The holy Face

According to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, when Christ was walking towards the Calvary, a pious woman dried his face full of blood with a cloth, where his "real image" (Vera icona" in Latin) was embedded, identifying the name of the woman with Veronica. This tale inspired this artistic representation, summarized with the only image of the Sudarium, very common and venerated from the 15th century. In this work, the face of the aching Christ is barely suggested with light touches of ochre and carmine is framed by the cloth, magnificent in its treatment and layout that seems to be hanging out through cords that knot the upper angles and a pin that attaches the central part, marking a triangle pleat. In the lower left part, there is a label dissimulated over the maroon background, half torn and peeled off, with the signature and date. It is a great example as of how achieved naturalism in many baroque paintings becomes an authentic trompe l'oeil. Francisco de Zurbaran, the great painter from Extremadura that embodies the most pure vision of Spanish ascetic and mysticism, painted many versions of this theme, which from at least ten are signed and dated.