Bestand:Giotto - Scrovegni - -47- - Desperation.jpg

(b. 1267, Vespignano, d. 1337, Firenze)

No. 47 The Seven Vices: Desperation 1306 Fresco, 120 x 60 cm Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

The inclusion of the Seven Virtues and Seven Vices in the chapel decoration was in accordance with the didactic programme of many thirteenth and fourteenth-century decorative schemes. There is a prosaic aspect of these works in comparison with the lofty narrative tone of the scenes of the life of Christ. This prosaic aspect has often been considered a defect, which has in turn led to a certain degree of scepticism as to Giotto's authorship. This is probably the result of a commonplace notion that poetry is superior to prose, the tragic to the comic, the sublime to the normal, the solemn to the everyday. Furthermore, there is a mistaken idea that an artist bound to the representation of a set theme is necessarily limited in his freedom of expression, and his inspiration and the quality of his work are therefore impaired.

The allegories have a complexity of their symbolism, which is not immediately comprehensible. However, many of these figures have been represented with extraordinary subtlety and delicacy. The youthful Hope flies upward to receive the crown that awaits her, while Desperation has hanged herself (note how the pole bends slightly with the weight of her body).

Each of these figures should be considered first and foremost as an allegory, this being the reason for its inclusion in the decorative scheme.

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Author: GIOTTO di Bondone Title: No. 47 The Seven Vices: Desperation Time-line: 1301-1350 School: Italian Form: painting