Among the allegory of the vices that adorn the right side of the beautiful Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Giotto painted Envy.
burns in the fire, clutching the bag of money. A snake from his mouth, he turns away, only to twist to meet his gaze.
Currently the whole chapel is restored and shines in all its glory.
This image, among the splendor of the whole work, particularly impressed me.
Enrico Scrovegni commissioned the chapel in 1303. According to this hypothesis
accredited committee was intended to "save their souls" his and his family, guilty of the sin of usury (the bag of money in this picture and other details in the entire work, I suggest iconographically) .
The sensitivity of the Christian period showed, in this, the consistency that later had no qualms about missed considered that the loan interest a grave sin.
Warning the loan interest : no question on the rate applied but on the very concept of interest.
So, now the respectable profession of the Scrovegni family, bankers, was for them a matter of serious concern for the soul ...
Of course even then the Christian integrity - that even the least ordered its faithful to what was one of the main accusations against Jews - came to the consistency of denying leniency to those who might give to the Church part of this illicit gain. In this, it seems, we have a lot of art.
There is no indication of whether Enrico Scrovegni obtained with this work, in addition to lost time, even the eternal. Certainly we should be grateful for giving us this timeless masterpiece. I suspect, however, is that the snake wear, as shown Giotto by envy, it is still staring into his eyes.
also suggest to investigate the question: because it is the concept of interest, not the magnitude of the rate, for being considered a sin? Perhaps more than many respectable but still questionable moral arguments, use the query to Google "seigniorage" (and a few hours of patience) could provide an answer ...