![Ushakov Nerukotvorniy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Ushakov_Nerukotvorniy.jpg)
''Acheiropoieta'' (
Medieval Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Fall of Co ...
: , "made without hand"; singular ''acheiropoieton'') — also called icons made without hands (and variants) — are
Christian icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s which are said to have come into existence miraculously; not created by a human. Invariably these are images of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
or the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
. The most notable examples that are credited by tradition among the faithful are, in the Eastern church, the Mandylion, also known as the
Image of Edessa
According to Christian tradition, the Image of Edessa was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus had been imprinted—the first icon ("image"). The image is also known as the M ...
, and the
Hodegetria
A Hodegetria , ; russian: Одиги́трия, Odigítria ; Romanian: Hodighitria, or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of s ...
, and several Russian icons, and in the West the
Shroud of Turin,
Veil of Veronica
The Veil of Veronica, or (Latin for sweat-cloth), also known as the Vernicle and often called simply the Veronica, is a Christian relic consisting of a piece of cloth said to bear an image of the Holy Face of Jesus produced by other than huma ...
,
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...
, and the
Manoppello Image
The Manoppello Image is a depiction of the face of Jesus Christ on a cloth (17.5 cm wide and 24 cm high) that is stored in a church in the village of Manoppello, Italy. The church, known as Santuario del Volto Santo, is part of a mona ...
. The term is also used of icons that are only regarded as normal human copies of a miraculously created original archetype.
Although the most famous ''acheiropoieta'' today are mostly
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s painted on wood panel, they exist in other media, such as
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s, painted tile, and cloth.
Ernst Kitzinger distinguished two types: "Either they are images believed to have been made by hands other than those of ordinary mortals or else they are claimed to be mechanical, though miraculous, impressions of the original". The belief in such images became prominent only in the 6th century, by the end of which both the Mandylion and the Image of
Camuliana
Camuliana, Camulia, Kamoulianai, or Kamoulia ( el, Καμουλιαναί, Καμούλιανα) was an ancient town or perhaps a village in ancient Cappadocia, located northwest of Caesarea, today Kayseri in Turkey. It is mostly mentioned in conn ...
were well known. The pilgrim
Antoninus of Piacenza
Saint Antoninus of Piacenza (or Placentia) (died 303 AD) is a patron saint of Piacenza in Italy. He is venerated as a saint and martyr in the Roman Catholic Church, with a feast day of 30 September.
The saint was said to have been martyred at ...
was shown a relic of the
Veil of Veronica
The Veil of Veronica, or (Latin for sweat-cloth), also known as the Vernicle and often called simply the Veronica, is a Christian relic consisting of a piece of cloth said to bear an image of the Holy Face of Jesus produced by other than huma ...
type in
Memphis, Egypt in the 570s.
Background
![Eternal father painting guadalupe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Eternal_father_painting_guadalupe.jpg)
Such images functioned as powerful
relics as well as icons, and their images were naturally seen as especially authoritative as to the true appearance of the subject. Like other icon types believed to be painted from the live subject, such as the
Hodegetria
A Hodegetria , ; russian: Одиги́трия, Odigítria ; Romanian: Hodighitria, or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of s ...
(thought to have been painted by
Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...
), they therefore acted as important references for other images in the tradition. They therefore were copied on an enormous scale, and the belief that such images existed, and authenticated certain facial types, played an important role in the conservatism of
iconographic
Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...
traditions such as the
Depiction of Jesus
The depiction of Jesus in pictorial form dates back to early Christian art and architecture, as aniconism in Christianity was rejected within the ante-Nicene period.Philip Schaff commenting on Irenaeus, wrote, 'This censure of images as a Gnos ...
.
[Grigg, throughout] Beside, and conflated with, the developed legend of the Image of Edessa, was the tale of the Veil of Veronica, whose name was wrongly interpreted in a typical case of
popular etymology to mean "true icon" or "true image", the fear of a "false image" remaining strong.
A further and larger group of images, sometimes overlapping with ''acheiropoieta'' in popular tradition, were believed in the
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
to have been created by conventional means in New Testament times, often by New Testament figures who, like many monks of the later period, were believed to have practiced as artists. The best known of these, and the most commonly credited in the West, was Saint Luke, who was long believed to have had the Virgin Mary sit for her portrait, but in the East a number of other figures were believed by many to have created images, including narrative ones.
Saint Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupat ...
was said to have "illustrated his own account of the
Transfiguration", Luke to have illustrated an entire
Gospel Book
A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth ...
, and the late 7th century
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
pilgrim
Arculf
Arculf (later 7th century) was a Frankish bishop who toured the Levant in around 680. Bede claimed he was a bishop (). According to Bede's history of the Church in England (V, 15), Arculf was shipwrecked on the shore of Iona, Scotland on his return ...
reported seeing in the
Holy Land a cloth woven or embroidered by the Virgin herself with figures of Jesus and the apostles. The apostles were also said to have been very active as patrons, commissioning cycles in
illuminated manuscripts and
fresco in their churches.
[Grigg, 5-6, 5 quoted]
Such beliefs clearly projected contemporary practices back to the 1st century, and in their developed form are not found before the lead-up to the
Iconoclastic Controversy
The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial au ...
, but in the 4th century,
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
, who disapproved of images, accepted that "the features of His apostles Peter and Paul, and indeed of Christ himself, have been preserved in coloured portraits which I have examined".
Many famous images, including the Image of Edessa and Hodegetria, were described in versions of their stories as this type of image. The belief that images presumably of the 6th century at the earliest were authentic products of the 1st century distorted any sense of stylistic anachronism, making it easier for further images to be accepted, just as the belief in ''acheiropoieta'', which must have reflected a divine standard of realism and accuracy, distorted early medieval perceptions of what degree of realism was possible in art, accounting for the praise very frequently given to images for their realism, when to modern eyes the surviving corpus has little of this. The standard depictions of both the features of the leading New Testament figures, and the
iconography of key narrative scenes, seemed to have their authenticity confirmed by images believed to have been created either by direct witnesses or those able to hear the accounts of witnesses, or alternatively God himself or his angels.
''Acheiropoieta'' of 836
Such icons were seen as powerful arguments against
iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...
. In a document apparently produced in the circle of the Patriarch of Constantinople, which purports to be the record of a (fictitious)
Church council of 836, a list of ''acheiropoieta'' and icons miraculously protected is given as evidence for divine approval of icons. The ''acheiropoieta'' listed are:
:1. the
Image of Edessa
According to Christian tradition, the Image of Edessa was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus had been imprinted—the first icon ("image"). The image is also known as the M ...
, described as still at
Edessa;
:2. the image of the Virgin at
Lod, Israel, which was said to have miraculously appeared imprinted on a column of a church built by the apostles Peter and John;
:3. another image of the Virgin, three
cubit
The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding ...
s high, at Lod in Israel, which was said to have miraculously appeared in another church.
The nine other miracles listed deal with the maintenance rather than creation of icons, which resist or repair the attacks of assorted pagans, Arabs, Persians, scoffers, madmen, iconoclasts and Jews.
This list seems to have had a regional bias, as other then-famous images are not mentioned, such as the ''Image of Camuliana'',
later brought to the capital. Another example, and the only one which indisputably still exists, is the mosaic
icon of Christ of Latomos in
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
. This was covered by plaster during the Iconoclastic period, towards the end of which an earthquake caused the plaster to fall down, revealing the image (during the reign of Leo V, 813-20). However, this was only a subsidiary miracle, according to the account we have. This says that the mosaic was being constructed secretly, during the 4th century persecution of
Galerius
Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus (; 258 – May 311) was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sasanian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across th ...
, as an image of the Virgin, when it suddenly was transformed overnight into the present image of Christ.
Notable examples
Image of Edessa
According to Christian legend, the image of Edessa, (known to the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
as the ''Mandylion'', a Medieval Greek word not applied in any other context), was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus was imprinted — the first
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
("image"). According to legend,
Abgar V
Abgar V (c. 1st century BC - c. AD 50), called Ukkāmā (meaning "the Black" in Syriac and other dialects of Aramaic),, syr, ܐܒܓܪ ܚܡܝܫܝܐ ܐܘܟܡܐ, ʾAḇgar Ḥmīšāyā ʾUkkāmā, hy, Աբգար Ե Եդեսացի, Abgar Hingero ...
wrote to Jesus, asking him to come cure him of an illness. Abgar received an answering letter from Jesus, declining the invitation, but promising a future visit by one of his disciples. Along with the letter went a likeness of Jesus. This legend was first recorded in the early fourth century by Eusebius, who said that he had transcribed and translated the actual letter in the Syriac chancery documents of the king of Edessa. Instead,
Thaddeus of Edessa
According to Eastern Christian tradition, Addai of Edessa ( Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܕܝ, Mar Addai or Mor Aday sometimes Latinized Addeus) or Thaddeus of Edessa was one of the seventy disciples of Jesus. He is possibly identical with Thaddaeus, on ...
, one of the
seventy disciples
The seventy disciples or seventy-two disciples, known in the Eastern Christian traditions as the seventy apostles or seventy-two apostles, were early emissaries of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. The correct Greek terminology is evdomik ...
, is said to have come to Edessa, bearing the words of Jesus, by the virtues of which the king was miraculously healed.
The first record of the existence of a physical image in the ancient city of
Edessa (now
Şanlıurfa
Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ...
) was in
Evagrius Scholasticus
Evagrius Scholasticus ( el, Εὐάγριος Σχολαστικός) was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, ''Ecclesiastical History'' (), compris ...
, writing about 600, who reports a portrait of Christ, of divine origin (θεότευκτος), which effected the miraculous aid in the defence of Edessa against the Persians in 544. The image was moved to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
in the 10th century. The cloth disappeared from Constantinople during the
Fourth Crusade ack of Constantinoplein 1204, reappearing as a relic in King
Louis IX of France's
Sainte-Chapelle
The Sainte-Chapelle (; en, Holy Chapel) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France.
...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. It finally disappeared in the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
.
[Two documentary inventories: year 1534 (Gerard of St. Quentin de l'Isle, Paris) and year 1740. Se]
Grove Dictionary of Art
Steven Runciman, Some Remarks on the Image of Edessa, Cambridge Historical Journal 1931
an
Shroud.com
for a list of the group of relics. See als
an image of the Gothic reliquary dating from the 13th century
, i
.
The
Ancha icon in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
is reputed to be the ''Keramidion'', another ''acheiropoietos'' recorded from an early period, miraculously imprinted with the face of Christ by contact with the ''Mandylion''. To art historians, it is a Georgian icon of the 6th-7th century.
Image of Camuliana
Although it is now little known, having probably been destroyed in the period of
Byzantine Iconoclasm
The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial a ...
,) the icon of Christ from
Camuliana
Camuliana, Camulia, Kamoulianai, or Kamoulia ( el, Καμουλιαναί, Καμούλιανα) was an ancient town or perhaps a village in ancient Cappadocia, located northwest of Caesarea, today Kayseri in Turkey. It is mostly mentioned in conn ...
in
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...
was the most famous Greek example, certainly from the time it reached Constantinople in 574, after which it was used as a
palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...
in battles by
Philippikos
Philippicus ( la, Filepicus; el, Φιλιππικός, Philippikós) was Byzantine emperor from 711 to 713. He took power in a coup against the unpopular emperor Justinian II, and was deposed in a similarly violent manner nineteen months later. ...
,
Priscus
Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life general ...
and
Heraclius, and in the
Pannonian Avar Siege of Constantinople in 626, and praised by
George Pisida.
Lateran Palace image in Rome
![Acheropita lateranense](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Acheropita_lateranense.jpg)
This image, also called the Uronica, is kept in what was once the pope's private chapel, in a room now known as the
Sancta Sanctorum
The Sancta Sanctorum ( it, Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum) is a Roman Catholic chapel entered via the ''Scala Sancta'' (Holy Staircase) of the Lateran Palace in Rome. It was the original private chapel of the papacy before it ...
at the top of the
Scala Sancta in a surviving part of the old
Lateran Palace
The Lateran Palace ( la, Palatium Lateranense), formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran ( la, Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome.
Located on St. ...
in Rome. The legend is that this image was begun by Luke the Evangelist and finished by angels.
It is thought that the icon was painted in Rome between the 5th and 6th century. Today only slight traces under
overpainting
Overpainting is the final layers of paint, over some type of underpainting, in a system of working in layers. It can also refer to later paint added by restorers, or an artist or dealer wishing to "improve" or update an old image—a very common ...
remain of the original image of a
Christ in Majesty
Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory ( la, Maiestas Domini) is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whos ...
with a crossed
halo
Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to:
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Video games
* ''Halo'' (franch ...
, in the classic pose of the Teacher holding the Scroll of the Law in His left hand while His right is raised in benediction. Many times restored, the face completely changed when
Pope Alexander III (1159–1181) had the present one, painted on silk, placed over the original.
Innocent III
Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...
(1189–1216) covered the rest of the holy icon with an embossed silver
riza
:
A riza ( Russian: риза, "vestment," "robe"; Ukrainian: шати, ''shaty'', "vestments") or oklad (оклад, "covered"), sometimes called a "revetment" in English, is a metal cover protecting an icon. It is usually made of gilt or silve ...
, but other later embellishments completely covered its surface. It has also been cleaned during the recent restoration.
The doors protecting the icon, also in embossed silver, are of the 15th century. It has a
baldachin
A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over hi ...
in metal and gilded wood over it, replacing the one by Caradaossi (1452–1527) lost during the sack of Rome in 1527. The image itself was last inspected by the
Jesuit art historian J. Wilpert in 1907.
As early as the reign of
Pope Sergius I
Pope Sergius I (8 September 701) was the bishop of Rome from 15 December 687 to his death, and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected at a time when two rivals, Paschal and Theodore, were locked in dispute about wh ...
(687–701) there are records of the image being carried in annual procession at certain feasts, and
Pope Stephen II (752–757) carried the image on his shoulders in a procession to counter a threat from the
Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
. By the ninth century its elaborate procession had become a focus of the
Feast of the Assumption
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
. In the Middle Ages the Pope and the seven
cardinal-bishops would celebrate masses in the small sanctuary where it was housed, and at times would kiss its feet. Although no longer a specific liturgical object, some Romans still venerate this icon, considering it a last hope in disasters and memorable events in the capital, a veneration which can be compared with that for the other ancient icon of the ''
Salus Populi Romani
''Salus Populi Romani'' (''Protectress'', or more literally ''health'' or ''salvation'', ''of the Roman People'') is a Roman Catholic title associated with the venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome. This Byzantine icon of the Mad ...
'' in
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, again in Rome. The former icon used to be taken across Rome annually in procession to "meet" the latter on the Feast of the Assumption.
The Veil of Veronica
Veronica's Veil, known in Italian as the ''Volto Santo'' or Holy Face (but not to be confused with the carved
crucifix
A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...
''Volto Santo'' of Lucca) is a legendary
relic. The legend is of medieval origin, and only a feature of the
Western church
Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...
; its connection with any single surviving physical image is slighter still, though a number of images have been associated with it, several probably always meant to be received as copies. The image in the Vatican has a certain priority, if only because of the prestige of the papacy. The nuns of
San Silvestro in Capite
The Basilica of Saint Sylvester the First, also known as ( it, San Silvestro in Capite, la, Sancti Silvestri in Capite), is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in Rome dedicated to Pope Sylvester I (d. AD 335). It is located on t ...
in Rome were forbidden to exhibit their rival image in 1517 to avoid competition with the Vatican Veronica; it is also now in the Vatican. Like the Genoa image, it is painted on panel and therefore is likely to have always been intended to be a copy.
The legend says that
Veronica from
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
encountered Jesus along the
Via Dolorosa
The ''Via Dolorosa'' (Latin, 'Sorrowful Way', often translated 'Way of Suffering'; ar, طريق الآلام; Hebrew: ויה דולורוזה) is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem. It represents the path that Jesus would have t ...
on the way to
Calvary. When she paused to wipe the sweat (Latin ''suda'') off his face with her veil, his image was imprinted on the cloth. The event is commemorated by one of the
Stations of the Cross. According to legend, Veronica later traveled to Rome to present the cloth to the Roman Emperor
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
. Legend has it that it has miraculous properties, being able to quench thirst, restore sight, and sometimes even raise the dead. Recent studies trace the association of the name with the image
[The Rediscovered Face - 1](_blank)
first of four installments of an audiovisual presentation relating the holy image with a number of ancient predecessors, YouTube, access date March 2013. to the translation of Eastern relics to the West at the time of the Crusades.
Manoppello Image
![Volto santo di manoppello 2019-11-02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Volto_santo_di_manoppello_2019-11-02.jpg)
In 1999, German Jesuit
Father Heinnrich Pfeiffer, Professor of Art History at the Pontifical Gregorian University, announced at a press conference in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
that he had found the Veil in a church of the
Capuchin monastery, in the small village of
Manoppello, Italy, where it had been in the custody of the Capuchin Friars since 1660. The image, known as the
Manoppello Image
The Manoppello Image is a depiction of the face of Jesus Christ on a cloth (17.5 cm wide and 24 cm high) that is stored in a church in the village of Manoppello, Italy. The church, known as Santuario del Volto Santo, is part of a mona ...
is attested to by Father Donato da Bomba in his "Relatione historica" research tracing back to 1640. Recent studies have revealed noted congruities with the Shroud,
see below. In September 2006 Pope Benedict XVI made a private pilgrimage to the shrine, his first as Pope, raising it to the status of a Basilica.
Shroud of Turin
![Turin plasch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Turin_plasch.jpg)
The
Shroud
Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to '' burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous S ...
of Turin (or Turin Shroud) is a
linen cloth bearing the hidden image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent with
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...
. The image is clearly visible as a photographic
negative, as was first observed in 1898 on the reverse photographic plate when amateur photographer
Secondo Pia
Secondo Pia (9 September 1855 – 7 September 1941) was an Italian lawyer and amateur photographer. He is best known for taking the first photographs of the Shroud of Turin on 28 May 1898 and, when he was developing them, noticing that the photo ...
was unexpectedly allowed to photograph it. The shroud is kept in the royal chapel of the
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. The
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
has approved this image in association with the
devotion
Devotion or Devotions may refer to:
Religion
* Faith, confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept
* Anglican devotions, private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians
* Buddhist devotion, commitment to religious observance
* Cat ...
to the
Holy Face of Jesus
The Holy Face of Jesus is a title for specific images which some Catholics believe to be miraculously formed representations of the face of Jesus Christ. The image obtained from the Shroud of Turin is associated with a specific medal worn by s ...
and some believe it is the cloth that covered
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
at burial. The shroud's linen has been
carbon dated
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
and showed a date originating in the late 13th or early 14th century CE. The shroud is thus a medieval
hoax or
forgery—or an icon created as such. It is the subject of intense debate among some scientists, believers, historians, and writers regarding where, when, and how the shroud and its images were created.
Virgin of Guadalupe
![1531 Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe anagoria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/1531_Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_Guadalupe_anagoria.jpg)
This full length image of the Virgin is said to have miraculously been created at the unusually late date of 1531 (for the Western church) in Mexico, where it continues to enjoy an enormous reputation.
In 1929 and 1951 photographers found a figure reflected in the Virgin's eyes; upon inspection they said that the reflection was tripled in what is called the
Purkinje effect
The Purkinje effect (; sometimes called the Purkinje shift, often incorrectly pronounced ) is the tendency for the peak luminance sensitivity of the eye to shift toward the blue end of the color spectrum at low illumination levels as part of da ...
, commonly found in human eyes. An ophthalmologist, Dr. Jose Aste Tonsmann, later enlarged an image of the Virgin's eyes by 2500x and claimed to have found not only the aforementioned single figure, but images of all the witnesses present when the tilma was first revealed before Zumárraga in 1531, plus a small family group of mother, father, and a group of children, in the center of the Virgin's eyes, fourteen people in all.
In 1979 Philip Callahan, (biophysicist, USDA entomologist, NASA consultant) specializing in infrared imaging, was allowed direct access to visually inspect and photograph the image. He took numerous infrared photographs of the front of the tilma. Taking notes that were later published, his assistant noted that the original art work was neither cracked nor flaked, while later additions (gold leaf, silver plating the Moon) showed serious signs of wear, if not complete deterioration. Callahan could not explain the excellent state of preservation of the un-retouched areas of the image on the tilma, particularly the upper two-thirds of the image. His findings, with photographs, were published in 1981.
[Callahan, Philip: "The Tilma under Infrared Radiation", ''CARA Studies in Popular Devotion'', vol. II, ''Guadalupan Studies,'' No. III (March 1981, 45pp.), Washington, D.C.; cf. Leatham, Miguel (2001). "Indigenista Hermeneutics and the Historical Meaning of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Mexico," ''Folklore Forum'', Google Docs. pp. 34–35.]
Lord of Miracles of Buga
![Nuestro Señor de Los Milagros de Buga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Nuestro_Se%C3%B1or_de_Los_Milagros_de_Buga.png)
This is a tridimensional image of Jesus Christ crucified that comes from the 16th century, and it is attributed to a miraculous event occurred to an Amerindian woman of this South American Andean region, who worked washing clothes for wealthy families of the city of Buga.
On October 5, 2006, a team of specialists, using four different complementary technologies: X-rays, ultraviolet rays, pigment and stratigraphic analysis of the image, certified its well-preserved condition.
Official celebration in the religious Catholic calendar: September 14.
Our Lady of The Pillar
According to ancient Spanish tradition in the early days of Christianity,
James the Great
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, was preaching the Gospel in what was then the pagan land of
Caesaraugusta (now Zaragoza), in the Roman province of
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...
. He was disheartened with his mission, having made only a few converts. While he was praying by the banks of the
Ebro
, name_etymology =
, image = Zaragoza shel.JPG
, image_size =
, image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza
, map = SpainEbroBasin.png
, map_size =
, map_caption = The Ebro ...
River with some of his disciples, Mary miraculously appeared before him atop a pillar accompanied by angels. Mary assured James that the people would eventually be converted and their faith would be as strong as the pillar she was standing on. She gave him the pillar as a symbol and a wooden image of herself. James was also instructed to build a chapel on the spot where she left the pillar.
It is generally believed that Mary would have appeared to James through bilocation, as she was still living either in Ephesus or Jerusalem at the time of this event. She is believed to have died three to fifteen years after Jesus' death. After establishing the church, James returned to Jerusalem with some of his disciples where he became a martyr, beheaded in 44 AD under
Herod Agrippa
Herod Agrippa (Roman name Marcus Julius Agrippa; born around 11–10 BC – in Caesarea), also known as Herod II or Agrippa I (), was a grandson of Herod the Great and King of Judea from AD 41 to 44. He was the father of Herod Agrippa II, th ...
. His disciples allegedly returned his body to Spain.
Saint Dominic in Soriano
Miraculous painting granted to the monastery - (Fra Frangipane) by
Virgin Mother of God together with
Saint Catherine and saint
Magdalene.
See also
*
Acheiropoietos Monastery in Kyrenia, Cyprus
*
Apauruṣeyā
*
Church of the Acheiropoietos in Thessaloniki, Greece
*
Perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena
*
Swayambhu
*
Holy Face of Lucca
The Holy Face of Lucca ( it, Volto Santo di Lucca) is an , ancient wooden carving of Christ crucified in Lucca, Italy. Medieval legends state that it was sculpted by Nicodemus who assisted St. Joseph of Arimathea in placing Christ in his tomb aft ...
References
Bibliography
*Beckwith, John, ''Early Christian and Byzantine Art'', Penguin History of Art (now Yale), 2nd edn. 1979,
*di Lazzaro, Paolo. (ed.), ''Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Scientific approach to the Acheiropoietos Images'', ENEA, 2010,
*Brenda M. Bolton, "Advertise the Message: Images in Rome at the Turn of the Twelfth Century" in Diana Wood (ed) ''The Church and the Arts'' (Studies in Church History, 28) Oxford: Blackwell, 1992, pp. 117–130.
* Cormack, Robin, Writing in Gold: Byzantine Society and its Icons, London: George Philip, 1985, .
*
Ernst von Dobschütz
Ernst Adolf Alfred Oskar Adalbert von Dobschütz (9 October 1870 – 20 May 1934) was a German theologian, textual critic, author of numerous books and professor at the University of Halle, the University of Breslau, and the University of Strasbou ...
, Christusbilder - Untersuchungen Zur Christlichen Legende, Orig. edit. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs´sche buchhandlung, 1899. New edit. Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprints 2009.
*Emerick, Judson J., ''The Tempietto Del Clitunno Near Spoleto'', 1998, Penn State Press, , 9780271044507
google books* Grigg, Robert, "Byzantine Credulity as an Impediment to Antiquarianism", ''Gesta'', Vol. 26, No. 1 (1987), pp. 3–9, The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the International Center of Medieval Art
JSTOR*
Kitzinger, Ernst, "The Cult of Images in the Age before Iconoclasm", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', Vol. 8, (1954), pp. 83–150, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University
JSTOR
External links
International Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Acheiropoietos ImagesTranslation of the Image "Made-Without-Hands" of our Lord Jesus ChristOrthodox
synaxarionIcon "Made Without Hands" from Lyddaonline audio visual featuring texts by sudarium expert Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schlömer ''et al.''
The Rediscovered Face - 1first of four installments of an audiovisual presentation relating a number of ancient predecessors, YouTube, access date March 2013.
{{Authority control
Christian mythology
Eastern Orthodox icons
Christian iconography
Jesus in art
Virgin Mary in art