In the abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, a fourteenth-century Benedictine in the Crete Senesi, the unique frescoes that adorn the Chiostro Grande are a high point of Renaissance painting. The walls are painted with 36 scenes that depict the life of St. Benedict of Nursia, founder of the Benedictine order named after him.
The frescoes are the masterpiece by Luca Signorelli and Il Sodoma. This twenty-seventh scene was painted by Luca Signorelli.
The two scenes dealing with the Gothic king Totila, painted by Signorelli, are crowded with figures and full of action, and in a sense fall out of the established framework of the cycle, for here the fathers are confronted with a powerful figure from the outside world.
Scene 27 of the cycle on the life of St Benedict depicts Benedict discovering Totila's deceit. Benedict is not fooled by Totila's ruse of sending his servant dressed in his own armour (Scene 27). Despite the king's arrogance and trickery, Benedict subsequently receives him, confronts him with his numerous misdeeds, and prophesies his end (Scene 28).