In the decade during which Titian replaced Giovanni Bellini as the major protagonist of the Renaissance in Venice, Vittore Carpaccio carried out his last important commission, apparently with little help from assistants. This makes the cycle the best text through which to study Carpaccio's development in his last period. Once again, it was the decoration commissioned by a minor Scuola. The Confraternity of St Stephen (Scuola dei Lanieri a Santo Stefano), which in 1476 had enlarged its headquarters right near the church consecrated to the saint, on a piece of land belonging to the Augustinians, called on Carpaccio, who was obviously considered the specialist in pictorial cycles of this kind; he was commissioned five canvases illustrating episodes from the life of their patron saint.

The series was broken up in 1806, when the religious houses were suppressed, and has been scattered between various museums. The St Stephen Being Consecrated Deacon by St Peter is in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin; the Sermon of St Stephen in the Louvre, Paris; the Disputation of St Stephen in the Brera, Milan; the Stoning of St Stephen in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart. The fifth painting, the Trial of St Stephen is lost, but it is known through a copy and some drawings.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	St Stephen is Consecrated Deacon 1511 Tempera on canvas, 148 x 231 cm Staatliche Museen, Berlin
	St Stephen is Consecrated Deacon (detail) - Tempera on canvas Staatliche Museen, Berlin
	The Sermon of St Stephen 1514 Tempera on canvas, 152 x 195 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris
	Disputation of St Stephen 1514 Tempera on canvas, 147 x 172 cm Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
	Disputation of St Stephen (detail) 1514 Tempera on canvas Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
	Disputation of St Stephen (detail) 1514 Tempera on canvas Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
	The Stoning of St Stephen 1520 Tempera on canvas, 142 x 170 cm Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart