During Holy Week, one of the great mysteries for millions of believers is what Jesus Christ looked like physically. For centuries, scientists around the world have tried to give a “face” to one of the most important characters in the history of humanity through various representations.
Now, just in Holy Week, news sheds new light on what Jesus Christ looked like in real life. A group of experts managed to recreate the entirety of the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion, based on one of the greatest relics of Christianity: the Shroud of Turin.
For centuries, images and portraits of Jesus have been disseminated, but the exact form of his body had never been seen before. However, thanks to numerous technological advances, each of Jesus’ physical features could be determined with greater precision.
What is the Shroud of Turin?
The Shroud of Turin, also known as the Sudarium of Turin, is one of the great relics of Christianity, as it is believed to be the cloth in which Jesus Christ was wrapped when he was taken down from the cross and carried to the Holy Sepulcher.
According to the Gospels, the body of Jesus Christ was placed in the Holy Sepulcher after the crucifixion by the Romans around the year 33 AD. Days later, when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to anoint the body, it was no longer there. At that moment, two angels dressed in white and Jesus appeared to her to confirm that he had risen and that she should announce it to the Apostles. The only thing left inside the tomb, supposedly, was the Shroud of Turin.
The shroud, whose authenticity has been questioned throughout history by many experts, shows the image of a man who has all the marks on his body after suffering and punishment, such as those experienced by Jesus Christ during crucifixion. At present, the valuable object is guarded in Turin inside the historic and spectacular Cappella della Sacra Sindone (Chapel of the Holy Shroud), which is also called the Guarini Chapel (in honor of its architect).
What did Jesus Christ Physically Look Like in Real Life?
Currently, the magnificent recreation of Jesus Christ’s body is on display to the public inside the Cathedral of Guadix in Granada as part of an exhibition called “The Mystery Man.” According to the organizers, this is “a unique and pilgrim exhibition whose main piece is a hyper-realistic and volumetric representation of the man of the Shroud of Turin (Jesus).”
The details of the recreation of Jesus Christ’s body are extraordinary and show the brutal wounds that were the result not only of the nails and Crown of Thorns in the crucifixion but also of the dozens of lashes that Jesus received since he was captured on the night of Holy Thursday while praying with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem (now the Basilica of Gethsemane).
The exhibition featuring the image that shows what Jesus Christ’s body would have looked like in real life has already toured several cities in Spain and has become a success. To achieve the impressive reproduction, experts studied every detail of the image that supposedly remained impressed on the Shroud of Turin while Jesus was in the Holy Sepulcher for 15 years.
Story originally written in Spanish by Miguel Fernández in Cultura Colectiva News.
