Explore

The history of the Shroud is murky, turning up in a church in the 1300's in Lirey, France. In May of 1898, amateur photographer Secondo Pia took the first photographs of the Shroud. In 1978 a team of scientists was assembled to study the Shroud. They made some observations including:

The image is not a stain or pigment. It is not painted on the cloth. It is not burned in a conventional manner. Instead, it is seared into the cloth with a technique that cannot be explained. Not only can it NOT be reproduced using techniques of ancient processes, but it cannot be reproduced using today's technology. The image on the Shroud can be read by 3-D imaging technology, painting cannot be read by 3-D technology. The body is accurate in size and detail of a human man. The Shroud is distorted as it would be covering a real human body. The burial cloth is consistent with Jewish burial customs. The pollen from the Shroud follows it's history, it is from Jerusalem and Turkey, both places where it has historically resided. There are traces of a flower that would have been used as burial flowers and grew locally in Jerusalem. The cloth is consistent with fabrics woven in the first century Jerusalem but not medieval Europe. It is a three in one herringbone twill. The blood was on the Shroud first, the image a occurred later.

From the testing it is determined that the Shroud measures 14' long and 3.5' wide. The man is 5'9", weighs 165 to 180 lbs., and age 30 to 45 years.

Blood type AB.

Using the laws of probability, two Professors, Tino Zeuli and Bruno Barbaris, members of the faculty with a mastery of statistics, at the University of Turin, computed and concluded in 1978 that the chances were 1 in 225 billion that someone other than Jesus laid beneath the Shroud of Turin.

When observing the Shroud you can visually see the brutally beaten, scourged man and the blood from the crown of thorns.

Many miracles have occurred from the Shroud including healing miracles. The photographer of the Shroud of Turin Research Project, Barrie Schwortz was converted due to the science.

The Holy Shroud is in the custody of the Redemptorists.

Study is constantly being done on the Shroud of Turin, and every study has convincingly approved its authenticity.

In the images presented above, the first is a photo of the burial cloth. The second is a negative/film image. When the Shroud was first photographed by Secondo Pia in 1898 during the 400th anniversary of the Turin Cathedral. The Shroud Commission of Turin, Italy, headed by Baron Manno, petitioned King Umberto I of Italy to allow the Shroud to be on public display and photographed.

Secondo Pia, a friend of Baron Mann, Italian lawyer and amateur photographer, asked to photograph the Shroud. During the event, Secondo Pia set up his equipment using two incandescent bulbs for light. In 1898, photography was in its infancy and suffered the growing pains of new technology. He utilized unsophisticated equipment because the science was still less than 100 years old. Secondo Pia used a darkroom similar to black and white darkrooms that are still in operation today. When Secondo Pia processed the black and white film in the darkroom, an enhanced image with much more contrast of the face appeared on the negative. This black and white negative showed considerabley more detail of the face than the original Shroud. In fact, it showed a face that had dimension and contrast. Secondo Pia thought he had a miraculous vision!

He did not tell anyone what he saw and thought he had mad an error in photographing the Shroud. He repeated the process and the result was the same. After the new revelation, much debate took place on whether the negatives were doctored by Secondo Pia to show more features of the face. Everyone marveled that the negative looked more like a face than the original Shroud. With this revelation, people asked if the Shroud image could be a photographic negative?

Most people viewing the Shroud today are actually looking at a black and white negative made from copying the cloth onto black and white film. When photographers copy images using film they can enhance the contrast by using a more contrasty film or agitating the developer during the processing of the film. When Secondo Pia looked at the negative he was seeing more contrast than the original cloth and because it was black and white it had more impact than the original body on the linen cloth. However, if you also notice on the black and white image the beard and hair are white in appearance just as the blood stains which are normally dark appear white. The background on the negative is dark, the opposite of the lighter colored linen cloth.

Another public exposition of the Shroud of Turin followed thirty three years later lin May 1931. A royal wedding marked the occasion of Umberto, Crown Prince of Italy, and Princess Maria Jose of Belgium. Professional Photographer, Giuseppe Enrie of Turin, and editor of the professional review "Vita Fotografica Italiana," photographed the Shroud this time. His images assisted scientific study and scrutiny all over Europe. The Roman Catholic Religious Order, The Redemptorists, also known as the "Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer" hold the copyright of Giuseppe Enrie's images. They are a worldwide religious order of the Roman Catholic Church founded by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri from Italy. The Holy Shroud Guild formed in the Bronx, New York, to answer questions about the Shroud. The Holy Shroud Guild is a ministry of the Redemptorists.

Another exposition occurred in 1933. When the Shroud came into daylight, many other photographers were able to photograph the Shroud. The obscure relic continued to become more famous and attracted many pilgrims. A well-known French surgeon, Dr. Pierre Barbet, when looking at the Shroud recognized blood stains on the cloth. The recognition of blood sparked much debate and a commission formed for more study.

In 1950 the First International Congress of Sindonological Studies organized in Rome. Science now entered the discussion to evaluate the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin as the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. Human nature is always seeking conclusive proof. The scientists studying the Shroud started a flurry of interest, and information quickly spread across the globe. The International Center of Sindonology was formed in Turin, Italy and still forms a congress to study the Shroud. During the Public Exhibition of the Shroud in 1998, the Center organized the Third International Congress of Sindonology in Turin.

Years passed since the First International Congress of Sindonoligical Studies and a team of scientists formed in the United States to assess the authenticity of the Shroud. In 1977, Eric Jumper and John Jackson-- two Air Force Officers and physicists--working in their off hours from the Air Force Weapons Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico made some astounding discoveries. They determined that the brightness of the image is mathematically related to the distance from the body to the cloth. The image is bright where it touches the cloth and less intense as the body falls away from the material: this created dimension in the image, something you cannot do in photography.

The study of the Shroud of Turin moved into the next centuries.

Shroud of Turin Research Project

A conference of scientists formed in the United States to discuss research on the Shroud of Turin. Eight of the members went to Turin, Italy to propose a scientific study using American scientists. In October of 1978, two months after the 400th anniversy of the Shroud of Turin's presence in Turin to the public, a team of 26 researchers arrived in Turin, Italy. The official title of the group was "Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP)", with John Jackson as the President and Eric Jumper as the Vice President. STURP shipped 8,000 pounds of scientific equipment to Turin, Italy to begin the project. The testing took place in the Royal Palace next to the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista.

Interestingly, four of the participants were professional photographers. From Brooks Institute of Photography were Ernest Brooks II, Mark Evans, Vernon D. Miller, and Barrie Schwortz of Barrie M. Schwortz Photography in Santa Barbara, California and Brooks Institute instructor. The investigators included specialists in nuclear technology, chemistry, archeology, image analysis, thermography, biochemistry, medical, forensics, and infrared spectroscopy. They logged five days of round-the-clock study and research, performing hundreds of tests. Many of he original team members continued their research after having access to the Shroud and published the results in many scientific journals and proceedings.

This team of scientists performed more tests than the Catholic church had ever permitted in the past. One of the greatest questions has always been if it was a forgery. In fact, the Archbishop Anastasio Ballestrero and custodian of the Shroud of Turin only approved the testing with the stipulation that if the Shroud proved to be a forgery, he would be the first to know. The scientists were skeptical, and felt that it was a forgery. The team did not conclude it a fake, and the results only deepened the mystery and created more questions. Studies, research, and testing performed by the STURP team dispelled any speculation that an artist painted the image on the linen cloth. Scientific testing and chemical analysis on the cloth proved it did not contain any pigment or stain. The conclusion of the scientists described the image more like a burn or searing of the fabric.

Having the burial cloth of Jesus gives us a solid connection with Him. The Shroud supports the Gospels in the history of the Passion of Jesus. The Shroud is a part of the Passion. When looking at the cloth, you visually see His body tortured from the crown of thorns at the head, the blood stains on the face, the entire body covered with wounds and blood. Scourge marks and crucifixion marks are very obvious.

In 1981, in its final report, STURP wrote:

"We can conclude for now that the Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified man. It is not the product of an artist. The blood stains are composed of hemoglobin, and also give a positive test for serum albumin. The image is an ongoing mystery and until further chemical studies are made, perhaps by this group of scientists, or perhaps by some scientists in the future, the problem remains unsolved."