Shroud Of Turin Research Articles

Why the Shroud of Turin is not a Medieval Work?

The Shroud of Turin is an old linen fabric imprinted with the image of a tortured man who lies prone with his hands crossed before him. Since for many it is related to Jesus of Nazareth, this cloth is among the most studied, controversial and enigmatic of all archaeological and religious objects. Since its radiocarbon dating at the end of the eighties of the last century, it is considered by many to be an object made in the Middle Ages. The controversy is due to the fact that there are other scientific and artistic evidences that place this object outside the medieval sphere. An argument map is a critical thinking way of representing the relationships between evidences and arguments, and is used here to represent the sequences of argumentation that defend that the Shroud of Turin is not a medieval object.

New Insights on the Turin Shroud’s Body Image: Face Image at Different Wavelengths and its Double Superficiality

Various images of the face of the Turin Shroud Man, acquired at different wavelengths, from the near infrared region to the ultraviolet, have been studied and compared. A correlation as a function of the wavelength, between the penetration depth in the fabric of the incident light and the anatomic details visible on the images, is discussed based on the physical properties of linen threads and light. In addition, the backside of the Turin Shroud, in correspondence of the region of the face, has been examined, evidencing the possible presence of a second superficial image impressed on the backside. Notwithstanding the high level of scientific knowledge today reached, there is no known physical/chemical process which allows to explain all the properties of the Turin Shroud’s body image. According to our scientific knowledge, the corpse of a dead man cannot produce an energy capable to imprint on a linen cloth an image with all the microscopical and macroscopical properties discovered by analyzing the body image of the Turin Shroud, which has not yet been reproduced in any laboratory in the world. According to faith the corpse of a living Man can do it, during the resurrection, assuming a different state of matter. With this respect, the Turin Shroud can be considered as a two-thousand-old relic witnessing to the humanity, just in the age of science, the reasonableness of the faith in the resurrection.

The Last Hour of Jesus Christ: A Case Study from Recent New Insights on the Turin Shroud

The Last Hour of Jesus Christ: A Case Study from Recent New Insights on the Turin Shroud

Unveiling deception: An approach of the Shroud of Turin's anatomical anomalies and artistic liberties

AbstractThe authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, also known as the ‘Síndone’ or ‘Holy Shroud’, faces significant doubt based on scientific evidence. Carbon‐14 testing conducted decades ago placed its origin in the Middle Ages, raising questions about its connection to Jesus Christ. This article highlights an anatomical anomaly: the hand placement covering the genitals appears inconsistent with human proportions, suggesting a possible artistic intervention.

Arguing across spaces in an online epistemic community

Abstract Wikipedia is the most consulted source of information on the web, on a global level. The collective writing of articles, open to the participation of all, can give rise to major conflicts between contributors, in texts and debates, given the high stakes involved in achieving agreement on a public presentation of controversial topics. We present analyses of how disagreements are managed across socio-technical and dialogical spaces in French Wikipedia, with respect to two case studies, on Freud and the Turin Shroud. We adopt a mixed methods approach, combining results of analyses of interviews with moderators in these articles and argumentative discussions underlying them, within a broadly pragma-dialectical framework. We show, on one hand, that moderators’ attempts to resolve disagreements by requiring participants to cite sources simply displace conflicts to the nature of those sources, their validity, their authors and the good faith of their proponents. Debates concerning sources themselves draw on social actors’ perspectives in dialogical spaces, beyond the discussion itself. Disagreements are managed rather than resolved dialectically by displacing them to alternative socio-technical spaces, such as different sections of the text itself, or participants’ personal pages.

An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy by Andrew R. Casper (review)

An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy by Andrew R. Casper (review)

Further experiments and remarks regarding the possible formation of blood stains on the Turin Shroud: stains attributed to the nailing of the hands

The formation of red discolorations (‘blood stains’) on the Turin Shroud (TS), a Christian relic believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth, is controversially discussed. We performed experiments to identify possible explanations for the formation of the stains on the hands and forearms of the Turin Shroud Man (TSM). In preliminary non-standardised experiments, after applying blood to the dorsal and palmar side of the probands’ wrists, they moved their arms around at their own discretion to provoke blood flows as similar as possible to those on the TS. A blood stain pattern similar to that on the left wrist could be provoked by slowly turning the wrist to the ulnar side. In contrast, a branched pattern of multiple streaks, as depicted on the forearms, was difficult to reproduce. In a standardised test setup, the probands moved their dry, dirtied, or oiled arms jerkily in a predetermined sequence of movements. More body hair only slightly facilitated the formation of a branched pattern. On oiled skin, however, the formation of branches was significantly facilitated. This may support the hypothesis that the blood stains on the forearms were formed by moving the body between the unnailing and the burial. The formation of a branched pattern seems feasible if the arms were moved jerkily and were possibly exposed to water and oils postmortem (e.g. transporting the washed and oiled body). Nevertheless, the well-defined blood stains with multiple branchings are difficult to explain. Additionally, the blood stains on the forearms may have originated from deep scourging wounds, where dried blood was again mobilised by water (and oil). We are aware that no reliable conclusions about the formation of the ‘blood stains’ on the TS can be drawn from our findings. However, they may contribute to the discussion on this topic.

Letter to the Editor: “The Shroud of Turin: A Response to Ian Wilson”

Letter to the Editor: “The Shroud of Turin: A Response to Ian Wilson”

A Simple, Natural Mechanism for the Transfer of Dry Bloodstains onto the Shroud of Turin

A Simple, Natural Mechanism for the Transfer of Dry Bloodstains onto the Shroud of Turin

Imperishable blood stains splattered for Humanity: Reappraising the Shroud of Turin.

Imperishable blood stains splattered for Humanity: Reappraising the Shroud of Turin.

Evaluation of the potential role of skin contact and transfer in the Maillard hypothesis of image formation on the Shroud of Turin

The mechanism for creation of the faint ventral and dorsal images of a man on the Shroud of Turin is unknown. It has been suggested that image formation involves oxidation and dehydration of the cellulose present in the linen, or, alternatively, that a superficial residue on the surface of the cloth is responsible for creating colored products through the Maillard reaction. One of the major criticisms of the latter hypothesis is that gaseous diffusion is not sufficient to result in the detailed bodily structures present on the cloth. Recently, it was proposed that additional substrates might also participate in the Maillard reaction, specifically proteins and amino acids present in skin, helping to increase the detail of any image produced. Understanding more fully the properties of the Shroud image is important for the preservation of this cloth for future generations. In the current report the potential contribution of skin proteins and amino acids in the Maillard hypothesis of image formation was evaluated. Using a variety of systems, these data show that detailed imaging of skin imprints may be obtained through contact transfer and interaction with reducing sugars. These results importantly extend the scope of this hypothesis and provide additional, relevant information concerning possible mechanisms for the formation of the Shroud of Turin image.

An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy , by Casper, Andrew R.

An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy , by Casper, Andrew R.

Original Copies: the Newest Reproductions of the Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is one of Christianity’s most famous, and controversial, sacred artifacts. A large part of its fame is due to the manufacture of reproductions which for five centuries have provided the means to worship the Shroud in absentia. The newest of these, from a project titled Lino Val Gandino, interweave the legacies of centuries of copying up through and including modern digital renderings, multimedia broadcasts, and mass-produced pilgrimage souvenirs that today sustain devotion to the original Shroud. But they stand apart by the unprecedented attention to recreating the original through novel forms of production to achieve enhanced material and mimetic exactness. This paper argues that the Lino Val Gandino reproductions of the Shroud of Turin become “original copies” that make claims to their own authenticity and originality. In so doing, these copies constitute mediative and material means of religious devotion not recognized in the types of artistic images and popular objects hitherto studied by scholars in art history and religious studies.

An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy. By Andrew R. Casper. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2021. 216 pp. $49.95 hardcover.

An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy. By Andrew R. Casper. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2021. 216 pp. $49.95 hardcover.

Some experiments and remarks regarding the possible formation of blood stains on the Turin Shroud: stains attributed to the crown of thorns, the lance wound and the belt of blood.

The Turin Shroud (TS) is a Christian relic interpreted to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. It exhibits red discolorations that have been interpreted as blood stains and that are the subjects of a highly controversial discussion. We conducted experiments to identify theoretically possible explanations for the stains attributed to the crown of thorns, the lance wound and the belt of blood.In the experiments with a focus on the stains attributed to the crown of thorns, a very similar stain pattern as on the TS could be provoked by simulating the following sequence of events: blood from antemortem scalp wounds is covering hair and face; blood is coagulating and/or drying; blood components are mobilised by postmortem washing and oiling.A stain pattern very similar to the belt of blood on the TS was successfully provoked by simulating the following sequence of events: The body is lying in a supine position, blood or bloodied water flowing from a wound at the right lateral chest wall; the body is rotated to the left side; the Shroud is tucked under the back; the body is rotated back to a supine position and laid onto the Shroud. The so-called serum ring surrounding the stain attributed to the lance wound could be reproduced by sequential application of serum and whole blood samples or of pleural effusion and whole blood samples onto cotton cloth.It is obvious that any attempt to interpret the assumed blood stain pattern on the TS has serious limitations. Nevertheless, it seems remarkable that we were able to reproduce findings that appear to be very similar to stains on the TS.

Analysis of Photoelectric Colorimetry and Fluorimetry of the Turin Shroud

We analyze spectrophotometric data collected directly on the Turin Shroud in 1978. Using standard methodologies, we transform 19 visual reflectance and 16 UV-fluorescent emission spectra to CIE xyY color space coordinates. We then compare these results to those of an Italian team of investigators. Comparing x-y chromaticities, the reflectivities from clear areas (background), image, and blood-stain locations agree with corresponding data collected independently by the Italian team. In both sets of data, the clusters from image and background areas overlap strongly and are clearly separated from the blood-stain points. Data from lightly scorched areas fall within the clusters from background and image locations. Data from deeper scorches diverge significantly, as do all scorch data from the Italian team. We generate similar colorimetric data from the spectral UV-fluorescence measurements made by the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP). Plotted as x-y chromaticities, the clear areas group together as a cluster as do the blood data but the two clusters show a significant separation from each other. The scorch data are configured along a linear continuum advancing from the lightest clear areas to the darkest scorches. The image data bifurcate: two of the four points lie within the clear-area cluster and the two outliers fall in line with the scorch data. We offer interpretations and speculations on these findings. Quantification of the 1978 measurements establishes a procedure for future monitoring of the aging state of TS features. The measurement protocol and methodologies discussed are important for preservation of other historical art and historical relics.

Inadequacies in Serological ABO Typing of Ancient Artifacts: The Shroud of Turin as a Case Example

Serological determination of ABO blood type is extremely valuable in evaluation of fresh blood but has major drawbacks in the analysis of aged objects. The Shroud of Turin is a full-size linen cloth bearing the ventral and dorsal images of man containing wounds consistent with scourging and crucifixion. Controversy exists regarding the authenticity and age of the artifact; it has been proposed to be the two-thousand-year-old burial cloth of Jesus, or alternatively, a clever, medieval hoax. During the last public exhibition in 2015, approximately 2 million visitors came to view the cloth for just a few minutes at short distance. It is widely reported that the Shroud bloodstains are blood type AB, based on previous findings that were never published in a peer-reviewed format. Here, the shortfalls of using serological testing for ABO determination of ancient objects are discussed using the Shroud of Turin as a case example. It is determined that the AB designation for the Shroud bloodstains is inconclusive and should be considered as type unknown pending further testing.

An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy. Andrew R. Casper. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2021. xii + 204 pp. $49.95.

An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy. Andrew R. Casper. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2021. xii + 204 pp. $49.95.

Lapis Lazuli Particles on the Turin Shroud: Microscopic Optical Studies and SEM-EDX Analyses

We have studied by optical microscopy and SEM-EDX lapis lazuli particles adhering to a sample of the Turin Shroud. A total number of seventy lapis lazuli particles (and sub-particles) were found on the surface of this sample, and were characterized in details: they are little particles (of between 0.1 and 15 μm of maximal length), of blue colour, and with a spectrum of chemical elements identical to that of the lapis Lazuli mineral. We hypothetise that these particles are residues of painting layers of lapis lazuli that covered initially the Turin Shroud.

:An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy

:<i>An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy</i>