The Holy Shroud is a linen cloth, approximately 4.41 meters by 1.13 meters in size, woven in a herringbone pattern. It bears the double image of a man’s head and body, likely a victim of torture and crucifixion. Surrounding the image are two blackened singed lines, as well as areas of the cloth missing due to a fire in Chambéry in 1532. Although its exact origins remain unverified, tradition holds that this is the same cloth described in the Gospels as having wrapped the body of Jesus in the tomb.
The first verifiable record of the Shroud dates to the mid-14th century when knight Geoffroy de Charny placed it in the church he founded in Lirey, France, in 1353. During the early 1400s, amid the Hundred Years War, Marguerite de Charny carried the Shroud on her travels across Europe. Eventually, it was received by the Dukes of Savoy in Chambéry in 1453. The Shroud was kept in the Sainte-Chapelle du Saint-Suaire until a devastating fire on December 4, 1532, damaged both the chapel and the Shroud. The nuns of the Order of Saint Clare in the city later repaired the cloth. In 1578, to make it more accessible, the Shroud was moved to Turin, where it has remained ever since, after being offered for veneration by Archbishop Carlo Borromeo of Milan.
A fire on April 11–12, 1997, destroyed much of the 17th-century Chapel of the Shroud designed by Guarino Guarini, reaching temperatures exceeding 1,000°C. Fortunately, the Shroud was removed to the cathedral in 1993 during renovations and was not affected. However, the fire led to a decision to transfer the Shroud to the Archbishop’s Palace for safety, as the chapel was at risk of collapse and water damage from fire suppression efforts.
In 2002, the Shroud underwent restoration to address damage caused by 16th-century stitching and organic residues. This included removing the burnt edges and patches from earlier repairs, alongside conducting studies with specialized instruments.
Currently, the Holy Shroud is displayed flat and horizontally in a sealed case, with the internal atmosphere replaced by inert gas. The display case, constructed using advanced aerospace technology by Alenia Spazio and Microtecnica, features a multilayer safety glass surface. It is housed in a protective “sarcophagus” to ensure mechanical strength and safeguard against fire. A computerized system constantly monitors the case’s environmental conditions as well as the Chapel’s.
The last public exhibitions of the Holy Shroud took place in 1978, 1998, 2000, 2010, and 2015.
