Skip to main content

Primary sourcePaintingc. 1300

The Raising of Lazarus

Giotto · c. 1300

A fresco by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel showing Christ raising Lazarus from the dead, admired for the varied reactions of the crowd watching.

One of Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel frescoes, showing his skill in composing crowds and gestures.

Ask Giotto about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Fresco painting of the Raising of Lazarus: Christ with a halo stands at left, raising his hand toward a mummy-like figure wrapped in white bands at center, while onlookers and a kneeling figure watch against a dark blue sky and rocky hill.
Giotto, The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1300. Scrovegni Chapel.

About this source

What it is

This fresco, painted by Giotto around 1300, is part of the cycle decorating the Scrovegni Chapel. It shows Christ, haloed, raising his hand toward Lazarus, shown wrapped like a mummy, while onlookers react with astonishment.

Why it matters

The painting is valued for how Giotto arranges the crowd of witnesses, each showing a different emotion through gesture and posture. This kind of realistic human reaction was new for its time and shows Giotto moving away from stiffer, more formal earlier styles toward a more lifelike way of telling religious stories.

Look closer

  • How does Giotto use the positions and gestures of the onlookers to show different emotions?
  • Why might the painter have chosen to focus on reactions rather than just the miracle itself?
  • What does the setting (sky, rocks) add to the scene?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Giotto on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Giotto sources

Meet the AI Giotto →
Exterior front of a brick chapel with a pointed gable, white decorative arcading under the roof edge, a tall Gothic-style window above a small arched doorway with striped brick arch, behind an iron railing with trees on both sides and a lamppost at right.Artifact

Primary source

Scrovegni Chapel

Giotto di Bondone · c. 1305

Giotto's fresco Lamentation: mourners gather around the body of a pale, dead man laid across a rocky ledge under a blue sky. Grieving figures kneel and embrace him, and haloed angels with outstretched wings fill the sky above. A leafless tree stands at right.Painting

Primary source

Lamentation

Giotto di Bondone · c. 1305

Painting of the Virgin Mary seated on a throne holding the Christ Child, surrounded by gold-leaf background, angels in green and white robes, and haloed saints in a Gothic arched frame.Painting

Primary source

Madonna Enthroned

Giotto di Bondone · c. 1300-1310

Tall, narrow, multi-storey tower of white, green and pink marble with pointed Gothic windows and carved decorative panels, seen from a city square with many people walking below under a blue sky.Artifact

Primary source

Giotto's Campanile

Giotto di Bondone · designed 1334

Giotto's fresco The Kiss of Judas. Jesus, with a gold halo and yellow robe, is embraced by Judas in the center as a crowd of armed men with torches and staves closes in. A disciple on the left grabs a soldier, and a robed figure on the right gestures toward the scene against a dark blue night sky.Painting

Primary source

Kiss of Judas

Giotto di Bondone · c. 1305

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Giotto now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions