The course consists of 10 lessons, preceded by an introduction, about the History of the Shroud of Turin.
In the introduction the several problems regarding this complex matter will be analysed from a religious and historical point of view. The problem regarding the correct method for studying the Shroud will be part of an autonomous lesson, which will be followed by an overview on the historical periods that characterized the history of the Shroud from the 14th century onwards, with particular attention to the moment when the Cloth officially appeared in Europe.
The last lessons will focus on more specific historical topics, such as the peculiar forms of devotion that were attributed to the Shroud in specific historical moments, the matter of the position of Jesus’ burial cloths according to the Gospels description, the issue of the Roman flagrum that was used, according to scholars, to scourge the Man of the Shroud, and the relationship between the Shroud and the iconography of Christ.