Trittico di sant'Elena
Palma Vecchio, 1520
The so-called Saint Helena Altarpiece is an oil-on-panel religious painting by Palma il Vecchio, dated to around 1524–1525 and now housed in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. Five sacred figures stand side by side across the panels: from left to right, Saint Roch, the emperor Constantine the Great, the True Cross, Constantine's mother Saint Helena, and Saint Sebastian. Placing the Cross beside the imperial pair recalls the tradition that Helena discovered the Cross of Christ, so the work honours the faith through remembrance of the Passion. The two saints at the edges, Roch and Sebastian, were invoked as protectors against plague, a detail that fits the devotional climate of Venice, where the painter worked. Palma is admired for his warm palette and soft, luminous flesh tones, qualities visible in the rich drapery and the calm gravity of the faces.
- Painter
- Palma Vecchio
- Date
- 1520
- Medium
- oil paint
- Museum
- Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
- Genre
- religious art
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