Investigating the color of the blood stains on archaeological cloths: the case of the Shroud of Turin

A. Di Lascio; P. Di Lazzaro; P. Iacomussi; M. Missori; D. Murra

doi:10.1364/AO.57.006626

Applied Optics
Vol. 57,
Issue 23,
pp. 6626-6631
(2018)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.57.006626

Investigating the color of the blood stains on archaeological cloths: the case of the Shroud of Turin

A. Di Lascio, P. Di Lazzaro, P. Iacomussi, M. Missori, and D. Murra

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Get PDF
Email
Share
Get Citation
Copy Citation Text
A. Di Lascio, P. Di Lazzaro, P. Iacomussi, M. Missori, and D. Murra, "Investigating the color of the blood stains on archaeological cloths: the case of the Shroud of Turin," Appl. Opt. 57, 6626-6631 (2018)

Export Citation
- BibTex
- Endnote (RIS)
- HTML
- Plain Text
Citation alert
Save article
Editors' Pick

Check for updates

Abstract

The unique reddish blood stains on the archaeological cloth known as the Shroud of Turin caught the attention of several scholars, who proposed different hypotheses to explain the unusual blood color. To date, just a few hypotheses have been tested experimentally, and the results are debatable. In this paper, we test the strength of two hypotheses (namely, the presence of carboxyhemoglobin and the long-term influence of ultraviolet light on high-bilirubin blood) by the spectral reflectance of the blood stained regions on the Shroud and by color analyses of ultraviolet irradiated high-bilirubin blood stains on linen. The relevance of these simple methods to the study of stained textiles is discussed.

Full Article | PDF Article

More Like This

Blood on the Shroud of Turin

John H. Heller and Alan D. Adler
Appl. Opt. 19(16) 2742-2744 (1980)

Spectral properties of the Shroud of Turin

S. F. Pellicori
Appl. Opt. 19(12) 1913-1920 (1980)

Superficial and Shroud-like coloration of linen by short laser pulses in the vacuum ultraviolet

Paolo Di Lazzaro, Daniele Murra, Enrico Nichelatti, Antonino Santoni, and Giuseppe Baldacchini
Appl. Opt. 51(36) 8567-8578 (2012)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (5)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Tables (3)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Article tables are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Equations (1)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Possible Cause of the Reddish Color of the Blood Stains on the Shroud	Proposed By	Experimental Data
Pigments (red ochre, vermilion, alizarin)	McCrone [8]	McCrone (1980) [8]. Analysis of sub-micrometer particles from adhesive tapes. Data available.
Saponaria officinalis	Rogers and Arnoldi [9]	Soran (1977).Blood stains+saponaria claimed still reddish after 25 years. Data and pics not available.
Free bilirubin bound with albumin	Adler [10]	Goldoni et al. (2000) [11] Svensson (2010) [12].Negative results with both free and non-free bilirubin. Data and pics available.
Bilirubin + UV	Goldoni et al. [11]	Goldoni et al. (2000) [11] Positive results. Pic available. Data not available.
Carboxyhemoglobin	Baima Bollone et al. [13]	Kearse (2017) [14].Negative results on blood stains 12 days old. Data and pics available
Pigments/dyes added to blood	van der Hoeven [15]	Fanti and Zagotto (2017) [16]. Analysis of sub-micrometer particles from encrusted linen fibers and dust. Data available.

	2013	2017
Hue	$166.6 \pm 3.1$	$165.2 \pm 3.2$
Saturation	$8.1 \pm 0.9$	$8.7 \pm 0.5$
Lightness	$167.6 \pm 2.6$	$169.6 \pm 1.7$

REDNESS and Yellowing of Blood Stains	1 Day After Irradiation	4 Years After Irradiation	Variation Versus Time	Variation Versus Not Irradiated
Redness of non-irradiated blood stains	$0.68 \pm 0.04$	$0.61 \pm 0.05$	− 10.3%	–
Redness of laser-irradiated blood stains	$0.76 \pm 0.05$	$0.62 \pm 0.06$	−18.4%	$+ 1.6 %$
Redness of lamp-irradiated blood stains	$0.78 \pm 0.07$	$0.74 \pm 0.05$	−1.3%	$+ 21.3 %$
Yellowing of non-irradiated blood stains	$2.28 \pm 0.14$	$2.22 \pm 0.16$	−2.6%	_
Yellowing of laser-irradiated blood stains	$2.42 \pm 0.19$	$2.28 \pm 0.19$	−5.8%	$+ 2.7 %$
Yellowing of lamp-irradiated blood stains	$2.42 \pm 0.21$	$2.46 \pm 0.16$	$+ 1.7 %$	$+ 10.8 %$

Possible Cause of the Reddish Color of the Blood Stains on the Shroud	Proposed By	Experimental Data
Pigments (red ochre, vermilion, alizarin)	McCrone [8]	McCrone (1980) [8]. Analysis of sub-micrometer particles from adhesive tapes. Data available.
Saponaria officinalis	Rogers and Arnoldi [9]	Soran (1977).Blood stains+saponaria claimed still reddish after 25 years. Data and pics not available.
Free bilirubin bound with albumin	Adler [10]	Goldoni et al. (2000) [11] Svensson (2010) [12].Negative results with both free and non-free bilirubin. Data and pics available.
Bilirubin + UV	Goldoni et al. [11]	Goldoni et al. (2000) [11] Positive results. Pic available. Data not available.
Carboxyhemoglobin	Baima Bollone et al. [13]	Kearse (2017) [14].Negative results on blood stains 12 days old. Data and pics available
Pigments/dyes added to blood	van der Hoeven [15]	Fanti and Zagotto (2017) [16]. Analysis of sub-micrometer particles from encrusted linen fibers and dust. Data available.

	2013	2017
Hue	$166.6 \pm 3.1$	$165.2 \pm 3.2$
Saturation	$8.1 \pm 0.9$	$8.7 \pm 0.5$
Lightness	$167.6 \pm 2.6$	$169.6 \pm 1.7$

Abstract

Cited By

Figures (5)

Tables (3)

Equations (1)

Applied Optics