Swiss expert tests Turin Shroud

Christians believe that the Turin Shroud comes from Jesus (www.sindone.it) キリストの遺体を包んだとされる聖骸布

A top Swiss textiles expert has been carrying out secret tests on the Turin Shroud much to the anger of the scientific community.

The shroud is thought by many Christians to be the cloth in which Jesus’ body was wrapped after the Crucifixion.

A newspaper “Il Messagero” reported that Dr Mechthild Flury-Lemberg, who has worked at the Abegg Foundation in Riggisberg near Bern for 30 years, had begun tests on the cloth this summer.

The shroud is normally kept in Turin Cathedral.

Flury-Lemburg, an expert in ancient fabrics, has confirmed that she has received Vatican approval but declined to say what the tests entailed.

Scientists’ anger

This research is a coup for Flury-Lemburg and has provoked outrage among other shroud experts, who are angry not to have been included.

The last time the Shroud was examined by scientists was in 1988, when tests in Zurich, Oxford and Arizona revealed the shroud to be a medieval forgery dating from 1260 and 1390.

Some scientists say Flury-Lemburg’s methods may have damaged the shroud. She removed 30 patches of material, which were woven into the Shroud in the 16th century to repair it following a fire.

They are also angry that the Vatican has apparently shown favouritism to Flury-Lemburg, rather than making the Shroud available to a panel of international experts, as has been done in the past.

Controversial theory

This latest attempt to prove the Shroud’s validity follows a controversial theory by two American shroud scholars who say that the 1988 tests could have mixed first century fibres and sixteenth century material to produce a median medieval date.

A Vatican spokesman has confirmed that the tests had been carried out with the consent of the members of the Commission for Shroud preservation, a small group of Shroud conservation experts, and the Italian authorities.

The Shroud, a strip of linen measuring one metre by four metres, is imprinted with an image of a man with crucifixion marks and was first recorded in Turkey in the second century.

It is thought to have been brought to France in the 14th century, where it was repaired after fire damage in 1532.

swissinfo with agencies

shroud key facts

The Turin Shroud was first recorded in Edessa, now Urfa in modern Turkey.
It it thought to have reached France in the 14th century.
It was repaired by nuns in Chambéry after a fire in 1532.
The Shroud came to Turin in 1578 and remained there ever since.
The imprint came to light after the Shroud was photgraphed in the 19th century.
The last time the Shroud was exhibited was 1978.
Tests in 1988 showed the Shroud to be a medieval forgery.