Turin Shroud: Medical Impossibility for a Medieval Work of Art

This article considers the impossible hypothesis, frequently cited among non-experts, that the TS (Turin Shroud or Holy Shroud) is the result of a work of art produced by a Medieval artist. Before going into the merits of this hypothesis, the author thought it appropriate to bring to mind the recent publications - regarding the characteristics of TS blood, such as radioactivity, and to reconstruct the facts that preceded and occurred after the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The guiding motivation for this article consists of the fact that the author is certain that the TS is authentic, and there is so much evidence for this that it does not seem necessary to list all the evidences supporting this. He then reports and comments on some of the main hypotheses for and against the authenticity of the TS which are frequently discussed, and he shows how fallacious the most important claims against authenticity are. The author highlights in this article the extremely complicated and absurd operations that a hypothetical artist, perhaps even a Medieval one, would have had to perform. Instead, he does not consider here in detail another scientifically insurmountable problem, not only for the hypothetical artist, but also for any scientist today because it is outside of medical interest, and that is to explain how the "impossible" body image was formed. In fact, the paper highlights the practical impossibility that the artist would have had in obtaining the very particular results that we have on the TS, if it had been a mere human work of art capable of reproducing all the very particular bloodstains of the King of Redeeming Sorrows.