Unknown - Mandylion
The story of the Mandylion originates from a sixth-century Byzantine legend. King Abgar of Edessa falls deathly ill and requests that Christ heal his sickness. Christ instead sends a messenger with a cloth bearing an impression of his face. When pressed upon the King’s face, the cloth cures the King. Similar “miraculous images” in existence include the Cloth of Saint Veronica and the Shroud of Turin.
On the lower layer of this Mandylion, the artist painted Christ on a wood panel with varying hues of red, gold, and ochre. Jesus makes eye contact, an unspoken promise to heal the wounded. The upper layer takes the form of a silver oklad, or revetment, placed over the portrait. Semi-precious stones around Christ’s face suggest a halo or divine spirit shining outwards. Combined, this is a figure at once nearly tangible yet as ethereal as can be expected from a divine figure.
Elizabeth Bigelow