Table of Contents
To Ama
PREFACE
Since I first began to investigate the shroud of Turin in 1973, much has happened. Over the last four decades we have seen the shroud allegedly debunked by Carbon 14 dating only to have the debunking debunked by later analysis. We have now seen new mysteries discovered on the shroud. For instance, the body images have a quality called 3-Dimensionality, found only in photographs of deep space. And now we even have a probable link between the shroud and the Knights Templar, which fills in the most important blank in the history of the shroud.
All these discoveries, and more, as well as the 2010 rare public exposition of the linen, prompted me to renew my investigation and write the book you have before you. The shroud of Turin is, to my mind, the most fascinating Christian relic in existencethe alleged burial cloth of Christ, bearing an apparently inexplicable, even supernatural, image which many believe to be that of the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion.
Many have tried to explain the shroud from a purely natural leveland some of these natural explanations can sound more outlandish than miracles. But in this book I try to give every theory its due and let you, the reader, decide how the evidence stacks up. You must be the judge. Its a wild ride, an important ride. The shroud of Turin traverses much of western history and, if authentic, could have startling implications.
I come at this subject as a reporter. Ive been one for the New York Times, the Miami Herald, and the Catholic Digest, among others. I know, from my own sifting of the evidence, what I think to be true. But this book is not an attempt to present you with my opinions as fact. It is an attempt to present a true portrait of one of the most breathtaking relics of the pastwhether one thinks that past takes us into the shop of a medieval forger or to a burial ground in the Holy Land.
In 1973, I did the leg work, traveling the world, photographing the shroud, and sitting down with and interviewing many of the experts who had devoted their professional lives to studying it and its mysteries. Since then Ive taken a different investigative approach, analyzing the material more as a scholar wouldthough I confess immediately that I am not an expert in either Carbon 14 dating, or weaving, or the burial rites of the Jews of New Testament times, or many other disciplines relevant to the ancient linen. But what I can bring to bear is a long association with the subject, a reporters nose for the facts, story-telling abilityand make no mistake, authentic or not, the shroud is a monster storyand the weight of judgment that comes from experience.
It is has been a great adventure for me to re-immerse myself in this compelling storya mystery that is arguably one of the most important that anyone can possibly want to solve. For me, given the fact that I began my book-writing career with the shroud, and am still devoting such effort to the relic, it has been a personal questa quest taking me back over 2,000 years of history, and forward into Space Age science. I hope you find this as interesting and exciting a detective story as I do.
Robert K. Wilcox
Los Angeles, California
January 25, 2010
PART I 1898 - 1902
THE PHOTOGRAPH
CHAPTER 1
A STARTLING DISCOVERY
Secondo Pia souped his negative, waiting for the large glass plate to develop. The 42-year-old Italian lawyer, small town mayor, and amateur photographer had had a rough time photographing the Holy Shroud of Turin, believed by most in his native Northern Italy to be the burial cloth of Christ. Photography was new and little understood. Some, especially in the Church, were suspicious of the process. Equipment, heavy and unwieldy, frequently broke down. Electricity for his powerful arc lights had been erratic.
But he had persisted. And now, in his eerily lit darkroom, he was about to get the surprise of his life.
It was just past midnight, May 29, the third day of the first public exposition of the Shroud since 1868as always, a rare occasion, this being the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Italian constitution. Hed been asked to make the photographs by the king himself.
He felt privileged.
The shroud he labored over was made of ivory-colored, almost yellow linen, and was disfigured in several distinct ways. Wrinkles zig-zagged the 14 -foot length and 3 -foot width of the cloth whenever it was hung for exposition. Burn marks from a fire in 1532 ran down the cloths sides. Water marks resembling rough-cut diamonds, made when the sixteenth-century fire was doused, could be seen with the naked eye.
Also appearing on the shroud were two softly diffused but distinct impressions of a body. They were difficult to see up close, but at a distance they stood out in subtle, very light brown. It was as though the cloth had been wrapped around a bodynot in mummy fashion, but lengthwisebeginning at the heels and proceeding up the back to the base of the skull, then over the head, across the face, and down to the toes.
The face was owl-like, almost grotesque. The eyes were open and staring, with what looked like pinholes for pupils. The nose was long and thina line in the center of the face. The mouth was a smudge beneath the nostrils. The hair appeared coarse and stringy, and hung almost to the neck in what appeared to be two braids. Between the hair and the sides of the face was a curious space. The feet appeared to be missing from the frontal image, and the legs were little more than lines tapering from the trunk. But the thighs, knees, and calves could be discerned, and the hands were folded over the loins in repose. The stomach, chest, and arms were easily recognizable on the frontal image, whereas the head, shoulders, and buttocks stood out on the dorsal.
The dull red stain of blood was everywhere. Large droplets from under the hairline suggested the entrance points of thorn-like instruments. Small lacerations all over the body could easily have been the result of indiscriminate and interminable flogging. Wounds from nails resulted in large seepages on the hands as well as thin trickles on the arms. The gash in the side showed the most bleeding; blood had gathered around the hole and then flowed down the sides of the body and across the small of the back.
These were the images Secondo Pia expected to see as he waited for the negative to develop. But what he saw as he held the dripping plate up to the red light was something far different. The face was alive with expression, its details almost portrait-like. The eyes were closed and tranquil as though the figure were asleep. The mouth was full, with mustache above and beard below. The nose was long and prominent, with gradations of shadow down the sides. The hair, strands of which were matted with blood, appeared soft and smooth.
