Application of Non-invasive Measurements in the Recent Studies of the Scrovegni Chapel: Results and Considerations

The Scrovegni Chapel is known all over the world for the famous frescoes made by Giotto that decorate its interior. The building stands on the remains of the Roman amphitheater of Padua, in a unique, highly scenic position. Many unsolved doubts about the origins of this building and its link with the Roman amphitheater affect the Chapel. The evident structural and decorative in-homogeneities visible between the various parts of the building (e.g., the nave, the apse, the sacristy, the hypogeum and the walls under the roof), pose numerous doubts about the transformations that must have affected it over the centuries, probably changing its original shape. This work reports some examples of recent applications of ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), IR thermography, and multispectral imaging to the study of the Scrovegni Chapel. The results of the multidisci-plinary project, of which these measurements are part, demonstrate that the integrated approach represents the basic condition for the right interpretation and comprehension of the results of non-invasive approach, mostly in com-plex archaeological and historical context as well as that of the Scrovegni Chapel.