---
title: "Christ Acheiropoietos — The Holy Face — Icons"
description: "The face of Christ is depicted without the full figure. “Made Without Hands” refers to the Church tradition of an image of Christ produced outside the…"
url: "https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/icons/holy-face-novgorod"
language: "en"
---

Historical icon

# Christ Acheiropoietos — The Holy Face

[![Icon of the Holy Face: the face of Christ with a cross-inscribed halo on a light background.](https://spas.life/_astro/holy-face-novgorod.MMLJj2To_Z4THXu.webp)](https://spas.life/_astro/holy-face-novgorod.MMLJj2To.webp)

Christ Acheiropoietos — The Holy Face

[Open the image at full size](https://spas.life/_astro/holy-face-novgorod.MMLJj2To.webp)

Dating

Second half of the 12th century

Origin

Novgorod

Author / school

Unknown

Location

State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Iconographic type

[Saviour Not-Made-by-Hands (Mandylion) — iconographic type](https://spas.life/en/orthodoxy/icons/type-mandylion)

## About the icon

The face of Christ is depicted without the full figure. “Made Without Hands” refers to the Church tradition of an image of Christ produced outside the ordinary process of human painting.

Feasts: Translation of the Icon of Christ Not-Made-by-Hands from Edessa to Constantinople (944)

An icon is an image for prayer. The description explains theological meaning and prayer tradition; it does not promise an outcome.

**Source and image rights**

Christ Acheiropoietos, Novgorod, 12th century; public-domain faithful reproduction via Wikimedia Commons.

Public domain

[Open the source page (Wikimedia Commons)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christos_Acheiropoietos.jpg)