Image of Edessa (Image of the Saviour Made Without Hands)
unknown
Basic information
- ID
- Ж-4728
- Author
- unknown
- Name
- Image of Edessa (Image of the Saviour Made Without Hands)
- Date of creation
- 15th c.
- Country
- Ukraine
- Technique
- tempera painting
- Material
- lime wood tempera
- Dimensions (height x width, cm)
- 82 x 52
Additionally
- Type
- icon
- Genre
- religious
- Plot
- Image of Edessa (Image of the Saviour made without hands)
- Provenance
- Kovynychi village, Sambir district, Lviv region
- Exposition
- Olesko Castle
Information about author
Object description
According to legend, the Image of Edessa is the first image of Jesus created without human intervention. There are two versions of the story – the Eastern, accepted by Orthodoxy, and the Western, accepted by Catholicism. The former is associated with King Abgar of Edessa, who, knowing of Christ's miraculous healings and wishing to be cured, had the Saviour's face imprinted on a vernicle. The earliest images show the head of Jesus frontally, in a simple or cross-shaped halo, with his eyes wide open. The image of the Saviour became widespread in Ukraine in the sixteenth century. He embodied a new canon of spiritual beauty, suffering kindness, justice, and humanity. He was seen as the upholder of righteousness and the harbinger of truth. The icon from the village of Kovynychi belongs to a typical Orthodox variant. It does not deviate from the traditional composition, which is based on the face of Christ with a golden halo on a white linen cloth. On either side, the slender figures of the archangels Gabriel and Michael hold a cloth decorated with white and black stripes.
Inscriptions
«ОБРАЗЬ НЄРУКОТВОРЄНЬІГАБА СПАСА НАШЄГО» (Image of the Saviour Made Without Hands)
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
