Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART: Cloister of the Scalzo Fresco Cycle

Collection: 
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title: 
Cloister of the Scalzo Fresco Cycle
Alternate Title: 
Chiostro dello Scalzo Frescoes
Image View: 
General view showing vaulted arcade over the walls with the fresco cycle
Creator: 
Andrea del Sarto (Italian painter, 1486-1530); Franciabigio (Italian painter, 1484-1525); Giuliano da Sangallo (Italian architect, ca.1443-1516)
Location: 
repository: Chiostro dello Scalzo (Florence, Tuscany, Italy)
Location Note: 
Via Camillo Benso Cavour, 69
GPS: 
+43.779619+11.259464
Date: 
ca. 1509-1526 (creation); restoration completed, 2000 (restoration)
Cultural Context: 
Italian
Style Period: 
Renaissance
Work Type 1: 
fresco (painting)
Classification: 
painting
Material: 
pigment on plaster
Technique: 
fresco painting (technique); grisaille
Measurements: 
194 cm (height, approx., each panel) x 201 cm (width, approx., each panel)
Description: 
The little cloister used to be the entrance to the chapel of the Confraternity of St. John the Baptist. The name “Scalzo” was given as cross-bearers in the Confraternity's processions were barefooted (scalzi) as a sign of humility. The cloister itself was designed by Giuliano da Sangallo and decorated in grey and brown grisaille (monochrome) fresco by Andrea del Sarto and Franciabigio. The frescoes were painted in various time frames between 1509 and 1526, depicting the life of St. John the Baptist in the 12 main frames subdivided by grotesque style motifs and four allegories of Charity, Hope, Justice and Faith. The scenes of Saint John the Baptist do not correspond to the actual chronological order of their execution. Del Sarto started with The Baptism of Christ and finished with The Birth of the Baptist in 1526. Documented payments for the single scenes span the period 1515-1526, yet the style of the Baptism suggests that he began work on the series as early as 1507-1508. In 1518-1519, with del Sarto away in France, Franciabigio executed two of the scenes. He may, however, have followed preexisting designs for these. The frescoes were exposed to weather and thus deterioration for centuries. In the early 1960s, the frescoes were detached from the walls for restoration and were finally returned to the (glassed over) cloister to be reopened for public viewing in 2000. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)
Image Description: 
In 1722, changes were made to the cloister, including adding groin vaults (and the consequent lunettes) and creating a walkway to protect the frescoes from the elements.
Collection: 
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier: 
6A1-SARTO-CS-O-A05
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.