Description
The Oratory of San Michele is a small chapel on Piazzetta San Michele in Padua, next to the Torlonga of the Castello Carrarese: inside is a complete cycle of late 14th-century frescoes, among the last of Padua's great age of painting.
The frescoes by Jacopo da Verona tell the life of the Virgin: the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi, the Ascension, Pentecost and the Funeral of the Virgin. Since 2021 they have been part of Padua's 14th-century fresco cycles, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the procession of the Magi you can recognize, by their headgear, the faces of the lords of Padua Francesco il Vecchio da Carrara and Francesco Novello. Among the sacred scenes, details of domestic life pop up, like furniture and a maidservant.
The chapel is what remains of a larger church, mostly demolished in the 19th century. In 1792 there were plans to whitewash the frescoes: they were saved by the nobleman Tommaso Soranzo.
The frescoes by Jacopo da Verona tell the life of the Virgin: the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi, the Ascension, Pentecost and the Funeral of the Virgin. Since 2021 they have been part of Padua's 14th-century fresco cycles, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the procession of the Magi you can recognize, by their headgear, the faces of the lords of Padua Francesco il Vecchio da Carrara and Francesco Novello. Among the sacred scenes, details of domestic life pop up, like furniture and a maidservant.
The chapel is what remains of a larger church, mostly demolished in the 19th century. In 1792 there were plans to whitewash the frescoes: they were saved by the nobleman Tommaso Soranzo.