PROVENANCE: Julius Weitzner, New York, 1968; BJU, 1968.

This painting is arguably Cavazzoni's most important work. It illustrates the legend connected to Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, who supposedly found three crosses perfectly preserved while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. As a test, each cross was passed over a sick boy in hopes that Christ's cross would heal him. In the painting, Helena beholds the "true cross" in ecstasy as its shadow falls over the healed boy.

Cavazzoni studied art in the academy of the Carracci brothers. Exaggerated hand gestures are a peculiar characteristic of his work. Today he is better known for his writings about art than for his paintings.