Feature
Sign of the Son
What Did Constantine Know & When Did He See It?
by Peter J. Leithart
In the public reception area of the Vatican palace are four Stanze di Raffaello, each of which is decorated with paintings from the school of the Renaissance master Raphael. The largest is the Sala di Constantino, the hall of Constantine, and its frescoes depict episodes from the life and legends of Constantine—the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the Donation of the Vatican Hill to Pope Sylvester (who looks suspiciously like Raphael’s patron Pope Julius II), and the Vision of the Cross.
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Peter J. Leithart is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and the president of Trinity House Institute for Biblical, Liturgical & Cultural Studies in Birmingham, Alabama. His many books include Defending Constantine (InterVarsity), Between Babel and Beast (Cascade), and, most recently, Gratitude: An Intellectual History (Baylor University Press). His weblog can be found at www.leithart.com. He is a contributing editor of Touchstone.
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