The Sudarium of Saint Veronica 1649

Claude Mellan created this engraving, The Sudarium of Saint Veronica, sometime in the 17th century using a technique that was as impressive as it was unusual. Mellan employed a single line, beginning at the tip of Jesus's nose, to create the entire image. Varying the thickness of the line alone, he manipulated light and shadow to achieve an astonishing likeness of the face. This was not just a virtuoso performance, but also a kind of conceptual statement, as it elegantly mirrors the legend of Veronica’s veil. According to the tale, the image of Christ’s face was miraculously imprinted on a cloth she used to wipe his brow on the way to the crucifixion. The printing process itself, of course, has an inherently reproductive quality. Yet by using this self-imposed constraint, Mellan emphasizes the idea of the "original" as unique, precious, and inimitable, while also paradoxically creating an image that could be reproduced over and over again. It's a clever commentary on the status of images at a time of growing mechanical reproduction.