View of the Oratory

The picture shows the view of the right-hand (west) long wall of the oratory with the St John cycle and the altar wall with the Crucifixion.

The St John cycle, of which twelve scenes are well preserved and five survive in fragments, completely covers the long right-hand (west) wall and is presented in two registers. The cycle begins in the upper left, near the Crucifixion on the south (altar) wall, with the Annunciation to Zacharias, and continues, moving left to right, to the end of the upper register. This section presents an unusually detailed narration of the Baptist’s childhood.

The Baptist’s public career is presented in the lower register of the west wall. Again, the sequence begins to the right of the altar wall with his preaching to the multitudes. This is matched at the other end of the wall by his preaching to Herod on horseback.