Shroud provenance

Clive Prince states that Leonardo daVinci faked the Turin Shroud as though it were proven fact [ FT404:38]. The Shroud has provenance since 1354 and Leonardo was born in 1458, 104 years later, so how can he have forged it? Ray Stephenson

Gateshead, Tyne & Wear

Editor’s note: The books by Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince – Turin Shroud: In Whose Image? revised as Turin Shroud: How Leonardo da Vinci fooled History – cast doubt on the 14th century references to the Shroud, suggesting it was not the same artefact as the current relic. There is a remarkable resemblance between the disputed Leonardo painting known as the Salvator Mundi and the Shroud image; make of that what you will. The provenance and nature of the Shroud have been endlessly raked over, and life is too short to rehearse the various arguments every time the topic comes up. However, maybe a footnote was called for in this instance.