In the cathedral in Salamanca (Spain), you can see an exhibition, which presents a figure in natural size, reconstructed on the basis of traces recorded on the Shroud of Turin. A team of specialists has devoted 15 years to examining all the details recorded in the holy relic and reproducing in the figure created on this basis all the anatomical details and all the traces of torment recorded on the canvas.

The exhibition in Salamanca is open from October 14 this year. and is called “The Mystery Man”. According to the plan of the organizers, it will be presented in the local cathedral for a few months, and then it will be shown in many countries on five continents.

Made of latex and silicone, the sculpture weighs about 75 kilograms and feels like a human body to the touch, writes ACI Prensa ( aciprensa.com ) on its website . “The Bishop of Salamanca, Monsignor José Luis Retama, who was one of the first to see the sculpture, meditated in silence for a few seconds”, because – adds the website – he was moved by the accuracy of reproducing the body of a tortured man.  

The figure presented at the exhibition in Salamanca is shown lying down, legs slightly bent and arms crossed at pubic level. The figure has a slightly raised head with lacerations caused by a crown of thorns. The shoulders have bruises caused by the load on the wood. “The skin shows each of the tearing wounds from the whipping and fingernail marks on the hands and feet, and the wound between the fifth and sixth ribs on the right side. A broken nose and a bruised right eye,” aciprensa.com describes.

“There is no false modesty in the figure. The entire body of the man in the Shroud is visible without prejudice, including circumcision,” ACI Prensa describes. Human hair was used to give the figure a naturalistic look. Viewers can see all the details of the body – with eyelashes, eyebrows and freckles. The sculpture can be viewed up close, but the organizers require viewers to keep their hands behind.

Álvaro Blanco, who has devoted more than 15 years of research to the opening of the exhibition, said at the opening of the exhibition that when he saw the recreated figure of the Man of the Shroud, he had the impression that “he was before Jesus, he was before the image of the body of Jesus of Nazareth.”