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Fresco fragment, north wall of the nave; At Santa Croce the two surviving cycles of frescoes are in the chapels of the Bardi and Peruzzi families, respectively devoted to seven scenes of the Life of St Francis (one outside over the entrance arch) and to three scenes each of the Life of St John the Baptist and the Life of John the Evangelist. Both cycles have been assigned widely divergent dates anywhere between the Arena Chapel frescoes (1303-1306) and Giotto's trip to Naples (1328-1333). Each has been considered earlier than the other on the basis of subjective views of Giotto's stylistic evolution. Since St. Louis of Toulouse, represented in the Bardi Chapel, was canonized in 1317, the chapel is often held to be necessarily later, although it was not uncommon for uncanonized saints to be depicted. If a date around 1320 is most often favoured for the Bardi paintings, the date for the Peruzzi works ranges from much earlier (ca. 1313; Previtali) to much later (Borsook). The most notable difference between the two works is technical, the Peruzzi paintings being executed on dry plaster (secco), while in the Bardi Chapel the fresco technique on wet plaster was used (buon fresco). Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 12/16/2007)