Byssus is a fiber harvested from a sea urchin from which a very diaphanous cloth may be woven and which during the First Century was, by Law, reserved for Royalty. It is highly unlikely that anyone on the Via de la Rosa, least of all someone whose name is derived from the words that translate from the Latin words "vera ikon" meaning "true image," would have been royalty in possession of a Byssus veil to press to Jesus’ face. It is much more likely that a fairly wealthy woman would have pressed her fine Linen veil to Jesus’ face, a Linen cloth that much more matches the Mandyllion Veil kept at the Vatican which the Legend of the Manoppello veil claims was stolen and replaced and the original is now the Manoppello veil.
However, there are extant letters between Raphael and fellow artist Albrecht Dürer in which both discussed experimented with creating double-sided self-portraits on Byssus and sending examples to each other. The image on the Manoppello veil is the spitting image of Raphael at the age these letters were being sent. . .
Veil of Manoppello
