#holyface

Not Made by Human Hands: Why the Shroud of Turin Still Makes Headlines

A few weeks ago, Vatican News reported on a new challenge to the “medieval bas-relief” hypothesis regarding the Shroud of Turin. Every few years, another study appears: carbon dating, textile analysis, or AI modeling. And every time, the headlines follow.

Why? Because the Shroud is not just a question of medieval fraud versus an authentic relic. It sits at the center of a much deeper theological issue: the ontology of the image.

Ontology btw is just a fancy word for metaphysical/philosophical line of thinking that asks what something is in its deepest reality—not just what it looks like, but its nature of being. If there is even a possibility that this linen touched the body of Christ, it is a "first-order" icon.

The Shroud of Turin (public domain)

The Acheiropoietos: A Universal Longing

The Shroud’s power lies in its status as an Acheiropoietos—a Greek term meaning "not made by human hands." These are usual images of Jesus, Mary or sometime together as the Virgin and Child. This concept of Acheiropoietos is a bridge between East and West.

In the Byzantine East, the primary example was the Mandylion (the Napkin of Edessa). Tradition held that Christ pressed a cloth to His face, miraculously imprinting His image upon it. In the Latin West, a similar desire for contact birthed the legend of the Veil of Veronica, where Christ’s suffering face was imprinted on a cloth offered to Him on the road to Calvary.

Below are two depictions of Mandylions followed by two Veils of Veronica

The Mandylions

Example 1

Christ Acheiropoietos (Made without hands). A 12th-century Novgorod icon from the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Example 2

Silver frame Icon of Jesus Christ from St. Petersburg, dated 1780-1800.

The Veils of Veronica

Example 1

The Way to Calvary and Saint Veronica with the Sudarium by Master of James IV of Scotland, ca. 1510–1520. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. Ludwig IX 18, fol. 8v,  83.ML.114.8v

Example 2

From the Met website: "Veronica's veil is enclosed within an architectural setting. With the archangel Gabriel on the left and the Virgin Annunciate on the right, it forms a triptych. On the reverse of the two wings are Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist." Jewelry, Milan, Italy, late 15th century.

The Shroud as the "Ultimate Witness"

While the Mandylion and the Veil of Veronica are lost to history or hidden in private chapels, the Shroud of Turin remains uniquely accessible to the modern eye. It is the ultimate material witness precisely because it is not an artistic copy, but a direct physical trace. It claims to be the actual "receipt" of the Resurrection—a witness that was present in the tomb and absorbed the reality of the event into its very fibers.

Full length negatives of the shroud of Turin

The Hierarchy of the Image

To understand why this tangible link matters, we look to the 8th-century sophisticated ontology of St. John of Damascus. In On the Divine Images, John outlines five levels of images "not made by human craft" that transcend ordinary art:

The Eternal Image (Jesus Christ): The Son is the "perfect mirror" of God the Father, equal in nature and "begotten, not made."

The Divine Ideas: The "blueprints" or paradigms of creation existing in God’s mind before time began.

The Image of Creation: The physical world, which provides a "dim understanding" of the infinite and uncircumscribable (limitless) God.

The Foreshadowing Image: Old Testament "types" that prefigure the future, such as the Ark of the Covenant acting as an image of the Virgin Mary.

The Memorial Image: Physical objects that remind us of God’s past actions, like the jar of manna kept in the Ark.

The Power of Contact

John’s hierarchy makes the Shroud explosive. In the theology of icons, a painted image connects to Christ through likeness, but a relic connects through contact. The icon remains linen and fiber, but it is linked to the person depicted. The more immediate the contact, the more intense the claim.

These things are not merely reminders; they are first-class relics. They are participants that absorbed matter from Christ’s body. This is why scientific debate does not diminish interest—it heightens it. The stakes are ontological. If the Shroud is authentic, it is not just a "picture" of the Resurrection—it is a physical witness to it.

Shroud of Turin 3D Statue at US Air Force Academy Catholic Chapel, photo by Chris Waits

Why the Shroud Stays in the Headlines

In medieval theology, such icons are the Word made visible, acting as thresholds to the divine. For the believer, the Shroud isn't just a representation; it is a physical participation in the grace of the Resurrection.

Modern debates often focus on technique—could a medieval artist have produced it? But the deeper reason it generates headlines is that it touches the question of whether matter can bear divine presence. The Incarnation affirms that God became visible and tangible. If Christ truly assumed flesh, then that flesh could leave traces. Whether through the Mandylion, the Veronica, or the Shroud, the yearning remains: the longing for matter that has touched God.

Turin shroud positive and negative displaying original color information by Dianelos Georgoudis, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where Are They Now?

The Mandylion: Historically kept in Constantinople, it was likely stolen during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. While King Louis IX of France kept a relic claimed to be the Mandylion in the Sainte-Chapelle, it disappeared during the French Revolution. Today, the most famous "candidate" is kept in the Pope’s private chapel in the Vatican, but it is rarely seen by the public.

The Veil of Veronica: Long considered the most important relic in Rome, it was reportedly lost during the Sack of Rome in 1527. While the Vatican still displays a "Veronica" once a year, its features are nearly invisible and its authenticity is debated, with some pointing to the mysterious Volto Santo (Holy Face) of Manoppello as the "true" cloth.

The Shroud: Unlike its counterparts, the Shroud has a documented home in the Turin Cathedral in Italy. It doesn't sit on a shelf; it is preserved in a state-of-the-art, bulletproof, and fire-resistant case filled with 99.5% argon gas to prevent decay. It is only physically shown to the public during rare "Ostensions" (exhibitions) decreed by the Pope—the last one was in 2015, though a new 3D digital "AI reading" of the cloth was just presented to Pope Leo XIV in early 2026.

Christ's face from the Shroud of Turin. Shrine of the Holy Face Sisters Convent Hidalgo Quiapo Manila. Picture by Judgefloro, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Want more? Check these references. If you wish to explore the Shroud yourself, checkout Othonia.org for a really interesting online experience.

Hart, Aidan. The Theology of the Icon. St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology.

John of Damascus. Three Treatises on the Divine Images.

Vatican News. (2026). "Shroud of Turin: Medieval bas-relief hypothesis challenged."