Microscopical Study of the Turin "Shroud"; III
THE MICROSCOPE
1981, Volume 29:1, pp. 19–38
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59082/FTZH1837
AUTHORS
Walter C. McCrone, Anna Teetsov, Mark Anderson, Ralph Hinch, Howard Humecki, Betty Majewski, and Deborah Piper
ABSTRACT
Additional microanalysis of yellow to red pigment medium agglomerates (PMA) from "Shroud" tape 3-CB, a blood image area, confirm the presence of iron oxide and add the important new information that vermilion (mercuric sulfide) an artist's pigment popular for centuries, is present in significant amounts on the "Shroud." The scannIng electron microscope shows the paint layer on a typical fiber, and elemental maps of the same fiber show heavier concentrations of iron in the area showing heaviest paint medium. Analyses of 11 additional PMA particles by electron microprobe show iron and/or mercury (associated with sulfur) in amounts related to the depth of red color. The red pigment particles in one red PMA were identified by electron diffraction as vermilion, iron oxide, (hematite) and calcite. Finally, a highly sensitive microchemical test was successful in finding mercury in a single red PMA from the "Shroud." These data support the conclusion of the Bishop of Troyes, Henry of Poitiers, who said in the 1350's that the "Shroud" had been "cunningly painted, the truth being attested by the artist who had painted it."
A carbon-dating test can now best confirm or deny the conclusion we have reached.