A new theory about the Shroud of Turin: Lillian Schwartz, a graphic consultant at the School of Visual Arts in New York, thinks Leonardo da Vinci created it. Her reasoning is that "the face on the Turin Shroud and a self portrait of Leonardo da Vinci share the same dimensions."
The self-portrait of da Vinci and the face on the shroud do look similar, but I thought it was pretty well established that the shroud dates back to at least 1355, which would make it too old for da Vinci to have created, since he was born in 1452. [
Daily Mail]
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http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=7268
The Shroud dating anomaly is "explained" because the Shroud was lost and found a few times. Earlier ones were generally dismissed as fakes, the one we have now is a pretty good fake and fooled people, it might not therefore have been the same shroud as earlier ones. This is plausible regardless of who did the faking.
He could have used an old shroud.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ggnyc/1772257723/
On April 10, 2009, the Telegraph reported that original Shroud investigator, Ray Rogers, acknowledged the radio carbon dating performed in 1988 was flawed.[1] The sample used for dating may have been taken from a section damaged by fire and repaired in the 16th century, which would not provide an estimate for the original material. Shortly before his death, Rogers said:
"The worst possible sample for carbon dating was taken."[1] "It consisted of different materials than were used in the shroud itself, so the age we produced was inaccurate."[1] "...I am coming to the conclusion that it has a very good chance of being the piece of cloth that was used to bury the historic Jesus."[1]
A recent study by French scientist Thierry Castex has revealed that on the shroud are traces of words in Aramaic spelled with Hebrew letters. Barbara Frale, a Church scholar, told Vatican Radio on July 26, 2009 that her own studies suggest the letters on the shroud were written more than 1,800 years ago.[2]
1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5137163/Turin-Shroud-could-be-genuine-as-carbon-dating-was-flawed.html
2. http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=15419
No it wasn't. A random nutter made claims. There's no good reason to doubt the carbon dating.