St. Stephen Being Led to his Martyrdom 1449

Fra Angelico painted this fresco of St. Stephen being led to his martyrdom in the Vatican Palace in Rome sometime in the 15th century. Stephen was a deacon in the early church who was stoned to death for his faith, and here we see him being led outside the city walls to his execution. The painting tells us a lot about the culture and politics of the Italian Renaissance. Consider the architecture – it’s not the Jerusalem of Stephen’s time, but a contemporary Italian city. This was a time when the Catholic Church was a major political power, and art was often used to promote its messages. The serene, almost ethereal quality of the figures is typical of Fra Angelico, who was himself a Dominican friar. To fully understand this work, we need to look at the religious and social context in which it was made. What was the role of the Church in 15th-century Italy? How did people understand martyrdom? Historians delve into letters, sermons, and other documents to understand the past, and these sources help us to interpret the art of the time. Ultimately, art history is about understanding the dialogue between the past and the present.