The capture of a unicorn, miniature in the manuscript Oxford, Bodl. 533 (13th c.), f. 3r, © Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, CC BY-NC 4.0, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/36652b63-d9b1-4480-a88b-769d558bf238/surfaces/6b403dae-4c5f-481c-9fd6-7089e4684a16 . Human imagination builds its most beautiful sandcastles on realities it cannot verify. This is the case with the legend of the unicorn, which centers on a fabulous animal everyone has imagined in their ow

R. Magritte, Le château des Pyrénées (1959), Israel Museum, Jerusalem, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rene_Magritte_-_The_Castle_of_the_Pyrenees.jpg . Throughout history, humankind has sought to understand the world and explore the Earth to its furthest boundaries. In the medieval Christian imagination, this natural curiosity was intertwined with the desire to visit, or at least identify, the Paradise, imagined as a physical space situated at the edge of the world. Cons

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Marriage Feast at Cana (1672, detail), © The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, https://barber.org.uk/bartolome-esteban-murillo-1617-1682 . The transformation of water into wine is a miracle attributed to both Christ in the Gospel of John and the god Dionysos in Greek mythology. Since the legends that credit Dionysos with the invention of wine are much older, the miracle at Cana in Galilee has oft

The acheiropoieton of Gethsemane as depicted in the manuscript Madrid, Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial, T.I.1 (ca. 1280-1284), f. 44r, https://rbme.patrimonionacional.es/s/rbme/item/11337#?c=&m=&s=&cv=95&xywh=-4400%2C-263%2C12014%2C5244 . Legends surrounding the so-called images “not made by human hands” ( acheiropoieta ) emerged around the 6th century, with the aim of popularising the miracles attributed to them, promoting their veneration, and increasing the numb

Giotto, Ascension of Saint John the Evangelist , Peruzzi Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence (14th c.), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giotto_di_Bondone_-_Scenes_from_the_Life_of_St_John_the_Evangelist_-_3._Ascension_of_the_Evangelist_-_WGA09300.jpg . After the death of the Apostle and Evangelist John (late 1st century), his tomb did not become a place venerated by Christians, and later generations forgot its exact location. The oldest biography of the apostle only mention

The image of Edessa in the manuscript Paris, BNF Lat. 2688 (13th c.), f. 75r, https://mandragore.bnf.fr/mirador/ark:/12148/btv1b8101682k/f61 . In the Byzantine world, the icon of Edessa was arguably the most famous image “not made by human hands” (acheiropoieton). According to legend, before his death, Christ imprinted the image of his face on a cloth, which he sent to King Abgar V of Edessa with a letter. This story is not credible, especially since, unlike other Christian