HERMITS CHURCH IN PADUA

Eremitani Church in Padova : Hermits

The Augustinian Brothers of the Hermits founded in 1256, already had their church and monastery in Padua in 1276 which was destined to become an important spiritual and cultural centre.

In 1306 Brother Giovanni degli Eremitani, a monk famous for having built the roof of the Palace of Reason, built the original roof of the church which today can be seen in the reconstruction made after its destruction in the bombing of 1944; which also destroyed part of the frescoes by Guariento in the apse and above all, the Ovetari chapel, frescoed by Andrea Mantegna, N Pizolo, A.Vivarini and G. d'Alemagna: today, the Ascension in the apse, the stories of Saint Christopher on the right wall and the terracotta altar-piece by N Pizolo, can be seen.

In the ancient Paduan family chapels frescoes by Altichiero, Giusto de' Menabuoi and Guariento are preserved whilst from the now demolished Church of Saint Augustine there, are two funeral monuments by Ubertino and Jacopo di Carrara.

The Church of the Eremitani was bombed and detroyed in the aerial bombing of 1944, together with the frescoes by Mantegna in the Ovetari Chapel, half the apsidal Chapel with Guariento frescoes, made immediately after the work in the Carrarese Palace Chapel.

The scenes that remain on the left wall depict stories of Saints Philip and Augustine, the Universal Judgement and the stories of Saint James having disappeared, and they are distinguished by accentuated Gothic taste, above all in the drawing of the Planets and of the ages of man in the base.

One of the greatest losses due to the Second World War was without doubt the destruction of the Ovetari Chapel at the Eremitani. finished by 1455 by Mantegna together. initially, with Giovanni d'Alemagna, Antonio Vivarini and Nicolo Pizolo, the latter having created the terracotta altar. The scenes depicting the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin and the martyrdom of Saint Christopher and the transportation of his body have survived, as they were removed before the war. In fact the cycle narrated the stories of Saint James and Saint Christopher, accompanied by the images of Saints and Church Fathers: the twenty-year-old Mantegna showed himself to be a mature, profound interpreter of the new Rennaissance culture which he interpreted in a entirely Paduan manner.