Sant'Elena, madre del primo imperatore romano cristiano, si reca in pellegrinaggio per trovare la vera Croce: Scolpita capitale romanica della fine del 1100s sopra la statua di Sant'Elena nel portale nord della Basilica Saint-Just-de-Valcabrère, consacrata nel 1200 d.C. nel villaggio dei Pirenei di Valcabrère, Occitanie, Francia.
4256 x 2832 px | 36 x 24 cm | 14,2 x 9,4 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
23 dicembre 2007
Ubicazione:
Valcabrère, Occitanie, France.
Altre informazioni:
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Valcabrère, Occitanie, France: a bearded servant suggests Saint Helena, Roman Empress and mother of first Christian emperor Constantine I, should embark on her Holy Land pilgrimage in search of Crucifixion relics on horseback. The servant gestures to her mount on the other face of this late-1100s sculpted Romanesque capital in the north portal of the French Pyrenean Basilique Saint-Just-de-Valcabrère (Basilica of St Just). The saint, also known as Helena of Constantinople, is depicted in suitable attire for her journey, holding a pilgrim’s staff in her right hand. Medieval sculptors carved her statue and this capital at Valcabrère because the basilica is one of the French churches to retain a fragment of the True Cross she brought back from Jerusalem. The austere pillar statue of St Helena below the capital portrays her holding a crucifix, a further reference to her discovery of the cross used to crucify Jesus Christ. The basilica, a superb example of Romanesque architecture, stands apart from the village of Valcabrère in the Garonne Valley, below and about 1 km east of the village of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges with its Romanesque and Gothic former cathedral. The basilica was built on the burial ground of the ancient Roman settlement of Lugdunum Convenarum and many Gallo-Roman architectural fragments were re-used in its construction. D1145.B3672
