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The Stoning of Stephen : Catfield, Norfolk (‡Norwich) C.14

Photo:T.Marshall
Stoning of Stephen, Catfield [52KB] This painting is rather later than the example of the subject at Black Bourton and like the other paintings in the church it has been dated to around 1377. Stephen, kneeling in prayer and facing us, is correctly vested as a deacon of the church. His appropriate robe, the dalmatic, shows quite well here.
His tormentors wear the dress of the day; tight hose and the very short tunic which appealed to fashionable young men, shoes with exaggerated points. The man on the left seems to be wearing a hood with a liripipe which would normally dangle down his back. Alternatively this may be the kind of ‘comedy’ hat sometimes seen on torturers of Christ or the Saints.

Considerations of space (the church was once very fully painted) mean that the three figures are crowded together in a way that robs the drama of the stoning of some of its impact, giving the impression that the two men are simply piling stones on Stephen’s head (two are already there) rather than throwing them at him. There may once have been other stoners behind, but I think the patch of pigment at the upper left is more likely to have been an angel waiting to receive the martyr’s soul. But apart from that, the painting is faithful to the description of the event in Acts 7:55-60. This and the painting at Black Bourton are the only examples of the subject in the English parish church that I know of, but there may be more.

Of the other paintings at Catfield, one of someone apparently lying in bed, which MR James thought might belong to a ‘Seven Sacraments’ might actually be part of a Seven Works of Mercy - a favourite subject in this part of north Norfolk. It is on the north wall and there is something else there which I think may be the remains of a Passion Cycle. A large Wheel, visible in humid weather at the west end of the north wall, may be a Wheel of the Virtues, and thus a companion to the Tree of the Deadly Sins recorded as here once. On the south wall is a battered painting which has been identified as the Life of John the Baptist, but it seems to me much more likely to be the Martyrdom of John the Evangelist - the one clear detail is certainly a man stoking a fire under a cauldron, presumably preparatory to boiling John in it. Other recorded subjects are St. Lawrence (found generally in art as a companion to Stephen) and St. Catherine of Alexandria. All these would be appropriate for a church dedicated to All Saints.
There is also a fine painted screen, with sixteen royal saints including an East Anglian favourite, St. Olaf.

St. Andrew Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read-Corby Glen, Lincolnshire St. Antony and the Pig, Barton, Cambridgeshire St. Barbara : Hessett, Suffolk St. Bartholomew : Selling, Kent St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Castor, Cambs St Catherine of Alexandria, Cold Overton, Leicestershire NEW
St.Catherine of Alexandria : Hardley Street, Norfolk St.Catherine of Alexandria : Old Weston, Northants St.Catherine of Alexandria : Pickering, N. Yorks St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Sporle, Norfolk St. Catherine of Alexandria, Martyrdom of: Burton Latimer, Northants NEW St. Clement : South Leigh, Oxon. Scenes from the life of St. Cuthbert : Pittington, Co. Durham NEW
St. Dunstan holding the Devil by the nose : Barton, Cambs St.Edmund : Boxford, Suffolk St. Edmund : Lakenheath, Suffolk St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Bishopsbourne, Kent St.Edmund, Martyrdom of : Fritton, Norfolk St. Edmund (or St. Walstan) : Gisleham, Norfolk St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N.Yorks
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Stoke Dry, Rutland St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Troston, Suffolk St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Weare Giffard, Devon St.Eloi, Broughton, Bucks St. Eloi and the possessed horse, Slapton, Northants St. Eloi, as bishop & blacksmith, Wensley, N.Yorks St.Erasmus, Martyrdom of : Chippenham, Cambs
St. Etheldreda : Willingham, Cambs St. Francis Preaching to the Birds : Little Kimble, Bucks St.Francis Preaching to the Birds : Wissington, Suffolk St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, Slapton, Northants St. George & Dragon : Banningham, Norfolk St. George & Dragon : Broughton, Bucks St. George & Dragon : Earl Stonham, Suffolk
St. George & Dragon : Fritton, Norfolk St. George & Dragon : Hornton, Oxon St. George dedicating himself to the Virgin : Astbury, Cheshire St. George, with the princess : Little Kimble, Bucks St. George & the Dragon : Kirtlington, Oxon NEW St.Helena, Broughton, Bucks St.James the Great : Hales, Norfolk
Life of St. James, Stoke Orchard, Gloucestershire St. James the Great, meeting pilgrims : Wisborough Green, Sussex St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Heydon, Norfolk St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Idsworth, Hampshire
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Old Weston, Northants St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N. Yorks
Life of St. John the Baptist : Cerne Abbas, Dorset St. John the Evangelist, Selling, Kent St. John the Evangelist, Weston Longville, Norfolk St. Margaret of Antioch : Old Weston, Northants St. Margaret and the dragon : South Newington, Oxfordshire St. Margaret of Antioch Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland St. Margaret of Antioch, Life of : Charlwood, Surrey
Life of St. Margaret, Wendens Ambo, Essex Martyrdom of St. Margaret, Duxford, Cambridgeshire Martyrdom of St. Margaret, Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire NEW St. Martin dividing his cloak, Chalgrave, Beds St. Martin dividing his cloak, Wareham, Dorset St.Nicholas of Myra, life of : Little Horwood, Bucks St. Nicholas of Myra, two miracles of : Wissington, Suffolk
St. Nicholas of Myra & the Boys in the Barrel, Padworth, Berkshire St.Paul : Black Bourton, Oxon St. Paul : Beckley, Oxon St. Paul : Selling, Kent St. Peter : Beckley, Oxon St.Peter : Black Bourton, Oxon St. Peter, Martyrdom of : Chacombe, Northants
St. Peter : Selling, Kent St. Roch : Pinvin, Worcs St. Sexburga? : Willingham, Cambs S. Stephen, Martyrdom of, North Stoke, Oxon St. Stephen, Stoning of: Black Bourton, Oxon St. Stephen, Stoning of: Catfield, Norfolk St.Swithun (?) enthroned : Old Weston, Northants
Scenes from the life of St. Swithun : Corhampton, Hampshire St. Thomas Becket, blessing, Hauxton, Cambs. St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, Marston Magna, Somerset St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, North Stoke, Oxfordshire St.Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Burlingham, Norfolk St. Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Newington, Oxfordshire St. Walstan of Bawburgh? or St. Edmund : Gisleham, Norfolk
St. Zita : Horley, Oxon St. Zita : Shorthampton, Oxon Unidentified female saint : Heydon

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