Mysterious Shroud of Christ: two faces-one body

The Holy Shroud of Christ is still full of mysteries and continues to mesmerize scientists nowadays.

The Shroud of Turin is a piece of cloth which is presumed to be the actual burial cloth of Jesus Christ. It depicts an amazing imprint of Christ's full body with all wound marks and body outline.

The Holy Shroud of Christ is still full of mysteries and continues to mesmerize scientists nowadays. The relic, which is also referred to as a “fifth Gospel”, has once again surprised researchers.

In the course of his scheduled examination of the Shroud, Julio Fonti, an employee at the University of Padua noticed one more face, aside from the Christ's depicted on the cloth, reports “Utro.Ru”.

Using digital imagery methods, the scientist was able to discover an additional face on the other side of the Holy Shroud. The second image was practically identical to the one on the front side,informs “Membrana.Ru”.

Strange as it may seem, but the opposite side of the Holy Shroud was examined in 2002 for the first time, after the Shroud's lining (dating back to 1534) had been removed. Computer analysis indicated that the image on the other side of the Shroud was practically identical to the one on the fron side.   
 
Despite rather blurry images, scientists could distinguish a man’s profile, his nose, eyes, hair, beard and mustache. No reflection of the man’s body has been determined, reports “Lenta.Ru”.

A report published in the Journal of Optics: A Pure and Applied Optics writes that both of the images are located on the surface of the cloth, without touching inside threads.

Scientists hypothesize that the traces on the Shroud could have been formed as a result of a corona discharge. Such discharge could form when a body lies in an ionized atmosphere in electrical field.

In 1988 Vatican approved the use of radiocarbon dating method on the Shroud. Afterward, scientists from three separate laboratories in Zurich, Oxford, and Tucson, USA determined that the cloth was a fake created by a skillful master sometime between 1260 and 1390. According to them, the image appeared simply as a result of chemical reactions.

From the religious standpoint however, the body of Christ was wrapped in the Shroud after he was taken off the cross. The relic is 4 meters long and 1 meter wide. It is considered the main proof of the Messiah's Resurrection.

The Holy Shroud of Turin represents one of the most mysterious relics of Christianity. The cloth has been in possession of Greeks, Romans, French and finally reached Italian town of Turin. Today, the relic is kept with great care in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Duomo San Giovanni) in Turin, Italy.

Based on Internet sources