Padua, the picturesque and oldest city in Italy, has been the center of culture since antiquity and especially during the Renaissance. This mini course focuses on the artistic achievements of Renaissance Florentine artists such as Giotto and Donatello and Venetian painter Andrea Mantegna. In 1300, The Scrovegni family invited Giotto to paint their chapel with religious themes. In 1450, the Narni family commissioned Donatello to sculpt in bronze an equestrian monument, Gattamelata. While the Venetian painter Mantegna decorated the Overtari Chapel in 1450 (partially destroyed during WWII). Giotto and his school also decorated the walls of the Palazzo della Ragione (Medieval Town Hall) with stories about the Labor of the Months, the Zodiac Signs, and the Planets.

Note: This course is open to all Beacon Hill Seminars members. Participation in the Padua trip is not required, nor is this course required for Padua trip participants.