What are some of the main challenges of the Shroud of Turin?
Two of the main challenges regarding the Shroud of Turin focus on:
1.) How and what made the scorch marks describe the image of the man in the Shroud?
2.) How best to conserve the Shroud minimize decay of the shroud image over time.
Based on the article written by The Conservation of Cultural Heritage called The Conservation of the Shroud of Turin: Optical Studies they provide some answers. The authors look into these questions to better understand the image on the Shroud. The primary results of their study is explained as follows:
“The ancient linen cloth of the Shroud of Turin is one of the archaeological objects most studied in history, mainly because of the unexplained nature of its image. We have recently irradiated linen fabrics by excimer laser pulses obtaining a Shroud-like coloration. We have recognized photo-chemical processes that may have played a role in forming the image embedded into the Shroud. Our results suggest some actions aimed at long-term conservation of the Shroud and its image” (Lazzaro, Murra, Santoni, Nichelatti).
What does this mean?
So what does this mean? The paper discusses the challenges to studying the Shroud as an effect of a possible radiation mechanism that may have caused the linen fibers to change colors. They hypothesize that the low-temperature scorching of the linen fibers took place possibly through UV radiation. As “when illuminated with a UV lamp, irradiated linen fabrics show a partial inhibition of fluorescence, exactly like the Shroud image” (Lazzaro, Murra, Santoni, Nichelatti), which can significantly help in the research of the Shroud.
The authors describe the process of their research as such: “we also achieved a latent coloration that appears after a relatively long period (one year) or at once by accelerated aging, following laser irradiation that at first does not generate any visible image. We showed that the UV laser light produces fragility and stress of the irradiated fibers equivalent to accelerated aging of the fabric. Finally, we have shown that the coloration is not due to a thermal effect, in analogy with the features of the Shroud image” (Lazzaro, Murra, Santoni, Nichelatti).
What do you think?
Given the study done by the Speciale Conservation of Cultural Heritage, what new possibilities and findings do you think could be found? This concept is quite intriguing for the future of the Shroud of Turin and possibly discovering great secrets within the sacred artifact. However, how much history will it be able to unlock? Let’s find out.
Find out more
To read this article more in-depth go to https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236840747_The_Conservation_of_the_Shroud_of_Turin_Optical_Studies or https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Conservation-of-the-Shroud-of-Turin%3A-Optical-Murra-Santoni/dcac201786f98289bb9f4884c14a4810854ae5b5 to find out more.
Lazzaro, Paolo Di. Murra., Daniele. Nichelatti., Enrico., and Santoni, Antonino. “The Conservation of the Shroud of Turin: Optical Studies“. 2012.www.academia.edu/3478950/THE_CONSERVATION_OF_THE_SHROUD_OF_TURIN_OPTICAL_STUDIES. Accessed December 22nd, 2021.
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