Veronica' images and the office of the Holy Face in thirteenth-century England

All surviving images of the Veronica Image of Christ from thirteenth-century England are considered in regard to the involvement of the St Albans monk and chronicler Matthew Paris in disseminating this icon of the Holy Face and the accompanying prayers of the Office. This article rejects the attribution of some of the images to Matthew as well as the theory that Matthew was the propagator of the Veronica in England. It suggests instead that he may have derived his Veronica image from London's Westminster Abbey or Palace, and that St Albans Abbey was not the place where the icon first appeared in England. Analysis concludes that the English thirteenth-century form of the Veronica most likely derived from the Holy Face in the Sancta Sanctorum in the Lateran Palace rather than the Veronica image in Old St Peter's, possibly through a drawing or painting including the text of the Office of the Holy Face that was acquired by Westminster Abbey or Palace.