Sunday, March 7, 2010

Scholars and Scientists to Discuss Images on Shroud of Turin, Veil of Manoppello, and Tilma of Guadalupe

A scholarly scientific conference entitled the International Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Acheiropoietos Images will be held May 4,5, and 6th 2010 at the E.N.E.A scientific research center in Frascati, a beautiful and historic town in the hills above Rome. The website for the conference is http://www.acheiropoietos.info/ Among those giving papers or displaying poster exhibits are Heinrich Pfeiffer and Blandina Paschalis Schlomer of Germany; Andreas Resch of Austria, Giulio Fanti and Roberto Falcinelli of Italy; Z. Treppa, J.S. Jaworski, and K. Aszyk of Poland; and D. Scavone, D. Fulbright and J. Markwardt of the U.S.A. The conference will be conducted in English. According to the organizing committee the topics to be discussed are:

Images characteristics
Images formation hypotheses
Images dating
Images processing
Novel tools of analysis
Restoration and conservation issue
Comparison of different acheiropoietos images
Historical aspects
Forensic views

To see the abstracts of talks relating to the Veil of Manoppello see:

Frascati Acheiropoietos Workshop 2010 - ABSTRACTS - TALKS - MANOPPELLO VEIL

Of course the papers by Fr. Pfeiffer and the exhibits by Sr. Blandina will be very important and enlightening.

I was especially struck by the following article to be given at the conference which has to do with the phenonemon of the multiplicity of images which are seen on the Veil of Manoppello through photography:

The Appearance of the Changing Images on the Veil of Manoppello.
An examination of its implications for future scientific research through the discipline of photography
by Zbigniew Treppa, Karolina Aszyk

Uniwersytet Gdanski, ul Bazynskiego 1a, 80-952 Gdansk


Summary

One aim of this research is to establish reasons why this Veil is so unique. I want to examine the message that it has for us. I have decided to concentrate on the semantic image. Semantics requires that we see the relationship between the language of words and the language of images. It would be impossible to read the message contained in the Shroud without the words contained in the Gospels. In the same way, it is impossible to find the meaning of the Veil without reference to the Gospels. In the case of the Veil, for a deeper understanding, it is necessary to analyse the structure of the material. All the more so, as the Veil allows us to enter into a field of exploration in a very unusual way and to start to find the secrets which have yet to be fully revealed.
I have been convinced that this is the way to gain knowledge of the Veil from the time when I was photographing it and had little expectation of being surprised. In a similar way to the Shroud, its meaning, which is hidden from the human eye, can be revealed with the aid of photography. I am a professional photographer and, when taking pictures of the Veil, I imagined I was producing a documentary file and nothing more. In the meantime, I analysed the pictures I had taken on a computer and reproduced them on a monitoring screen; there were marked differences in the photographs. The differences can be fully appreciated as the images were laid exactly in line with each other (the precision being outlined on the photos) and then the changes became apparent. The observations simply go unnoticed on casual inspection. These details are exposed when the Veil is examined under differing light conditions. The appearance of the changing images on the Veil impelled me to try to discover their true meaning.
The question has to be asked if these differences are not the capture of split-second moments in time that have been recorded on the Veil. Can we also put these recorded moments in a chronological order for a complete detailed version? I believe that it would be possible, with the aid of photography, to take a maximum number of photos and, after putting them into chronological order, to make an animated version of the whole scene.
From what I have observed, any critical mind can only want to seek an interpretation.

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