Saint Stephen

This half-length figure of a saint comes from a large polyptych which Crivelli painted in 1476 for the high altar of the church of San Domenico, in Ascoli Piceno in the Italian Marche. This is Saint Stephen, Christianity’s first martyr.Potato-like rocks – representing those with which he was stoned to death – balance precariously on his head and shoulders. He holds his cactus-like martyr’s palm in one hand, and a bound book, representing the Gospels, in the other. Crivelli has rotated the book so that we see its gilded fore-edges and the clasp holding it shut, while its white-covered binding and gilded studs are dramatically foreshortened. Stephen’s smooth and youthful features contrast strongly with the powerful face of Saint Thomas now next to him.According to his legend, Stephen was a Greek Jew who converted early to Christianity. He was such an effective preacher that the Roman authorities became concerned, and put him on trial for blasphemy. At his trial he accused the Jews of murdering Christ, and was dragged into the streets of Jerusalem and stoned to death.Stephen was a deacon of the early Church, and so was always shown dressed as a deacon, albeit a fifteenth-century Italian one. He wears a dalmatic (an ankle length, sleeved, outer garment made from silk) with wide strips of embroidery around the cuffs and two large square panels – orphreys – back and front just below the neck. The luscious pink sleeves are lined with green, picking up on the colours of the Virgin’s robe in the centre panel. On either side of the orphrey are two large tassels made of raised pastiglia.For the Dominicans who commissioned the altarpiece, Stephen was an example of preaching and teaching the faith: alone of the saints in the upper tier, he gazes outwards, summoning the friars in the choir stalls to follow his example. Stephen had a special significance in the Italian Marche, as one of the rocks with which he was stoned was venerated as a relic in the cathedral of Ancona.