The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (1603) by CARAVAGGIO
The Shroud of Turin is stained with the blood of a torture victim, scientists have claimed.
Analysis of the linen cloth, purportedly used to bury Jesus after his crucifixion, contains « nanoparticles » of blood which are not typical of that of a healthy person, according to researchers.
Institute of Crystallography researcher Elvio Carlino, one of the authors of the report, said the particles are conducive with someone having been through « great suffering ».
« Our results point out that at the nanoscale a scenario of violence is recorded in the funeral fabric, » authors wrote in the scientific article, published in PLOS One.
« The consistent bound of ferritin iron to creatinine occurs in human organism in case of a severe polytrauma. »
Researchers believe the particles show a « peculiar structure, size and distribution », which corroborates the theory that it was used as a burial cloth.
They also believe it contradicts previous theories that the shroud was made in medieval times.
Professor Giulio Fanti, one of the author’s of the research, said: « The presence of these biological nanoparticles found during our experiments point to a violent death for the man wrapped in the Turin Shroud. »
The cloth’s authenticity is highly contentious and divides religious opinion.
Some Christians believe the fabric – which is kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin – is the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazereth, dating back over 2,000 years.
But previous scientific studies have suggested the cloth, which appears to be imprinted with the face of a man, may in fact be from the 13th or 14th century – centuries after Jesus is believed to have died.
One study found the cloth had been manufactured in India.
The research was published in US scientific journal PlosOne and is titled: « New Biological Evidence from Atomic Resolution Studies on the Turin Shroud. »
Lucy Pasha-Robinson
The Independent
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Shroud of Turin on display for first time since 2002 restoration (April 22, 2010)
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Caesars Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to invent Jesus (2012) by FRITZ HEEDE & NIJOLE SPARKIS (February 13, 2015)