Report of the 1973 Turin Commission on the Shroud (1): Turin Shroud Encyclopedia

Copyright © Stephen E. Jones[1]

This is the "Report of the 1973 Turin Commission on the Shroud (1)," part #27 of my Turin Shroud Encyclopedia. See part #26 for information about this series.

[Index #1] [Previous: Report of the 1969 Commission #26] [Next: Report of the 1973 Commission (2) #28]

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REPORT OF THE EXPERTS' EXAMINATION OF THE SHROUD

Exiled ex-King Umberto II (r. 1946), the legal owner of the Shroud[GV01, 56; WI10, 55], on 18 January 1973, gave his consent to the proposed televised exhibition, and authorised the removal of minimal particles of the Shroud's material and the unstitching of at least one edge of its Holland cloth backing[JM76, 12].

So, on 22 November 1973 (Thursday), the grille of the safe on the High Altar was opened with the three keys, and the casket containing the Shroud was removed and transported into the corridor in front of the entrance to the Royal Chapel[JM76, 13]. Here, the casket was opened and the roll bearing the Shroud removed and placed on the special table covered by a white cloth[JM76, 13]. The relic was unrolled, placed in a suitably arranged frame and then transferred into the Hall in the Royal Palace, called the Hall of the Swiss, where the lights and TV cameras for the transmission had previously been set up[JM76, 13].

During 22 and 23 November in daytime, the technicians of the RAI-TV

[Right (enlarge)[IH73]: On 22 and 23 November, RAI-TV technicians film the Shroud[JM76, 14]. It is hanging vertically in a frame[WI79, 78; WI98, 302; WI10, 308], in the Royal Palace's Hall of the Swiss[WI79, 20; CN88, 32; WI98, 302.]

filmed the Shroud and prepared the transmission which then took place on the evening of 23 November at 9 pm. on TV's Channel I[JM76, 14].

Present in the hall on 22 November, before the filming of the televised exposition began[WI98, 302], was a group of thirty people expressly invited to honour the Shroud as representing the People of God[JM76, 14]. This evidently refers to Shroud writers and

[Left (enlarge): Photograph of the Shroud hanging vertically in a frame at the 1973 exposition, taken by author Robert K. Wilcox (1943-)[WR10, 128I].

The coins over the Shroudman's eyes are most evident in the 1931 negative face photograph taken by Giuseppe Enrie (1886-1961), but they are less evident in modern photographs of the same area[FM15, 311]. This might be because Enrie's photographs had a higher contrast than modern ones[FM15, 311]. And/or it might be because for the first time ever, the 1973 exposition displayed the Shroud vertically, rather than horizontally, which caused a slight vertical movement of the lengthwise threads relative to each other, which fragmented the eye images[WA08, 136-137.]]

researchers, including the USA's Fr Adam Otterbein (1916-98)[WI79, 15; CD85], Fr Peter Rinaldi (1911-93)[WI79, 15] and Robert Wilcox[WR10, 56-61], as well as Britain's Dr. David Willis (1913-76)[WI79, 15; WI98, 302], Fr. Maurus Green (1919-2001)[WI79, 15; WI98, 302] and Ian Wilson[WI98, 3-4], are allowed to view the Shroud directly during this time. Wilson recorded his eye-witness experience of seeing the Shroud for the first time:

"By lunch-time on 22 November [1973], I found myself, with some thirty others, being given a brief preliminary introduction by Turin's then archbishop, Cardinal Michele Pellegrino. The group was escorted up a grand marble staircase of Turin's Royal Palace and into a huge, frescoed hall, the Hall of the Swiss. At the far end of this the Shroud hung upright in a simple oak frame, its fourteen- foot length brilliantly illuminated by high-powered television lights. Then came the second shock. It did not look at all as I had expected. Everything that I knew of the Shroud up to this point - and I thought I knew quite a lot - had been based on black-and-white photographs that ... make it look a lot darker than it really is. To see the original's faintness and subtlety was really quite breath-taking. Framed by the burns and patches from the ... fire ... at Chambery in 1532 - there was the familiar `body image' that to me was the Shroud's central mystery. If you stood back you could make it out readily enough: a bearded face, a pronounced chest, crossed hands, legs side by side, together with, as one looked up at the back-of-the-body image, a long rope of hair, taut shoulders and buttocks, and soles of the feet. But the image colour was the subtlest yellow sepia, and as you moved in closer to anything like touching distance ... it seemed virtually to disappear like mist. Because of the lack of outline and the minimum contrast to the ivory-coloured background, it became wellnigh impossible to `see' whatever detail you were trying to look at without stepping some distance back again. To me, as a practising life-painter and an enthusiast of art history, it seemed absolutely impossible that any artist-faker could have created an image of this kind ... The succeeding day and a half during which I was allowed some eight hours of further direct examination served to reaffirm my conviction, despite all the obvious rational objections, that this cloth simply had to be genuine" (my emphasis)[WI98, 3-4].

On 23 November 1973 (Friday), not mentioned in the report, Swiss forensic science pioneer, Max Frei (1913–83), founder and Director of the Zurich Police Scientific Laboratory, and specialist in the pollen of Mediterranean plants, using strips of adhesive tape, took 12 samples of dust particles on the surface of the Shroud[PM96, 169; MG99, 34; WI98, 302; OM10, 200-201]. Previously, on 4 October, Frei had been one of three notaries appointed to the Commission to affirm the genuineness of colour photographs of the Shroud taken in 1969 by Dr Giovanni Judica Cordiglia's son, Giovanni Battista Judica Cordiglia (1939-2018)[JM76, 25; MR80, 53; AF82, 87; CD83; WI98, 98-99, 302; DA99, 7]. On that occasion, examining the Shroud under a microscope,

[Right (enlarge): Prof. Max Frei at the microscope while examining the photographs of the Shroud on October 4, 1973, with, Mgr. Pietro Caramello (1908-97), Custodian of the Shroud[MG99].]

Frei noticed that there were dust particles covering the surface of the Shroud, which he suspected contained pollen grains, and so he had asked for and was granted permission to remove some for analysis[MR80, 53; AF82, 87; DA99, 7].

That evening of 23 November, for 30 minutes from 9:15-9.45 p.m.[; CD83; WI98, 302; DT12, 112-113], a black-and-white television exposition of the Shroud was

[Left (enlarge)[IH73]: Extract of the Shroudman's face as it appeared on the TV transmitted. The 30 minutes TV exposition evidently ran in a loop, or there was a lot more to it, because this clip only ran for 40 seconds.]

transmitted on Italy's leading RAI-TV network[JM76, 14; WI79, 15; TF06, 1]. The exposition was introduced by a filmed message from Pope Paul VI (r. 1963-78)[CN88, 30; WI98, 302; TF06, 1] and concluded with a brief homily and prayer by Cardinal Michele Pellegrino, Archbishop of Turin (r. 1965-77)[JM76, 14]. Through the Eurovision network the exposition would later be seen throughout Western Europe, including Spain, France, Portugal, Belgium, and parts of South America[WI79, 15; CN88, 30; TF06, 1]! Possibly 200 million people saw the Shroud for the first time, but its scientific aspects, for example that the man's image was a photographic negative, were deliberately not mentioned to avoid controversy[WR10, 66-67]. But that meant that those viewers:

"... had sat through thirty-five minutes of pious devotion to what must have seemed to many of them, who had never heard of the Shroud, to have been nothing more than a religious cloth with a strange painting on it"[WR10, 66].

The invited Shroud writers and researchers, saw the televised exposition at the local television station but were disappointed by it[WR10, 68].

Early in the morning of Saturday 24 November, after the Shroud had been removed from the wooden frame to which it had been attached in the Hall of the Swiss, it was transported to another room, smaller and more secluded, where it was to be put at the disposal of the experts for their observations and studies[JM76, 15]. The Shroud was attached to a metal frame in a horizonrtalal position, with the sidestrip (see 24Aug15) at the top[JM76, 15].

The invited experts arrived: Prof. Cesare Codegone (1904-92), Director of the Technical Physics Institute of the Turin Polytechnic; Prof. Silvia Curto (1919-2015), Superintendent of the Museum of Egyptology, Turin; Prof. Enzo Delorenzi, Head of the Radiology Dept. of the Mauriziano Hospital, Turin; Prof. Guido Filogamo (1916-2018), Director of the Institute of Human Anatomy and Histology of the University of Turin; Prof. Eugenia Mari Rizzati and Prof. Emilio Mari, colleagues of Prof. Giorgio Frache, Director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the University of Modena. Prof. Frache took part in the examinations of 1969 but was unable to take part in the present one for health reasons and is substituted by his colleagues who were also authorised to remove eventual samples; Prof. Noemi Gabrielli (1901-79), ex-superintendent of the Piemonte Galleries; Prof. Giovanni Judica Cordiglia, Lecturer in forensic medicine; Prof. Mario Milone, Director of the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Turin[JM76, 16-17]. Compare 13Feb24 that only four members of the 1969 Commission continued as members of the 1973 Commission: Dr Judica Cordiglia; Silvio Curto; Noemi Gabrielli and Enzo Delorenzi. New members of the 1973 Commission were: Profs Rizzati, Mari, Codegone, Filogamo, Milone, and Gilbert Raes (1914-2001) of the Ghent Institute of Textile Technology[WI79, 67]. Raes is not in the list of experts above, because, as we shall see, he arrived late[JM76, 18; WI10, 70]. Nor is Max Frei on the list because, as we shall see[JM76,

[Left (enlarge)[MG99, 43]: The caption is, "The Commission of experts [a]round the Shroud ... G.B. Judica Cordiglia." The page heading is "1969 - For the first time the Shroud [is] examined by scientific experts." But the person leaning over and pointing at the Shroud appears to be Max Frei (see above, and he was not a member of the 1969 Commission. So presumably this photograph is of the 1973 commission members.]

28], he was not an expert member of the Commission, but as we saw above, his role was to be one of the three notaries to affirm the genuineness of colour photographs of the Shroud taken in 1969 by photographer G.B. Judica Cordiglia. However, Frei was presumably present because neither was the photographer, G.B. Judica Cordiglia, mentioned in the list above, and he was present (see next).

The experts examined the Shroud, some for the first time[JM76, 17]. Also present was the photographer G.B. Judica Cordiglia, who was tasked with providing negatives of colour close-ups with a chromatic scale so as to obtain the maximum fidelity of reproduction of the colours of the Shroud and of the imprints, particularly of those which are presumed to be bloodstains[JM76, 17]. He later took many photographs, including colour ultraviolet and infra-red ones[PM96, 169], but he was not a professional photographer and although he used advanced photographic equipment, his photographs were often inferior to those taken by Enrie in 1931[WI79, 66-67].

Then the experts and Count Umberto Provana di Collegno (1906-91), who was present throughout as representative of the owner, ex-king Umberto II, passed into the office next to the Chapel of the Shroud where, under the chairmanship of Mons. Jose Cottino (1913-83), they discussed the programme of work[JM76, 17-18].

A colour photograph of the Shroud taken by G.B. Judica Cordiglia in 1969, reduced to one quarter of the Shroud's 4.36 x 1.10 m. dimensions, was displayed horizontally on the

[Right (enlarge). The first colour photograph of the Shroud, taken in 1969 by G.B. Judica Cordiglia[MG99, 33]. With Cartesian coordinates A111 and A1 added. The report's description of the letter coordinates along the short sides is confusing, so I haven't included them after A.]

above frame by Prof. Codegone[JM76, 18]. Codegone had traced a 5 by 5 centimetres grid across the photograph's length and breadth and added Cartesian coordinates of letters and numbers along its sides, so it could be used as a map of the location of samples taken[JM76, 18]. The map was favourably received by all present[JM76, 18]. The map was not included in the report.

A discussion of the plan of works followed[JM76, 18]. Note was taken of the study presented by Prof. Codegone, a prominent Turin physicist, who was apponted to the commission to consider the feasibility of radiocarbon dating the Shroud[WI79, 67]. Codegone had concluded that dating the Shroud with the C-l4 method should not then proceed, but wait until further technical and scientific progress allowed reliable results to be obtained on much smaller amounts of material[JM76, 18-19].

Seventeen samples were removed from the Shroud for the experts by Sisters of the Turin Institute of the Daughters of St. Joseph, who were experts in darning and embroidery[JM76, 21]. The samples were mostly single threads, from various parts selected during the 1969 survey, to take back to their laboratories for scientific study[JM76, 21-23];BR78, 69; RC99, 74; GV01, 56]. The removal operations took place in the following order:
1. A thread was removed from the weft (widthwise), measuring 12 mm. from the point that corresponds, on the plan, with the centre of the square with coordinates 110 A.
2. Another thread 13 mm. long in the same square 110 A. This thread, as were all those following, was a warp (lengthwise) thread. These two samples were consigned to Prof. Raes.
3. A thread 28 mm. long in the same square 110 A.
4. A thread 8 mm. long from a blood stain in square 33r.
5. A thread in square 32r which broke on extraction so two fragments were obtained, one 4 mm. and the other 6.5 mm. It was observed that the reddish tint of the thread was· limited to the surface, while the inside appeared to be perfectly white[JM76, 21-22]. This "reddish tint" was not blood, because the 1973 Commission did not find any blood (see "Conclusion" of part 2). It was the Shroudman's image, which the Commission found was superficial (see "Comments" of part 2)!
6. A thread 19.5 mm. long at the centre of square 36 V.
7. Two thread fragments, both 12 mm. long in square 7 l.
8. A thread 17 mm. long in the same square 7 l.
9. Two thread fragments 7 mm. and 16 mm. long in the same square 7 l.
10. A thread 13 mm. long from another blood stain in square 5 o.
Samples 3 to 10 were consigned to Profs Mari and Rizzatti.
11. A thread, 13 mm. long, parallel to the previous one. This was consigned to Prof. Filogamo. [JM76, 23].
12. Another thread 18.5 mm. long, also from square 5 o. This sample was also consigned to Prof. Filogamo.
13. Cutting of a sample from the edge across the two squares 110 AB, of a triangular form (see below). This also was consigned to Prof. Raes. [JM76, 23].

By my count this is 16 samples, counting 5. above as 2 samples.

[Above (enlarge)[BS24]: Photo © Barrie Schwortz, 1978 (cropped), taken by him during STURP's 1978 examination of the Shroud (see "1978t"), showing the white `triangular' area from which Raes' 1973 sample was cut, at the bottom left-hand corner of the Shroud's frontal image. In 1988, the radiocarbon dating sample was cut from adjacent to this area (see 04Mar20).]

Thus ended the removals for structural, fabricatcry, haematological and ultrastructural research[JM76, 23].

The experts had completed their task and proceeded to their respective laboratories with the researches scheduled. Consequently the Shroud was replaced as referred to in another report[JM76, 24].

There followed 44 pages of reports on why the Shroud should not be radiocarbon date. So I will continue at a later date in part (2), "A definitive report on the haematological investigations carried out on material taken from the shroud," page 49.

Notes:
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to extract or quote from any part of it (but not the whole post), provided the extract or quote includes a reference citing my name, its title, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]

Bibliography
AF82. Adams, F.O., 1982, "Sindon: A Layman's Guide to the Shroud of Turin," Synergy Books: Tempe AZ.
BR78. Brent, P. & Rolfe, D., 1978, "The Silent Witness: The Mysteries of the Turin Shroud Revealed," Futura Publications: London.
BS24. Barrie Schwortz, 2024, Email to S.E.Jones, "Re: Could you please email me the link, or the photo, of the original Raes' Corner diagram?," 22 March, 2:58 am.
CD83. Crispino, D.C., 1983, "In Memoriam - Max Frei," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 6, March, 61.
CD85. Crispino, D.C., 1985, "Notes About the Authors," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 16, September, 32.
CN88. Currer-Briggs, N., 1988, "The Shroud and the Grail: A Modern Quest for the True Grail," St. Martin's Press: New York NY.
DA99. Danin, A., Whanger, A.D., Baruch, U. & Whanger, M., 1999, "Flora of the Shroud of Turin," Missouri Botanical Garden Press: St. Louis MO.
DT12. de Wesselow, T., 2012, "The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection," Viking: London.
FG09. Fanti, G., ed., 2009, "The Shroud of Turin: Perspectives on a Multifaceted Enigma," Proceedings of the 2008 Columbus Ohio International Conference, August 14-17, 2008, Progetto Libreria: Padua, Italy.
FM15. Fanti, G. & Malfi, P., 2015, "The Shroud of Turin: First Century after Christ!," Pan Stanford: Singapore.
GV01. Guerrera, V., 2001, "The Shroud of Turin: A Case for Authenticity," TAN: Rockford IL.
IH73. "Italy: Shroud of Turin shown on television (1973)," British Pathé Ltd, 2024.
JM76. Jepps, M., ed., 1976, "Report of Turin Commission on the Shroud," Turin, Italy.
MG99. Moretto, G., 1999, "The Shroud: A Guide," Neame, A., transl., Paulist Press: Mahwah NJ.
MR80. Morgan, R., 1980, "Perpetual Miracle: Secrets of the Holy Shroud of Turin by an Eye Witness," Runciman Press: Manly NSW, Australia.
OM10. Oxley, M., 2010, "The Challenge of the Shroud: History, Science and the Shroud of Turin," AuthorHouse: Milton Keynes UK.
PM96. Petrosillo, O. & Marinelli, E., 1996, "The Enigma of the Shroud: A Challenge to Science," Scerri, L.J., transl., Publishers Enterprises Group: Malta.
RC99. Ruffin, C.B., 1999, "The Shroud of Turin: The Most Up-To-Date Analysis of All the Facts Regarding the Church's Controversial Relic," Our Sunday Visitor: Huntington IN.
RTB. Reference(s) to be probvided.
WA08. Whanger, A.D. & M.W., "Revisiting the Eye Images: What are They?," in FG09, 134-139.
WI79. Wilson, I., 1979, "The Shroud of Turin: The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ?," [1978], Image Books: New York NY, Revised edition.
TF06. Tribbe, F.C., 2006, "Portrait of Jesus: The Illustrated Story of the Shroud of Turin," Paragon House Publishers: St. Paul MN, Second edition.
WI79. Wilson, I., 1979, "The Shroud of Turin: The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ?," [1978], Image Books: New York NY, Revised edition.
WI98. Wilson, I., 1998, "The Blood and the Shroud: New Evidence that the World's Most Sacred Relic is Real," Simon & Schuster: New York NY.
WI10. Wilson, I., 2010, "The Shroud: The 2000-Year-Old Mystery Solved," Bantam Press: London.
WR10. Wilcox, R.K., 2010, "The Truth About the Shroud of Turin: Solving the Mystery," [1977], Regnery: Washington DC.

Posted 11 March 2024. Updated 12 July 2024.