Sudarium

A sudarium (Latin) was a "sweat cloth", used for wiping the face clean. Small cloths of various sorts, for which sudarium is a general term, played a role in Ancient Roman formal manners and court ceremonial, and many such uses transferred to Christian liturgical usage and art. Different Greek terms are used in the Eastern Orthodox churches, but in the Roman Catholic and other Western churches, the term sudarium has been used for several textile objects: