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How was the image made?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·4 answers·0·0 following
Four answers, none aheadNone is ahead yet. See what would settle it.

Where it stands

Four answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Four are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.

Why it matters

Even with a medieval date, the image is unexplained: it is a superficial change in the topmost fibrils, encodes cloth-to-body distance and lies absent under the bloodstains, and no proposed technique has reproduced all of this⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 4

None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible
Evidence: 1 for, 1 against
Disputed
Evidence: 1 for, 1 against
Disputed
Evidence: 1 for, 1 against
Disputed

History

  1. Schwalbe & Rogers: sTURP found the image colour in the fibrils themselves with no binder or brush marks.Against: The image and the stains were painted with pigments in a binder.
  2. Jackson et al. puts forward: the image formed by a chemical or physical process involving a body wrapped in the cloth.
  3. Jackson et al.: image intensity correlates with modelled cloth-body distance.For: The image formed by a chemical or physical process involving a body wrapped in the cloth.
  4. McCrone puts forward: the image and the stains were painted with pigments in a binder.
  5. McCrone: red ochre and vermilion reported on the STURP tapes.For: The image and the stains were painted with pigments in a binder.
  6. Borrini & Garlaschelli: blood-pattern analysis finds inconsistent arm positions and unrealistic back stains for a supine body.Against: The image formed by a chemical or physical process involving a body wrapped in the cloth.
  7. Moraes puts forward: the image was transferred from a low relief, by contact, rubbing or a heated or treated form.
  8. Moraes: digital draping over a low relief reproduces the image proportions; draping over a body distorts them.For: The image was transferred from a low relief, by contact, rubbing or a heated or treated form.
  9. Casabianca et al.: a commentary finds the reconstruction methodologically flawed and selective.Against: The image was transferred from a low relief, by contact, rubbing or a heated or treated form.
  10. Asked on this site
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