Visioen van Helena 1515 - 1520

Marcantonio Raimondi made this print, "Vision of Helena," in Italy, around 1510, after a drawing by Raphael. It depicts Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, receiving a vision of an angel carrying a cross. Raimondi was crucial in the development of printmaking as a means of disseminating artistic ideas. His prints after Raphael helped popularize the High Renaissance style throughout Europe. The image invokes the legend of the True Cross and the imperial ambitions of the papacy. As historians, we can look at prints like this as forms of propaganda. The Vatican archives, for example, might reveal documents about commissions for religious imagery, and about the institutions, such as Raphael's workshop, that were involved in their production and circulation. "Vision of Helena" and prints like it were vital in shaping religious and political culture in the 16th century.