Artwork reference:
The Shroud of Turin.

The Shroud of Turin, also known as the Holy Shroud, is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a man. It has been venerated for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church, as the actual burial shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion, and upon which Jesus's bodily image is miraculously imprinted. The human image on the shroud can be discerned more clearly in a black and white photographic negative than in its natural sepia colour, an effect discovered in 1898 by Secondo Pia, who produced the first photographs of the shroud. This negative image is associated with a popular Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.

The documented history of the shroud dates back to 1354, when it was exhibited in the new collegiate church of Lirey, a village in north-central France. The shroud was denounced as a forgery by the bishop of Troyes in 1389.  It was acquired by the House of Savoy in 1453 and later deposited in a chapel in Chambéry,  where it was damaged by fire in 1532.  In 1578, the Savoys moved the shroud to their new capital in Turin, where it has remained ever since.

Since 1683, it has been kept in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, which was designed for that purpose by architect Guarino Guarini and which is connected to both the royal palace and the Turin Cathedral.  Ownership of the shroud passed from the House of Savoy to the Catholic Church after the death of former king Umberto II in 1983