Découverte de la Vraie Croix

Bernhard Strigel painted the Discovery of the True Cross around 1507 for the Veste Coburg Art Collections. The legend of Helena's discovery of Christ's cross in Jerusalem was a popular subject in both Northern and Southern European art, celebrating the empress-saint's archaeological piety Bernhard Strigel served as court painter to Emperor Maximilian I, making him among the most sought-after portraitists in the Habsburg world during the early sixteenth century.

The narrative panel presents the excavation scene with Strigel's characteristic Swabian clarity and bright coloring, with attention to the architectural and landscape setting of the Jerusalem excavation.