From the Mandylion of Edessa to the Shroud of Turin

Andrea Nicolotti, Ph.D. (2005), University of Turin, is Research Fellow at the Department of Historical Studies. He has published many studies on history of Christianity, including Esorcismo cristiano e possessione diabolica (Brepols, 2011) and I Templari e la Sindone (Salerno, 2011).

• Acknowledgements ixList of Illustrations xi1 Introduction 12 Origins and Traditions 7King Abgar and the Origins of the Legend 7The Apparition of the Image in Edessa 9The Development of Traditions about the Image 12The Siege of Edessa 14A Later Genesis? 17An Older Genesis? 18Silence in Syria and Traditions in Armenia 22The Iconoclastic Era 263 Shifting Perspectives? 29Acts of Thaddaeus 29The Term tetradiplon and the Reliquary of the Image 34The Question of the Folds 39The Letter of the Three Patriarchs and Jesus’ Height 474 The Translation of the Image of Edessa 53Gregory Referendarius and the Translation of the Image 53The Narratio de Imagine Edessena 66The Keramion 72The Edessean Cult of the Image 77The Synaxarium 80The Liturgical Odes 845 The Mandylion in Constantinople 89The Name “Mandylion” 89Persistence of Converging and Diffferent Traditions 91An Elusive Vision 96The Preservation of the Mandylion in Byzantium 99The Revolt of the Palace 106Robert de Clari 109Latin Sermon 1126 An Overview of Iconography 120The Holy Face of Lucca 120Orderic Vitalis 126Iconography of the Mandylion 128Flowers or Holes? 148Miniatures of the Mandylion 152The Georgian Icon of Ancha 159The Madrid’s Skylitzes 162A Russian Icon 170Byzantine Coins 173Two Copies of the Mandylion of Edessa 182The End 188The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and the Disappearance of the Mandylion 188Conclusions 202Index of Names 205

"...Nicolotti has convincingly and methodically shown that throughout the textual and visual accounts, the Shroud and the Mandylion are two distinct objects... this book will be useful for anyone interested in miraculous images, the evolution of the image of Christ, and how legends transform over time."Anna Russakoff (American University of Paris), The Medieval Review, 15/10 (2015)"...The author interacts thoroughly with the primary sources. His argument is easy to follow and the chapters and themes are well organized. The author’s work is also prevalent in the highly detailed footnotes which give considerable amounts of beneficial details especially for scholars who are interested in the development of the Mandylion. In general, the presentation of the material flows well and the author’s points are made clear. Even though the Mandylion is highly discussed and how the Mandylion is not the Shroud of Turin, one is left with questions on the origins and the history of the Shroud of Turin. The second volume of Nicolotti’s work discusses at length the Turinese Shroud. If the first volume is any indication to what to look forward to, there are high hopes for his second volume."Najeeb Haddad (Loyola University Chicago), Annali di storia dell'esegesi, 32/2 (2015)