Medieval Artists, Anachronisms and the Shroud of Turin

Medieval artists, Anachronisms and the Shroud of Turin Pam Moon; 18th November; 2022 Could an artist have created the Shroud of Turin in the Middle Ages? This paper suggests it would not have been possible. Given the existing technologies, they would not have had the foresight. The image right, entitled Thamar and Apprentice,1 is from the manuscript De Cleres et Nobles Femmes by Giovanni Boccaccio (1361-62). Thamar or Timarete was a Greek painter from the 5th century BC, and she is depicted in medieval garments. She is painting an icon of the Madonna and Child, even though Jesus Christ was born around four hundred centuries after Thamar’s death. Despite these anachronistic qualities, the De Cleres et Nobles Femmes is a rare example of contemporary paintings showing artists at work in the Middle Ages. In the foreground, her paintbrushes are laid out. In the background the apprentice is grinding the pigments Thamar will be using and presumably mixing them with the paint medium. As this predates the first modern oil paintings (see The Ghent Altarpiece; 1432),2 the medium would probably be egg tempera. Egg yolk is possibly seen in the circular dish on the table. In 1988, a radiocarbon dating of the Shroud gave a result of 1260-1390 AD suggesting the material is medieval. Various scholars have relied on this date, and have not chosen to question the methodology used or the sample tested. Sceptical commentators like Luigi Garlaschelli, Colin Berry, Gary Vikan and Hugh Farey argue that a medieval artist, like this woman above, created the Shroud of Turin. They have attempted to re-create the Shroud’s properties experimentally by various means. There are several problems with their hypotheses, not least the lack of pigment and artistic medium on the Shroud. This short paper explores the problems of foresight and anachronism. Napoleon Bonaparte wrote: “Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.”3 Biblical prophets were given information about future events, but in terms of innovation Napoleon was right: human beings cannot create things which anticipate inventions which have not been invented. The advent of photography revealed the Shroud of Turin is a negative image, see ventral image, right, taken by Barrie Schwortz in 1978.4 Whilst camera obscura was widely known in the Middle Ages, the oldest surviving photographic negative plate and positive image is The View from the Window at Le Gras, dating from 1826 to 1827, below.5 The medieval Shroud artist would not know what photography was, so they could not have had the foresight to include its properties in their image. ©1978 Barrie M. Schwortz Collection, STERA, Inc. 1 Secondo Pia took the first photograph of the Shroud of Turin in 1898.6 He is presented with his camera in this image. Similarly, in 1976, Dr John Jackson and Dr Eric Jumper discovered that the Shroud of Turin has three-dimensional properties (see right)7 observed in a VP8 image analyser (below).8 Our medieval artist could not have conceived of 3D imagery, so they could not have known why they had to drape their picture over a three-dimensional figure to create the three-dimensional effect. John Cook, a teacher of religious education at a Catholic secondary school in England comments that if the Shroud of Turin was created by a medieval forger they have been a Time Traveller like Dr. Who, with the Tardis.9 The artist would need to go back and forth in time to ensure their creation was future-proofed for inventions unheard of in the Middle Ages. Believers in the medieval Shroud have used various techniques to attempt to replicate it. Luigi Garlaschelli used acid and an oven (see below, compared with the black and white Shroud image);10 11 Colin Berry, a technique with flour and an oven.12 Gary Vikan used a combination of tannin (tea) and ferrous sulphate and then admits to photoshopping his image.13 Hugh Farey has experimented with many different chemicals, eliminating many possible agents in his research.14 He has not yet discovered a satisfactory one. All the above are dependent on computer technology. They are copying an existing image, not creating anything original, unlike the alleged medieval genius. Their finished results do not have the complexity, anatomical accuracy or beauty of the Shroud of Turin. 2 A prochronism is an ‘anachronism which occurs when an object or idea has not yet been invented when the situation takes place, and therefore could not have possibly existed at the time.15’ To demonstrate the prochronism surrounding the arguments for the medieval creation of the Shroud, the Thamar image is reproduced below, with the Shroud Face and various 19th and 20th century inventions inserted: Secondo Pia’s camera, a VP8 image analyser, a laptop using photoshop and an oven. A copy of Gray’s Anatomy 16 provides some medical expertise. The anachronism is obvious. Researchers in the creation of the Shroud in the Middle Ages should utilise information and technology only available in the Middle Ages. They need to dispose of photographs, 3D imagery, computers and ovens. And rid their minds of all knowledge of them. However, as it is impossible to forget what has been seen and used, this is improbable. Shroud sceptics are not imagining themselves back into the medieval mind and consequently they are expecting skills which would be inconceivable for medieval artists. 3 There is another image which may be of interest to those who study the Shroud of Turin. Within the same volume, Boccaccio also drew Eirene or Irene working with a palette of paint drawing an icon.17 The icon looks like the Face of Jesus from the Shroud. For those who believe the Shroud of Turin wrapped Jesus of Nazareth, the Bible offers an explanation why the Shroud keeps pace with every new scientific discovery. In Christian thought God is outside of time: ‘A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night’: Psalm 90:4.18 Jesus Christ is the ‘same yesterday and today and forever’: Hebrews 13: 8. He is the One “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”: Revelation 1: 8. Jesus says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End”: Revelation 22: 13. As the burial wrapping of the One who referred to himself as ‘the Beginning and the End,’ the Shroud of Turin has revealed Christ in the past, it illuminates him in the present and will continue to reveal him in future inventions of humankind. To conclude, a medieval forger cannot have anticipated the inventions and discoveries of the last two hundred years: they could not have had the foresight. They would not have made an image which is a photographic negative or one which has three-dimension properties. A medieval oven required the use of wood, peat or coal,19 not electricity or gas. The idea that a fourteen-foot fire pit could be been created, where the heat remained consistent throughout, is absurd. Apportioning to the medieval mind modern knowledge is as anachronistic as a wristwatch in the film Glory20 or a Starbucks cup in The Game of Thrones.21 To understand what a medieval artist could have created, believers in the medieval Shroud need to abandon all modern technologies. As an illustration of what is required: to reply to this short article, please write an answer on parchment with oak gall ink and a quill. It needs to be delivered on foot or on horseback. 4 References 1 See Women in the Act of Painting: Thamar and Apprentice: De Cleres et Nobles Femmes by Giovanni Boccaccio; Available online: http://womenintheactofpainting.blogspot.com/2012/11/thamar-with-apprentice.html 2 Ghent Altarpiece information; Available online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece 3 Napoleon Bonaparte quote; Available online: https://www.napoleonguide.com/maxim_people.htm 4 All Shroud images: ©1978 Barrie M. Schwortz Collection, STERA, Inc. http://www.shroud.com/ 5 The View from the Window at Le Gras; Available online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_from_the_Window_at_Le_Gras 6 Secondo Pia and camera: ©1978 Barrie M. Schwortz Collection, STERA, Inc: http://www.shroud.com/ 7 John Jackson and Eric Jumper image of the Shroud of Turin: ©1978 Barrie M. Schwortz Collection, STERA, Inc.: http://www.shroud.com/ 8 VP8 Image Analyser Image Research halo around the Head. The Halo around the head of the Man on the Shroud; Dr. Petrus Soons; Available online: https://shroud3d.com/researchon-the-3d-materials/research-halo-around-the-head/ 9 Dr Who (Jodie Whittaker) image; Available online: Radio Times: https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-jodie-whittaker-new-tardis-tour/ 10 Luigi Garlaschelli Italian scientist reproduces Shroud of Turin By Philip Pullella; Available online: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-shroudidUSTRE5943HL20091005 11 All Shroud images: ©1978 Barrie M. Schwortz Collection, STERA, Inc. http://www.shroud.com/ 12 Colin Berry; Available online: https://shroudofturinwithoutallthehype.wordpress.com/author/colinsberry/ 13 Gary Vikan: see The Holy Shroud: A Brilliant Hoax in the Time of the Black Death; Jun. 2020, Pegasus Books 14 Hugh Farey website; Available online: https://medievalshroud.com/author/hughfarey/ 15 Prochronism definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anachronism 16 Gray’s Anatomy image; Available online: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Grays-AnatomyOriginal-Illustrations-Henry-Carter/31331158722/bd?cm_mmc=ggl-_UK_Shopp_Tradestandard-_-product_id=UK9781789506549USED-_keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA99ybBhD9ARIsALvZavVIS6Au6_kxiAuRn6tcvE_xO5WbdJH RB3Xf_McAHA2Yy B 17 See Eirene De Cleres et Nobles Femmes by Giovanni Boccaccio; Available online: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Eirene_%28artist%29 18 All Biblical references NIV 19 See: Medieval smokestacks: fossil fuels in pre-industrial times; Available online: https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/09/peat-and-coal-fossil-fuels-in-pre-industrialtimes.html 20 See image; Available online: https://i.redd.it/4c58anghffz51.png 21 See: Emilia Clarke spills beans on Game of Thrones' coffee cup culprit: Hannah J. Davies; Available online: The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-andradio/2019/oct/31/emilia-clarke-spills-beans-on-game-of-thrones-coffee-cup-culprit 5