Emperor Heraclius Beheads Chosroës and Enters Jerusalem with the True Cross

1385 · Chancel Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence

religious

The Gothic apse of the Santa Croce was decorated by frescoes in the 1380s. On the two side walls the story of the Saint Cross is depicted, the Triumph of the Cross being the final and most significant scene of the cycle. There are three scenes depicted beside and above each other.

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Emperor Heraclius Beheads Chosroës and Enters Jerusalem with the True Cross

About the Artist

Agnolo Gaddi

1350 – 1396

Florentine painter, the son of Taddeo Gaddi. He continued the Giotto tradition but modified it still further in the direction of decorative elegance. He is particularly notable for his cool pale colours, which infiuenced the refined late Gothic art of artists of the next generation such as Lorenzo Monaco. Agnolo's works include frescos on The Story of the Cross in the chancel of Sta Croce (after 1374) and on The Story of the Virgin and her Girdle in the Chapel of the Holy Girdle in Prato Cathedral (1392-5). Many panel paintings also are attributed to Agnolo.

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