Turin, Shroud

Turin, Shroud of

Linen fragment said to be the burial garment of Jesus. It has been preserved since 1578 in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy. Measuring 14.5 by 3.7 ft (4.42 by 1.13 m), it appears to portray images of the back and front of a gaunt, sunken-eyed man. The images contain markings that correspond to the stigmata and stains presumed to be blood. The cloth emerged historically in 1354 and went on exhibition in 1389, first as a representation of the shroud and eventually as the shroud itself. In 1988 independent tests using radiocarbon dating techniques indicated that the cloth had been made c. 1260–1390. Subsequent chemical analyses and other tests, however, suggested a much older date, possibly even the 1st century.