The Vatican is a secret world full of mystery and intrigue, dating back to biblical times. Today there are many questions relating to ancient artefacts and relics that the Vatican has a long history of keeping hidden. Where is the Holy Grail? Is the Turin Shroud truly an image of Christ and what happened to the Ark? In this book we will investigate three holy relics with a mysterious past and an unknown future.
Artifacts related to early Christianity have immeasurable value to many different groups of people; they are prized by archaeologists, scholars, and worshipers for their connection to a religion that has shaped much of human history. Yet many of these artifacts, including the Shroud of Turin, are controversial. This book traces the beginnings of the faith through the objects associated with the religion's advent and describes what we know about the authenticity and history of some of the world's most priceless relics.
The shroud of Turin is one of history’s most controversial and perplexing relics. Many believe it to be the genuine burial shroud of Jesus Christ. Some hypothesize the image on the shroud was created through a rare scientific phenomenon. Still others think the shroud is a fake, proven—through carbon tests in 1988—to be a clever forgery. In The Truth About the Shroud of Turin , investigative reporter Robert K. Wilcox applies his investigative eye and compelling writing style to this mysterious artifact. Featuring new evidence, The Truth About the Shroud of Turin offers new insight into this baffling mystery and offers compelling evidence that the shroud is the authentic burial shroud of Jesus Christ. "Wilcox weaves an intriguing detective story, utilizing over 30 years of research including trips the world over, seeking to unravel the secrets of the world’s most intensely-studied artifact, giving readers much evidence to decide if the Shroud is just an elaborate hoax or the actual burial cloth of Jesus." —JOSEPH MARINO, shroud scholar
Divided into themed sections, linked together with a chronology of the most important events in the life of the Vatican, Secrets of the Vatican includes: . THE HISTORY OF THE VATICAN The rise of the Catholic church, from its inauspicious beginnings as a persecuted cult in Rome to its establishment as the world's largest organized religion . HOUSES OF THE HOLY A look at the vast wealth of art, sculpture and literature collected in the Vatican Museums and some of the scandals that accompany the treasures . LIFE IN THE VATICAN Everyday life under the benevolent gaze of Europe's last absolute ruler . DEATH IN THE VATICAN The gruesome ends of some popes, and of some of the Vatican's other citizens . THE HIDDEN VATICAN The chapters of Vatican history that have remained closed to all but the innermost circle of Vatican officials
In 1988, carbon dating of the world's most famous Christian relic revealed that it was a mediaeval or Renaissance forgery. Yet many questions remained. How could a hoaxer of 500 or more years ago have created an image that appears so astonishingly lifelike when seen in photographic negative? How was such an image formed? And who would have dared fake the Holy Shroud of Jesus? Setting out to answer these questions, Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince discovered that the faker was none other than Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance artist, scientist, inventor - and hoaxer - whose innovations are acknowledged to have been centuries ahead of his time. They also reconstructed Leonardo's secret technique - becoming the first ever to recreate the Shroud image. Now revised and updated, sensationally the new 2006 edition of Turin Shroud presents the long-lost hard evidence to link the Shroud of Turin directly with Leonardo da Vinci. Perhaps this is even his 'confession' to having faked Christianity's most sacred relic, which will astonish both believers and sceptics alike, and present a new challenge to historians of both art and photography.
In this fully revised and updated edition, the bestselling authors of The Templar Revelation present new and compelling evidence linking Leonardo da Vinci with the forgery of Christianity's most famous relic. For centuries the Turin Shroud was believed to be Christ's authentic burial cloth, miraculously imprinted with his image -- but in 1988 carbon dating revealed it is a medieval- or Renaissance-era forgery. However, authors Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince realized that the 1988 discovery prompted even more questions: The image seems to be a photograph -- so could the Turin Shroud actually be the world's first photograph? If the face of the man on the Shroud is not Jesus', whose is it? Who had the sheer audacity to create what would become an infamous relic of Christianity, faking even Christ's holy, redemptive blood? Whoever did this was not only a genius but also a heretic.... After more than a decade of research, Picknett and Prince have accumulated evidence that shows not only was the forger of the Turin Shroud none other than Leonardo da Vinci but also that he used his own face for that of Christ. The Turin Shroud is, among other things, a five-hundred-year-old photograph of Leonardo da Vinci. Could Christianity's greatest relic in fact be an attempt to undermine the religion itself?
Is the Shroud of Turin genuine? For almost seven and a half centuries a piece of cloth was venerated because it bore the image of the crucified Christ, but in 1988 results of carbon dating showed that the fabric could not pre-date 1260. Now new evidence conclusively proves that it is not a fake...yet neither is it the image of Jesus Christ. Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas have been able to identify precisely where and when the shroud came into existence and to name the people involved. Using the latest scientific techniques they explain the strange molecular chemistry that created this unique artefact. In solving the riddle of the shroud this book unravels a far deeper mystery: how this medieval artefact links directly to Jesus.
What was the Holy Grail? A cup? A stone? A platter? According to the author, this sacred relic was none of these things. While setting forth the history of the Grail and its literature, Frank Tribbe demonstrates conclusively that the Grail was none other than the Shroud of Turin, protected in a rectangular box covered with a patterned cloth--a "greille.
