The Shroud of Turin and its ancient copies

Abstract

There are copies of the Shroud of Turin, which could be described as Shroud” actually made by man's hand. We can share our experience in the analysis of some of them. By using the results from these examples and comparing them with the results of the analysis of the Shroud of Turin itself, we could assess the actual possibility that the true Shroud was made by an artist. The negativity, the absence of contour, the absence of the figure at the hidden side and the transparency of the Shroud image differ considerably from their copies. Moreover, the laboratory analyses confirmed the presence of pigments based on heavy elements. In our opinion, the original Shroud of Turin can not be the work of a painter. Key words: Turin Shroud copies, transparency, negativity, capillarity, pigments.