Michelino joined the artists’ guild in his native city of Florence in 1442 and received numerous commissions from prominent civic organizations and churches in both Cortona and Florence. This fresco, which uses a complex painting process employed by many Renaissance artists that involves adding pigments to still-wet plaster, likely once adorned the interior of a Florentine church or other sacred space. John the Baptist spent his early years in the wilderness, where he was called as the forerunner of Christ, to a life of prophecy, preaching, and baptism. Because he was sent "to prepare the way for the Lord," John became the patron saint of missionaries.
