The Relic of the Holy Cross is offered to the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista

Lazzaro Bastiani painted this scene of the relic of the Holy Cross being offered to the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista around 1494. The painting belongs to the celebrated cycle of Miracles of the True Cross, commissioned by the confraternity to decorate their meeting hall. The cycle, which also includes paintings by Gentile Bellini and Carpaccio, is one of the great achievements of Venetian narrative painting.

Oil on canvas with the panoramic urban setting characteristic of Venetian narrative painting. The ceremonial scene combines architectural accuracy with the processional grandeur expected in confraternity commissions.