Dating back to circa 1400, Lorenzo di Niccolò’s Martyrdom of St. Stephen is one of the oldest works in the Museum’s permanent collection.
Most Catholic Church altars during this time included a large painting depicting a religious narrative. This central painting was above a predella — the lower horizontal base of the altarpiece, often painted with scenes that related to the principle story of the altar.
Di Niccolò’s Martyrdom of St. Stephen is a wonderfully well-preserved example of these predellas.
It is so well-preserved, in fact, it is believed this piece was removed from its original altar, not long after its completion — a common practice at the time.
The work depicts the public execution of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr and one of the first evangelists of the early Christian Church.
His judges on the right side of the painting are led by Saul (with the long beard and receding hairline) before his eventual religious conversion to Saint Paul.
Di Niccolò’s work represents a transitional period into Late Medieval from the Gothic style where strong outlines and gold leaf backgrounds still flatten the surface of the painting and perspective is introduced, although inconsistently.
Notice the scale of the figures and objects in the foreground and background.
Stones and trees appear the same size, while figures have conflicting proportions despite their placement in the scene. Along with skewed buildings, the painting creates a loose illusion of depth.
With realism as a secondary concern for a largely illiterate community, Martyrdom of St. Stephen demonstrates how the church used symbols and stylization to illustrate and enrich narratives.
