The Veil of Veronica, also called the Sudarium (which means "sweat-cloth" in Latin), is a religious object believed to have an image of Jesus' face. This image is said to have appeared by miracle. Some people claim that certain pictures are the original cloth or copies of it. These images are sometimes called vernicles.
The story of the veil is connected to the sixth Station of the Cross. It tells of Saint Veronica, who met Jesus on his way to Calvary. She used her veil to wipe the blood and sweat from his face. Some stories say she later went to Rome to show the cloth to Emperor Tiberius. The veil is said to have special powers, such as stopping thirst, healing blindness, and bringing people back to life.
The first written record of this story comes from the Middle Ages. By the 14th century, the veil became an important symbol in the Western Church. Art historian Neil Macgregor said, "From the 14th century onward, wherever the Roman Church traveled, the Veronica went with it." The act of Saint Veronica wiping Jesus' face with her veil is honored in the sixth Station of the Cross in many Anglican and Catholic churches.
Evolution of the story
The story of Veronica and her veil is not found in the official Bible stories called the canonical Gospels. The closest written account is the story of Jesus healing a woman who had been bleeding for many years by touching the edge of His clothing. Later, this woman was named Veronica in a non-official religious text called the "Acts of Pilate." In the 11th century, the story was expanded to include details that Jesus gave Veronica a cloth with His image on it, which she later used to heal the Roman emperor Tiberius. By the 13th century, a French Bible translated by Roger d'Argenteuil connected this story to Jesus carrying the cross during His suffering, and described the image on the cloth as appearing miraculously. This idea became more popular after a widely read religious book called "Meditations on the Life of Christ" was written around the year 1300. At this time, artists began to show the image with a crown of thorns, blood, and the face of a person in pain. This image became very common in Catholic Europe and was included in a group of symbols called the Arma Christi. The meeting between Jesus and Veronica also became one of the scenes in the Stations of the Cross.
Origin of the name
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the name Veronica comes from a combination of the Latin word "vera," meaning "truth," and the Greek word "eikon," meaning "image." The encyclopedia explains that the phrase "vera icon," which means "true image," was used to describe a religious relic. Over time, this phrase became the name for the relic itself. People then believed the name referred to a person connected to the relic. Later, different stories about Veronica appeared in various places.
History of the veil
There is clear evidence that a physical image known as the Veil of Veronica has been venerated in Rome since the 14th century. However, the origin of this image is unknown.
It has often been believed that the Veil of Veronica was present in Old St. Peter’s during the papacy of Pope John VII (705–708), as a chapel called the Veronica chapel was built during his time. In 1011, a scribe was recorded as the keeper of the cloth, showing that the Veil was already in Rome by then.
The first firm records of the Veil date to 1199, when two pilgrims, Gerald de Barri (Giraldus Cambrensis) and Gervase of Tilbury, wrote detailed accounts of their visit to Rome, mentioning the existence of the Veil of Veronica. In 1207, Pope Innocent III publicly displayed the cloth and granted special blessings to those who prayed before it. This event, which took place between St. Peter’s and the Santo Spirito Hospital, became an annual tradition. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII, who had moved the Veil to St. Peter’s in 1297, was inspired to declare the first Jubilee year. During this Jubilee, the Veil was shown to pilgrims and became one of the "Wonders of the City." For the next two hundred years, the Veil, kept in Old St. Peter’s, was considered one of the most valuable Christian relics. In 1436, Pedro Tafur, a Spanish traveler, described how the Veil was displayed:
On the right side of the church is a tall pillar. When the Veil is shown, an opening is made in the roof, and a wooden chest is lowered. Two clerics then carefully take the Veil from the chest and display it to the people. Many visitors gather, and the crowd can become so large that it is dangerous for worshippers.
After the Sack of Rome in 1527, some writers claimed the Veil had been destroyed, stating it was stolen and taken to taverns. Others, however, reported that the Veil remained in the Vatican, with one witness saying it was not found by looters.
Many artists of the time created copies of the Veil, suggesting it had survived. However, in 1616, Pope Paul V banned further copies unless made by a canon of St. Peter’s Basilica. In 1629, Pope Urban VIII not only stopped the creation of new copies but also ordered the destruction of all existing ones. His rule required anyone with a copy to bring it to the Vatican, or face excommunication.
In the 17th century, the Veil was discovered hidden in a relic chamber built by Bernini inside one of the piers supporting the dome of St. Peter’s. It remains in St. Peter’s Basilica today. One of the piers has an alcove with a large statue of Veronica by Francesco Mochi. Above the statue is a balcony, and behind the balcony lies the chapel where the Veil is kept. In the Jubilee year of 2025, it was decided to display the Veil in the Veronica loggia during an extraordinary liturgy on the fifth Sunday of Lent (April 6).
Images traditionally connected with the Veil of Veronica
There are at least six images that look very similar to each other. One is believed to be the original Veil of Veronica, while others are copies of the first one. In two cases, the images are known as the Mandylion. Each image is placed inside a large frame with a gold-covered metal sheet (called a riza in Russian). Inside the frame, there is a hole where the face appears. At the bottom of the face, there are three points that match the shape of hair and a beard.
A relic believed to be the Veil of Veronica is kept in St. Peter's Basilica. It is stored in a chapel behind the balcony in the southwest pier that supports the dome.
In the 19th century, Xavier Barbier de Montault saw the veil privately. His account, written by Adolphe Napoléon Didron in Volume 23 of Annales Archéologiques, describes the veil as covered by a metal blade that leaves only the outline of the face. The outline shows long hair on the shoulders and a short beard, but the rest of the face is unclear, making it hard to see the eyes or nose.
In 1907, Joseph Wilpert, a Jesuit art historian, was allowed to remove two crystal plates to examine the image. He described the object as a yellowed fabric with two large, faint brown stains. He said the object matches the oldest records and cited two of them.
Each year, the face is displayed on the 5th Sunday of Lent, called Passion Sunday, in a tradition that began in the 17th century. Before vespers, a procession takes place in the basilica, followed by the Litany of the Saints. A bell rings, and three canons carry the frame to the balcony above the statue of St. Veronica. From this view, the image is not visible, but the shape of the inner frame can be seen.
In the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, there is a copy of the Veil of Veronica. The copy has a signature in the corner of the inner frame by P. Strozzi, who was the secretary of Pope Paul V. Vatican notary Jacopo Grimaldi mentioned that Strozzi made six careful copies of the veil in 1617.
The outer frame of the copy is modern, while the inner frame is roughly made and matches the design of earlier copies. The face inside is unclear, with only faint shapes resembling a nose, eyes, and mouth.
The copy is kept in the Schatzkammer of the Habsburg dynasty in the Hofburg Palace, Vienna.
The Holy Face of Alicante was acquired by Pope Nicholas V in 1453 from relatives of the Byzantine Emperor. A Vatican cardinal later gave it to a Spanish priest, Mosen Pedro Mena, who brought it to Alicante in southern Spain in 1489, during a severe drought. On 17 March, an Alicante priest, Father Villafranca, carried the veil in a procession. A tear appeared on the face of Christ on the veil, and rain began to fall. The relic is now in the Monastery of the Holy Face (Monasterio de la Santa Faz), near Alicante. It is housed in a chapel built in 1611 and decorated between 1677 and 1680 by sculptor José Vilanova, gilder Pere Joan Valero, and painter Juan Conchillos. The chapel includes paintings showing the end of the drought, local figures linked to the chapel’s founding, and religious themes about judgment and salvation.
The monastery was restored between 2003 and 2006, along with the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas and the Basilica of St. Mary in the city center. In 2006, the three buildings hosted an exhibition about the relic titled "The Face of Eternity."
The cathedral of Jaén has a copy of the Veil of Veronica, likely from the 14th century and originally from Siena. It is kept in a shrine near the high altar and is displayed to the public on Good Friday and the Feast of the Assumption. It is also shown in a chapel near the cathedral every Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., where visitors can kiss the glass protecting the image. Known as the Santo Rostro, it was acquired by Bishop Nicholas de Biedma in the 14th century.
Similar images
The Holy Face of Genoa is kept in the modest Church of St. Bartholomew of the Armenians in Genoa. It was given to the Doge Leonardo Montaldo in the 14th century by the Byzantine Emperor John V Palaeologus.
In 1969, Colette Dufour Bozzo studied the image in detail. She determined that the outer frame dates to the late 14th century, while the inner frame and the image itself are thought to be older. Bozzo discovered that the image was printed on a cloth that had been attached to a wooden board. The image’s similarity to the Veil of Veronica suggests a possible connection between the two traditions.
The Holy Face of San Silvestro was kept in Rome’s church of San Silvestro until 1870. It is now displayed in the Matilda chapel of the Vatican. It is enclosed in a Baroque frame donated by Sister Dionora Chiarucci in 1623. The earliest known record of the image dates to 1517, when nuns were told not to show it to avoid competition with the Veil of Veronica. Like the Genoa image, it is painted on a wooden board, which suggests it may be a copy.
The image was displayed at Germany’s Expo 2000 in the pavilion of the Holy See.
In 1999, German Jesuit Father Heinnrich Pfeiffer, a professor of art history at the Pontifical Gregorian University, announced at a press conference in Rome that he had found the Veil in a church at a Capuchin monastery in the small Italian village of Manoppello. The Veil had been there since 1660. Pfeiffer had promoted this image for many years before this announcement. The image is known as the Manoppello Image.
According to local tradition, an unnamed pilgrim arrived in 1508 carrying the cloth in a wrapped package. The pilgrim gave it to Dr. Giacomo Antonio Leonelli, who was sitting on a bench outside the church. Dr. Leonelli entered the church and opened the package containing the Veil. He then left the church but could not find the pilgrim.
The Veil remained in the Leonelli family until 1608. Pancrazio Petrucci, a soldier married to Marzia Leonelli, stole the Veil from his father-in-law’s home. A few years later, Marzia sold it for 400 scudi to Doctor Donato Antonio De Fabritiis to pay a ransom for her husband, who was imprisoned in Chieti. De Fabritiis gave the Veil to the Capuchins, who still possess it today. This history was recorded by Father Donato da Bomba in his Relatione historica after research began in 1640.
House of Veronica in Jerusalem
In Jerusalem, on the Via Dolorosa, there is a small chapel called the Chapel of the Holy Face. It is believed to be where Saint Veronica lived and where a miracle is said to have happened.
Representative art
There are two main styles for the image of the face shown on the Veil of Veronica. One style (Type I), often seen in Italian art, shows Christ's face with a full beard, appearing in pain, with wounds from whippings, and sometimes wearing a crown of thorns. Another style (Type II), common in Russian and Spanish art, shows Christ's face more calm, with hair reaching the shoulders and a split beard, often surrounded by a circular light divided into four parts shaped like a cross.
In 2004, Mel Gibson asked for a copy of the Veil of Veronica to use in his movie The Passion of the Christ. The veil used in the film was sold at an auction to an unknown buyer on July 18, 2025.