Editing Icon (section)

=={{transliteration|grc|Acheiropoieta}}==
{{main|Acheiropoieta}}
The tradition of {{transliteration|grc|acheiropoieta}} ({{lang|grc|ἀχειροποίητα}}, literally 'not-made-by-hand') accrued to icons that are alleged to have come into existence miraculously, not by a human painter. Such images functioned as powerful [[relic]]s as well as icons, and their images were naturally seen as authoritative as to the true appearance of the subject: naturally and especially because of the reluctance to accept mere human productions as embodying anything of the divine, a commonplace of Christian deprecation of man-made "[[Cult image|idol]]s". Like icons believed to be painted directly from the live subject, they therefore acted as important references for other images in the tradition. Beside the developed legend of the ''mandylion'' or [[Image of Edessa]] was the tale of the [[Veil of Veronica]], whose very name signifies "true icon" or "true image", the fear of a "false image" remaining strong.