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The Cenacolo of San Salvi is possibly the one which most easily lends itself to the transformation into a museum, with its fairly large interiors on the ground and first floors. It was part of a Vallombrosan convent and it passed to the Ladies of Faenza. In 1511 a contract was drawn up with Andrea del Sarto for the decoration of the Refectory. Although commissioned at the beginning of his career, it was carried out slowly and was completed between 1520-25, a particularly fine period of the work of Andrea del Sarto.
Miraculously spared during the Siege of Florence in 1529-30, the fresco is placed under a large arch containing painted medallions with the Trinity and four Saints, protectors of the Vallombrosan Order. Andrea's personality and background are evident in the fresco's innovations; he appears to be influenced by Leonardo and the Roman work of Michelangelo and Raphael, revealed in a work of magnificence and pre-baroque spontaneity.
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