0113 Image Not Made By Hand

Russian.
19th cent. 33x26x2 cms.

Church legend says that King Abgar send an envoy to Christ requesting He come to Edessa to cure his facial deformity. Christ could not attend but, having just washed His face, had left an imprint on the napkin. The ambassador returned with the cloth which, when applied, cured the leprosy except for one spot. This too was healed when later he was visited by Thaddeus and converted to Christianity.

The icon shows the face of christ on a napkin which is supported by The Virgin and a grieving St John the Apostle. The margins have images of Archangel Michael and St John the Warrior.