MASO DI BANCO
(active 1320-50 in Firenze)

Frescoes on the south wall

c. 1335
Fresco
Cappella di Bardi di Vernio, Santa Croce, Florence

The upper scenes on the south wall show the pope's encounter with the emperor: Constantine recognizes the apostles Peter and Paul on the painting that Sylvester shows him, allows himself to be baptized, and recovers his health.

Beneath these scenes appears the Miracle of the Bull. In the dispute with the Jewish scribes over the true God before Constantine and his mother, Helena, one of the scribes, in order to demonstrate the power of his God, kills a wild bull simply by whispering a word in its ear. The witnesses are astounded by this, but Sylvester outdoes him by reviving the bull.




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