The Sermon of St. Stephen

Vittore Carpaccio's Sermon of Saint Stephen, painted in 1514 and now in the Louvre, Paris, is part of the cycle of the life of Saint Stephen. Carpaccio was the great narrative painter of Venice, creating detailed, panoramic scenes that combine religious storytelling with topographic precision. His cycle paintings for Venetian scuole (confraternities) are among the most vivid visual records of Renaissance Venice and the Eastern Mediterranean world.

Carpaccio renders the sermon scene with characteristic narrative precision, using an elaborate architectural setting with exotic Eastern details and precisely characterized individual figures in the listening crowd.