Turin shroud

Ancient piece of linen bearing the image of a body, claimed to be that of Jesus. Independent tests carried out in 1988 by scientists in Switzerland, the USA, and the UK showed that the cloth of the shroud dated from between 1260 and 1390. The shroud, property of the pope, is kept in Turin Cathedral, Italy. A more detailed 20-year study published in 1997 revealed that the shroud was made, around 1325, by daubing a man in red ochre paint and then wrapping him tightly in the linen sheet. Vermillion paint was then splashed on the head and wrists to suggest blood stains. Why it was made, and by whom, remains a mystery.