In religious traditions there are many manifestations of divinity that make tangible to the believer something that is abstract and beyond the realm of human experience. This is the case in Christianity with relics that are associated with prophets or other figures who serve as mediators between God and man. One most famous relic in the Christian tradition is the Veil of Veronica, a cloth upon which is supposed to be imprinted the features of Jesus Christ.

According to the lore surrounding the veil, a woman named Veronica used the cloth to wipe the sweat off the brow of Jesus Christ and it miraculously retained on its surface the divine figure’s facial traits. Although the garment is not mentioned in early Catholic canonical texts and only seems to be referenced after the 13th century C.E., it has a significant place in the reliquary tradition of imagery associated with Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition of the Holy Mandylion, or the first icon said to represent Jesus Christ, there is a similar story told of a ruler who, upon requesting the blessing and healing powers of Jesus, receives an image in his likeness that serves this purpose. However, whether the image was painted or was an imprint, like the Veil of Veronica, is not a significant detail. What is remarkable about the objects is less the manner in which a likeness was transferred onto cloth and more the implication that the likeness is bestowed with the power of the divinity represented.

The Shroud of Turin is another, more recently highlighted relic and object of significant speculation in the Catholic church. It is also said to have the imprint (or particularly, the negative imprint) of Jesus Christ’s body on its surface and to have, by this heritage, healing and spiritual powers. The cloth was said to have been the burial shroud of the martyred Christ and what remained in the tomb after

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his resurrection. That these images all have an added dimension of significance because they were supposed to have had direct contact with his figure have made them hallmarks of what the relic is in the religious tradition but they are the epitome of the tradition, not the standard. Many other images were derived from these primary relics and the history of iconology reflects that power in imagery could have exponential consequences.

*image: Hans Memlin, painting of Veil of Veronica, c.1470
*image: Holy Face of Genoa, in the Mandylion tradition, c. 14th century

Tags: 13th century A.D., Catholic canonical texts, Christian iconology, Christian imagery, Christian relics, Christianity and fabric, divine figures facial traits, divinity fabric, Holy fabric, image of divinity, Jesus Christ, Mandylion tradition, power of divinity in fabric, religious garments, religious iconography, religious icons, religious traditions, resurrection of Jesus, Shroud of Turin, spiritual powers and fabric, veil of Veronica, Virgin Mary