Finding of the Cross
by RICCIO, Andrea, Bronze, 39 x 51 cm
The commission for a series of four bronze reliefs showing the Legend of the True Cross (Venice, Ca’ d’Oro) dates from the period between 1500 and 1507. The reliefs were originally built into the altar of the Holy Cross in Santa Maria dei Servi, Venice, which housed a shrine for a relic of the True Cross presented to the church in 1492 by Girolamo Donato (1454–1511), a diplomat who was active in Venice principally between 1501 and 1509.
The four reliefs represent the scenes (i) Finding of the Cross, (ii) Trial of the True Cross, (iii) Vision of Constantine and (iv) Victory of Constantine.