The Sudarium Held by Two Angels 1510 - 1520

Daniel Hopfer created this iron etching of "The Sudarium Held by Two Angels" sometime in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. Hopfer was central in developing iron etching as an artistic medium, a technique which allowed for mass production and wider distribution of images, impacting the cultural and religious landscape of the time. The image depicts the face of Christ imprinted on the cloth of Saint Veronica, surrounded by cherubic figures. This representation of the Holy Face speaks to the intense religious devotion of the period. It also reflects the era’s complex relationship to relics and images, and the belief in their power to transmit divine grace. Consider how Hopfer, situated in a society grappling with religious reform and humanist thought, navigated the artistic representation of faith. What did it mean to produce and circulate images of the divine in this rapidly changing world? This work invites us to consider the intersection of faith, art, and the evolving cultural identity of the Renaissance.