Prof. Victor Campa Mendoza demonstrates the cloth's veracity.
I am truly humbled by the response to Sandyeggo's thread. Rest assured of my prayers for you, as well.
I am truly humbled by the response to Sandyeggo's thread. Rest assured of my prayers for you, as well.
The Story of Guadalupe: Hope for Our Violent World
Our Lady of Guadalupe: Protectress of the Unborn
Was Our Lady of Guadalupe Wrong?
METHODIST CHURCH DISPLAYS VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE
GUADALUPE DEVOTION IS CROSSING INTO PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS
Relic From Guadalupe Tilma to Tour U.S.
The Amazing Truth of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Celebrating 470 years of an ongoing miracle, the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe 1531
Science Stunned by Virgin of Guadalupe´s Eyes
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE [Read only]
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Studying Juan Diego’s Tilma
I am a paleontologist at Cornell University, where I teach a course about determining the age, materials and place of origin of artworks. Three years ago, Dr. Gilberto Aguirre, a physician in San Antonio, Texas, invited me to join a team examining the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
He was interested in small images said to be found in the eyes of the icon and hoped I could comment on the age and composition of the fabric and pigments. I made two trips to Mexico City, did tests on fibers at Cornell and reported to Dr. Aguirre, the archbishop of Mexico City and his staff.
Various news reports had suggested that the tilma was a fake, that it was made in Europe and brought to Mexico by Franciscan priests or, perhaps, that it was painted in Mexico over the image of a dark-eyed Aztec goddess.
People who support the “European origin” theory argue that the tilma cannot be of local manufacture because it has lasted too long. Local cloth, made from woven cactus fibers, lasts for a few years, maybe a decade. The tilma has been displayed for hundreds of years. They argue the tilma must be woven from European linen or cotton.
Two fibers loaned to me for microscopic examination (and reportedly removed from the tilma’s outer edge when it was stored during the Mexican Revolution) do not, it seems, come from native cactus plants.
I was also able to rule out cotton, wool and linen (fibers that might have been used in Europe). The tilma seems to be made from woven hemp, from a plant that is native to Mexico. This could explain the tilma’s remarkable state of preservation. Hempen cloth can last hundreds of years. It is one of the strongest fibers known.
People who support the “Aztec goddess” theory argue that photographs taken in ultraviolet light show an underpainting or “pentimento” of a dark-eyed, somewhat frightening woman.
I pointed out to Church authorities that ultraviolet photography does not expose images beneath other images. Rather, ultraviolet light shows most clearly the application of paint on top of another image. Ultraviolet light shows where an original has been “touched up,” usually with a clear varnish. The “dark-eyed” maiden of the “Aztec goddess” theorists is simply the original image with large, circular patches of varnish added over the eyes. Conservators often use such patches to protect a surface. Ultraviolet photos could help modern conservators remove this added varnish layer.
To see if there is really an underpainting on the tilma, photographs need to be taken with light from the infrared part of the spectrum.
Theories about European origins and an Aztec goddess are simply incorrect. Simple scientific tests can rule these out.
I hope that future testing will be permitted. An examination using neutron-activation analysis and X-ray fluorescence could shed light on the pigments of the image, the history of the tilma and, importantly, could direct attempts to conserve and safeguard this image.
John J. Chiment teaches in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:8GZ8Fr8dA38J:www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Jul2002/Feature1.asp+Father+Jose+Luis+Guerrero,+the+2002+canonization+of&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3
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An ardent pro-lifer and very good Catholic was able to see the display and be a part of the event (on a Friday). I had to work.
The next day this ardent pro-lifer (Michelle) was saying the next day she smelled roses (Saturday).
I was skeptical that it was roses, and thought it was flowers blooming from the bushes in front of the abortion clinic (though plant life does not grow well at this abortion clinic).
Michelle corrected me by stating that there were no flowers (visible) in bloom.
I realized that I also smelled the roses, and as I and Michelle was trying to figure out why, Michelle said that the smell of roses came where the traveling image had been displayed...
At that point, I realized that Michelle (as well as myself) had been blessed with a very wonderful grace from heaven -- the smell of roses. This grace was common to people who visited Padre Pio (while he walked this world until 1968) and had favors granted...
Michelle, in the 1990's, along with her friend Scott, were instrumental in closing down an abortion clinic -- by exposing the truth... The abortion industry bulldozed the building almost immediately after this clinic was closed -- it was such a scandal.
Scott is now resident in Yonkers, New York, as one of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the order Father Benedict Groeschel and Father Andrew Apostoli are part of (the CFR's).
To make a long story short, Michelle works very hard for the pro-life group in Atlanta, and I think the smell of roses was a small reward for her -- though she also has 8 children (at last count)...
It has been found that by imposing a topographical map of central Mexico on the Virgin's dress, the mountains, rivers and principal lakes coincide with the decoration on this dress, he said.
The fact that the tilma has remained perfectly preserved since 1531 is a miracle in itself, according to Mendoza. After more than four centuries, Juan Diego's tilma retains the same freshness and the same lively colour as when it was new.
Analysis shows that there is no trace of drawing or sketching under the colour, even though perfectly recognizable retouches were done on the original.
Way cool! I'm up on the Shroud, but info about the Tilma is harder to come by. Thanks!
God bless all who venerate her!
Total cultural integration.
bumpus ad summum
Ping
bump for later reading
Bump for further research!