St Stephen

Saint Stephen sits upon a low, partially draped, backless bench. He wears a dalmatic over a long tunic, indicating his position in the church as a deacon, and in his right hand he holds an open book supporting three rocks, referring to his death by stoning. Revered as the first Christian martyr, Stephen’s story is recounted in the Acts of the Apostles (6-7).

The work is carved from three pieces of wood: one was used for the saint and the other two for the lateral extensions of the seat. The modeling is so convincing that when viewed from the front, the figure, in fact a sculpture in relief, appears to be rendered fully in the round. The statue is well preserved except for the loss of much of the original polychromy. The relief probably was once part of a series of seated figures of saints that may have included St Lawrence, another deacon saint often depicted together with St Stephen in Late Gothic art.