Scientist reproduces Shroud of Turin
An Italian scientist says he has reproduced the Shroud of Turin, a feat that he says proves definitively that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus Christ's burial cloth is a medieval fake.
The shroud, measuring 14 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 7 inches (4.4 by 1.2 metres) bears the image, eerily reversed like a photographic negative, of a crucified man some believers say is Christ.
"We have shown that is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the Shroud," Luigi Garlaschelli, who is due to illustrate the results at a conference on the para-normal this weekend in northern Italy, said today.
A professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia, Garlaschelli made available to Reuters the paper he will deliver and the accompanying comparative photographs.
The Shroud of Turin shows the back and front of a bearded man with long hair, his arms crossed on his chest, while the entire cloth is marked by what appears to be rivulets of blood from wounds in the wrists, feet and side.
Carbon dating tests by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Tucson, Arizona in 1988 caused a sensation by dating it from between 1260 and 1390. Sceptics said it was a hoax, possibly made to attract the profitable medieval pilgrimage business.
But scientists have thus far been at a loss to explain how the image was left on the cloth. Garlaschelli reproduced the full-sized shroud using materials and techniques that were available in the middle ages.
They placed a linen sheet flat over a volunteer and then rubbed it with a pigment containing traces of acid. A mask was used for the face.
PIGMENT, BLOODSTAINS AND SCORCHES
The pigment was then artificially aged by heating the cloth in an oven and washing it, a process which removed it from the surface but left a fuzzy, half-tone image similar to that on the Shroud. He believes the pigment on the original Shroud faded naturally over the centuries.
They then added blood stains, burn holes, scorches and water stains to achieve the final effect.
The Catholic Church does not claim the Shroud is authentic nor that it is a matter of faith, but says it should be a powerful reminder of Christ's passion.
One of Christianity's most disputed relics, it is locked away at Turin Cathedral in Italy and rarely exhibited. It was last on display in 2000 and is due to be shown again next year.
Garlaschelli expects people to contest his findings.
"If they don't want to believe carbon dating done by some of the world's best laboratories they certainly won't believe me," he said.
The accuracy of the 1988 tests was challenged by some hard-core believers who said restorations of the Shroud in past centuries had contaminated the results.
The history of the Shroud is long and controversial.
After surfacing in the Middle East and France, it was brought by Italy's former royal family, the Savoys, to their seat in Turin in 1578. In 1983 ex-King Umberto II bequeathed it to the late Pope John Paul.
The Shroud narrowly escaped destruction in 1997 when a fire ravaged the Guarini Chapel of the Turin cathedral where it is held. The cloth was saved by a fireman who risked his life.
Garlaschelli received funding for his work by an Italian association of atheists and agnostics but said it had no effect on his results.
Popular Stories
Man describes face-eating attack
Second strong earthquake hits Italy...
Cairo protests turn violent
Updated: Huge quake strikes off...
Disco legend Donna Summer dead from...
Sea Shepherd's Captain Watson...
North Korea's rocket crashes into...
Al-Megrahi is dead
Hollande declares victory in French...
In Discussion
Pope slams rebels over celibacy and...
Hollande declares victory in French...
Al-Megrahi is dead
North Korea's rocket crashes into...
Man describes face-eating attack
Breivik trial opens - shooter 'does...
Tensions high as the UK, Argentina...
Hollande wins first round of French...
Libya, Italy concerned about renewed...
7 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
PMuscat
Oct 6th 2009, 18:24
The shroud has always been known to be a fake both by scientists and priests. That is why there are no official claims of its authenticity. This replication might explain how a piece of linen was faked: just add blood and gore, both in common supply during the Dark Ages.
I can add two more real scientific observations to Ellul's pseudoscientific ones. One is that the recent replication will definitely show the hoax only after many years. The chemical reactions involved have to go through the same slow processes. (The recent effect on the modern shroud is how the gullible believers of the Dark Ages saw the shroud of Turin when it was stuffed down their throats.)
The other point is that the fake shroud of Turin was really brought from Palestine. The Crusaders went there and killed a local hapless man and then added acidic compounds to the wounds and thorns they had inflicted for effect. As they brought the shroud back they brought pollen on it as well as on anything that they wore at the time. Check any piece of cloth brought by the Crusaders and you'll find heaps of pollen grains from Palestinian flora.
Monica Muscat
Oct 6th 2009, 17:58
I do not believe The Shroud of Turin is a fake. The Church says it is, in keeping with the carbon dating results, which have been repealed by many scientists. I have read several books and papers about the Shroud, all are controversal. I ask myself why this Italian Asso. of atheists and agnostics spent so much money and energy to prove it a fake. Perhaps they know that the last word is not yet said and that even the Church, when the time is ripe, will review its stand. After all (Dott.) L Garlaschelli has still not answered all the questions. First and foremost how a middle-years faker came to use all the modern means he used. The Mystery lives on..........
A. Ellul
Oct 6th 2009, 11:40
@Roger Tonna: Should you have read my comment patiently and attentively, you would have realised that I wasn't commenting on the religious aspect, but mainly on the science and scientists. I have read many scientific reports on the shroud of Turin, science that I can easily understand since I am a man of science. This shroud is still shrouded in mystery, considering the many aspects of science that this piece of old linen defies. Consider one aspect, that of pollen found on the shroud, pollen that originated in Palestine and unique to this land. I suppose the alleged hoaxer living in the year 1270 must have known about pollen and its uniqueness, went to Palestine (survived the trip) and identified the endemic flora, extracted pollen from it and brushed it on the cloth. This is only one scientific aspect out of a multitude.
Roger Tonna
Oct 6th 2009, 09:13
@Ellul : Why this sensitivity to the shroud when even the church doesn't claim the shroud is authentic????
A. Ellul
Oct 5th 2009, 22:07
cont'd
6.The only way that the shroud could have been painted is for this same scientist to now invent a time machine, set it back to the year 1270, go back to that time and sell it to the authorities of that time. No man could have done in 1270 what this scientist has done today with today's knowledge . Hence the stupidity of this report.
7. It seems that some scientists have replaced the old religious hoodwinkers who sold relics to the well intentioned faithful for money. This scientists has sold his scientific soul for money .
A. Ellul
Oct 5th 2009, 22:00
1. this report fails to mention that the Carbon dating tests were debunked by other scientists, who found out that the samples taken from the shroud were contaminated with threads that were used to repair (invisible mending) sections of the cloth that were damaged. Contamination renders carbon dating useless.
2. the shroud image, when scanned by a 3-d analyser, produces a perfect 3 dimensional image of a man. Does the 'replicated image' produce this effect?
3. The shroud was analysed in a highly scientific manner by a group of agnostic American scientists, in the early 1980's. The conclusion of these forensic tests, unanimously agreed, was that if an alien had to study the shroud scientifically, taking into consideration all physical, chemical and biological findings, would write a report that would match exactly the description of the passion and death of the Christ as found in the gospels.
4.No wonder the atheists are so eager to put the shroud to ridicule.
5. More so when one comes to the conclusion that it took scientists from the 21st century to 'replicate' the shroud. BUT THERE WHERE NO SCIENTISTS 800 YEARS AGO. THIS IS ANOTHER PROOF THAT THE SHROUD IS NOT A PAINTING.
J. Pace
Oct 5th 2009, 21:00
He should have spent his time researching something useful for the community rather than proving again that the Shroud of Turin is fake. Everyone with little common sense knows that is fake! Still, if the Shroud of Turin was proved to be in the date range of when Jesus Christ lived, one has to remember that it was common practice for Romans to crucify people on a daily basis. So again it would have proven nothing. Issa ha jqum pandimonju hawn :)