Images: Brundarte
Clavis number: ECMA 156
Other descriptors: none
Location: Lecce, Italy
Category: frescoes
Related literature: Life and Martyrdom of Stephen, Martyrdom of Stephen
Featured characters and locations: Antiochus (father of Stephen), Gamaliel, Julian (bishop), Paul (apostle), Perpetua (mother of Stephen), Stephen (martyr).
1. DESCRIPTION
Material: paint on stone
Size: not provided
Images: the upper area of the southern wall of the church is made up of two registers: the upper register consists of eight images and the lower register of seven.
The first four images of the upper register are based on the Latin Life and Martyrdom of Stephen: (right to left) Stephen’s parents pray for a son, a family banquet, an angel names the child, and the birth of Stephen.
The next two images depict Stephen’s evangelizing journeys and perhaps his meeting with the bishop Julian. Julian may also be the man in the next image who is visited by an angel in his sleep.
The end of the upper cycle and the beginning of lower has a story of Stephen converting and baptizing a rider; this may be based on a life of Philip with the eunuch represented as a rider in armor.
The second image of the lower register is Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin. Then Stephen is beaten by two Jews (the wheel on their chests is a sign that Jews had to wear in the Middle Ages). The third image is Paul beating Stephen with a stick and Gamaliel trying to intervene.
An attempt is made to crucify Stephen; here Paul directs the three executioners and an angel comes to Stephen’s rescue. In the next image Paul looks on as Stephen is forced to drink boiling lead. Finally, Stephen is stoned by a mob with Jesus and God looking on and two angels carrying away Stephen’s soul.
Date and Provenance: the church was built at the end of the fourteenth century or beginning of the fifteenth, with the cycle painted upon the completion of construction.
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 raised by a bishop named Julian (who may be represented in the images of Stephen meeting a religious official and the bearded man visited by an angel. The text goes on to describe Stephen’s missionary work in Cyrene, Cilicia, Alexandria, and Asia. The three images of Stephen evangelizing a knight have no textual parallel.
The images of Stephen’s martyrdom are based on the Greek Martyrdom of Stephen. Here Stephen takes part in a debate in Jerusalem (ch. 4). Paul arrives and directs the torture of Stephen (ch. 6) which includes an attempted crucifixion and pouring molten lead in Stephen’s mouth. Gamaliel intervenes, voicing his disgust at Paul, his former student. The text concludes with the stoning of Stephen and his soul rising to meet Christ (ch. 10).
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bovon, François. “The Dossier on Stephen, the First Martyr.” HTR 96.3 (2003): 279–315 (p. 293).
Berger, Michel. “Un inédit italo-grec de la passion légendaire de Saint-Etienne: les peintures murales de l’église Santo Stefano a Spoleto, en Terre d’Otrante.” Pages 1377–88 in La Chiesa greca in Italia dall’VIII al XVI secolo: atti del Convegno storico interecclesiale (Bari, 30 apr.–4 magg. 1969). Edited by Convegno storico intereccleisale. 3 vols. Antenore: Padova, 1972–1973.
Berger, Michel, and André Jacob. La chiesa di S. Stefano a Soleto. Tradizioni bizantine e cultura tardogotica. Lecce: Argo, 2007.
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).
Labadie, Damien. L’invention du protomartyr Étienne: sainteté, pouvoir et controverse dans l’antiquité (Ier-VIe s.). Judaïsme ancien et origines du christianisme 21. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021 (pp. 284–86).
Manni, Luigi. La chiesa di Santo Stefano di Soleto. Galatina: Congedo, 2010 (pp. 81–93).
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
“Chiesa di Santo Stefano – Soleto.” Brundarte. Posted 1 July 2023.
“Chiesa di Santo Stefano (Soleto).” Wikipedia.
Entry created by Tony Burke, York University, 5 April 2024.