New X-ray analysis seems to prove that the Shroud of Turin was indeed from Jesus Christ’s time – allowing artificial intelligence to recreate stunning images of what many believe could be Christ himself.
Christians have long believed that the treasured relic was the burial cloth of Jesus, showing an imprint of their Messiah’s face.
While dating analysis from the 1980s suggested it was actually a painted forgery from the 1300s, new X-ray dating evaluation suggests it was from 2,000 years ago, putting it in Christ’s time, according to a study published in the Heritage journal.
That knowledge has since allowed cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology to creating vivid, eerily lifelike renderings of the facial impression that believers are convinced was left on the cloth at the moment of Christ’s resurrection.
One image drawn from the facial imprint by AI site Midjourney was eerily similar to many classical art historical depictions of Jesus, including the shoulder-length hair and beard.
The AI image also shows the man with wounds on his bare chest, suggesting that he had just been tortured and killed, noted the Daily Express, which generated the image.
Another version generated by the Daily Mail showed a clothed figure with deep-set blue eyes and a head covering with similar long hair and trimmed facial hair.
An AI rendering of the Shroud of Turin obtained by The Post showed the man with his eyes closed and mouth slightly parted in a more contemplative pose.
Dr. Liberato de Caro, the leader of the Heritage analysis, claimed that the wide-angle X-ray analysis proved that the Shroud of Turin matched a similar fabric sample from Masada, Israel dating between 55 to 74 CE.
“The experimental results are compatible with the hypothesis that the Turin Shroud is a 2000-year-old relic,” the study said, claiming that the previous definitive analysis was flawed due to contamination.
There were also tiny particles of pollen from the Middle East lodged in the linen fibers of the shroud, which seemingly ruled out the idea that the fabric came from Europe, Dr. de Caro added.
De Caro’s team conducted their analysis using a small sample from the Shroud, which is currently housed at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.
The study’s authors were quick to note that the new conclusions only hold up if the fragile artifact was kept at average temperature and a relative humidity of 55 to 75% for the 13 centuries before it entered the historical record in 1354.
Due to the hundreds of years of back-and-forth over authenticity of the shroud the Catholic Church has no official position on its legitimacy.
Several popes, however, recognized the cloth as a miraculous relic. Pope Francis went on a pilgrimage to Turin in 2015 in order to pray before the shroud.
