THE LATEST twist in the ongoing Turin shroud saga suggests it may be “a medieval fake”. An Italian scientist claims to have reproduced the shroud which, he claims, proves definitively its linen is a medieval fake. Measuring 4.4m by 1.2m (14ft and 4ins by 3ft and 7ins), the shroud bears an image of a crucified man which some believe is Christ.
Dr Garlaschelli, professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia, said yesterday: “We have shown that it is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the shroud.” In 1988, carbon dating tests by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Tucson, Arizona, put the shroud as from between 1260 and 1390.
Scientists remain at a loss, however, to explain how the image was left. Prof Garlaschelli reproduced the full-sized shroud using materials and techniques available in the middle ages. This involved placing a linen sheet flat over a volunteer and then rubbing it with a pigment containing traces of acid. A mask was used for the face.
The pigment was artificially aged by heating the cloth in an oven and washing it, which left a fuzzy, half-tone image similar to that on the shroud. The professor said he believed the pigment on the original shroud faded naturally over the centuries. He claimed that blood stains, burn holes, scorches and water stains were added to achieve the final effect.
The Catholic Church has never claimed the shroud is authentic or that it is a matter of faith. It has said it should be a powerful reminder of Christ’s passion.
Prof Garlaschelli said yesterday 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 said. The accuracy of the 1988 tests was challenged by believers who said restorations of the shroud in past centuries had contaminated the results.
After surfacing in the Middle East and France, the shroud was brought by Italy’s former royal family, the Savoys, to their seat in Turin in 1578. In 1983 former king Umberto II bequeathed it to the late Pope John Paul.
Prof 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 odour,” he said.
"This was done scientifically. If the Church wants to fund me in the future, here I am." – (Additional reporting by Reuters)