Helena nobilissima femina. Zur Deutung der Trierer Deckengemälde

Abstract

The Trier ceiling paintings are the most important late imperial find of the post-war years north of the Alps. During the excavations in Trier cathedral in 1945/46 part of a late antique hall was uncovered whose frescoes were found stamped into a layer of rubble; after years of work the fragments have been reassembled. The hall had a flat ceiling painted in coffers, some fields holding female portraits and the rest playing putti. Because the figures have a nimbus they are generally taken for ladies of the Constantinian house; Andreas Alföldi saw in them Helena, Fausta and a daughter of Constantine. Which of the two bejewelled women is Helena can be debated, and naming the third is harder still, which is why the author examines dress, jewellery and embroidery closely, all of them laid down by law in the late Roman state.

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Suggested citation

R.-Alföldi, Maria: Helena nobilissima femina. Zur Deutung der Trierer Deckengemälde. In: Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte 10 (1959/60), pp. 79–90, Tf.4-7.

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