The Veil of Veronica

That a man named Jesus of Nazareth lived in Galilee around 2,000 years ago cannot be proven. Nevertheless, most historians today accept that he actually existed, and was active during the period detailed in the New Testament. Whether you believe him to have been the son of God, God the Son, a prophet, or just an ordinary human being, will depend entirely on your own personal religious persuasion.

 

The death of Jesus by way of crucifixion, and his subsequent resurrection, are described in the Gospels of the New Testament. Again, whether you are inclined to believe this story to be factually accurate, will depend upon your religious beliefs. Nevertheless, crucifixion as a means of capital punishment was common practice at that time, in the Middle East.

 

According to legend, a woman named Veronica encountered Jesus in Jerusalem, as he was carrying his cross to Calvary; his place of execution. She is said to have wiped the perspiration from his face with her veil, onto which the image of his face miraculously appeared. I use the term legend, as there is no mention of the story of Veronica in the Gospels, and the tale may simply be the result of mistranslation and elaboration. The Latin words Vera and Icon, translate as truth and image respectively. Thus the name Veil of Veronica, may actually mean Veil of the True Image, and it has been argued that the veil may actually have been the cloth placed on the face of Jesus’ body after he had been laid to rest. Either way, the Veil of Veronica is believed by many to be a true representation of the face of Jesus Christ.

 

Certainly the image of a slender faced man with long hair and a beard, that we associate with Jesus today, appears to stem from the image on the Veil. The earliest recorded reference to the Veil dates from only 1011 c.e., and so if genuine, begs the question of why there is no earlier record of the existence of such a miraculous relic. Nevertheless, early representations of the face of Jesus vary significantly, and it appears that it was only once the image on the Veil had been popularised, that the face of Jesus became stylised into the image we recognise today.

 

Early Depictions of the Face of Jesus

 

So what does the image on the Veil of Veronica actually look like? Well, therein lies a problem. Following the Sack of Rome on 6th May 1527 by Charles V, contemporary sources claimed variously that the Veil had either been destroyed, stolen or left entirely untouched. Whilst the Vatican claimed to still be in possession of the Veil, subsequent events cast doubt on this assertion. As a relic venerated by pilgrims, the Veil was an important source of income for the Papacy, and they would not have wanted to admit to it having been stolen or destroyed. Prior to 1527 many artists had made copies of the image, and interestingly, Pope Urban VIII ordered the destruction of all existing copies, leading many to suspect that they no longer had the original, and had substituted a faked copy that would not stand up to scrutiny, if compared to earlier first hand copies of the genuine Veil.

 

To this day the Vatican claims that the Veil of Veronica that is held in St Peter’s Basilica is the original Veil, but the image appears to be little more than a dark head shaped blob, with no discerning features. Additionally, the image is displayed publicly only once a year, on Passion Sunday. On this occasion, the Veil in its heavy frame, is carried by three cannons out onto the balcony above the statue of Saint Veronica. At this considerable distance, and with limited views, the image is barely observable. So, if the Veil currently in the possession of the Vatican is a copy, did the original survive the Sack of Rome in 1527? Well, possibly.

 

Veil of Veronica, St Peter’s Basilica

 

In 1999, Father Heinrich Pfeiffer claimed to have discovered the true Veil of Veronica, displayed in a church of the Capuchin monastery, in the  village of Manoppello, Italy. The image is much clearer than that of the Vatican’s Veil, and depicts a face that we would recognise today as stylistically that of Jesus Christ. Apparently the cloth is made from a rare fibre called byssus, which is occasionally found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. Additionally, the image has not been painted onto the cloth. Professor Pfeiffer further claimed that he believed the Veil to have been the cloth placed over Jesus’ face in his tomb, and that the image was a by-product, produced as a result of forces discharged from the body of Christ during the Resurrection. He further asserted that this was the same process that would explain the full body image of Jesus, found on the more famous Shroud of Turin.

 

The Manoppello Image

 

On 1st September 2006, Joseph Ratzinger, better known to all but his family and friends as Pope Benedict XVI, visited the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello, knelt in veneration, and prayed for several minutes, before the image many believe to be the true Veil of Veronica. “Seeking the Face of Jesus must be the longing of all of us Christians”, he said during his pilgrimage to the shrine. Thereafter, until his resignation, Pope Benedict XVI often made reference to ‘the human face of God in Christ’. As Pope, he could never have actually stated that he believed the Manoppello Image to be the true Veil of Veronica, nevertheless his words and demeanour suggested that he considered it to be just that. Perhaps the Pope Emeritus knows something we don’t!

 

Pope Benedict XVI at the Shrine of the Holy Face

 

Sources:

https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-of-Nazareth.html

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Veil_of_Veronica

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6346

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/an-encounter-with-the-manoppello-image-of-the-face-of-christ-95030/