The Baptism of Christ

Along the painted frieze above this scene runs a signature in Latin capitals, OPUS PETRI PERUSINI CASTRO PLEBIS, the work of Pietro of Perugia, from Castel della Pieve. Perugino was a nickname taken from the big city of his region, and here he added the small town he actually came from, today called Città della Pieve.

He painted the fresco in 1481 and 1482 with assistants who included the young Pinturicchio, and scholars still disagree over which parts are whose. Today it is the first scene of the Life of Christ in the chapel, though it was not planned that way. The story originally began on the altar wall, with a Nativity, also by Perugino, beside a Finding of Moses. Both were destroyed in the 1530s to make room for Michelangelo's Last Judgment.

In the centre John pours water over Christ in the Jordan, with God the Father above among angels and the dove of the Holy Spirit between them. To either side, smaller and further back, John and then Christ preach to the crowds. The river valley behind them is dotted with buildings from Rome, among them a triumphal arch, the Colosseum and the Pantheon.