Où il y a une Veronique attachiée dedens' : images of the Veronica in religious manuscripts, with special attention for the Dukes of Burgundy and their family

Où il y a une Veronique atachiée dedens': Images of the Veronica in Religious Manuscripts, with Special Attention for the Dukes of Burgundy and their Family – Manuscripts to be used for lay devotion sometimes contain small images of the Vera Icon, or the Veronica, the name often given to the images of the cloth bearing the imprint of Christ's face. Veronica painters principally worked from Rome where the relic was kept and shown; but painted images of the Vera Icon were also produced elsewhere to meet the demands of devotees who did not have the means or desire to undertake a long journey to the Eternal City. Here, I will identify some Roman souvenirs based on their formal and stylistic similarities and their dispersion. This identification allows for an analysis of the materials that these Veronica painters used, namely parchment and leather, as well as their iconography. The Roman souvenirs in manuscripts, sometimes alongside Veronicas produced elsewhere, also raise questions on the relevance of a Roman provenance for those who inserted them into prayer books. Philip the Good added several images of the Veronica to a book of hours and prayer book called the Grandes Heures which he is known to have used on a regular basis. Not only did he use the Roman Veronicas and locally produced Veronicas interchangeably and alongside each other, he also ordered different copies of the Roman Veronica and he seems to have downturned the link with Rome with every copy. For the Duke, the Veronica modelled after a souvenir from Rome that had been in his family for decades did not only provide a devotional link with Rome, across geographic boundaries, but was first and foremost an image that tied him firmly to the religious activities of forefathers in power, across the dynasty.