Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the origins of the character Veronica–an apocryphal figure in medieval hagiography–as well as the veronica, also called the Vultus Christi or Volto Santo, which was a swathe of cloth that allegedly bore a miraculous imprint of Christ's features. It examines both the legends about the woman and the history of the relic as factors in the Franciscans' choice to insert the character of Veronica into the Via Crucis as the Sixth Station by the turn of the fifteenth century. Works of art featuring Veronica prominently presenting Christ's countenance on the sudarium functioned largely to induce responses of affective piety among pilgrims, reactions that were intensified when placed in tandem with scenes from Christ's Passion.