PITTORE DEL XVIII SECOLO

St. Helena and Constantine in the presence of the True Cross Oil on canvas, 48X66 cm The painting depicts the cross in the center, on the left St. Helena in royal robes and on the right the Emperor Constantine, crowned and wearing a purple cloak decorated with gold threads. Legend has it that after the battle of Ponte Milvio and the mystical vision that ended the persecution of Christians, Constantine decided to send his mother Helen to Jerusalem to look for the Cross of the Crucifixion. Elena found a person who knew the burial place of the True Cross. To force him to speak she had him lowered into a well without bread and water for seven days. So she convinced the reticent person to reveal the burial place and Helen could, in this way, find the three different crosses used on the day of Christ's death. In order to identify the one on which Jesus had died, she touched the wood of a deceased man and he resurrected. Saint Helen divided the cross in different parts of which the main one was left in Jerusalem.