Scientist reproduces Shroud of Turin

The famous Shroud — rectangular, measuring approximately 4.4 1.1 metres — bears the image of crucified man that some believers say is the image of Christ that was recorded on the fibers of the cloth at the time of his resurrection.

But a University of Pavia professor of organic chemistry Luigi Garlaschelli claimed to have shattered the myth of the Shroud when he reproduced a replica of the linen complete with an image of a crucified man using materials that were available during the medieval age.

“We have shown that is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the Shroud,” Garlaschelli told the Reuters news agency. The chemist was scheduled to present his replica shroud and accompanying comparative photographs at a conference in Italy last week.

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

But Garlaschelli is not the first to question the authenticity of the Turin cloth. Carbon dating tests by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Tucson, Arizona in 1988 caused a sensation by dating the Shroud from between 1260 and 1390, some 1 300 years after Jesus lived.

The carbon tests led many to conclude that the Shroud was a hoax, possibly made to attract the profitable medieval pilgrimage business. However the mystery surrounding the Shroud was never cleared fully because scientists could not explain how the image of the crucified man was left on the cloth – until Garlaschellis work.

According to Reuters, 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.

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.

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church has never claimed that the Shroud which is locked away at Turin Catholic Cathedral — is authentic or that it is a matter of faith. But the church says the Turin cloth should be a powerful reminder of Christ’s passion. One of Christianity’s most disputed relics, the Shroud of Turin is rarely exhibited. It was last on display in 2000 and is due to be shown again next year.

Garlaschelli said he expected 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 told Reuters. Some hard-core believers who said restorations of the Shroud in past centuries had contaminated the results challenged the accuracy of the 1988 tests.

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. “Money has no odor,” he said. “This was done scientifically. If the Church wants to fund me in the future, here I am.”