Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Few legends are as remarkable as the legend of the “True Cross” - the alleged cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified. Derived from wood from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, worshipped by the Queen of Sheba, preserved by King Solomon, and refashioned into a cross in 33 CE by a group of Romans in Jerusalem looking to crucify a Nazarene, the True Cross would then go lost for centuries. It was the mother of Emperor Constantine, St. Helen, who went on quest and finally rediscovered it in the 4th century CE. This great story is immortalized in two spectacular fresco cycles by Agnolo Gaddi in Florence and Piero della Francesca in Arezzo, which tell the tale of one of Christianity’s greatest relics. Join Dr. Rocky as he explores this great legend and the magnificent art which celebrates it.