St.
Stephen's story is told in the Acts of the Apostles (6;7:55-60). Accused
of speaking blasphemous words against the God of Moses, he was taken before
the Sanhedrin. His accusers, incensed at hearing him assert that he saw
"the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God"
(7:56), expel him from the town and stone him. Stephen is always depicted
as a young man without a beard. He wears the deacon's dalmatic and stole
and holds Gospels in his hands. He also carries - in his hands, balanced
on his head or placed on a book - one or more stones alluding to his death.
See: Fra Angelico. Ordination
of St. Stephen by St. Peter. St.
Stephen Preaching.
Vittore Carpaccio. Life
of St. Stephen: St. Stephen Disputing. The
Ordination of St. Stephen as Deacon.
Domenico Ghirlandaio St.
Stephen.
Giotto St.
Stephen.
Rembrandt. The
Martyrdom of St. Stephen.
Recommended reading:
The
Book of Saints: The Lives of the Saints According to the Liturgical Calendar
by George Angelini, Victor Hoagland (Editor). Regina Press, Malhame &
Company, 1986.
365
Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of Their Lives
by Woodeene Koenig-Brick (Author). Harper SanFrancisco, 1995.
The
Golden Legend by Jacobus De Voragine, William Granger Ryan
(Translator). Princeton Univ Pr, 1995.