Expulsion and the Stoning of Saint Stephen

Fra Angelico would devote several frescoes within the Chapel of Nicholas V to scenes from the lives of Saint Lawrence and Saint Stephen. This particular panel was titled Expulsion and the Stoning of Saint Stephen and helps to illustrate how the saint would achieve martyrdom.

This wide artwork is separated in two by the city walls, which slice down the centre of the painting. They are also significant to the content itself, as Saint Stephen is aggressively removed from the city itself, before being punished outside of its boundaries. He was known to have preached regularly around the city and eventually this would no-longer be tolerated by the ruling powers. His punishment for speaking about the virtues of Christianity was to be push outside and stoned to death. His sermons had already been pictured in other frescoes within this series, and so we can slowly track the path of Stephen from preacher to martyr, and one can quickly identify events without any need for prior knowledge. He is dressed in a yellow robe with golden halo and on the left hand side is hurried through the city gates by a group of determined individuals. Another group then receive him on the other side of the wall and push him to his knees before chucking rocks at him.

The double-fresco is curved across the top which allows the artwork to fit into the existing structure of the room. Fra Angelico was highly skilled in architectural painting and here we find a clever use of perspective with the walls which slowly creep round from the centre across to the left in the far distance. In order to further set the scene, there are also a number of rolling hills in the background, with some small villages dotted around at different points up the hill. To the right hand side the artist adds some interest with narrow trees, but most of the scene is barren, presumably due to the hot, intensive climate. A river appears to sweep by on the right hand side, and often towns would be placed by waterways during these periods as a means to getting water and also transporting traded products.

When viewing items such as Expulsion and the Stoning of Saint Stephen, it is important to remember the overall project and how each of these components would fit together once the overall commission was complete. The themes around the lives of Saint Lawrence and Saint Stephen would remind visitors to the chapel of the sacrifices made in the past by those who have sought to strengthen the Christian belief system, and that their achievments and suffering should never be taken for granted. Saint Stephen Preaching and Saint Stephen Addressing the Council were further panels produced by Fra Angelico and his assistants within the chapel and the overall project was completed in just a few years, because of how a number of artists would collaborate on each piece.