Optics research applied to the Turin Shroud:past present and future

The aim of this work is to summarize the important contribution fumished by Optìcs in the studi es of the TS (Turin Shroud) made in more than a century of researches and tests. In the first section the very peculiar characteristics of the TS are presented and discussed showìng that up to now the double body image impressed on it is not yet reproducible. Some body image formation hypotheses are presented and they will be tested by also means of optical means successively discussed. The second and third sections respectively present the most important optical researches dane in the past and in the present in reference to the Relic and the fourth section discusses some possible optical studies that should be done on the TS to unveil some obscure points. It is also accounted for the conservation problems that are very important for the body image impressed in the linen C Ioth ìn a very particular way. In any case the complexity of the studies related to the TS implies that the future analyses will not be Jet to a limited group as it was done in 2002, but to a very wide commission composed of experts in each one of the many disciplines involved ìn the studies.