Oratorio di San Giovanni Battista Frescoes
Tucked just inside Porta San Giovanni at the very bottom of Via San Giovanni, the small Oratorio di San Giovanni Battista contains a near-complete cycle of 14th-century frescoes by Jacopo di Mino del Pellicciaio that almost nobody visits. On a busy summer day you may have the entire painted interior entirely to yourself.
The Frescoes Themselves
The cycle depicts scenes from the life of St John the Baptist in vivid cobalt, ochre and vermillion — colours that have survived seven centuries with remarkable intensity because the oratory was sealed and forgotten for long periods, protecting the pigments from light and humidity.
The composition is naïve by Renaissance standards but deeply expressive: the figures have wide, searching eyes and the gold-leaf halos catch even the dim interior light, making the walls seem to glow from within.
Why It Stays Empty
Most visitors walk straight past the oratory's modest doorway on their way up Via San Giovanni toward the main piazza, drawn by the towers visible at the top of the hill — which means you can stand alone in a medieval fresco cycle that would draw queues in Florence.
The oratory is managed by a small local cultural association; a volunteer custodian is usually present and happy to explain the iconography in Italian or halting English.
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