The Stavelot Reliquary: Detail, St. Helena questions the Jewish leaders
Circa 1156
Champlevé and cloisonné on copper gilt
Morgan Library, New York
The medallions of the inner face of the right wing illustrate the legend of St. Helena's discovery of the "True Cross." Shown here is the bottom medallion. St. Helena is identified by her halo, crown, and throne.The inscription around her head is helena regina, "Queen Helena." Her authority is emblematized by an architectural throne whose base is a church in the Roman basilical style.
The men are labeled iudei, "Jews," and wear the pointy caps characteristic of medieval Jewry. On the right the word ignis labels "the fire" in which Helena threatens to burn them if they do not tell her where the True Cross is to be found. Frightened by this threat, one of them makes the statement shown on the scroll he is holding, JUDAS NOVIT, "Judas knows." In the Golden Legend, this Judas knows where the Cross is buried but has resolved never to tell. But a few days later he feels the earth move and comes to see that "In truth, Jesu Christ, thou art the Saviour of the world."
View the entire reliquary.
Read more about images of St. Helena.
Read the Golden Legend's chapter, "Of the Invention of the Holy Cross."
Source: this page at Wikimedia Commons.
