Saint Stephen Preaching, Vittore Carpaccio

Description of the picture:

Saint Stephen preaching – Vittore Carpaccio. Around 1450. Canvas, 100 40 eight x 194   A series of Carpaccio paintings dedicated to the life of St. Stephen and written for the theological school “Scuola di Santo Stefano” in Venice, was started in one thousand 500 eleven. Carpaccio depicts Stephen, dressed in the clothes of a deacon of the XVI century. and preaching before the meeting of attentive listeners. He stands on the podium of ancient sculpture, which symbolizes the victory of Christianity over idolatry. A figure with a veiled face behind a group of seated ladies is an allusion to the popular Christian allegory, representing Judaism in the form of a lady with a blindfold, blind and deaf to the good news of the Gospel; the men behind her are probably members of the Jewish community council who accused Stephen of blasphemy. The octagonal baptistery behind Stephen speaks of the inevitable triumph of Christianity.   ST STEPHEN. Stephen (died about 30 5 CE) is revered as the first Christian deacon and sufferer. Legend has it that the relics of Stephen were brought to Rome and placed in the tomb of St. Lawrence. When the tomb was opened, Lavrenty moved to give Stephen a seat. In Italian and French Renaissance painting, Stephen is often depicted as a young deacon with the attribute of this saint – a stone that served as an instrument of his martyrdom. In the narrative cycle of frescoes by Fra Angelico in the chapel of Nicholas V in Rome, he is depicted together with St. Lawrence."