''The History of the True Cross'' or ''The Legend of the True Cross'' is a sequence of
frescoes painted by
Piero della Francesca in the
Basilica of San Francesco in
Arezzo. It is his largest work, and generally considered one of his finest, and an
early Renaissance
Renaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occ ...
masterpiece.
Its theme, derived from the popular 13th century book on the lives of
saints by
Jacobus de Voragine
Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the '' Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medi ...
, the ''
Golden Legend
The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...
'', is the triumph of the
True Cross
The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...
– the legend of the wood from the
Garden of Eden becoming the Cross on which
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
was
crucified
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
. This work demonstrates Piero's advanced knowledge of perspective and colour, his geometric orderliness and skill in pictorial construction.
History
Dating of the frescoes is uncertain, but they are believed to date from after 1447, when the
Bacci family, commissioners of the frescoes, are recorded as having paid an unknown painter. It would have been finished around 1466. Most of the
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
was painted in the early- to mid-1450s. Although the design of the frescoes is evidently Piero's, he seems to have delegated small parts of the painting to assistants, as was usual. The hand of
Giovanni di Piamonte, in particular, can be recognised in some of the frescoes.
An exhaustive restoration began in 1991 and was completed in 2000.
Episodes
The main episodes depicted are:
*'' Death of Adam'' (390 x 747 cm). According to the legend, the tree from which the cross was made was planted, at the urging of angels, at the burial of Adam by his son, using a branch or a seed from the apple tree of the garden of Eden.
*''The
Queen of Sheba
The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...
in Adoration of the Wood'' and ''The Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba ''(336 x 747 cm). According to the legend, the Queen of Sheba worshiped the beams made from the tree, and informed Solomon that the Saviour would hang from that tree, and thus dismember the realm of the Jews. This caused Solomon to hew it down and bury it, until it was found by the Romans.
*''Exaltation of the Cross '' (390 x 747 cm).
*''Constantine's Dream '' (329 x 190 cm) Emperor
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
, before the
battle of Milvian Bridge
The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the pat ...
, is awakened by an angel who shows him the cross in heaven. With the cross on his shield, he slew the enemy, and later converted to Christianity.
*''Discovery and Proof of the True Cross ''(356 x 747 cm). Helena, Constantine's mother, finds the cross in Jerusalem. It was not easy to get information and "when the queen had called them and demanded them the place where our Lord Jesus Christ had been crucified, they would never tell... her. Then commanded she to burn them all" or cast them into a dry pit for seven days and there torment them with hunger. The Jew is shown in one fresco being pulled from the pit by a rope, whereupon he confessed that Jesus was his lord and where the cross was located. The proof of the cross was that it was used to resurrect a dead man.
*''Battle between
Heraclius and
Khosrau ''(329 x 747 cm). The cross played a role in battles during the war between the
Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
and the
Sassanid Empire (early 7th century).
Piero diverged from his source material in a few important respects, including the story of
King Solomon's meeting with the
Queen of Sheba
The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...
in a chronologically inaccurate place and giving greater emphasis to the two battles in which
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
triumphs over
paganism.
The cycle ends with a depiction of the
Annunciation, not strictly part of the Legend of the True Cross but probably included by Piero for its universal meaning.
References
* Turner, Jane (ed.) (1996). ''The Dictionary of Art'', Grove
* Belton, R. & Kersten, B. (2010). ''Vision and Visions in Piero della Francesca’s Legend of the True Cross'', Glimpse.
*
In Project Gutenberg.* Bertelli, C., Maetzke, A. M., & Lavin, M. A. (2001)
''Piero della Francesca: The legend of the true cross in the Church of San Francesco, Arezzo'' Skira.
External links
All images in series and interactive modelInstitute for Advanced Studies web site.
* The ''Legend of the True Cross'' fresco cycle on YouTube (in Italian)
herean
here
fresco cycle at art-threads.
{{DEFAULTSORT:History of the True Cross, The
1460s paintings
Paintings by Piero della Francesca
Fresco paintings in Arezzo
Cultural depictions of Adam and Eve
Paintings depicting the Annunciation