The center bottom panel of the gruesome terra verde fresco cycle of the Tor de’Specchi refectory, in effect the focal point of the wall, depicts one of the most menacing, memorable scenes in the series, and bears the following descriptive caption:

The grim vision represented in this scene is set in a barren room where a sinister, fire-breathing demon, shown as a remarkably muscular nude man with ram's horns and bat wings, shoves the beatific Francesca Romana onto a rotting, worm-laden cadaver (Plate 24). The “enemy of human nature” dominates the space of the fictive room, and leans forcibly into the falling body of the saint, with his feet spread wide and hands powerfully gripping her shoulders. His genitals are barely covered by a shaggy patch of fur that brushes against the back of the beata's floor-length skirt. As Francesca topples toward the fetid, half-eaten ribcage of the decaying corpse, she thrusts her arms forward in a seemingly futile attempt to break her fall while the corpse, which appears to be more alive than dead, strains to sit up and reaches provocatively for the hem of her skirt. Her childlike guardian angel observes the unfolding drama from a wispy, translucent cloud that hovers above the scene, and silently offers a gesture of blessing. The dramatic tension between the widely diverse figures in this panel is emblematic of the physical and spiritual dilemmas depicted throughout the refectory series, fusing themes of provocation and decay with those of resistance and redemption.

Ideas surrounding temptation and penance, volition and faith, sexuality and punishment that were held by pious women of the period were incorporated into the terra verde images at Tor de’Specchi in ways that addressed mounting concerns by and about religious women and female mystics. They also give us insight into how contemporary developments in artistic ideation and practice could be used to best render early modern depictions of the Devil, demons, and female saints.