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Introduction to the Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is believed by many to have been used to inter Jesus Christ. It is made of linen, is essentially rectangular (4.3 by 1.1 meter) and bears the front and back images of a human body. It is named Shroud of Turin since it is currently (2008) kept in Turin, that is Torino, a city in the north of Italy, not very far from France. You can see the cathedral of Turin via this webcam. The Shroud is securely stored in the cathedral, in a protective sealed reliquary, fully unrolled on a flat surface. The reliquary is filled with an inactive gaz to reduce oxidation of the linen of the Shroud. The Shroud itself is not visible to visitors although a copy can be seen near the reliquary.
The cathedral of Turin. The chapel, where the Shroud is kept, located in the back of the cathedral, was damaged by fire in 1997. We can see its reconstruction in progress.

The linen cloth is a fine rare weave: a 3-1 herringbone. Its average thicknest is less than half a millimeter, around 0.25 mm. It is shown only on rare occasions, most recently in 1998 (celebrating the 100 years anniversary of the first photography of the Shroud) and 2000 (the new millennium). It is planned to be shown again in the Spring of 2010.

History

The history of the Shroud is complex and I will only make a cursory exposition of it.

Byzantine Emperors most likely used the Shroud in many of their ceremonies and as a true representation of Christ for their icons, coins, and other artistic renditions. It was last seen in Constantinople in 1204. This was reported by Robert de Clari, a Knight of the fourth crusade. In 1204, Constantinople was sacked by the crusaders and the Shroud fell into the hands of the French, most likely Othon de la Roche. Most likely, it was transfered to Besancon, France, shortly afterward.

We have strong historical records of the existence of the Shroud around 1357 at Lirey, France, a small village about 200 km southeast of Paris.


The village of Lirey on Google map.

It was brought to Turin in 1578 by the Duke of Savoy, where it is still located today.

A lengthy introduction to the Shroud of Turin can be found at Wikipedia, Shroud of Turin. You can even study the series of editings that took place between believers and non-believers of the authenticity of the Shroud.

I invite the reader to read a short paper written by the professional photographer Aldo Guerreschi at The Turin Shroud: from the photo to the three-dimensional. In this paper, Aldo presents a personal experience of examining the Turin Shroud after the 1997 fire. I think that this personal introduction to the Shroud will give you a sense of the exceptional image inscribed on it. I quote from this paper:
While photography has the advantage of fixing an image in time and of concentrating it so that whichever angle you look at it from it remains the same, with the Shroud itself that is not the case.

Moving around that table from a certain angle I saw this image so faded as if to practically disappear, while from others it seemed as if the figure were almost outside the sheet; it was, I repeat, an incredible emotion. At that moment I knew that this image was unique.

Let me tell you more.

I asked permission to photograph some details of the face. As I said previously, I thought I knew it well.. I approached the face placing my camera at a distance of about 20 - 30 cm, aimed the camera at the face and saw ... nothing in the viewfinder; "and yet" I said " I know it by heart." I had to beg my friend to point to the position of the eye, because from a distance of 30 cm I could not see it. I could only see it as I moved away from it. So it is a barely perceptible image, one which escapes you, which leaves you perplexed.

I am convinced that if people could see it from close up they would not only feel great emotion, but would also realise the real consistency of this image, which would dispel the many doubts surrounding the authenticity of this sheet which unquestionably enshrouded a corpse, and of this there is absolutely no doubt.