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Niccoline ChapelFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchSt. Peter Consecrates St. Laurence as DeaconArtist Fra AngelicoYear 14471449Type FrescoDimensions 271 cm 197 cm (107 in 78 in)Location Cappella Niccolina, Vatican Palace, Vatican City

The Niccoline Chapel (Italian: Cappella Niccolina) is a chapel in the ApostolicPalace in Vatican City. It is especially notable for its fresco paintings by FraAngelico (14471451) and his assistants, who may have executed much of the actualwork. The name is derived from its patron, Pope Nicholas V, who had it built for use as his private chapel.

The chapel is located in the Tower of Innocent III, in the most ancient part ofthe Apostolic Palace. The walls were decorated by Fra Angelico with images of two of the earliest Christian martyrs; the upper level has Episodes from the Lifeof St. Stephen, and the lower one Scenes from the life of St. Laurence. The vault is painted blue, decorated with stars, and features figures of the Four Evangelists in the corners. The pilasters are decorated with the eight Doctors of theChurch.

Fra Angelico depicted a Deposition of Christ (the removal of Christ from the Cross) on the wall behind the altar, but it has been destroyed. However, his otherworks in the lunettes are well preserved.St. Lawrence Receiving the Treasures of the Church, 322 x 412 mm.

The scenes of St. Stephen follow the Golden Legend, while those of St. Laurenceare patterned after the older cycles in the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, where he is buried. Stephen was a Greek-speaking Jew, one of the first deacons named in Jerusalem by St. Peter - Ordination of St Stephen with St Stephen distributing Alms (lunette). His prayers (The Prayer of St. Stephen) earned him thehostility of his opponents in the city, who eventually stoned him to death in front of the city gate.

Laurence was a deacon (Ordination of St Laurence) to whom Pope Sixtus II had entrusted the Church's treasure in order to give it to the Roman emperor Valerian (St. Lawrence Receiving the Treasures of the Church). Lawrence instead divided itamong the poor (St Laurence distributing Alms), an act for which he was martyred. The frescoes underline the similarities in the lives of the two figures: bothwere ordained deacons, both gave alms to the poor and both were martyred aftera courageous declaration of faith. The choice of the two saints also shows the connection between the Churches of Jerusalem and the Rome.

The frescoes, full of fine architectural details, allude also to Nicholas V's desire to rebuild Rome as the new capital city of Christianity. The large walls inthe Martyrdom of St. Stephen hint at the rebuilding of Rome's walls. Further, the schism in the Jewish community in Jerusalem can be compared to the Christian

schism witness