Illustrating Miracles: The Leper and the Chapel*



Jesus Heals a Leper
From the Sermons of Maurice de Sully

Italian (Milan or Genoa), c. 1320-1330

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France

MS Francais 187, fol. 6v

“A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean,
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
He said to him, "See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them."
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.”
(Mark 1:40-45)
Gospel for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The Gospel and First Reading of today’s liturgy, for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, focus on leprosy. The First Reading comes from Leviticus, Chapter 13, which lays down rules by which various forms of skin infections can be recognized and dealt with.1   Since there was no real cure for leprosy (it wasn’t discovered until the 1980s2) those who suffered from it were harshly treated, by more or less total exclusion from the community.  Since the definition of leprosy was not the clinical one it would be today, there were no doubt many other skin conditions that were included in the word. 

A Leper with a Bell
From a Pontifical (Liturgical book for bishops)
Flemish, c. 1400
London, British Library
MS Landsdowne 451, fol. 127r

Leprosy was not well  understood and, therefore, was greatly feared.  Lepers were subject to many rules intended to isolate them from the general population in order to control the disease.  Among those rules was the use of a bell by the leper to announce his or her presence in public places.  In some of the illustrations that follow you will see that instead of a bell, wooden clappers were often used. 

In the Gospel reading Jesus responds to the plea of a leper by healing him and then instructing him to follow the rules laid down for lepers who were healed, by going to a priest to show his clean skin and providing an offering in the temple. It is a sign both of His power over nature and of the revelation of a loving, healing God which He represents.

Johann Füssli, "The Law of the Leper in the Day of His Cleansing"
(An illustration of what the law required a cleansed leper to do to return to society)
Swiss, c. 1730
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dep of Prints and Drawings

The same story of the healing of one leper is found in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 5:12-14) and there is an additional story of the healing of ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). Yet, in spite of the fact that there are three references to this subject in the New Testament there seem to be relatively few images of this subject in the art of the West. 

Among them are:  

Christ Healing the Leper
Detail from The Andrews Diptych
Probably German, c. 800
London, Victoria and Albert Museum_

The Healing of the Leper
French (Lorraine), c. 870-880
London, Victoria and Albert Museum

In both of the ivory carvings above, the fact of the man's leprosy is conveyed by small pock marks spread over the exposed parts of his body.  This creates slight shadows that have the same effect as the painted marks we will see in illuminated manuscripts.

Healing of the Leper

Wall Painting, German, 986-1000

Ueberlingen, Chapel of St. Sylvester

The rough surface of this painting suggests that at some point in its history it was plastered over, after the surface had been roughened to provide better adhesion for the new plaster.

Jesus Heals the Leper and the Leper Shows Himself
From the Gospel Book of Otto III
German (Reichenau), c. 1000
Munich, Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek
MS Clm 4453, fol. 39v

Christ Healing the Leper
From the Bernward Column
German, c. 1020
Hildesheim, Church of Saint Mary

Christ Healing the Leper
From the Codex Aureus of Echternach
German, c. 1030
Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum
MS Hs 155142, fol.54r

The Healing of the Leper
From a Gospel Book
German (Ecternach), ca. 1035
Brussels, Bibliotheque royale Albert Ier
MS 9428, fol. 23r

Christ Healing the Leper
From a Picture Bible
French, c. 1197
Amiens, Bibliotheque municipale

Master of the Roman de Fauvel, Christ Healing the Leper
From a Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais
French (Paris), c. 1333-1334
Paris, Bbiliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 316, fol. 333v

Cristoforo Orimina, Christ Healing the Leper
From a Missal
Italian, c. 1370
Avignon, Bibliotheque municipale
MS 138

Master of the Livre du Sacre and workshop, Christ Healing the Leper
From a Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais
French (Paris), c. 1370-1380
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvlle acquisition francaise 15940, fol. 44v

Christ Healing the Leper
From a Pelerinage de Jesus-Christ
French, c. 1400
Paris, Bibliotheque de l'Institut de France
MS 9

Jean Colombe and Workshop, Christ Healing the Leper
From a Vita Jesu Christi by Ludolf of Saxony
French (Bourges), c. 1480-1485
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 177, fol. 163r

This tradition of depicting the event was carried over seamlessly into the printed illustrations of Bibles and other books once printing had replaced illumination in the illustration of books.

Georg Pencz, Christ Heals the Leper
German, First Half of 16th Century
Paris, Musee du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques

Hans Schaeufelein, Christ Healing the Leper
From Das Plenarium
German, 1517
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dep of Prints and Drawings

Sebald Beham, Christ Healilng the Leper
From Christliche Auslegung der Evangelien
German (Ingolstadt), 1530
London, Trustees of the British Museum

Note the comment below the image.  This is the Gospel for the third Sunday after Epiphany.  Now the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, in Year B.

Anonymous, Christ Healing the Leper
From a New Testament
German, c. 1551
London, Trustees of the British Museum

And this carried over into other media as well.

Bernardino Passeri, Christ Healing the Leper
Italian, c. 1593
London, Royal Collection Trust

Healing of the Leper
French, 17th Century
Chateau-Landon, Church of Notre Dame

Pieter de Jode I, The Healing of the Leper
Flemish, c. 1600-1634
Washington, National Gallery of Art

This carries over into the modern era, with one twist.  The modern paintings I have found always show the leper from the back.  Perhaps because by the time these works were made leprosy was better understood and less ubiquitous the painters found it difficult to depict the leper from the front or side and opted instead for the back of a figure.  It is an interesting hypothesis, but one which I am not able to support too strongly as I have only found two instances to date.

James Tissot, The Leper Beseechs Jesus to Cure Him
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum

Niels Larsen Stevns, Healing of a Leper
Danish, 1913
Viborg, Skovgaard Museum

Sometimes, this miracle is illustrated in a painting which includes other scenes. For example, there is a manuscript illumination in the Bibliotheque nationale de France, showing the scene in conjunction with the raising of the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17).

Healing of the Leper and Raising of the Widow's Son

From Sepeculum historiale by Vincentius Bellovacinsis

French (Paris), 1463

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France

MS Francais 50, fol. 220v

The best known of these images is found in conjunction with the Sermon on the Mount in no less a place than the Sistine Chapel.3   The Sistine Chapel, as is well-known, holds an extremely important place in Catholicism. It is here that various papal ceremonies take place, most notably the meetings of the solemn conclave which follows the death of a Pope, during which his successor is elected. It is also famous for the great paintings by Michelangelo that cover the ceiling. But, this scene is not located on the famous ceiling. It is located on the far less famous side walls.4   These walls are almost certainly overlooked by the vast majority of visitors to the Chapel whose whole attention seems often to be focused solely on the ceiling and the altar wall, which carries Michelangelo’s equally famous painting of the Last Judgment.  

The dual scene painting of the Sermon on the Mount and the Healing of the Leper is by the artist, Cosimo Rosselli.  On the left side of the painting we see Jesus, surrounded by a crowd, delivering the Sermon on the Mount.  In the right hand corner of the picture we see him curing the kneeling leper.

Rosselli was one of a group of artists who were commissioned to decorate the walls of the Chapel, by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, who built and decorated it. Sixtus was the uncle of Pope Julius II della Rovere, the Pope who commissioned the great ceiling from Michelangelo.

Cosimo Rosselli, Sermon on the Mount and Healing of the Leper

Italian, 1481-1483

Vatican City, Sistine Chapel

Pope Sixtus commissioned the artists Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Luca Signorelli and Cosimo Rosselli to decorate the Chapel in the period 1480-1483. All but Rosselli are well-known and highly respected masters of the later Quattrocento period. Rosselli is a far less known and less respected artist based in Florence.  However, here in the Sistine he appears to have risen to the occasion, influenced perhaps by the work of the greater artists around him.  

Interior of Sistine Chapel, showing the division into three zones

The original decoration of the Chapel was conceived as divided into three zones. In the lowest zone, the decoration consisted of trompe l’oeil representations of draperies, hanging from and between equally fictive architectural elements. (The actual walls of the Chapel are simple, flat structures.) The great Raphael tapestries were later commissioned (by Julius II to cover these painted draperies on special occasions.) 



In the upper zone of the Chapel the original decoration was of images of past Popes. Above this, in the space now occupied by Michelangelo’s masterwork, the ceiling was originally painted a deep blue with golden stars, a very traditional finish.

Meanwhile, in the middle zone, the walls were painted with scenes from the lives of Moses and of Christ. The scenes of Moses fill the south wall, while the Life of Christ occupies the north wall. 

Photograph of a recent, rare event -- the hanging of the Raphael Tapestries in their original location.  The Tapestries are usually on display in the galleries of the Vatican Pinacoteca.

The Chapel was consecrated on the feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1483 by Sixtus IV. These middle zone decorations dominated the Chapel for only 25 years, for in 1508 Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to replace the starry ceiling with a new design (originally to have been of the Twelve Apostles) which made it one of the most famous sites in the world and forever eclipsed the work of the earlier painters.

__________________________________
1. For the entire text of Leviticus, 13 see http://www.usccb.org/bible/scripture.cfm?bk=Leviticus&ch=13&v=03013001

2. For information on leprosy history and treatment see http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs101/en/

3. For information on the Sistine Chapel see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel#Interior
 and http://www.museivaticani.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Storia.html

4. Detailed information on the Sistine Chapel paintings appears on the website of the Vatican Museums, especially information on the south and north walls, which can be accessed from
http://www.museivaticani.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Main.html

I also suggest that you visit the virtual tour of the Chapel also located on the Vatican Musuems website at http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html. Although it is mainly focused on presenting the Michelangelo ceiling it does give a real sense of how it feels to stand in the room. You are able to zoom in and out on the ceiling frescoes, although it is less reavealing for the frescoes on the side walls.

 

© M. Duffy, 2012.  Revised 2024.

* Note:  I first published this essay in 2012.  Twelve years is a long time on the internet and many more sources are available now.  In addition, the quality of the pictures that are posted by museums and libraries is much higher.  For these reasons, I have revisited this subject and renewed every picture in the original essay, in addition to finding some new images, which I have added.  

Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

Mosaic of Saint Lawrence

Byzantine, First half of 5th Century

Ravenna, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

(Here Lawrence is shown as a triumphant martyr, clothed and carrying the cross and a book.  The grid iron and fire occupy the center of the composition.)

August 10 is the memorial of Saint Lawrence, a deacon in Rome in the mid-third century. From the time of his martyrdom in 258, during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian, he has been in constant remembrance. 

Lawrence was already well known as a martyr at Rome by the mid-third century and he is still one of the saints mentioned in the list of Roman martyrs in the Roman Canon, the most traditional (in the sense of having been in use over a long time period) of the four Eucharistic Prayers of the Mass. This list includes some of the early Popes (Linus, Cletus, Clement) as well as other male martyr saints (additional male and female saints are also mentioned in a separate prayer within the Roman Canon). He is also one of the patron saints of the city of Rome and patron of cooks, comedians, libraries and librarians.

Workshop of Jean Pichore, Saint Lawrence
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), 15th Century
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 923, fol. 92v

By the Middle Ages there were approximately twenty churches and chapels in Rome dedicated to Saint Lawrence and many of these buildings still survive, including: from the 4th century San Lorenzo in Damaso; from the 5th century San Lorenzo in Lucina; from the 6th century San Lorenzo fuori le mura; from the 7th century San Lorenzo in Miranda; from the 9th century San Lorenzo in Panisperna. Many of these churches were built in the places associated with Lawrence’s arrest, martyrdom and burial. In the remains of the ancient papal palace at the Lateran the chapel, commonly known at the “Sanctum Sanctorum”, is dedicated to Saint Lawrence.

School of Lorenzo Monaco, Saint Lawrence Triptych

Italian, 1407

Paris, Musée du Louvre

Clearly, something about Lawrence or about his death caused him to be remembered in a special way in the centuries following his martyrdom. According to tradition, Lawrence died in a particularly gruesome way. He was bound to an iron grid (probably a bedstead or window grill) and roasted over hot coals. He is reported to have said to his tormentors “assum est… versa et manduca”, which is usually translated into English as “I’m done on this side, turn me over and eat”. Such a humorous response to cruelty may encapsulate some memories of Lawrence himself. 1

For this reason, the majority of images of Lawrence have presented either his martyrdom, depicted either realistically or symbolically, or have been images of him, dressed in a dalmatic (the vestment unique to deacons) and holding either a book (the Gospels, which it is the deacon’s mission to proclaim) or the gird iron of his martyrdom, or both. These images have been popular throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and into the Baroque and later. They come from as far apart as Rome, Spain, England and Sweden, demonstrating that the popularity of Lawrence was not just confined to the region of Rome. Examples of both types follow below.

Scenes from the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

These are by far the most popular images of Saint Lawrence in the Middle Ages and later.

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

Detail from a Psalter

Flemish, 13th Century

London, British Library,

MS Burney 345, fol. 69r

(Note that the little figures of the demon and the torturer with the bellows add a touch of humor.)

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
From the Images de la vie du Christ et des saints
Flemish (Hainaut), c. 1250-1300
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS NAF 16251, fol. 77v

Richard de Montbaston, Saint Lawrence Before the Emperor and Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
From a Vies des saints
French (Paris), c. 1325-13350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 185, fol. 98r

Jean Pucelle, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
From the Breviary of Charles V
French (Paris), c. 1364-1370
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 1052, fol. 448r

In this picture the artist's imagination has made the already horrible torture even worse, as well as provided some interesting psychology for the torturers.  The man on the left appears to be shielding his eyes from the horrible scene in which he is participating, while the other two torturers seem to relish their activities as one increases the heat by means of the bellows and the other makes cuts in the saint's legs using what appears to be pruning shears.  Meanwhile, the saint is shown praying, with his attention fixated on the hand of God which appears at the top.

Giovanni di Benedetto and Workshop, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
From a Book of Hours
Italian, c. 1385-1390
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 757, fol. 347r

As in the French illumination above, this Italian painter shows the activities of the torturers while Saint Lawrence prays to an apparition of Christ.

Jacobello del Fiore, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence with Two Benedictine Nuns
Italian, c. 1425
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum

Once again Saint Lawrence is seen praying to an apparition of God the Father while his torturers stoke the coals.  One of them is shown shielding his face from the heat.  At the left, two nuns, presumably the patrons of this painting, are shown praying to Saint Lawrence.  The first half of their prayer is clearly visible, while the second line is not as clear.  Allowing for the missing material the prayer reads (in translation) "Martyr Lawrence, your devotee, asks you to give me grace...and faithful to God".  Lawrence himself prays quite clearly "The strength of my soul comes from you Jesus Christ, I am devoted servant."

Master of Marguerite d'Orleans, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
From Hours of Marguerite d'Orleans
French (Rennes), c. 1430
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 1156B, fol. 171r

Here the scene of the torturers stoking the fire is being watched by the Emperor Valerian and two of his councilors.

Master Francois and Workshop, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
From Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais
French, 1453
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 51, fol. 31

Again, Valerian is shown overseeing the torture.  Meanwhile, this image presents some of the preliminary incidents in Lawrence's martyrdom as background.  He is shown being scourged at a post by two men in the center back, while at the right he is shown in prison, baptizing a fellow inmate. 

Jacques de Besancon, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
From Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine
French (Paris), c. 1480-1490
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 245, fol. 34r

Here also, we see the work of the torturers overseen by the Emperor, but here identified as Decian, not Valerian.

Michael Pacher, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

From the Saint Lawrence Altarpiece

German, c. 1462-1463

Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek

Juan Correa de Vivar, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
Spanish, c. 1530-1560
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Adam Elsheimer, Saint Lawrence Being Prepared for Martyrdom
German, c. 1600-1601
London, National Gallery

This unusual interpretation of the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence depicts the moments shortly before he was laid on the gridiron.  As his clothing is being removed an old man tries to make him acknowledge the statue of the pagan god at the right.  The man in the turban, who dominates the center of the composition, is presumable the Emperor.  One can see the radical change of aesthetic from the medieval to world of late Mannerism/very early Baroque in the amount of detail, the increased number of figures, some of them shadowy, and the complexity of the composition.

Peter Paul Rubens, Martrydom of Saint Lawrence
Flemish, c. 1613-1614
Munich, Bayeresches Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Saint Lawrence
Italian, 1617
Florence, Gallerie degli'Uffizi

Valentin de Boulogne, Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
French, c. 1622-1624
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Alejo Vera y Estaca, Burial of Saint Lawrence in the Catacombs of Rome
Spanish, 1862
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Saint Lawrence shown holding the attributes of book, gridiron and/or palm frond, alone or with other saints

There is also a strong tradition of these more idealized images from the Middle Ages and later.

Saint Lawrence

From Gradual from the Abbey of Prüm

German (Prüm), c. 986-1001

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France

MS Latin 9448, fol. 68r

Stained Glass

English, Kent (Canterbury), c. 1175-1180

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

(Here Lawrence is seated. The fire is beneath him.)

Saint Nicolas and Saint Lawrence, Wall Painting

Swedish, c. 1300-1500

Hajdeby, Sweden, Parish Church

(Here Lawrence carries both the grid iron and a martyr's palm)

Richard de Montbaston, Saint Vincent of Saragossa and Saint Lawrence of Rome

From Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine

French (Paris), 1348

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France

MS Francais 241, fol. 197v

Both saints were deacons, so both are shown wearing the dalmatic of the deacon.  Both were martyred on the gridiron.  Saint Lawrence was martyred about fifty years before Saint Vincent, so it looks as though the artist has depicted Lawrence, as the senior martyr, showing Vincent the means by which their lives were ended. 

Andrea Mantegna, Saints Benedict, Lawrence, Gregory and John the Baptist
The San Zeno Altarpiece (right wing)
Italian, c. 1457-1460
Verona, San Zeno

Barolomeo Vivarini, Saint Lawrence_
Italian, c. 1470s
Venice, Church of Santo Stefano

Saint Lawrence
From a Book of Hours
French (Burgundy), c. 1495-1500
New York, Pierpoint Morgan Library
MS M 271, fol.121v

Annibale Carracci, Saint Lawrence
Italian, c. 1604-1605
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Luis Fernandez, Saint Lawrence
Spanish, 1632
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Francisco de Zurbaran, Saint Lawrence

Spanish, 1636

St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum

*Johann Paul Tschiderer, Saint Lawrence
German, 1708
Kaisheim, Church of the Assumption

The Charity of Saint Lawrence

Saint Lawrence was the principal deacon of the church of Rome at the time of his martyrdom.  This position meant that one of his primary duties was to distribute alms to the poor.  This lead to the attempt of the Roman authorities to obtain the supposed extreme wealth of the church (the donations of the Roman faithful) by trading it for his life.  Lawrence is reported to have asked for three days grace to collect the wealth of the Church, which was allowed.  During that time he gave everything that was available to the poor and, when the time came to present the wealth of the Church to the authorities, he brought the poor and infirm and said that this was the wealth of the church.  The chagrin caused by this response resulted in his particularly cruel torture.

His charitable work has also been depicted in art, though much less frequently than his martyrdom.  Often it has been depicted as a sort of preliminary to the martyrdom.

Saint Lawrence Distributing Bread to the Poor and the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
From the Drogo Sacramentary
French (Metz), c. 850
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9428, fol. 89r

 

Master Mahiet and Workshop, Saint Lawrence Distributing Bread and the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

From Speculum historiale by Vincentius Bellovacensis

French, c. 1335

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale francais

MS Ms-5080 réserve, fol.194r

On the left, Lawrence distributes bread to the poor. On the right he suffers martyrdom.

Michael Pacher, Saint Lawrence Distributing Alms

From the Saint Lawrence Altarpiece

German, c. 1462-1463

Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek

Bernardo Strozzi, Saint Lawrence Giving Alms to the Poor

Italian, c. 1615-1620

Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte, Palazzo Barberini

Chapel of Nicholas V

However, there is one place where the image of Lawrence is not limited to either his charity or his martyrdom or a static image of sanctity. This is in a small chapel in the Vatican, created at the request of Pope Nicholas V at the time in which he moved the papal residence from the Lateran Palace to the Vatican. Although the dedication of the chapel is to Saint Lawrence himself (possibly in homage to the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Lateran palace), the chapel is known as the Chapel of Nicholas V (Cappella Niccolina). 2

Fra Angelico and Assistants, Chapel of Nicholas V, Overall view
Italian, 1448-1449
Vatican City State, Vatican Museums

The chapel was created by adding a connecting room between two towers in the Vatican palace in early 1447 by order of the newly elected Pope Nicholas. Nicholas then commissioned the famous Florentine painter, Fra Angelico, to decorate the chapel in preparation for the Jubilee Year (Holy Year) of 1450. Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro and known in his life time as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole) and his assistants were already in Rome, having been commissioned by Nicholas’ predecessor, Eugenius IV, to decorate another chapel (destroyed in the early 16th century to make way for an extension of the Vatican offices known as the Stanze, which were decorated by Raphael and his assistants).

On the walls of the new chapel Angelico planned a cycle of frescoes celebrating the lives and martyrdom of two deacon saints, Stephen and Lawrence. The cycle is divided into two zones, an upper and lower. The scenes from the life of Saint Stephen, the Protomartyr (first martyr) occupy the upper zone, while the scenes from the life of Saint Lawrence occupy the lower zone.

In the vaults are portraits of the four evangelists.  Images of doctors of the church and prophets of the Old Testament decorate the areas surrounding the windows and doors.

Fra Angelico and Assistants, Vault
Italian, c. 1448-1449
Vatican City State, Vatican Museums, Chapel of Nicholas V

The scenes from the lives of the two martyred deacons are shown in parallel. They are paired in so far as pairing is possible. For instance, the scenes of their ordination to the diaconate (by Saint Peter for Stephen and by Saint Sixtus II for Lawrence) are placed in the upper and lower zones respectively. In this article I will only describe the scenes from the life of Saint Lawrence.



The Ordination of Lawrence to the Diaconate by Pope Sixtus II

The seated Pope, anachronistically shown wearing the Papal tiara and a cope and with the features of Nicholas V, places into the hands of the kneeling Lawrence the paten and chalice which it is the deacons function to present during the Mass. These are key symbols of the office of service which is particular to the deacon.

Ordination of Saint Lawrence

Pope Sixtus Presenting Lawrence with the Treasures of the Church 

According to the legendary biography of Saint Lawrence, 3  Sixtus presented Lawrence with the valuables of the Church of Rome on August 6, 258, just prior to his own arrest by the officers of the Emperor Valerian.   The Pope was martyred himself.  According to the legend, as he was taken away he told the distraught Lawrence, that he (Lawrence) would suffer even more horribly within three days.

Pope Sixtus II Presenting Lawrence with the Treasures of the Church

And, in the painting we are presented with a combination interior and exterior view of the building in which the event is taking place. We can see that the Roman soldiers are already knocking on the door (left side of the painting) as one of the assisting clergy turns and looks anxiously in that direction.




Saint Lawrence Distributing the Goods of the Church to the Poor

Here Saint Lawrence is seen in the portico of a basilican building distributing alms to an assortment of the poor of Rome. There are men, women and children represented in the group, a cross section of the Roman poor.

Detail of Saint Lawrence Distributing the Goods of the Church 

 Saint Lawrence Before the Emperor Valerian

According to the legend of Saint Lawrence he was captured by Roman soldiers and brought before the Emperor who asked him to surrender the valuables that had been confided to him by the Pope. Lawrence asked for three days in which to collect it and this was granted. During those days he sought out the poor of the city and at the end of his time of reprieve he presented them to the Emperor as the true valuables of the Church. This enraged the Emperor who ordered a particularly nasty execution for Lawrence.

 Saint Lawrence in Prison and Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

In prison, while awaiting his execution, Lawrence continued his mission of charity and love. He cured a blind fellow prisoner. This scene is displayed to the left side of the picture of his martyrdom as a view through the window of the prison. And, as previously noted, his martyrdom by slow roasting is depicted at the right side of the painting. This area of the fresco was seriously damaged early in its existence and was repainted in the 16th century.

Saint Lawrence Healing the Blind Prisoner and Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

Throughout the cycle Lawrence is highly prominent due to his clothing (the dalmatic) and its characteristic pinkish color. Fra Angelico’s treatment of this vestment is unusually beautiful, as the surface of the garment is covered by tiny depictions of gold flames, as if the whole garment was covered in gold embroidery.

Detail of Saint Lawrence Distributing the Goods of the Church

The flames remind us both of Lawrence’s terrible ordeal and of the fire of the Holy Spirit with which he was filled. In recent times this embroidery seems to have been copied for the Papal Liturgical Office in a red chasuble (the vestment proper to a priest) worn, appropriately, on Pentecost 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI.

This chapel is the sole reminding evidence of the work done by Fra Angelico and his team of assistants, which included the painters Benozzo Gozzoli and Zenobi Strozzi, in Rome and it is a precious survivor of the 15th century in a building that was the object of embellishment by subsequent Popes, particularly during the 16th century. In the 1990s the chapel was restored and the paintings were cleaned. In addition to minimizing the effects of some cracking that has occurred over the centuries, the restoration has brightened and clarified the images as the image below suggests. 4  Unfortunately, the images that are readily available on the internet are of far worse quality and are obviously based on old photos.

Partial view of the Ordination of Saint Lawrence after restoration

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1. Much of the background information for this article may be found in the following book and websites:

• Innocenzo Venchi, Renate L. Colella, Arnold Nesselrath, Carlo Giantomassi and Donatella Zari, Fra Angelico and the Chapel of Nicholas V, Recent Restorations of the Vatican Museums, Vol. III, Vatican City State, Edizioni Musei Vaticani, 1999.

• Commentary on St. Lwrence from a professor of Moral Theology. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_19022000_slaw_en.html

• Information on some of the still extant churches named in honor of St. Lawrence on the website of the Pontifical College of North America http://www.pnac.org/station-churches

2. Innocenzo Venchi, Renate L. Colella, Arnold Nesselrath, Carlo Giantomassi and Donatella Zari, Fra Angelico and the Chapel of Nicholas V, Recent Restorations of the Vatican Museums, Vol. III, Vatican City State, Edizioni Musei Vaticani, 1999, p. 28.

3. The life of St. Lawrence best known in the Middle Ages was the mixture of fact and legend found in The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea), Compiled by Jacobus de Voragine, 1275, Englished by William Caxton, 1483, Vol IV, pp.98-107.  The text can be accessed at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume4.asp#Laurence


4. A small amount of information and photographs of the restored frescoes can be found on the website of the Vatican Museums at
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-niccolina.html

A virtual tour is available at
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-niccolina/tour-virtuale.html

© M. Duffy, 2011, updated 2019, revised with additional material and pictures 2022.  Additional images added 2024.

+ Indicates updated image

* Indicated new image