Altarpiece of Saint Stephen

Jaume Serra, a leading member of the Serra brothers' workshop that dominated Catalan painting in the late 14th century, created this Altarpiece of Saint Stephen around 1385 for a church in Catalonia. The retable narrates the life and martyrdom of Christianity's first martyr, a saint of particular importance to the medieval Crown of Aragon. Now in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, the altarpiece represents the mature Catalan Gothic style transitioning toward the International Gothic.

The retable follows the characteristic Catalan format with a central enthroned figure and flanking narrative panels arranged in tiered registers above a predella. Jaume Serra's technique shows softer modeling and more fluid narrative compositions than earlier Catalan painting, with rich decorative gold grounds and a warm palette influenced by Sienese art.