The Stoning of Saint Stephen

Luca Signorelli
oil on panel
first decade, 16th century

This panel from a private collection in Verona was acquired in 2008 by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia. Unsurprisingly, given the subject-matter, it originally belonged to the Santo Stephano (Saint Stephen) confraternity in Cortona. In the words of his fellow citizen, Girolamo Mancini who in 1903 dedicated a monograph to the painter “The saint is being struck on the forehead by a stone, his right hand is raised, his left clutches his breast. His dalmatic bears a depiction of his own stoning as though woven into and echoed in the very fabric.

From a stylistic standpoint this work coheres well with Signorelli’s production from the first decade of the 16th century. It’s particularly reminiscent of his Pala di Matelica (Matelica altarpiece - 1504-1505) and Polittico di Arcevia (Archevia polyptych, 1507) and, even more notably, his magnificent Madonna con il Bambino (Madonna and Child, 1507) now in New York’s Metropolitan Museum. His idea of bringing the protagonist, one of the seven deacons chosen by the original Christian community to help the apostles in faith ministry, right into the foreground is particularly effective. Also extraordinary is his choice to open out a metaphysical, quiet landscape beyond the figure creating a highly spiritual atmosphere and externalising the silent drama of this young and heroic protomartyr.