Giuseppe Enrie (Italian, 1886-1961)
Detail of the Shroud of Turin, 1931
Gelatin silver print from a glass negative
29.5 x 23.4 cm mounted on 41.9 x 31.5 cm paper, ruled
Blindstamped “FOT. CAV. G. ENRIE / RIPRODUZIONE INTERDETTA”. Printed “SANTO VOLTO DEL DIVIN REDENTORE / (PARTICOLARE DELLA S. SINDONE) / CAV. G. ENRIE FOTOGRAFÒ / RIPRODUZIONE INTERDETTA / ADORAMUS TE, CHRISTE, ET BENEDICIMUS TIBI / IL PRESIDENTE DELLA COMMISSIONE ESECUTIVA / TORINO 3 – 24 MAGGIO 1931” on mount with ecclesiastical authentication in facsimile signatures. Luigi Gay Caroleria label on mount verso
In May 1931 the Shroud’s owner, King Victor Emmanuel 3rd of Savoye, agreed to have a new series of photographs made on the occasion of an exhibition of the Shroud held that year. The last time photographs had been taken was in 1898 when Secondo Pia had made the series showing that the image on the Shroud was like a photographic negative which then set in motion scientific interest in the Shroud. There had been great advances in photographic technologies since Pia's time, and Enrie was given the opportunity to photograph the complete Shroud in 3 sections, making a series of life-size close-ups of the face, the back and the shoulders, and the bloodstain on the wrist area of the left arm.
In 1931, the most reliable light-sensitive material was an orthochromatic emulsion on glass plate. This emulsion was sensitive to the blue and green elements of white light and insensitive to red, allowing for excellent reproduction of the image and enhancement of the image's details. His photographs show a richness of detail that has not been surpassed.