Title: Head of Christ

Artist: Correggio

Head of ChristAbout 1525–30 Correggio (Antonio Allegri)Italian, Correggio about 1489–Correggio 1534 Oil on panel / When Christ fell on the way to his crucifixion, he was comforted by Saint Veronica, who wiped his face with her veil and then discovered his likeness miraculously imprinted on it. Correggio depicted Veronica’s veil as a white cloth that ends in fringes at the lower right. The artist’s intense focus on Christ’s idealized yet suffering face endows this object of prayer with a haunting power.