Chiostro dello Scalzo, Florence

Chiostro dello Scalzo is a small cloister whose walls preserve an important fresco cycle from the former home of a religious confraternity. Andrea del Sarto created the main series, working over a long period from 1509 to 1526. Look at the painted panels around the cloister: they narrate twelve episodes from the life of Saint John the Baptist, alongside figures for Faith, Hope, Charity, and Justice.

The scenes use grisaille, creating sculptural effects through shades of grey rather than vivid colour. Their arrangement follows the story, not the order in which Andrea painted it, so the dates do not move steadily along the narrative. Franciabigio completed two scenes while Andrea was away in France, bringing a more intimate character to those moments.

The name Scalzo recalls the barefoot brother who carried the Cross in the confraternity’s processions. The cloister once formed the approach to the group’s chapel, and its architectural setting was later altered with a vaulted ceiling and corner columns. The frescoes were detached and restored between 1963 and 1968, then returned to the cloister before it reopened to visitors in 1995.