Stories of Christ
The stories of Christ were originally distributed over eight panels, each one presented by a title in the upper frieze. They began with the Nativity painted by Perugino on the altar wall, subsequently destroyed to make room for Michelangelo's Last Judgement. Thus, today, the events of the life of Christ start from his Baptism (Matthew 3: 13-17; Mark 1: 9-11; Luke 3: 21-22; John 1: 29-34), which is followed by the Temptations of Christ (Matthew 4: 1-11; Mark 1: 12; Luke 4: 1-13) and the Cleansing of the Leper (Matthew 8: 1-4; Mark 1: 40-45; Luke 5: 12-16). The third shows in the foreground the Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, while the call of James and John is shown in the background (Matthew 4: 18-22; Mark 1: 16-20;Luke 5: 1-11). The next fresco illustrates the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Ch. 5-7; Luke 6: 12-49) and the curing of the leper (Matthew 8: 1-4; Mark 1: 40-45; Luke 5: 12-16), while the fifth shows the Handing over of the keys (Matthew 16: 13-20), that is to say the transfer of power from Christ to Peter, his vicar, as well as the two episodes of the Payment of the tribute (Matthew 17: 24-27) and of the Attempted stoning of Christ (John 8: 31-59;10: 31-39) in the background. The series on this wall ends with the Last Supper (Matthew 26: 17-29;Mark 14: 12-25; Luke 22: 7-23; John 13: 21-30) in which, beyond the windows we can see three episodes of the Passion: the Agony in the garden (Matthew 26: 36-46; Mark 14: 32-42;Luke 22: 39-46), the Arrest of Jesus (Matthew 26: 47-56; Mark 14: 43-52; Luke 22: 47-53; John 18: 1-11), the Crucifixion (Matthew 27: 32-50; Mark 15: 22-39; Luke 23: 33-46; John 19: 17-30). The cycle ends with the Resurrection of Christ (Matthew 28: 1-8) on the entrance wall.