‘Medieval Forgery’: The Shroud of Turin Fails to Convince Scientists of Its Authenticity

The latest high-tech forensic study of blood on the Shroud of Turin, which Christians believe to be the burial cloth of Jesus, has shown that it is very likely a medieval forgery.

The results of the investigation using state-of-the-art bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) technologies, in which scientists used a volunteer and a mannequin, were published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

The Roman Catholic Church has not yet taken a definitive stance on the authenticity of the cloth that bears the image, reversed like a photographic negative, of a man whose injuries suggest crucifixion. It depicts the front and back of a bearded man, with crossed arms on his chest. It has stains resembling blood traces on the wrists, feet, and hips. The cloth is otherwise kept in a special container in the Turin Cathedral where it is rarely displayed to the public.

Skeptics have declared the cloth a masterful medieval forgery, and carbon tests from 1988 determined that it dates from between 1260 and 1390, but their accuracy has been questioned due to numerous restoration attempts.

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Using specific instruments, the study showed that the direction and behavior of the flowing blood were inconsistent with the evidence, high-resolution photographs of the cloth.

“When the volunteer was in different poses, the direction of blood flow on the body never matched the cloth,” the study emphasized.

“Assuming that the red stains on the Shroud of Turin are blood from crucifixion injuries, the results of the experiments demonstrated that the different directions of blood flow from various parts of the body are not consistent with each other,” the conclusion of the study states.

The history of the Shroud of Turin is long and controversial. It first appeared in the Middle East and France, and was later brought to Turin by the Savoy dynasty in 1578. In 1983, former King Umberto II bequeathed the cloth to Pope John Paul.

The cloth was nearly destroyed when a fire engulfed the Guarini Chapel of the Turin Cathedral where it was kept in 1997. One firefighter risked his life to save it.