Condemnation of St Lawrence by the Emperor Valerian

Fra Angelico's Condemnation of Saint Lawrence by Emperor Valerian, painted around 1447 for the Niccoline Chapel in the Vatican, forms part of the fresco cycle depicting the lives of Saints Stephen and Lawrence. This prestigious commission from Pope Nicholas V represents Fra Angelico's last major work and his most ambitious narrative achievement. Fra Angelico — born Guido di Pietro, known in religion as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole — was a Dominican friar whose painting practice was inseparable from his spiritual vocation. Working primarily for his own order and for Florentine civic and private patrons, he created some of the most luminous and spiritually powerful images in the history of European art.

The scene is set within an elaborate Roman architectural setting rendered in sophisticated perspective, with figures arranged in a stately composition that reflects Fra Angelico's mature command of monumental fresco painting.