Piero della Francesca had been called to Arezzo in 1452, to replace Bicci di Lorenzo in painting the frescoes of the basilica of San Francesco.

The work is finished before 1466, probably between 1452-1456.

The cycle of frescoes, depicting the Legend of the True Cross, is generally considered among his masterworks and those of Renaissance painting in general.

The story in these frescoes derives from legendary medieval sources as to how timber relics of the True Cross came to be found.

These stories were collected in the "Golden Legend" of Jacopo da Varazze (Jacopo da Varagine) of the mid-thirteenth century.