ABSTRACT
My focus is on the Byzantine and Mosan depictions of Constantine and Helena in the Stavelot Triptych, and on the presentation and reception of their images by Western audiences. I argue that the Byzantine identity of Constantine and Helena is strategically displayed, and then painstakingly refashioned, in order to claim Western ownership of the Cross. I offer new readings of the triptych and re-evaluate scholarly claims made for the origin of the Byzantine materials incorporated into it. I argue that the Western reception was more complicated than an appreciation of Byzantine aesthetics and the desire to own or display Byzantine art.
