PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
(b. 1416, Borgo San Sepolcro, d. 1492, Borgo San Sepolcro)

7b. Recognition of the True Cross

1452-66
Fresco
San Francesco, Arezzo

In the right-hand part of the scene we see an urban square, in the background the richly encrusted façade of a temple-like structure. A miracle has just occurred. Judas has had all three crosses, one after another, touched to the body of a young man being carried to his grave. At the touch of the third cross, the young man revived and sat up, thereby revealing which of the three was the true cross of Christ. Judas appears twice, each time wearing a different garment. This is because, according to the Golden Legend, he had himself baptised after the discovery of the cross and subsequently became the bishop of Jerusalem under the name Quiriacus.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.