Category:Veil of Veronica (subject)

From 4 Enoch: : The Online Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism, and Christian and Islamic Origins
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According to Christian tradition, the Veil of Veronica is a veil on which Jesus on his way to Golgotha wiped off his face leaving his image imprinted on it

Overview

A medieval legend (the story is not in the Gospels) narrated that a woman - named Veronica from Jerusalem - encountered Jesus along the Via Dolorosa on his way to Calvary. When she paused to wipe the sweat off his face with her veil, his image was imprinted on the cloth.

The supposed original of the Veil of Veronica was publicly displayed for some time in the Vatican from 1297 to 1527, when the relic went lost during the Sack of Rome. The Veil of Veronica became a popular subject in the arts; and "copies" of the Roman Veil are displayed in several churches in Europe, including in Rome (Vatican), Vienna (Austria), Alicante and Jaén (Spain).

The Veil of Rome [Vatican]

A veil still preserved in Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is believed to be a copy, or even the original, of the veil revered in the Middle Ages.

The Veil of Vienna [Austria]

The veil at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna is a "copy" of the Veronica, identified by the signature of the secretary of Pope Paul V, during whose reign a series of six "copies" of the veil were made in 1617 (almost a century after the original Veil was supposedly lost).

The Veil of Alicante [Spain]

This image was acquired by Pope Nicholas V from relatives of the Byzantine Emperor in 1453 and was given by a Vatican cardinal to a Spanish priest who took it to Alicante, in southern Spain in 1489. The relic is now housed in the Monastery of the Holy Face (Monasterio de la Santa Faz), on the outskirts of Alicante, in a chapel built in 1611 and decorated between 1677 and 1680 by the sculptor José Vilanova.

The Veil of Jaén [Spain]

The Assumption of the Virgin Cathedral in Jaén, Spain, houses a "copy" of the Veronica which probably dates from the 14th century and originated in Siena [Italy]. It is known as the Santo Rostro and was acquired by Bishop Nicholas de Biedma in the 14th Century.

The Veil of Manoppello [Italy]

An image of the Holy Face is housed since 1660 in a church of the Capuchin monastery, in the small village of Manoppello, Abruzzo [Italy]. The relic has been recently claimed to be the "original" Veil of Veronica, once preserved in the Vatican. Tradition, however, says that the veil arrived at Manoppello in 1508 (19 years before the sack of Rome of 1527), brought by an anonymous pilgrim. After being privately owned, the relic finally reached its present location.

The image is crudely made and stylistically similar to images dating to the late Middle Ages or early renaissance. Any connection with the Veil once preserved in Roma is based on modern speculations that the Veil had been stolen from the Vatican in 1506 during some works of renovation of the Basilica. Nevertheless, the cloth has received much publicity in recent years and Pope Benedict XVI visited the veil on September 1, 2006.

In Depth

External links