Chiaroscuro Qualities of the Face on the Shroud of Turin
At first glance, the image seems like a work of art or a photograph; what
might be called the illusion of chiaroscuro, the use of light and shade
independent of color to give a sense of dimensionality to the picture.
Yet for others this very quality in the Shroud of Turin's images is a
powerful indication that the image is miraculous even though science cannot
support such thinking. The idea is all the more compelling because we are very
certain that the image is not a true chiaroscuro; not one that was created by
light: not by photography and not by the eye and hand of an artist.
Chiaroscuro in art is an illusion based on the play of light on an object, a
face or a landscape. It is one of many techniques
that the artist uses to give a sense of dimensionality and depth to a picture
just as perspective is a technique. But computerized image analysis of the
images on the Shroud of Turin indicates that what we perceive as the play of
light in the images is not and cannot be light. The illusion is an illusion of
an illusion. And for many people this does not make sense.
© COPYRIGHT 1978 BARRIE M. SCHWORTZ
There are several important observations about the face:
- First of all, this is
a negative of the face that is seen on the Shroud. This property was first
discovered by Secondo Pia in 1898, when he examined the negative of a photograph
of the shroud and saw the positive-looking image similar to the photograph on
the left.
- Second, the image shows a gaunt looking face with deep eyes and a very narrow
face. This is really an optical illusion caused by dark vertical and horizontal
bands. The most noticeable band is vertical and runs down from the top of the
picture to the bottom between the outer edge of the right (your right) eye and
roughly the hairline. The is a similar band on the left side of the face. And though
not as noticeable, there are dark bands that run down both sides of the nose
making the nose appear thin.
- There is a shape like an inverted bowl on the top of the head. It is almost
as wide as the head and is near white near the bottom of wide U shape. This is a
water stain.
- The 3-shape on the forehead and the white blobs in the hair are bloodstains. Blood on the shroud
has been confirmed to be real human blood. Where it exists on the Shroud, it has
soaked through the cloth.
- You can't see it in this picture but the image itself is superficial to the
top two or three fibers of the cloth. In other words nothing has soaked through.
The image is contained within a super-thin (160-600 nanometers) coating of
starch and saccharides that is thinner than most bacteria. The image is the
result of a selective darkening of this coating into a caramel-like substance.
Remembering that the image is a negative of the face as it appears
on the Shroud, the greatest darkening has taken place where the lightest tones
appear in this picture: for instance, the tip of the nose.
The hair seems to hang straight down.
But this, too, may be an illusion.
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The
scientific study of the Turin shroud is like a microcosm of the
scientific search for God: it does more to inflame any debate than
settle it.”
And yet, the shroud is a remarkable artefact, one of the few religious
relics to have a justifiably mythical status.
It is
simply not known how the ghostly image of a serene, bearded man was
made.”
Scientist-Journalist Philip Ball
Nature, January 2005
Nature, that most prestigious of scientific journals, that once had
bragging rights to claim that the Shroud was fake, responding to new,
peer-reviewed studies that discredit the carbon 14 dating and show that
the Shroud could be authentic.
WHAT WE KNOW IN 2005
- The Shroud of Turin is certainly
much older than the now discredited radiocarbon date of 1260-1390.
It is at least twice as old and it could be 2000
years old.
FACTS
- Though no one knows how
it was made, the image is a selective caramel-like darkening of an otherwise
clear coating of starch fractions and various saccharides.
FACTS
- The blood is real blood.
FACTS
- Much of what we think we see in the
image is an optical illusion.
FACTS
Shroud of Turin Facts Check:
2005 Facts |