Vera Icon (van Eyck)

Vera Icon (or Head of Christ) is a lost oil-on panel portrait by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck, which probably formed half of a since-dismantled diptych.

[4] The lettering on the neckline of his gown reads "REX REGNUM", a phrase that appears on the garment worn by God in the Ghent Altarpiece.

It is thought that van Eyck drew from Ludolph of Saxony's 14th-century "Life of Christ", and that description of a Christ as having a "reverend countenance which they that look upon may love an fear; having the hair of the hue of an unripe hazelnut...parting at the middle of the head according to the fashion of the Nazareans...; having a full beard of the colour of his hair, not long, but a little forked at the chin.

"[5] Petrus Christus' 1444-45 Head of Christ, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, derives from van Eyck's panel, but is less traditional and more emotive; evidenced by the crown of thorns, and drips of blood running from the forehead to chest.

[3] The specific van Eyckian direct but plaintive expression and deep colour schemes were adopted by the Bruges Master of the Legend of St. Ursula for a number of his Veil of Veronica portraits.