Jean Poyer
St. Helena Identifying the True Cross
ca. 1492–95
Prayer Book of Anne de Bretagne
Illuminated by Jean Poyer
126 x 80 mm
MS M.50 (fol. 26v)
The Pierpont Morgan Library, Purchased in 1905
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St. Helena Identifying the True Cross (fol. 26v, left)
The great claim to fame for St. Helena, mother of Constantine (the first Christian emperor), was her discovery of the True Cross. Legend has it that she also found the crosses of the two thieves crucified along with Christ; she tested them all on a corpse and knew that the life- restoring cross must have been the Savior's.
After its discovery, the True Cross became one of Christianity's most sacred relics. The Library's Stavelot Triptych (on view in the Heinemann Gallery) is said to enshrine a piece of the True Cross.