P A D U A and Humanism.

It is a town that can rightly claim its own place among Italy’s most interesting and historic cities. Nicknamed “the Learned”, Padua is the brain of Veneto once home of the great Roman historian Livy and since 1222, to one of Europe’s most celebrated Universities, which counts William Harvey among its alumnus. Padua’s churches under the brushes of Giotto, Guariento, Altichiero, Giusto de Menabuoi and Mantegna, were virtually laboratories in the evolution of fresco. You shouldn’t miss the most famous work by Giotto – the Scrovegni Chapel. We explore the artistic period called “Trecento” in the City Hall Museum and in the nearest Eremitani Church where we learn about the impact of the artist Giotto and his followers and the influence on Mantegna by Donatello. We will see the best of Giusto de Menabuoi in the Baptistery with portrait of Francesco Petrarch, a striking counterpoint to the Scrovegni Chapel. Home of the second oldest University in Italy we visit the University where it is still possible to hear the echoes of Galileo Galilee. The later part of the visit is about Donatello at the Basilica of the Saint (Anthony, of course) and the young Titian in the Scoletta and Altichiero Altichieri in the Oratory of Saint George. The medieval Town Hall – Palazzo della Ragione – is dominated the old town decorated with 333 frescos representing the influence of the planets on the human behaviour. Because was the setting for “The Taming of the Shrew” of Shakespeare

Classic Itinerary:
Prato della Valle, Saint Anthony Cathedral, Piazze Erbe, Piazza Frutta, Piazza Signori, Palazzo della Ragione, Caffè Pedrocchi, University, Ghetto, Piazza Duomo


Renaissance Itinerary:
Abbey of Santa Giustina, Donatello and Mantegna in Saint Anthony Cathedral, Odeo Cornaro, Piazza Signori, Scoletta dei Carmini, Scoletta Santa Lucia, University, Ovetari Chapel


Civic Museum of Padua:
Archaeological section: Paleoveneti, Romans, Egyptians; Gallery with paintings from XIVth to XIXth century



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