# View of the oratory [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [SALVIATI, Cecchino del]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Fresco ## Commentary The Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato in Rome houses the most important fresco cycle executed in the difficult decades after he Sack of Rome. It was commissioned by the Florentine confraternity of the Misericordia, founded in 1488, whose members had set themselves the task of helping those sentenced to death by providing them with spiritual support. Shortly after its founding the confraternity began the construction of the church and oratory next door. The completion of the church was delayed until 1553. By around 1536, on the other hand, the oratory had been completed to the extent that the painted decoration of the room could begin. The subject chosen for the fresco cycle, which covers the upper half of all four walls, was the story of the patron saint of the brotherhood, John the Baptist. For the execution of the cycle they selected Florentine \(or Tuscan\) artists working in Rome at the time. The most renowned Florentine painter active in Rome was Perino del Vaga, and several <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/p/perino/zorator1.html'\)" href="/html/p/perino/zorator1.html">preparatory drawings</a> for the frescoes by him have been preserved. Perino's designs were executed by younger Florentine artists, Jacopino del Conte and Cecchino \(Francesco\) del Salviati. Jacopino del Ponte painted <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/c/conte/3decolla.html'\)" href="/html/c/conte/3decolla.html">on the entrance wall</a> St John the Baptist Preaching \(1538, on the left\) and the Baptism of Christ \(1541, on the right\), on the right wall <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/c/conte/4decolla.html'\)" href="/html/c/conte/4decolla.html">The Annunciation to Zachariah</a> \(1536-38\). Salviati painted the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/salviati/2/2visita1.html'\)" href="/html/s/salviati/2/2visita1.html">Visitation</a> \(1538\), the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/salviati/2/3birth1.html'\)" href="/html/s/salviati/2/3birth1.html">Birth of St John the Baptist</a> \(1551, on the right wall\). The sixth fresco, the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/f/franco/battista/oratory.html'\)" href="/html/f/franco/battista/oratory.html">Arrest of St John the Baptist</a> \(c. 1543, on the left wall\) was executed by Battista Franco, who came from Venice but worked in Florence. Pirro Ligorio painted the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/l/ligorio/oratory.html'\)" href="/html/l/ligorio/oratory.html">Feast of Herod with the Dance of Salome</a> \(1544-53, on the left wall\). Starting in 1550, Salviati painted two apostles on the altar wall, <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/salviati/2/4andrew.html'\)" href="/html/s/salviati/2/4andrew.html">Andrew</a> \(to the left of the altar\) and <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/salviati/2/4barthol.html'\)" href="/html/s/salviati/2/4barthol.html">Bartholomew</a> \(to the right\). The altarpiece, an excellent panel with the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/salviati/2/1view1.html'\)" href="/html/s/salviati/2/1view1.html">Descent from the Cross</a> was painted by Jacopino \(1550-53\). The fresco cycle was completed in 1553 with the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/m/master/xunk\_it/xunk\_it4/oratory.html'\)" href="/html/m/master/xunk\_it/xunk\_it4/oratory.html">Beheading of St John the Baptist.</a> This was carried out by an assistant who reused some of Salviati's older drawings for several figures but whose overall composition did not come close to approximating the achievements of his master. The rivalry between Jacopino and Salviati, reported by Vasari, led to interruptions in the realization of the decorative program. The picture shows the view of the oratory towards the altar. ## Related artworks - [Allegory of Peace Burning Arms]() - [Bathsheba Bathing \(detail\)]() - [Bathsheba Bathing \(detail\)]() - [Bathsheba Bathing \(detail\)]() - [Charity \(detail\)]() - [Charity]() - [Christ Carrying the Cross]() - [Coronation of the Virgin with Angels]() - [Design for a Ewer]() - [Design for the fresco cycle]() - [General view]() - [General view]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()