Head of Christ

Christ looks directly out of the picture from the cloth of Saint Veronica’s veil — the veil that, according to legend, received the imprint of his face as he stumbled toward the crucifixion — the white cloth wrapping around him with his purple robe just visible beneath, a reminder of the soldiers’ mocking. Correggio created a new type of devotional image with this frontal head, and the many copies made after it attest to the success with which his soft, delicate brushwork captured the suffering of Christ. The painting is held in the J. Paul Getty Museum.