Image: Carta Archeologica
Clavis number: ECMA 159
Other descriptors: none
Location: Villa dei Conti Deciani, Martignacco
Category: frescoes
Related literature: Life and Martyrdom of Stephen
Featured characters and locations: Antiochus (father of Stephen), Julian (bishop), Perpetua (mother of Stephen), Stephen (martyr).
1. DESCRIPTION
Material: paint on stone
Size: not provided
Images: three panels in one register on the north wall; images on south wall are too damaged to reconstruct.
Image: from Someda de Marco (and reproduced in Kaftal; see also Sawyer pp. 160–61)
1. An angel announces to the parents of Stephen the birth of their son; servants bear food and wine for the celebration of the birth; a demon steals the baby from the home.
2. The demon places the baby on the doorstep of Julian’s monastery where a doe sits; Julian hands the boy to the care of two women.
3. The adult Stephen is blessed by Bishop Julian as two men look on.
Date and Provenance: the church was built in the 11th/12th century and originally named for St. Stephen; the frescoes were painted around the 14th century by a local school influenced by Vita da Bologna.
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
In the Life and Martyrdom of Stephen, Stephen’s parents (Antiochus and Perpetua) are aged and pray for a child. After his birth an angel announces his name to his parents. Stephen is taken from his parents by Satan and is cared for by a doe before a bishop named Julian entrusts him to the care of a nurse.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kaftal, George. “The Fabulous Life of a Saint.” Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 17 (1973): 295–300 (includes descriptions of other narrative cycles of Stephen).
Sawyer, Rose A. The Medieval Changeling: Health, Childcare, and the Family Unit. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2023 (pp. 160–61, 189).
Someda de Marco, Carlo. “La chiesetta di S. Nicolò di Martignacco.” Atti dell’Accademia di Scienze Lettere e Arti di Udine, Ser. VI, 14 (1954–1957): 139–49.
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
“Chiesetta di San Nicolò.” Carta Archeologica.
Entry created by Tony Burke, York University, 24 April 2024.