Police Create Image of Jesus as a Child Using Shroud of Turin, Computer Forensics

Detectives used computer forensics and the Shroud of Turin to create the image.

May 5, 2015, 4:59 PM

— -- The National Police in Italy have reportedly created a digital image of what they believe Jesus Christ looked like as a young child.

Detectives used the Shroud of Turin -- a famous relic believed by some to be the burial cloth of Jesus -- to generate a photo of Jesus' face, The Independent reported. The Shroud of Turin has a faint image of a face, which some believe to be Jesus' face imprinted on the cloth after his crucifixion.

Police then put the generated image through a computer forensics reverse-aging process to see what Jesus may have looked like as a young boy, according to The Independent.

The image generation technique is reportedly the same method Italian police use to generate photos of wanted criminals.

The digitally created image coincides with the current public display of the Shroud of Turin, which Pope Francis is scheduled to visit and pray before this coming June 21.