Vatican City, Italy (Enclave of Rome): Vatican Museums: Pio Clementino Museum: Helena Sarcophagus

Abstract

This photo shows the sarcophagus of Helena, held within the Pio Clementino Museum, which is part of the Vatican Museums. These are public museums that display about 20,000 of 70K works collected by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries. The museums were founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century. Only the Louvre in France receives more annual visitors than the Vatican Museums. The museums consist of 24 galleries, with the Sistine Chapel being the last room visited. The Pio Clementino Museum is the largest complex of the Vatican Museums. It is named after its founders, Pope Clement XIV and Pope Pius VI. Its twelve rooms contain the most important Greek and Roman masterpieces. The Helena Sarcophagus dates to the 4th century CE and is made of solid porphyry, a rare igneous rock of Egyptian origin used only in the finest Byzantine imperial monuments. Helena was the mother of the emperor Constantine the Great (died 354). Although Helena was a devout Christian woman, the sarcophagus is decorated with victorious Roman Cavalry riding above captured barbarians.