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4000 - 6000 EUR
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Holy Face [Veronica's Veil] Pen and watercolour drawing on parchment Southern Germany or Switzerland? Drawing dated 1470 [anno domini 1470] but probably the date of the copied model and not the date of execution of the drawing Monogram LD (lower right corner, unidentified) [on the back, attributed to Lluis or Ludovicus Dalmau, a pupil of Van Eyck (recent and probably erroneous inscription)] Dimensions of drawing: 54 x 54 mm; dimensions of frame: 67 x 65 mm. During the ascent to Calvary, a woman named Veronica approaches Christ to wipe with a cloth (sudarium) his face dripping with blood and sweat: the Holy Face remains miraculously imprinted on the veil, the true "Vera Icona" image of the Savior. This image became very popular in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The effigy of Christ was reputed to protect against violent death: this drawing, of small portable size, could easily be worn almost as an amulet or protective image by its owner. This is corroborated by the inscription on the back in German: "The Holy [in German "true"] Face of Our Lord Christ is at all times my comfort and hope. Amen". A very beautiful ink drawing with colour highlights, done with obvious precision and care. Note that Christ's eyes are closed here, which is not common in representations of the Holy Face (Veronica's Veil) in the 15th and 16th centuries (figurations with closed eyes are found in the 18th and 19th centuries). While it is not uncommon for a drawing to be dated - this one is dated 1470 on the banner that underlies the Veil of Veronica - it is rarer to find a monogrammed signature, in this case "DL" or "LD", inscribed in the lower right corner. This has given rise to a recent attribution to Lluis Dalmau, a Catalan painter active from 1428 to 1461 under the influence of Van Eyck with whom he trained in Flanders. This seems to us to be a risky attribution: the solution to the enigma must be found in the identification of the coat of arms found on the right of the head of Christ. There is a "monogrammist LD" associated with a later engraver linked to Fontainebleau, Leon Davent (active 1540-1556). The date of 1470 and the presence of a monogram suggest a proximity to early German or Swiss engraved production, especially that of xylographs produced in Germany quite early, as early as the 1440s (one thinks of xylographs made in southern Germany in the 1440s-1450s, see Lepape, 2013, cat. 27, 37, 59), and then after the invention of printing, which multiplied in the 1460s-1480s. It is also possible that an engraving actually dated 1470 but copied a few years later, perhaps around 1490-1500? The workmanship is reminiscent of engravings by artists such as Martin Schoengauer (he is known to have depicted the Veil of Veronica [Bartsch 66]) or Israhel Van Meckenem. This drawing can certainly be related to other examples of "indulgence" images whose inscriptions had an incantation value (see Lepape, 2013, fig. XXXV, The Holy Face of Christ, colored xylography, 1460-1470). Inscription: "Deus spes mea et auxilium meum anno domini 1470." The date is inscribed in medieval numerals, with the characteristic "4" and "7". On the back, an old inscription in German (16th or 17th century): "Das wahrhaftige Antlitz / unseres Herrn Christi / zu aller Zeit mein Trost / und Hoffnung ist, amen" [The Holy [in German "true"] Face of Our Lord Christ is at all times my comfort and hope. Amen]. Other inscription on the back, in pencil, modern: "1440 (?)-1460. Ludovicus Dolmau (or Dalmau) eleve de Van Eyck a Barcellone [sic]." See: Kuryluk, E. Veronica and her cloth: History, Symbolism and Structure of a "True" image, Oxford and Cambridge, 1991. - Brown, K.T. The Legend of Veronica in Early Modern Art, New York, 2020. - Lepape, S. The Origins of the Print in Northern Europe, 1400-1470, Paris, 2013. Also of note is a screen print, Stöger Passion Workshop, The Holy Face, 1450-1460 (Bavaria). (Lepape, fig. 59).
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