The acheiropoieton of Gethsemane as depicted in the manuscript Madrid, Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial, T.I.1  (ca. 1280-1284), f. 44r, https://rbme.patrimonionacional.es/s/rbme/item/11337#?c=&m=&s=&cv=95&xywh=-4400%2C-263%2C12014%2C5244 . Legends surrounding the so-called images “not made by human hands” ( acheiropoieta ) emerged around the 6th century, with the aim of popularising the miracles attributed to them, promoting their veneration, and increasing the numb

The image of Edessa in the manuscript Paris, BNF Lat. 2688 (13th c.), f. 75r, https://mandragore.bnf.fr/mirador/ark:/12148/btv1b8101682k/f61 . In the Byzantine world, the icon of Edessa was arguably the most famous image “not made by human hands” (acheiropoieton). According to legend, before his death, Christ imprinted the image of his face on a cloth, which he sent to King Abgar V of Edessa with a letter. This story is not credible, especially since, unlike other Christian

Emperor Theophilos and his court, as depicted in the manuscript Madrid, Gr. Vitr. 26-2, 12th c. (Chronicle of Skylitzes), f. 42v, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emperor_Theophilos_and_his_court,_Skylitzes_Chronicle.jpg# In the Byzantine tradition, the first Sunday of Lent is called the Sunday of Orthodoxy. It evokes a historical moment known as the Triumph of Orthodoxy, i.e., the definitive recognition of the cult of images in the Byzantine Empire. The event occurred