The Shroud Of Turin Deep Inside The Cathedral Of St....

Matthew Douthit Professor Sullivan ANTH 2302 28 April 2017 Final Paper – The Shroud of Turin Deep inside the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy rests a 14.5 x 3.7 inch long linen cloth. This shroud is stored in a custom built, temperature and humidity controlled, lighttight case made of bulletproof, laminated glass, which weighs about 2,200 pounds. On the shroud bears the faint image of a man who has been crucified. Many believe it to be the actual burial shroud Jesus of Nazareth was wrapped in when he was buried after crucifixion. This is the Turin Shroud. The image of the man on the shroud bears a striking resemblance to the historical descriptions of Jesus. Not only that, but all the wounds align precisely with the†¦show more content†¦In 1532, the shroud was greatly burned in a fire in Savory, whereafter nuns repaired the damage. In 1578, the shroud was transferred to Turin, Italy where it has remained in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist ever since. Further repairs were made to the shroud in 1694 and 1868. The whole rest of world did not lear n about the shroud until 1898 when Italian amateur photographer Secondo Pia took the first photographs of it. The image on the shroud itself is extremely faint, but Pia’s photographic negatives brought out the image in striking detail. Pia was shocked at what he had discovered. â€Å"I was looking into the face of the Lord,† he later said. And just like that, the Turin Shroud spread like wildfire across the globe. In 1977, science decided to put the shroud under the microscope. Three American scientists, John Jackson, Eric Jumper, and William Mottern along with over thirty others, formed the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP). Its goal: figure out how the was image formed. In 1978, despite the resistance of many in the Vatican, the Turin church agreed to let STURP physically examine the shroud. The church gave them only 120 hours to let them do their thing, and STURP immediately got to it. They worked literally around the clock to find out how the haunting image got on the linen cloth. â€Å"There were spectral analysis done,† Barrie Schwortz, the photojournalist who recorded the event recalls. â€Å"There were a mosaic of photographs