Photographic print on Plexiglas, 70 × 100 cm, 2024.

It is in Rome that Mercedes Klausner begins her visual research around the concept of the “Vera Icona¨ seeking to create bridges between the sacred and the secular. Within this framework, the artist focuses on a key female figure in the history of Christian iconography: Veronica, bearer of the ¨Vera Icona¨ or “true image” (the trace of Christ’s face miraculously imprinted on a veil).

The following photographic print captures the moment of encounter between the artist and a monumental representation of Veronica upon her arrival in the city of Rome. Veiled behind construction tarpaulins and lost within the scaffolding erected for the Jubilee, this sculpture—thus contextualized—becomes a central icon in the artist’s ongoing research.

Texte by Camille Velluet, curator, Format à l’italienne XV, 2025.
As part of the PRIX WICAR 2024–2025, an artistic residency in Rome awarded by the City of Lille.