The Shroud of Turin still holds an aura of mystique, though repeated scientific and historical examinations have eroded its authenticity.
Questions remain that have not been satisfactorily answered, said Walters Art Museum Director Gary Vikan. With the exception of the shroud, you can’t find in the history of crucifixion art an image where the nail was driven through the wrist. It’s always in the hand.”
Later studies on cadavers have shown a nail through the hand would not support the weight of a human body.
Scientists in 1978 determined the images on the shroud could not have been painted, but come from the actual imprint of a human body. Carbon dating showed it to come from the 12th through 14th centuries.
The shroud is one of a class of relics called acheiropoietos ? a Greek word meaning not made by human hands.
And the iconic Christian artwork began to combine iconography and relics just about the time the shroud first surfaced in Lisey, France, in 1357. Previously, “it was very difficult for Christians to deal with the image of Christ on the cross,” Vikan said.
The first images of Christ on the cross showed him with his eyes open, head erect and an almost calm expression, Vikan said, and date from the fifth century A.D.
Why fake it? Perhaps it was part of the competition for pilgrimage traffic going on in France at that time, Vikan said.
