Shroud of Turin, fake?
Luigi Garlaschelli, an Italian scientist who reproduced the Shroud of Turin, said in his research results that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus Christ’s burial cloth is a medieval fake.
Is the Shroud of Turin rel or fake? Fake, said Garlaschelli – that is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the Shroud.
The shroud, measuring 14 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 7 inches bears the image, eerily reversed like a photographic negative, of a crucified man some believers say is Christ.
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.
Garlaschelli received funding for his work by an Italian association of atheists and agnostics but said it had no effect on his results.
Photo: An archive negative image of the Shroud of Turin (L) is shown next to one recreated by an Italian scientist and released in Pavia October 5, 2009.
