Rigor Mortis and News obtained by the Body’s Scientific Reconstruction of the Turin Shroud Man

Abstract

After various tentative to artistically build a tridimensional form of the Turin Shroud (TS) Man, the authors faced the problem of the scientifi c construction of a 3D model of this Man with an accuracy of the order of 1 cm.It is well known that the TS wrapped a human body heavily tortured, but it is not easy to build a 3D model starting only from the 2D information shown on two body images visible on a linen sheet and on the hypothesis that these images really corresponds to a real man wrapped in it.The study showed that, while the two TS body images (frontal and dorsal) seem to appear not coherent with the image of a human body because distorted in many parts, these two images are perfectly coherent with the distortions provoked by a man wrapped in this linen sheet.This model confi rmed the evident rigor mortis of the human body and evidenced the particular posture corresponding to the position on the cross that also showed a rotation never detected previously of the human body around his spine. The study of this 3D model partially confi rmed previous results but also evidenced interesting news, like the position of the exit hole of the nail posed on the palm of the hand.The Gospels place the Resurrection in the early hours of Sunday, at least 36 hours after death. The effect of the preservation of rigidity up to this moment may be not consistent with the thanatochronological alterations expected in a man in the same pre-mortal clinical condition, but this problem has been solved by the "mixture of aloe and myrrh" that allowed the preservation of the corpse, thus prolonging the rigor mortis for tens of hours. In fact, this body seems not to have undergone any signifi cant putrefactive phenomenon.

Why is the Turin Shroud Not Fake?

“…First, it does not appear that the Man of the Shroud had been laid prone, but supine with his cadaveric rigidity assumed on the cross [15,16]. Furthermore, it is necessary to take into account the probable presence of a chin and the fact that probably sweat, blood and possibly ointments impregnated the hair; their presence could have produced the particular image we observe on the Relic.…”

“…The Shroud is the only Relic that boasts not only dozens of publications in specialized scientific journals [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], but also hundreds of books in dozens of different languages; you cannot count the articles and notes that come out almost daily in the newspapers and on the web. It is an ancient linen cloth, 4.4m long and 1.1m wide, which enveloped the corpse of a tortured man, scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and pierced by a spear in the chest.…”

Evaluation of the potential role of skin contact and transfer in the Maillard hypothesis of image formation on the Shroud of Turin

“…In contrast, another model has the head positioned significantly forward and both knees at an enhanced incline. 7 It remains to be determined if the image results from the oxidation and dehydration of the cellulose itself, catalyzed by an undefined energy source, or alternatively, if the image resides in a superficial impurity on the surface of the fibers. Interestingly, the coloration of the image and the background portion of the cloth are not completely uniform, showing a banding effect due to different hanks of linen that were used in the weaving the cloth.…”