Cross of Justin II

"[1] To mark the end of restoration and conservation work on the cross, it was placed on display in the main Basilica of Saint Peter's from November 2009 to April 12, 2010.

At the period the church was starting to encourage representation of the human figure of Christ on the cross, making a crucifix, which had previously not been usual.

At the ends of the arms, where the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist would often be found in later crucifixes, are instead portraits in medallions of Justin and his empress Sophia.

[5] In 569, Justin and Sophia together reportedly sent a relic of the True Cross to the Frankish princess Radegund, who founded a monastery at Poitiers to house it.

[6] Older scholars thought, mainly on the basis of imperial head-dress, that Justin I (r. 518–27) and his empress Euphemia were the donors, but this view seems now rejected.