All the legends, the traditions, the references to the existence of such an image are important for reconstructing an itinerary of the Shroud in the dark ages prior to its appearance in Europe and to understand why there are so many references to the existence of an image of Christ on a cloth. This sacred cloth, hidden for centuries and rediscovered in the sixth century, became the inspirational model for the iconography of Christ. Numerous testimonials, both written and iconographic, confirm that in Edessa (Şanliurfa today, in south-eastern Turkey) there was an impression left by Jesus on a cloth with His sweat and His blood. After the victory of Christianity, sanctioned by Constantine in 313 with the Edict of Milan, a new image of the face of Jesus began to spread, which is characterized by not too long beard, mustache, narrow, tall and stately face, with long hair, falling on His shoulders, and sometimes with a middle line that divides them. During this period, for the representation of Christ they only used symbols or they applied to the figure of Christ appearances derived from other religions. It is reasonable to think that in the early days of the Church, the Shroud has been kept hidden for various reasons. We can identify several elements on the Shroud that are not regular, hardly attributable to the imagination of the artists, that make us understand how the ancient representations of Christ's face depend on the venerated relic. One can trace this knowledge throughout the medieval papacy with the institution of increasingly specific liturgical norms found in not only canon law, but also clearly represented in medieval artwork.Ībstract The similarity between the Shroud face and most of the depictions of Christ known in art, both Eastern and Western, is clear and cannot be attributed to pure chance it must be the result of a dependency, mediated or immediate, of an image from the other and of all from a common source. Their renewed interest and emphasis on the liturgical correctness of the altar cloth and its pure linen composition may indeed derive from knowledge of the actual burial shroud held in the Byzantine empire. Interestingly, the Church adopted a vigorous emphasis on the cloth's material composition from the fourth century through the early seventh century, a time coinciding with a succession of popes who had all previously served as apocrisiarus (papal legate) to the imperial city of Constantinople. The prescribed use in the early Church, certainly by the fourth century, indicates knowledge of a single pure linen cloth, and one of considerable length. The known history of the general use of altar cloths signals an understanding of the enshrouding of Christ that cannot be explained solely by the Gospel accounts and their differing descriptors. It is a practice that blends the consistency of history and liturgy with the Passion narrative. From the earliest Christian understanding of the altar as representing the sepulcher of Christ came the use of a pure linen cloth upon it for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
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