Lunette of the north wall

Pope Nicholas V had this small private chapel painted inside the Vatican palace, and in 1447 he brought in Fra Angelico, a Dominican friar already famous for his frescoes in Florence. On the upper wall Angelico told the story of Saint Stephen, one of the first Christian martyrs. In this lunette Stephen stands preaching to a listening crowd on one side, and on the other argues with the men whose anger would soon condemn him. The friar sets the scenes in clear, sunlit Renaissance rooms and streets, with deep space opening behind the figures and touches of gold in the robes. Nicholas was a great gatherer of books who founded what became the Vatican Library, and he wanted the finest painter of the day for the room where he prayed alone.