Holy Shroud

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Turin, Shroud of,  also  called  Holy  Shroud,  Italian  Santa
Sindone, a length of linen that for centuries was purported to
be the burial garment of Jesus Christ; it has  been  preserved
since  1578  in  the  royal  chapel  of  the  Cathedral of San
Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy. Measuring 14 feet 3  inches
long  and  3 feet 7 inches wide, it seems to portray two faint
brownish images, those of the  back  and  front  of  a  gaunt,
sunken-eyed, 5-foot 7-inches man -- as if a body had been laid
lengthwise along one half of the shrould while the other  half
had been doubled over the head to cover the whole front of the
body from face to  feet.  The  images  contain  markings  that
allegedly  correspond  to  the  stigmata of Jesus, including a
thorn mark on the head, lacerations (as if from  flogging)  on
the back, bruises on the shoulders, and various stains of what
is presumed to be blood.
 
The shroud first emerged historically  in  1354,  when  it  is
recorded  in the hands of a famed knight, Geoffroi de Charnay,
seigneur de Lirey. In 1389, when it went on exhibition, it was
denounced as false by the local bishop of Troyes, who declared
it "cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the  artist
who  painted  it."  The  Avignon antipope Clement VII (reigned
1378-94) sanctioned its use as an object of devotion  provided
that  it  were  exhibited  as  a  "representation" of the true
shroud. Subsequest popes, from Julius II on, however, took its
authenticity  for  granted.  In  1453,  Geoffroi  de Charnay's
granddaughter Marguerite gave the shroud to the House of Savoy
at  Chambery,  and  there  it was damaged by fire and water in
1532. It was moved to the new Savoyard  capital  of  Turin  in
1578.  Ever since, it has been publicly exhibited only rarely,
as, in recent times, on the marriage of Prince Umberto (1931),
and on the 400th anniversary of its arrival in Turin (1978).
 
Scholarly  analyses  --attempting to use scientific methods to
prove or disprove its authenticity-- have been applied to  the
shroud  since  the  late  19th  century.  It was early noticed
(1898) that the sepia-tone images on the shroud seem  to  have
the character of photographic negatives rather than positives.
Beginning in the 1970s, tests were made to  determine  whether
the  images  were  the  result  of paints (or other pigments),
scorches,  or  other  agents;  none  of   the   tests   proved
conclusive.  In  1988  the age of the cloth itself was finally
determined. Three laboratories  in  different  countries  were
provided with postage stamp-sized pieces of the shroud's linen
cloth. Having subjected these samples to carbon-14 dating, all
three  laboratories concluded that the cloth of the shroud had
been made  sometime  between  AD  1260  and  1390.  The  Roman
Catholic  church  accepted  the results and announced that the
Shroud of Turin was not authentic, but the  church  encouraged
Christians  to  continue venerating the shroud as an inspiring
pictorial image of Christ.***
 
[Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1994]

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