The answer
Church tradition traces the earliest icons back to the lifetime of Christ Himself and the period immediately after Him. As is well known, the art of portraiture of famous characters was flourishing at that time in the Roman Empire.1221 To mention an example, here is what Eusebius says in the history of the Church: “we have observed that likenesses of His Apostles, Peter and Paul, and, indeed, of Christ Himself are preserved in pictures made with colors …”1222 This phrase was preceded by a detailed description of a statue of the Savior he had seen in the city of Paneas (Caesarea Philippi) in Palestine, erected by the woman who had a flow of blood and was healed by the Savior (Matt. 9:20–23).
History is full of stories related to icons of the Savior which date back to His lifetime. We list some of them:
a. The famous Legend of Abgar, about King Abgar V Ukkāmā of Osroene, whose
capital was Edessa.1223 It was said that Abgar dispatched an embassy to Sabinus, the Roman governor of Eleutheropolis in Palestine. On their way passing through Jerusalem, the messengers learned about a new prophet who healed the sick. At once they had the idea that it might be possible for that prophet to heal their leprosy- stricken king, to whom they conveyed the good tidings. As it was not feasible for the king to visit Jerusalem, he sent a special envoy to Christ with a letter, in which he declared his faith in Him, asking Him to visit his beautiful little country and heal him if He would. One of the messengers was a painter, called Ananias. He tried to paint a portrait of Christ but failed due to the splendor of His countenance. In sympathy with him, the Lord, there upon, washed His face and miraculously stamped His features upon the linen cloth with which He wiped His face. According to Evagrius, this miraculous picture saved the city of Edessa when it was besieged by Khosrow in the year 540 A. D. It is said that later the Arabs took it when they conquered Edessa and asked for a large sum of money from the Emperor in exchange for it. A Christian Arab writer named Abu-Nasr Yehya claims that he saw the portrait with his own eyes
in St. Sophia (Hagia Sophia) in 1058 A. D., where Christ was portrayed as a handsome young man.
b. The story of St. Veronica who used her handkerchief (head cover) to wipe Christ's
face on His way to Golgotha. The Lord rewarded her for her act of love by capturing His face miraculously on the cloth.
c. St. Luke the Evangelist was a physician and a painter. He portrayed some icons of St.
Mary and the Child Jesus.
Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty
Notes
1221 See Eleazar Lipa Sukenik, Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece (British Academy, 1934): p. 27.
1222 Eusebius Pamphili, Ecclesiastical History, Volume 2: Books 6–10 7.18 (FOTC 29:119; PG 20:680.
1223 Aziz Surial Atiya, History of Eastern Christianity (University of Notre Dame Press, 1967): pp. 243–244; Eusebius Pamphili, Ecclesiastical History, Volume 1: Books 1–5 1.13 (FOTC 19:76–82); John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.16 (NPNF II/9:88b); and Evagrius, Illust. 4.37.