Image of Edessa
The religious concept of the miraculous "acheiropoieton" (Greek: made without hands) has a long history in Christianity, going back to at least the 6th century. Among the most prominent portable early "acheiropoieta" are the Image of Camuliana and the Mandylion or Image of Edessa, both painted icons of Christ held in the Byzantine Empire and now generally regarded as lost or destroyed, as is the Hodegetria image of the Virgin Mary. Other early images in Italy, all heavily and unfortunately restored, that have been revered as "acheiropoieta" now have relatively little following, as attention has focused on the Shroud.