Saint Veronica, ca. 1460 – 1467

About the Work

As it was described in the Legenda aurea, the face of Jesus Christ had impressed itself on the veil of Veronica as a “true image”. Anyone who looked at the relic in Rome—or pictorial depictions of it such as this one—not only saw Christ’s face but was also seen by him. The Master E.S. created this direct reciprocity by portraying Christ with a piercing gaze, detached from the cloth. The Son of God almost seems to leave the world of imagery and enter the believers’ reality.