'Jesus Was a Man of Extraordinary Beauty': Shroud of Turin
Helps Researchers Make 3-D Carbon Copy of Jesus
One of the most-well known relics in archeological history is leading researchers to believe
that they know "the precise image of what Jesus looked like on this earth".
The Shroud of Turin is a 14-foot linen cloth that is believed to have wrapped the body of
Jesus Christ after the crucifixion.
Researchers in Rome have unveiled a 3-D carbon copy of what Jesus looked like based
on the precise measurements of the cloth.
a professor of mechanical and thermal measurements at the University of Padua, said.
"For the Christian tradition the image that is seen on the Shroud is that of Jesus crucified dead",
he explained. "And now science is of this opinion too. We have studied for years using the most
sophisticated 3D technologies the image left by the body on the sheet. And the statue is the
final result."
Fanti said the statue is a three-dimensional representation of the actual size of the Man on the Shroud.
"According to our studies, Jesus was a man of extraordinary beauty. Long-limbed, but very robust,
he was nearly 5 ft. 11 in. tall, whereas the average height at the time was around 5 ft. 5 in. And he
had a regal and majestic expression," he said.
The University of Padua and Padua Hospital worked in collaboration with sculptor Sergio Rodella
to create the life-size image, according to
Il Mattino di Padova, an Italian publication.
In August, researchers from the Institute of Crystallography found chemicals in the stains on the
shroud, confirming that the stains were actual blood. Researchers also learned that the blood
belonged to someone who suffered from extreme amounts of injury and pain.
"The blood serum tells us that before dying the person was suffering," Elvio Carlino, a researcher
from the Institute of Crystallography, told CBN News. "This means that the Turin Shroud is not
fake...It is certainly the funeral fabric that wrapped a tortured man."
Fanti used to research, the cloth, and the three-dimensional projection of the figure to confirm that
the man sustained numerous wounds on his body before death.
"I counted 370 wounds from the flagellation, without taking into account the wounds on his sides,
which the Shroud doesn't show because it only enveloped the back and front of the body, Fanti
explained.
"We can, therefore, hypothesize a total of at least 600 blows," he continued. "In addition, the
three-dimensional reconstruction has made it possible to discover that at the moment of his death,
the man of the Shroud sagged down towards the right, because his right shoulder was dislocated
so seriously as to injure the nerves."
From now on, it will no longer be possible to portray it without taking this work into account,"
Fanti added.