographs, including the lower friezes, Scrovegni Chapel catalogue. View source 1. View source 2.
- Laura Jacobus, review of Anne Derbes and Mark Sandona, The Usurer’s Heart: Giotto, Enrico Scrovegni, and the Arena Chapel in Padua (2008), The Medieval Review 09.07.18 (2009), especially the opening discussion of the conversion thesis and the later paragraph beginning “Elsewhere, the authors apply the principle of oppositio,” complete review. The original book is discussed here through Jacobus’s review. View source.
- Padova Musei, “Fede” and “Idolatria”, institutional object records and whole-figure photographs, Scrovegni Chapel catalogue; the latter photograph carries the name Infidelitas. View source 1. View source 2.
- Padova Musei, “Carità” and “Invidia”, institutional object records and whole-figure photographs, Scrovegni Chapel catalogue. View source 1. View source 2.
- Chiara Ponchia, “Dante e Francesco da Barberino difronte all’Inferno di Giotto,” in Millozzi and Valenzano, eds., Inferno e Paradiso (2025), pp. 19–28: p. 20 on the undocumented personal acquaintance of Dante and Giotto; p. 24 on Envy, Charity and Dante; p. 26 and n. 14 for Barberino’s testimony; p. 28 for Circumspectio (PDF pp. 21, 25, 27, 29), open-access volume. View source. (in Italian).
- Padova Musei, “Speranza” and “Disperazione”, institutional object records and whole-figure photographs, Scrovegni Chapel catalogue. The catalogue’s moral condemnation is treated as historical iconography. View source 1. View source 2.
- Francesca Leto, “La liturgia iconica degli spazi della Cappella degli Scrovegni e del Battistero di Padova,” in Millozzi and Valenzano, eds., Inferno e Paradiso (2025), pp. 79–88, especially pp. 79–83 (PDF pp. 80–84), on participation, departure towards the Judgement and the opposing moral paths; compare Munari, pp. 71–75, open-access volume. View source. (in Italian).
- Splash image, Scrovegni interior facing altar
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