The Tradition of the Image of Edessa

Download or read book The Tradition of the Image of Edessa written by Mark Guscin and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2016-02-08 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Image of Edessa was an image of Christ, which, according to tradition, was of miraculous origin. It was taken from Edessa to Constantinople in 944, and disappeared from known history in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It generated, however, a vast amount of literature and hundreds of copies in churches all over the Byzantine world. This book is a study of the literature, paintings, icons and other aspects related to the Image of Edessa. It examines how it was used as a tool to express Christ’s humanity and for various other purposes, and how some of the related literature became completely decontextualised and used as a magical charm, especially in the West.