Saints Stephen, James, and Peter

Saints Stephen, James, and Peter, painted in 1493 and now at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, belongs to Ghirlandaio's late career—a period when he was working simultaneously on multiple major commissions while his workshop, which included the young Michelangelo among its members, produced work of consistently high quality. The three named apostles and martyrs suggest a specific dedicatory context: a chapel or altar dedicated to one or more of these figures. Stephen, as the protodeacon and first martyr, and Peter, as the prince of apostles, were among the most frequently represented saints in Florentine devotional art.

The three-saint panel requires Ghirlandaio to differentiate clearly between figures using attribute objects—Stephen's stones, Peter's keys, James's pilgrim staff—while giving each saint individual characterisation through physiognomy and pose. His late technique shows the move toward richer, more modelled forms that reflects the influence of Flemish oil painting.