The Stoning Of St. Stephen

This is the first signed painting by Rembrandt van Rijn, created in 1625 when he was just nineteen. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, kneels in brilliant light as tormentors surround him with raised stones. In the background, Saul of Tarsus, the future Saint Paul, sits holding the cloaks of the stoners.

A diagonal divides the composition: shadow on the left (a mounted figure), light on the right (Stephen and his persecutors). The influence of Caravaggio and Adam Elsheimer is evident in the dramatic chiaroscuro. One figure behind Stephen appears to be a self-portrait, a young man with an alarmed expression who may be "having second thoughts," as scholar John Durham suggests. The work shows the precious, detailed style of the Leiden School. It measures 89.5 x 123.6 cm, oil on panel, and hangs at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.