The Meeting at the Golden Gate

Artwork: The Meeting at the Golden Gate (whole and detail)

Artist: Giotto

Created: 1304-06

Medium: Fresco

Dimensions: 200 x 185 cm

Location: Capella degli Scrovegni (Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy

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“Many of the episodes depicted within the Capella degli Scrovegni (Arena Chapel) fresco cycle hinge upon a moment of heightened emotional tension, either given in the context of some form of a departure, as in the case of The Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple, also by Giotto di Bondone (c. 1270-1337), or entailing some from of encounter or meeting. The Meeting at the Golden Gate, which forms the last episode in the top register on the south wall is an example of the latter and and what Giotto manages to achieve, in an exemplary manner, is to imbibe the scene with a sense of truthfulness and intimacy. Immediately prior to this moving meeting between Joachim and his wife Anna, Joachim, while sleeping, receives a vision from from an angel who had told him that his wife had convinced a daughter, Mary. That particular episode, The Vision of Joachim, is depicted immediately prior to The Meeting. Joachim is then told to go and meet his wife at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. Giotto captures a powerful captivating sense of intimacy as Joachim confides in his wife the miraculous news he has recently been told. The two figures from a single, symmetrical pyramid as they embrace. As well as conveying a sense of stability, this also sets, Joachim and Anna, to a certain extent, apart from the group of onlookers immediately to their left. What is particularly impressive is Giotto’s ability to depict a powerful emotional scene while also foreshadowing the magnitude of events that are yet to come.”(CS)

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