The Shroud of Turin is one of the most revered religious icons on the Earth. It is a 53-sq.ft rectangle of linen considered as the actual burial garment of Jesus Christ. In 1898 when an Italian amateur photographer Secondo Pia captured the startling image of a human form of a scourged, crucified man, enquiries and research on the image started and went on for seven decades. Forensic pathologists, microbiologists and botanists have analysed its bloodstains. Researchers were unable to dismiss the shroud entirely as a forgery, or prove that it is authentic. In 1983, the shroud was legally turned over to the Catholic Church.
Shroud of Turin
