Saint Stephen

The present shape of this panel is certainly not the original one. It is a fragment of the left-hand wing of a triptych; the upper right-hand section to be precise. The central panel showed a Madonna (Gutbrod collection, Cologne), and the right-hand wing showed St Lawrence and a bishop (whereabouts unknown). St Stephen, too, had a companion on his panel, as part of his cloak is still visible on the lower left. His identity remains unknown, however. St Stephen died a martyr’s death by stoning, in Jerusalem. The stones are depicted on his bleeding head as attributes of his martyrdom. He is also carrying the martyr’s palm. The complex punched decorative patterns in the saint’s halo and along the right-hand edge are seen in the work of this artist only from 1365 onwards, so the triptych would not have been painted before that date.