The Gothic sacristy, located on the south side of the Romanesque San Miniato al Monte, had been constructed after the Olivetans, a branch of the Benedictine order, took possession of the monastery in 1373-74. The funds needed for the decoration of the sacristy was provided in the will of Benedetto di Nerozzo Alberti (died in 1388), member of a prominent Florentine family. The frescoing of the sacristy may have been begun soon after the death of the testator, since it was already completed in October 1388. The painter of the frescoes was Spinello Aretino, probably engaged by the Olivetans.

The fresco sequence in the sacristy includes a total of sixteen scenes from the life of St Benedict. These extend in two registers over all four walls and consists of pictorial fields of relatively small format, unusually so for Florence at this time. The selection of the subject made reference not only to the Benedictine order, but also to the patron of the cycle, as the founder of the order was also the patron saint of the donor. The pictorial program was supplemented in the vault with images of the four evangelists with their symbols and in the framing borders with busts of prophets and saints with scrolls. The literary source of the Benedict scenes is the life of the saint as described by Gregory the Great in the second book of his Dialogi.

The cycle, which begins with the eight scenes in the upper register, starts on the south wall, then continues on the west, north and east walls. The continuation of the cycle with the next eight scenes in the lower register begins on the west wall and ends on the south wall.

In almost all the scenes, those observing or witnessing the events take up quite a bit of room. Allowing the action to be reflected in the reactions of these figures is one of Spinello's main concerns as a storyteller. However, there is a certain uniformity in representing the behaviour of these figures as well as in their physiognomies. Great emphasis is placed on the depiction of the settings, in almost every image the whole of the pictorial surface is used for this.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	View of the Sacristy from the northeast 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1000*1210 True Color 231 Kb
	Scenes on the south wall 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1042*1000 True Color 255 Kb
	Two scenes on the south wall 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1416*800 True Color 259 Kb
	King Totila Kneels before St Benedict 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	942*769 True Color 177 Kb
	The Funeral of St Benedict 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	882*747 True Color 165 Kb
	Scenes on the north wall 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1015*1000 True Color 256 Kb
	Two scenes on the north wall 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1481*777 True Color 274 Kb
	The Miracle of the Sickle 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1000*1004 True Color 223 Kb
	The Miraculous Rescue of Placidus from Drowning 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	905*781 True Color 185 Kb
	Scenes on the east wall 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1023*1000 True Color 253 Kb
	Two scenes on the east wall 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1438*620 True Color 218 Kb
	St Benedict's Prayer Enables the Monks to Lift the Stone on Which the Devil Is Sitting 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	965*1300 True Color 238 Kb
	St Benedict Recognizes the Sword Bearer Riggo Disguised as King Totila 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	937*1200 True Color 214 Kb
	Restoring to Life of a Monk (detail) 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1000*1302 True Color 203 Kb
	Four Evangelists with their Symbols (vault fresco) 1388 Fresco Sacristy, San Miniato al Monte, Florence	1001*1000 True Color 269 Kb