Design for the fresco cycle
by SALVIATI, Cecchino del, Pen and brown ink and gray-brown wash, 128 x 224 mm
This design for a window ‘basamento’ with Time Exposing Truth was produced for the fresco cycle in the Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato, Rome. Vasari points out that Salviati, in addition to his work on the narrative frescoes, also executed some of the decorative details - the window framing between his two scenes, but also the illusionistic window to the right of the Birth of St John the Baptist scene. The picture shows a surviving drawing for the window ‘basamento.’