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National Gallery of Art

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    East building

    Must-Sees at the National Gallery

    Make the most of your visit

    Learn more

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    America’s 250th

    Celebrating American art and artists

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Support
  • Shop
  • Become a Member

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    East building

    Must-Sees at the National Gallery

    Make the most of your visit

    Learn more

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    America’s 250th

    Celebrating American art and artists

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Support
  • Shop
  • Become a Member

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    3. Charles Cressent
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    Charles Cressent

    French, 1685 - 1768

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    Artwork

    The head and pale face of a bearded man with a ring of interwoven branches of thorns over his chin-length, wavy, reddish-brown hair floats against a white cloth that has been hung over a wooden rod in this vertical painting. The cloth fills the composition. At its center, the man’s head faces us and he looks down with heavy-lidded, brown eyes. His lips are parted, and his cheeks are slightly sunken and shaded with pale lilac purple under high cheekbones. Blood drips down the man’s pallid forehead from the thorns. A brown spot high on his right cheek, on our left, might be a bruise or injury. A soft brown glow surrounds the head. The white cloth is frayed along its front edge, where it rests facing us on a wooden surface along the bottom edge of the painting. The cloth is bunched a little to each side where it drapes over the wooden rod above. The white cloth is painted with tones of pale coral pink, icy blue, silvery white, and dove gray. The background behind the cloth is black.
    Domenico Fetti, The Veil of Veronica, c. 1618/1622, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.7

    The Veil of Veronica

    The Veil of Veronica

    Domenico Fetti · c. 1618/1622 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.7

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