Last year I posted a reproduction of one of Giotto’s most famous frescos, that of the Kiss of Judas from the Scrovegni or Arena Chapel in Padua. That short post can be seen at The Betrayal in Gethsemane
The Kiss of Judas
1304–06 by Giotto (c.1267- 1337) in the Scrovegni or Arena Chspel in Padua
Image: thetempleblog.com
Such is the impact of the central figures in that painting I am returning to it again, as I have in past years on this day. I think of all Giotto’s paintings in the chapel this is the greatest, the most eloquent, the most timeless. The interaction of the two central figures of Our Lord and Judas is not only the height of the drama of the scene but of Giotto’s skill. It is a supremely great painting. It conveys a great truth.
This Holy Week as we reflect on the story of our Redemption in a time of contemporary brutal destruction in the Ukraine by a savage invader let us be thankful to the providence that Giotto’s work, unlike so much else in Padua, was not blasted to smithereens but survived the bombing of the city in 1943-5 as set out on Wikipedia in Bombing of Padua in World War II
We live in a terribly fallen world where the beautiful is fragile and which, as the Triduum and Easter tells us - not merely reminds us - tells us is only redeemed at a unique and terrible price.
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