09/02/2026
WHO PAINTED THE VERY FIRST ICON, AND WHEN?
According to Church Tradition, the first icon appeared during the earthly life of the Saviour. It is the image known as the "Holy Mandylion" (the Icon Not Made by Hands).
King Abgar of Edessa, suffering from leprosy, sent his archivist Hannan (Ananias) to Christ with a letter asking Him to come to Edessa and heal him. Hannan was an artist, and Abgar instructed him that if the Saviour could not come, he was to paint His image and bring it back. Hannan found Christ surrounded by a large crowd. He stood on a stone from which he could see better and tried to depict the Saviour.
Seeing that Hannan wished to make His portrait, Christ asked for water, washed His face, and wiped it with a cloth, upon which His image was miraculously imprinted. The Saviour gave this cloth to Hannan, instructing him to take it together with a letter back to the one who had sent him. In this letter, Christ declined to go to Edessa Himself, saying that He must fulfill the purpose for which He had been sent. Once His work was accomplished, He promised to send one of His disciples to Abgar.
Upon receiving the portrait, Abgar was healed of his chief affliction, though his face remained somewhat disfigured.
After Pentecost, the holy Apostle Thaddeus, one of the Seventy, went to Edessa. He completed Abgar's healing and converted him to Christianity.
Abgar attached the image to a board and placed it in a niche above the city gates, removing the idol that had stood there.
The feast day of the Icon Not Made by Hands is August 29 (16).
Photo: a hand-painted icon of Christ Not Made by Hands, created in the icon-painting studio of St Elisabeth Convent.
