Often when visitors look up at the ceiling of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, they often suddenly fall silent. Painted above are the golden stars and the enchanting blue skies of a heaven envisioned by the Renaissance artist Giotto di Bondone. But an equally sublime story—one central to the Christmas season—can be found when they turn to the frescoed walls.

Unveiled in 1305, the still vivid panels chronicle the lives of Mary and Jesus, in a style that revolutionised the Western art world. “Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel is a pillar, the beginning of the Renaissance,” says tour guide and art historian Cecilia Martini. “And you have to see it to really appreciate what was painted 200 years later: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. That marked the climax of the Renaissance. The two are milestones.”