A Facelift for Volto Santo

As a Via Francigena Pilgrim (bike pilgrimmage later this month) my Pilgrim Passport gives me free entry into St. Martin Cathedral. It was a perfect rainy day destination today. The revered Volto Santo (Holy Face) usually resides in a free standing octagonal gold-gilded Carrara marble chapel within the Cathedral. The 8 foot tall ancient wooden carving of crucified Jesus has been moved into a restoration lab erected a few feet from the chapel inside the cathedral. Medieval legend states that it was sculpted by Nicodemus shortly after Jesus’ resurrection. The carving disappeared for a few centuries then miraculously arrived to Lucca in 782 AD on a ‘ghost ship’ from Palestine. Probably just in time to attract pilgrims traveling on the Via Francigena. The extras show the lab and a tapestry of Volto Santo with the gilded chapel visible to the right behind it.