14 Not Made by Human Hands (or the Holy Face)

lRussian Icon, c. 1880, Size: 133⁄4”x121⁄4”

The “Not Made by Human Hands Image” or “The Holy Face” icon depicts Jesus Christ’s face miraculously left on a cloth used to wipe his face. In the East the legend is told that King Abgar of Edessa fell sick. Hearing of Jesus’s miracles Abgar sends his court artist Ananias to draw an image of Christ. Abgar believed that if he could only see an image of Christ he would be healed. When Ananias was unable to get close enough to Christ to draw the image, a miraculous event occurred, and Christ came to Ananias wiping his face on a cloth which retained the image of His face. Christ gives the cloth to Ananias who takes it to King Abgar. Upon seeing Christ’s face on the cloth Abgar is healed. In the story told in the West, the cloth is given to Christ by Veronica to wipe his face on the day of His crucifixion, and the image of His face remains on the cloth. In this icon you can see two angels holding the cloth with Christ’s face between them. Notice the color of the angel’s gowns, one wearing blue covered with a red, and the other wearing red covered with blue. The two choirs of Angels closest to God are the Seraphim or “burning ones” and the Cherubim. In sacred art these two choirs are sometimes depicted in red if they are seraphim and blue if they are cherubim.