Painted for a Catholic brotherhood that showed its faith by going barefoot (scalzo), Andrea del Sarto’s monochromatic fresco cycle is ranged around a Renaissance cloister of unlikely elegance, considering the brotherhood’s professions of humility. Completed between 1509 and 1526, the cycle depicts the life of St John the Baptist in 16 scenes – all in shades of grey. The ensemble also reveals del Sarto’s artistic growth as he helped forge the new mannerist style.
