So named to distinguish it from the other cloisters in the abbey (the Middle Cloister and the Small Cloister), it was completed in the first half of the 15th century. Its interior walls are adorned with the famous fresco cycle of the “Stories of St. Benedict”, initiated by Luca Signorelli in 1497 and completed by Antonio Bazzi, known as Il Sodoma, in the early 1500s.
The paintings narrate the life of St. Benedict, illustrating its most significant moments—from his departure from his family home in Norcia to pivotal events like abandoning his studies in Rome to pursue an ascetic life, his encounters with various temptations, miraculous episodes, the founding of several monastic communities, and his meeting with the Gothic king Totila. The cycle also includes the prophecy of Montecassino’s destruction by the Lombard army. The narrative concludes with an idealized scene where St. Benedict symbolically hands over the Rule to the founders of the Olivetan Order.