It may be possible that all or some of the above "legends" of Christ’s portraiture did, in some way, occur. On the other hand, it may be that no dress was ever so imprinted, King Ephrem of Edessa never existed, Luke did not paint nor Nicodemus sculpt, Veronica did not wipe Christ’s face, the Shroud of Turin is a fake—and Mary never studied in Solomon’s Temple. To question the historicity of these accounts is not to question the substance of Christianity, but it is also to miss their point. Like John the Baptist, these legends and images point to their referent, urging, "He must increase, but I must decrease." This story of these images may be myths, not in the sense of a lies, but in the sense of codes that must be decoded to get to the truth.