Padua and the Giotto Frescos

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Up and out early.  We left for Padua at 8:00, a trip of only about an hour by bus.  The city is rather small, but holds importance in the history of the Jews in Italy.  We arrived at the Piazza del Signori:

We walked through the town and towards the Jewish Quarter.  Founded in the 1200’s, the Padua Jewish Community was forced into a ghetto when Venice assumed control over the city in the 1500’s.  The Lion of St. Mark is the sign of Venetian control in the central piazza:

We learned that Napoleon’s army captured Padua in 1797, and on August 28, 1797 issued the following decree:

In the Name of the French Republic One and Indivisible:

First, that the Hebrews are at liberty to live in any street that they please.

Second, that the barbarous and meaningless name of Ghetto, which designates the street which they have been inhabiting hitherto, shall be substituted by that of Via Libera.

A copy of these present decisions shall be sent to all the district municipalities so that they may be executed by the respective police departments in the most congenient manner.

A month later the ghetto walls were destroyed.  Unfortunately, Napoleon met his Waterloo, and in 1815 all the old order was restored.

The Padua Jewish Museum is small but has a number of beautiful items.  Here is a Megillah Esther from the early 18^th c.:

Here is a Ner Tamid from the 19^th c.:

Here is an Italian lace Torah binder from the mid 19^th c.:

After viewing a film at the museum relating the history of the lives of a number of prominent Jews of Padua, we went to the “Italian” synagogue which has some absolutely gorgeous ironwork:

We had a study session of the coming week’s Parsha, Lech Lecha, with the spiritual leader of the Padua Jewish community, Rabbi Locci.

Padua is the home of some of the most beautiful and important frescos in Italy, those of Giotto in the Capella Scrovengi.  The frescos are protected by being exposed only to purified air. To visit the frescos one must sit in an antechamber for 15 minutes (they have an entertaining video) while you have the air you are in filtered.  Only after sitting in the clean air for 15 minutes are you allowed into the chapel, and the numbers are severely limited.  It was worth it. The frescos are truly gorgeous,  Of course, no photos are allowed.  You are allowed to remain for 15 minutes while the next group is purified, and then you must leave.   It was truly memorable to see them.  Image from the web:

We then had a three hour bus ride to Florence, during which I gave a presentation to the group on Jewish music of the Italian Renaissance which I had prepared, including eight musical samples played on the bus’s A-V system.  I think it went well.  Dinner was at a Florentine Kosher restaurant and was not up to the quality we’ve become used to.