Vera Icon / Self-portrait 10
- 2010
- 18 carat gold, linen
- Ø 9 cm / H 4 cm
Vera icon, true image
According to an apocryphal text, on his journey to Golgotha, Christ was presented with a veil (sudarium) by Saint Veronica. With this sweat cloth, he wiped the sweat from his head. Miraculously, there remained an imprint of his face on the fabric. This ‘true image’ or ‘vera-icon’ formed a magical portrait, a portrait that was not created by a human hand.
The Vera Icon by Albrecht Dürer
The artist Albrecht Dürer used this fact in Nuremberg in 1500 for his self-portrait Vera Icon, on which he depicted himself frontally. His Vera Icon showed not the face of Christ, but his own face, ‘alter Christ’ (another Christ). On the side of his face, he painted the Latin text ‘propriis coloribus’, with ‘eternal colors’, meaning in this case the painter’s own colors. Albrecht Dürer’s self-portrait was an act of great artistic pride of a confident artist.
Self-portrait of Albrecht Dürer
My work Vera Icon / Self-portrait 10, is both a reference to Saint Veronica’s veil and Albrecht Dürer’s self-portrait. Vera Icon / Self-portrait 10 is a fragmented print my face, cast in the form of a round medal. The medal resembles a 3D image en profil on a coin, with a nose and closed eye on the front, teeth on the rim and an ear on the back.
Authenticity, meaning and material value
Through the title, the form I chose and the use of gold, I raise questions about the authenticity of the image, the significance of the imprint and the material value of a coin. Because of this, Vera Icon / Self-portrait 10 is the work of a self-conscious artist, which will effortlessly transcend the intrinsic value of the metal.
According to an apocryphal text, on his journey to Golgotha, Christ was presented with a veil (sudarium) by Saint Veronica. With this sweat cloth, he wiped the sweat from his head. Miraculously, there remained an imprint of his face on the fabric. This ‘true image’ or ‘vera-icon’ formed a magical portrait, a portrait that was not created by a human hand.
The Vera Icon by Albrecht Dürer
The artist Albrecht Dürer used this fact in Nuremberg in 1500 for his self-portrait Vera Icon, on which he depicted himself frontally. His Vera Icon showed not the face of Christ, but his own face, ‘alter Christ’ (another Christ). On the side of his face, he painted the Latin text ‘propriis coloribus’, with ‘eternal colors’, meaning in this case the painter’s own colors. Albrecht Dürer’s self-portrait was an act of great artistic pride of a confident artist.
Self-portrait of Albrecht Dürer
My work Vera Icon / Self-portrait 10, is both a reference to Saint Veronica’s veil and Albrecht Dürer’s self-portrait. Vera Icon / Self-portrait 10 is a fragmented print my face, cast in the form of a round medal. The medal resembles a 3D image en profil on a coin, with a nose and closed eye on the front, teeth on the rim and an ear on the back.
Authenticity, meaning and material value
Through the title, the form I chose and the use of gold, I raise questions about the authenticity of the image, the significance of the imprint and the material value of a coin. Because of this, Vera Icon / Self-portrait 10 is the work of a self-conscious artist, which will effortlessly transcend the intrinsic value of the metal.
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