LAWRENCE, SAINT

Lawrence, Saint: translation

(d. 258)

One of the deacons ofRome, St. Lawrence was martyred for selling the Church's possessions and giving the money to the poor. When Emperor Valerian heard of the saint's actions, he demanded the return of the sold items. Lawrence gathered the blind, crippled, orphans, and poor and told Valerian that these were the treasures of the Church. In retaliation, Valerian condemned Lawrence to burn on a hot griddle. As the saint bore the agony of his martyrdom, he asked his executioners to turn him over for he was already well-cooked on one side — the scene depicted byTitian(1548-1559) in the Chiesa dei Gesuiti inVeniceandAgnolo Bronzino(1569) in the Church of San Lorenzo,Florence. Key episodes from the saint's life are included in theChapel of Nicolas Vat the VaticanfrescoedbyFra Angelicoin 1448 and theSancta Sanctorumat the Lateran Palace, Rome, a chapel dedicated to the saint.Michael Pacher'sSt.Lawrence Distributing Alms(1465-1470; Munich, Alte Pinakothek) is part of the dismantledSt.LawrenceAltarpieceof St. Lorenzen near Bruneck, now dispersed in various museums.