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The critics are right... too much information was removed and collected together into little glass jars. The folds perhaps could have told us which faces may have been exposed at different stages of the Shroud's history and travels. Statistical analysis of the types and amounts of dirt, pollen, and other contaminents associated with certain faces of the folded Shroud could tell us locations the shroud may have visited during its history. This information has been irretrievably lost because only certain scientists skilled in cloth preservation had input on protocols.
The worst decision was to "scrape away" the carbonized edges of the burn holes... actually removing Shroud material under the pretext that these carbonized areas were "growing" and "encroaching" on non-burned areas. There is absolutely NO BASIS IN FACT for this. I have a theory that the charred edges were removed more for "esthetics" than any serious preservation concern.
Similarly, the "stretching" of the cloth to "remove" wrinkles was ill considered. Such stretching may have distorted the measurements of the image. One glaring wrinkle that has been "restored out" of the cloth is the large one across the throat of the image. This wrinkle is extremely important in Paleographic Shroud studies as it has been identified as one of the distinguishing marks that appears on the earliest Christ Icons such as the Christ Pantocrater image from Constantinople of the 6th century. This is unforgivable.
Finally, they apparently used an "ultrasound vaporizor" to clean and/or remove wrinkles... perhaps like a steam iron. Not good.
If we are to believe the bible, John, an eye witness, said that there was a second cloth that covered Christs's head.
Sorry, folks, you can all go home now. Show's over.
God wants us to believe from our hearts, not from material evidence. Because, guess what? That's where He wants to live.
Photo Index: http://www.sindone.org/it/scient/restauro_gallery.htm
Hi-Res Full Length:http://www.sindone.org/restauro/hires/sindone_recto.jpg
Hi-Res Face: http://www.sindone.org/restauro/hires/il_volto.jpg
Video footage: http://www.sindone.org/it/scient/restauro_filmati.htm
News: http://www.shroud.com/index.htm
Overview of recent changes: Photo Overview
Research Overview: http://www.shroudstory.com/index.htm
Perhaps the most interesting item on the ShroudStory site:
ESSAY: The Resurrection Problem and the Shroud of Turin
which has research details, especially:
The most intriguing characteristic
A picture of a million words
How were the images formed?
http://www.crc-internet.org/shroud.htm
(Note: the site is schismatic, but the article is interesting).
One of the most noteworthy papers presented at the "Sindone 2000" Orvieto Worldwide Conference in August 2000, was
"Evidence for the Skewing of the C-14 Dating of the Shroud of Turin Due to Repairs"
by Joseph Marino and M. Sue Benford. It presented evidence that the corner of the Shroud where the C-14 samples were taken from in 1988 contained spurious fibers from a medieval reweaving, resulting in an inaccurate date.
