In the sun-dappled cloister of the Convento di San Francesco perched high above Florence on the hill of Fiesole, a Franciscan friar in brown habit and knotted cord stands absorbed in reading — his bowed head and clasped book evoking centuries of contemplative life within these ancient stone walls. A statue of Saint Francis on a simple pedestal anchors the left of the scene, while climbing vines and potted plants soften the rough plaster walls of this intimate garden arcade. The Convento di San Francesco at Fiesole, founded in the early fifteenth century and still occupied by Franciscan friars today, was a popular subject for early twentieth-century postcard photographers drawn to its picturesque blend of living religious community and medieval architecture.