Is This the Face of Jesus?

Legend has it that this darkened cloth encased in a centuries-old silver frame may preserve an authentic and miraculous depiction of Jesus’ face. To the more skeptical, it’s probably a Byzantine icon that was painted with the face of Jesus in accordance with an age-old legend. In either case, the cloth, known as the Mandylion of Edessa, has an interesting story to tell.a As the story goes, the fabled first-century king Abgar of Edessa (modern Urfa in southeastern Turkey) sent a message to Jesus requesting that he come to Edessa to cure the king of a deadly illness. In […]