TSoT: 1.1.1. Names of The Shroud of Turin

Here are my outline notes to subsection 1.1.1. Names of The

[Above: The dead body of Christ being laid on the Shroud, "The Trinity," by Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652), Reprodart.com]

Shroud of Turin, in my book outline, "The Shroud of Turin: Burial Sheet of Jesus?"

THE SHROUD OF TURIN: BURIAL SHEET OF JESUS?© Stephen E. Jones

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. What is The Shroud of Turin?

1.1.1. Names of The Shroud of Turin
Names of "The Shroud of Turin" in English include also "The Turin Shroud," "The Holy Shroud," or simply, "The Shroud" (McNair, 1978, p.21). In Italy the Shroud is commonly called "La Santa Sindone" ("The Holy Shroud") and in France "Le Saint Suaire de Turin" ("The Holy Shroud of Turin") (Wilson, 1979, p.13; Wilson, 1991, pp.161-162).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Posted 2 November 2007. Updated 16 April 2024

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"The subject of this book is a mysterious length of old cloth preserved in Turin Cathedral. It has been called various names in successive ages by different people. When I first felt its fascination more than twenty years ago, we non-Italians usually referred to it by its traditional Latin name of Sudarium Taurinensis, or sweatcloth of Turin; but other names are more popular today. In Turin and the rest of Italy it is known to millions of Catholics as `la Santa Sindone' or just `la Sindone', and to an ever-increasing number of English-speaking people throughout Christendom and beyond it is becoming known as `the Holy Shroud of Turin', `the Turin Shroud' or simply `the Shroud'. There is something apt and familiar about the simplicity of that monosyllable, and an unspoken claim lies in its juxtaposition with the definite article. Other shrouds are preserved in other places, of course, just as there were other dukes alive in the days of Wellington: but this one - paradoxically - is unique. The Shroud." (McNair, P., "The Shroud and History: Fantasy, Fake or Fact?," in Jennings, P., ed., "Face to Face with the Turin Shroud ," Mayhew-McCrimmon: Great Wakering UK, 1978, p.21. Emphasis original).

"On the face of it, the very idea that the linen cloth in which Jesus Christ was wrapped in the tomb should have survived to this day would seem incredible. It demands even more of human credulity that the cloth bears a photographic likeness which would seem to be that of Jesus as he lay in the tomb. Yet it is on the evidence for these two seemingly impossible facts that this book has been written. The cloth in question is known by the Italians as the Santa Sindone, or Holy Shroud. It reposes within Turin's Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, in the circular, black marble Royal Chapel, designed by Guarino Guarini, which was once the place of private worship for the dukes of Savoy, former rulers of Italy." (Wilson, I., "The Shroud of Turin: The Burial Cloth of Jesus?," [1978], Image Books: New York NY, Revised edition, 1979, p.13).

"However, well over half a century before this particular observation by Dubarle and his correspondent, another Frenchman had been fired by the self-same idea that something along these lines was the way to establish that the shroud really was around during the early centuries. This was Paul Vignon, who as early as 1900 had been shown the shroud photograph by Paris anatomy professor, Yves Delage. Although a biologist by training, Vignon became launched into decades of enthusiastic research into every aspect of the shroud. Late in his life, however, the topic that particularly absorbed him was the incidence in early Byzantine portraits of the Christ Enthroned/Christ Pantocrator type of curious facial markings seeming to derive from equivalent features on the shroud. To present his findings, Vignon compiled a beautifully produced book, Le Saint Suaire de Turin devant la Science, l'Archeologie, l'Histoire, l'Iconographie, la Logique (The Holy Shroud of Turin in the light of Science, Archaeology, History, Iconography and Logic). [Masson: Paris, 1939] But the potential impact of this was tragically blunted by the outbreak of the Second World War within a few weeks of its publication. (Wilson, I., "Holy Faces, Secret Places: The Quest for Jesus' True Likeness," Doubleday: London, 1991, pp.161-162).