St. Veronica, or Berenice, was probably purely fictitious. According
to legend, she was a pious woman of Jerusalem who moved to offer Christ
her handkerchief as he bore his cross to Calvary, so that he could wipe
his forehead. After using it, Jesus handed the handkerchief back to her,
an image of his face miraculously impressed upon it.
The name Veronica is a latinisation of the Macedonian name Berenice,
meaning ‘bearer of victory’. Folk etymology has ascribed the name to the
words ‘vera’ (Latin for ‘true’) and ‘icon’ (Greek for ‘image’), referring
to the image of Christ imprinted on the cloth.
See: Robert Campin St.
Veronica.
Hans Memling St.
Veronica.
Rogier van der Weyden Crucifixion
Triptych. St. Veronica.