A Comparison between the Face of the Veil of Manoppello and the Face of the Shroud of Turin

Abstract

Recently we have studied the unusual optical properties of the Veil of Manoppello, a canvas representing the face of Jesus Christ, and restored digitally the face, by eliminating the distortions of the anatomic details due the yielding of the very fine structure of the fabric. The aim of the present paper is to compare the restored face of the Veil with that visible on the Turin Shroud. In particular, the paper focuses on assessing whether the two images can be superimposed, i.e., whether they are different images of the same face. Indeed, some scholars have suggested that the Veil of Manoppello and the Turin Shroud show different images of the same face. We demonstrate that the face of the Turin Shroud, after a logarithmic transformation of the intensity and the correction of the background noise, shows cheeks’ profiles, not visible before the digital processing, which overlap very well with those of the restored face of the Veil of Manoppello. These correlations between the two images of the face of Jesus raise the question of their historical relationship.

Yellowing of Ancient Linen and Its Effects on the Colours of the Holy Face of Manoppello

“…We showed that the face of the Turin Shroud, after a logarithmic transformation of the intensity, and a background correction of the vertical stripes, which affect the image, shows different cheeks' profiles, which well overlap with those of the restored face of the Manoppello Veil [3]. In particular, the cheeks' profiles of the two faces are similar, although the profile on the Turin Shroud appears only after the digital processing [3].…”

“…In a third paper [3] we have compared the restored face of the Manoppello Veil with the face visible on the Turin Shroud, a linen cloth indelibly impressed by the front and back images of a Furthermore, the rotational spectrum of the image has been studied after digital restoration [2]. The linear fit of the power spectrum in bi-logarithmic scale with a power law f P provided a surprising value for the slope parameter P = −3.49 ± 0.03.…”

“…For the starched linen threads, however, to the same diameter, it will correspond a higher fineness (i.e., a weight), since the empty spaces between the fibres are at least partially filled with starch. Starch and cellulose have about the same density of 1.5 g/cm 3 [15]. For this reason, the Veil of Manoppello behaves like a translucent medium when it is illuminated [1].…”

“…The Veil of Manoppello, kept in a sanctuary of the Italian town of Manoppello in Central Italy, is a rectangular canvas of 240 × 175 mm 2 , representing the face of Christ (Holy Face). Recently, we have studied its unusual optical properties [1,2] and have compared it with the Turin Shroud Face [3], to figure out something more about the origin of the Veil. Its peculiar characteristic is being semitransparent.…”

“…In a third paper [3] we have compared the restored face of the Manoppello Veil with the face visible on the Turin Shroud, a linen cloth indelibly impressed by the front and back images of a complete human body, which, according to the Catholic tradition, is the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. We showed that the face of the Turin Shroud, after a logarithmic transformation of the intensity, and a background correction of the vertical stripes, which affect the image, shows different cheeks' profiles, which well overlap with those of the restored face of the Manoppello Veil [3]. In particular, the cheeks' profiles of the two faces are similar, although the profile on the Turin Shroud appears only after the digital processing [3].…”