CONTENTS
Page One:
- Irene Corgiat and the Shroud of Turin
Page Two:
- Michael Janson on Pyro and Computer Graphics
Page Three:
- Jim Hicks--Portraits in Pyrography and Chalk
- Michael Mabbott--Solar Pyroengravings
- Home
|
The Face on the Shroud of Turin |
Italian artist Irene Corgiat of Baldissero near Turin says that
she has always loved working in figurative art--besides pyrography she
has worked in drawing on paper; painting on cloth and ceramics; oil
painting and china painting.
But of all of those, pyrography is the one she prefers. She learned it
some thirty years ago from an uncle who liked working in pyrography and
introduced her to the technique. Right away she knew she loved it.
Irene has done many works in pyrography--on wood as well as on velour
paper. See a variety of those works exhibited in her salon in the E-Museum of
Pyrographic Art. [1]
On cloth, however, the only piece in pyrography she has ever done is
one that required long hours and very delicate, precision work. It is
unique in the world--her Face on the Shroud of Turin.
The Shroud of Turin is a centuries-old linen cloth, 14 ft long and 3.5
ft wide, which is kept in museum-quality conditions at the Catholic
Cathedral in Turin Italy. It bears the barely visible, full-sized
image--front and back--of a crucified man. (Irene Corgiat copied only
the face seen above for her pyrograph.) Throughout the centuries
millions of people have believed the Shroud to be the 2000-year-old
burial cloth of the crucified body of Jesus of Nazareth, onto which His
sacred image was burned by the heat and light of His Resurrection.
Since the Resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, the
Shroud has been an object of devotion and wonderment for however many
years it has been in existence, and an object of intense study since
1898 when the photographic negative of the first photograph ever taken
of it revealed a 3-dimensional positive image of the Man on the Shroud.
[3, 9]
1349: The first known documentation of the Shroud's
existence.
1532: The Shroud was burned in a fire that left parallel burn
marks along the folds of the cloth on either side of the central
image.
1534: Chambéry's Poor Clare nuns repaired the burned
parts of
the cloth and added a backing of linen to reinforce the weakened
Shroud.
1898: The first photograph of the Shroud was taken by a lawyer
named Secondo Pia. Quite unexpectedly, the photographic negative
produced an image--the first time that anyone had seen it--a
3-dimensional, positive image of the Man on the Shroud.
1978: The Shroud of Turin Research Project, Inc. (STURP) Team of
international experts was allowed to investigate the properties of the
Shroud for five days and nights in a laboratory in Turin. [3, 9]
1988: Representatives from three different independent
laboratories were allowed to perform the Carbon-14 dating test on
a small sample of the Shroud's material (but not on the central image).
Their test results indicated that with 95% certainty the Shroud linen
was medieval, dating from between 1260 and 1390. A Church cleric made
the announcement to the press. [3, 9]
2002: A team of experts restored the Shroud by removing
the 30 patches sewn on in 1534 and likewise its medieval backing, which
was replaced with another.
Also that year, three important scientific papers were submitted
refuting the validity of the Carbon-14 dating test from 1988. [3]
Without a doubt, there are and have been millions of believers in the authenticity of the Shroud through the centuries. At the Cathedral of Turin in Italy where the Holy Shroud resides, an annual Mass is offered in the month of May to allow the faithful another opportunity to express their devotion to this religious icon and relic. Along with the believers, there are countless others who remain uncommitted regarding the Shroud's authenticity, but who are nonetheless spiritually moved by the Shroud as a religious icon and who cherish the hope that one day it will be proven to be the holiest of relics in Christianity.
The Catholic Church basically takes the same position as the second group, that is, in hoping that the Shroud of Turin is authentic but waiting until the Shroud's authenticity is either proven or disproven before making any definitive declaration. The Church takes great care to preserve this centuries-old artifact and encourages devotion to it as a sacred icon and the possible holiest of relics it may, in fact, be.
The word sindonologist originates from Sindone
(SEEN-doh-nay) the Italian word for Shroud, and refers to
experts in the study of the Shroud. A precise word for this specialty
is most appropriate since no other artifact in history has been studied
by so many specialists of all kinds dedicated to determining its
origins.
American sindonologist Barrie
Schwortz is an imaging specialist who was chosen as the official
documenting
photographer on the famous STURP team that studied the Shroud day and
night for five days in 1978. Remembering his frame of mind immediately
preceding that research, Barrie Schwortz recently said, "I was
absolutely convinced the Shroud of Turin was nothing but a painting. As
a matter of fact, I fully expected to go to Turin, and step up to the
Shroud, and see the brush strokes, and go home." Little did he
imagine then, that that intensive research in 1978 would change the
course of his life. He has been an avid sindonologist ever since, and
for the last seven years has built a website devoted to Shroud research
that is sought out by sindonologists and skeptics alike. [3, 9]
The late Walter McCrone is one of the most respected of those who are
convinced the Shroud is only an icon and not a relic and who are
likewise intent on confirming their position. His ideas are set forth
in his book entitled Judgement Day for the Shroud of Turin
and his work continues in
the Walter McCrone Research
Institute of Chicago. [6]
Once I learned from one internet source there was a pyrograph of the
Shroud in existence, it took me months more of internet searching
before, ultimately, thanks to a paper by Mariano
Tomatis for CICAP [7], another organization of well respected
skeptics,
that I discovered Irene Corgiat's name. And it was thanks to Mariano
Tomatis
that I was finally able to contact Irene for an interview.
Another declared skeptic is an Italian writer by the name of Vittoria
Haziel, who wrote a book about her very decided ideas on the origins of
the Shroud. She doesn't think it is 2000 years old, nor does she think
it's medieval--she thinks it was made in the Renaissance and done in
pyrography by Leonardo da Vinci. [2]
|
The 'Scoop' on the Shroud (Lo Scoop sulla
Sindone) |
Once on the lecture circuit after her book--The Passion According
to Leonardo--was published in Milan in 1998, Vittoria Haziel
felt the need to demonstrate that a pyrographic work was the key to
the mystery of the Shroud.
She approached Irene Corgiat and offered her a pyrographic artist's
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to render a pyrograph of the face from
the Shroud on a piece of linen similar to the original.
|
Leonardo's Alphabet |
Vittoria Haziel is not the only person to think that a clever artist
with scientific knowledge--and who fits that description better than
Leonardo da Vinci?--might have been able to fabricate the Shroud. This
is what the author herself has to say:
"My book The Passion According to Leonardo,"
Vittoria Haziel states, "is not a theory but rather a preliminary
investigation with documentation and testimonials. (Besides being a
writer, I have a law degree.) Whoever has read my book knows the
seriousness and 'scientific' rigor with which over a period of several
years I conducted my research."
The following excerpt discussing Irene's pyrograph was written by Mariano
Tomatis in a conference paper presented to the Italian Committee for
the Control of Affirmations of the Paranormal (CICAP): [7]
". . . Also present in the [convention]
hall was the journalist Vittoria Haziel, who during the debate showed
the photograph of a face that is in every way like the one on the
Shroud, executed with the technique of pyrography by Irene Corgiat, an
artist from Baldissero near Turin. In spite of its being a
reproduction of only the face, it looks extraordinarily like that of the
man of the Shroud. What is important to emphasize is the fact that the
pyrographic technique might be useful for reproducing an
image, but its use is little credible for the creation of
an impression of this type. In any case, Corgiat's little 'shroud' is
the best answer to date to the objections of so many sindonologists who
maintain the impossibility of reproducing an image with the same
characteristics of the Shroud, particularly with all of its details.
The problem of the blood remains, partially resolved by Corgiat with the
application of a tempera dye directly on the surface of the
sheet."
|
Irene's Pyrotool and Her "Little
Shroud" |
Tool. To create her shroud, Irene Corgiat used an electric
pyrography tool (pictured above) with the universal point. It is the
same tool and point she uses for all of her pyrographic work. [1]
Technique. "The pyrographic technique," Irene says,
"is always the same, whether you're working on wood, on velour
paper, or on cloth. The difference lies in the shading effects and the
pressure of the hand. On cloth it is much more delicate than on wood or
velour paper. But the 'miracle' of this art work was to never burn
through the cloth and to recreate the image just as it is [in the
original]."
To give me a better idea, Irene sent a piece of the same delicate linen
cloth she had used to recreate the face on the Shroud. On it she wrote
my name in Leonardo da Vinci's lettering style and going from right to
left, as he did. It is shown in the image following.
|
A linen sampler in Leonardo's
script |
Just when sindonologists thought the whole Leonardo idea was a couple of
years behind them, an issue dealt with and dispatched, a thing of the
past and forgotten, all of a sudden it was once more prominently out
there and in a very attractive package--a National Geographic
documentary full of paintings by Leonardo, drawings by Leonardo,
inventions by Leonardo, mirror writings by Leonardo, and scenes of
Italy. [4] In short, it had enormous popular appeal. Interspersed
with all of that were interviews in short clips going from one to the
other and back again with several academics who think Leonardo most
likely created the Shroud. The film also focused on others
who offered varied solutions for the 'how to' part, and included the
occasional comments of one person presumably meant to represent the
sindonologists of the world: Barrie Schwortz. Finally, the film leaves
the viewers to draw their own conclusions since it ends asking again the
same question asked at the beginning: "Is Leonardo the Man Behind
the Shroud?"
National
Geographic credits Vittoria Haziel with the idea for their recently
aired documentary:
Da Vinci and the Mystery of the Shroud. [9] Yet, although
she
was featured often in the one-hour film, relating the persuasive
historical background, mainly socio-political, that lead to her ideas
and ultimately, her book, she expressed disappointment that the film
omitted elements of her research she considered essential. She
especially expressed regret that they did not include Irene Corgiat's
shroud, which she considers "the only case in the world that proves
the ability to reproduce the Shroud and shows the method used by
Leonardo." [2]
Irene Corgiat's pyrograph, unfortunately, did not make the final cut,
which was indeed disappointing, especially since it is a much more
convincing
match than Dr. Nicholas Allen's medieval photograph, which they did use.
[9]
|
The Face on the Shroud of Turin |
Barrie Schwortz would be the first to say that the Shroud's authenticity
has yet to be proven, but he would also point out that no scientific
evidence offered so far has absolutely disproved it either. As he said
in the National Geographic documentary, what sindonologists have mainly
been able to establish so far about the Shroud is "what it's
not." Here is what he wrote nearly a year ago in our initial
correspondence on the pyrographed shroud regarding data collected by the
STURP team in 1978: [3, 9]
"The actual scientific evidence that excludes heat as the image
formation mechanism of the Shroud is the ultraviolet fluorescence
photography done in 1978 by Vernon Miller. Since scorched linen
fluoresces under specific ultraviolet illumination, the entire Shroud
was photographed using special UV lights and filters. The resulting
photographs clearly showed fluorescence in all the known burn and scorch
marks on the Shroud, but absolutely no fluorescence in the image area.
Thus, we were able to exclude "heat" as an image
formation
mechanism in 1978."
|
The Face on the Shroud of Turin |
"Myself, I am a believer," Irene Corgiat affirms, " And
although I have recreated the face of the Shroud, I have not touched any
dogma of the Church."
"I have had contact with sindonologists, Irene adds, "And
while some were 'scandalized', others have shown a great deal of
interest in my technique."
"On various occasions I have gone to see the Shroud during the
expositions [at the Cathedral in Turin]. It is something truly
beautiful and impressive, however human or divine it may be."
1. A varied display of Irene Corgiat's other works is exhibited
in her salon in the E-Museum of
Pyrographic Art.
2. Vittoria Haziel's book is entitled La Passione secondo
Leonardo (The Passion According to Leonardo). It is written in
Italian and was published in Milan by Sperling & Kupfer in 1998.
3. With well over a million visitors already, Barrie Schwortz's
comprehensive website on the Shroud of Turin www.shroud.com is well worth a visit
for anyone interested in reading more on this intriguing artifact and
all the science that has gone into ascertaining its origins. It is also
a valuable source for keeping up with the latest developments in Shroud
study, including the extensive restoration (needless to say, not without
its own controversy likewise documented at www.shroud.com), which was
performed in the year 2002--an event of great significance, as Barrie
Schwortz
expressed, that regrettably went almost unnoticed in the American media.
4. Collegamento pro Sindone is an
Italian site for sindonologists written in both Italian and English.
The reference in the text is specifically to a June 2002 newsletter by
Ilona Farkas on that website.
5. The Catholic
Church has its own official Shroud website prepared by the
Archdiocese of Turin.
6. The Walter McCrone
Research Institute of Chicago continues the work of the late Walter
McCrone, a respected skeptic.
7. Another group of well regarded skeptics is The Italian Committee for
the
Control
of Affirmations of the Paranormal (Comitato Italiano per il Controllo
delle
Affermazioni sul Paranormale, or CICAP.
This link is to the paper (in the original Italian) by Mariano Tomatis
in which he talks about Irene Corgiat's pyrograph (quoted in English in
this article).
8. Article (in Italian) by Alfredo Lissoni, "Sindone, Un Falso
Leonardesco?" ("The Shroud: A Fake by Leonardo?")
9. National
Geographic film credits for their recently aired documentary:
Da Vinci and the Mystery of the Shroud, which was produced
for them
by a Turinese production company.
This is the National
Geographic website address with links to viewing schedules and
information on their programming.
10. Highly recommended for fans of Leonardo da Vinci (and who isn't?) is
a special exhibit entitled Leonardo da Vinci, Master
Draftsman of nearly 120 of Leonardo's drawings at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The good news for anyone who
can't be in New York City while the exhibit is running (22 January to 30
March 2003) is that, beautifully prepared in conjunction with the
exhibit,
is a special interactive feature on the Metropolitan Museum of Art
website displaying many of those drawings.
|
2003, Kathleen M. Garvey Menéndez, all rights reserved.
