New findings suggest Shroud of Turin did not hold Jesus’ body

Did the Shroud of Turin really hold Jesus Christ’s crucified body? The long-time debate is now perhaps settled with the help of 3D technology, at least according to one study, and it may not be the answer believers were seeking. 

The finding

Researchers now theorize that the Shroud of Turin was not the result of an imprint from a human body, but rather that of a “low-relief” sculpture. The finding was revealed in a study published in the journal Archaeometry. 

“The Shroud’s image is more consistent with an artistic low-relief representation than with the direct imprint of a real human body,” Brazilian 3D digital designer Cicero Moraes said in the study. Moraes details how he used modeling software to recreate the image.

The artifact is nearly 15 feet long and almost four feet wide. The cloth features what appears to be a crucified man, which believers and religious scholars claim was Christ’s wounded body after he was crucified more than 2,000 years ago. 

Methodology

Moraes’ method involved using two digital models. One was a 3D body and the other was a low-relief digital model. He used photos of the Shroud taken in 1931 as a point of reference. Moraes noted that the low-relief digital model matched the photos perfectly, while the 3D version did not even remotely match.

He found in the simulated human body that the fabric deformed around the shape, likening it to a person’s face painted on a canvas, then a cloth pressed against it. The result is an imprint that doesn’t resemble the person’s actual facial appearance in the painting. According to Moraes, that means it’s most likely a sculpture. 

“The image on the Shroud of Turin is more consistent with a low-relief matrix,” Moraes said. “Such a matrix could have been made of wood, stone or metal and pigmented— or even heated— only in the areas of contact, producing the observed pattern.”

What Moraes believes the imprint is from

He suspects the sculpture was a funeral artwork made as “a masterpiece of Christian art.” These reliefs were reportedly popular in the Middle Ages. Some skeptics have noted this theory, citing carbon dating findings that estimate the cloth’s creation between 1260 and 1390.

Contrary findings

Despite Moraes’ findings, some researchers still hold evidence that they say proves an actual body formed the Shroud of Turin and shows the face of Christ. One of those researchers is University of Padua professor Giulio Fanti, who showed the cloth had signs of Christ’s crucifixion wounds, pointing to evidence of blood stain patterns. Fanti states that “some blood stains” are consistent with crucifixion injuries sustained by Jesus.