PICTURES: This Is The Face Of Jesus Christ As Child – Italian Police Claim

Detectives used a computer program to reverse the ageing process on an image from the Turin Shroud (top left) to arrive at the younger Christ (bottom right)

 

Italian police have unveiled a series of photos showing the messiah as a young boy.

Detectives used computer forensic techniques that have helped to catch mafia bosses to generate the image. First, they created a photo-fit picture from the facial image in the Turin Shroud, a supposed burial cloth of Jesus, which is believed to hold an image of Jesus’ face.

They then used a computer program to reverse the ageing process by reducing the jaw size, slimming the face and softening the eyes to arrive at the younger Christ. Italian police use the same digital techniques, but in reverse, to create updated photo-fit images of mafia bosses whose faces have not been seen for years.

Italian police claim this is what Jesus Christ looked like as a young boy

The image of the young Jesus was created to coincide with the latest exhibition of the Turin Shroud at Turin Cathedral which is expected to attract millions of visitors, including Pope Francis. Debate rages over the authenticity of the Shroud, which is imprinted with the image of a man who appears to have been crucified.

Debate rages over the authenticity of the Shroud, which is imprinted with the image of a man who appears to have been crucified.

In 1998, the shroud was carbon dated to the end of the 13th century, lending support to those who say it is a medieval forgery. But it has retained its mystical air for many thanks partly to the fact that researchers have been unable to establish exactly how the image was created.

The Turin Shroud (above) is an ancient linen sheet revered by some Christians as the burial cloth that wrapped Christ’s body after his crucifixion and contains the image of his face

The Church does not officially maintain that Christ’s body was wrapped in the shroud or that any miracles were involved in the creation of the image now on display. When the shroud was last presented to the public, in 2010, more than two million people filed past it.

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