Rome - Church of the Beheading of St John

(Local Name: San Giovanni Decollato) There was in Papal Rome a "Fraternity of Mercy" (Confraternità della Misericordia), established in 1488 (of which Michelangelo was a member), which had undertaken responsibility for accompanying condemned prisoners to execution and had the right, once a year, to secure the pardon of a prisoner. This body erected the church of San Giovanni in honor of the beheading (decollation) of St John the Baptist; begun in 1535, the church was completed in 1555. The paintings in the church and in the oratory adjoining the cloisters depict scenes from the life of the saint as it is described in the Bible, with particular emphasis on his beheading.