User:Ospalh/turin proportions

Proportions and posture
An article by Gregory S. Paul states that "(b)ecause the proportions of the shroud image are essentially impossible, the figure cannot represent that of an actual person."

According to Paul, the forehead on the shroud is much too small; the distance from the eyebrows to the top of the head is only about one fourth of total head height, while normal values are over a third to over 40 percent. This would give a brain volume of only 800 cm3 to 900 cm3. A real human with such a brain would be pathologically hypocephalic.

Other unnatural proportions noted are arms that are too long and of differnt length. The posture is also seen as unnatural. The elbows of a relaxed corpse would drop to the floor and the hands could no longer cover the groin. Also, crossing the hands of a corpse over the genitalia is very atypical.

These features can be explaind if the shroud is a work of a Gothic artist. A standard convention of Gothic art was too elongate the body relative to the head. The posture is seen as a solution to the problem that Jesus would have been naked inside the shroud, but "showing the genitalia of the Son of God just would not do".