certified copies of the holy shroud
April 2020 saw the start of one of the most unusual projects we have ever been involved in.
Selected flax seeds were planted in a field belonging to the Torri family. We followed the entire productive chain, from cultivation to weaving, for the realization of a fabric with a high symbolic value: a linen fabric used to make authenticated copies of the Holy Shroud.
The request came from the Congregation of the Holy Shroud of Turin, which felt the need to make the sacred image visible to a larger number of believers all over the world, while at the same time protecting the precious and delicate original relic, whose display must necessarily be limited.
THE FABRIC, RELIC OF THE WORLD.
The realization of the authenticated copies of the Holy Shroud took place entirely between Val Gandino and Bergamo: the productive excellence of our territory made possible the creation of a fabric surprisingly close to the original.
After in-depth studies of the structure of the Shroud and several tests in the company, we created a herringbone on a heavy twill base with the same number of warp and weft threads per square centimetre and the same weight as the original fabric.
This particular structure, woven on a loom that proved to be perfect for the purpose, which we usually use for sampling and experiments for new fabrics, allows us to appreciate on the surface of the fabric the fine and valuable warp linen thread, just like in the Holy Shroud. Great attention has also been paid to the naturalness of the entire process.
Just as the cultivation of the linen has been carried out using biological methods, completely excluding the use of chemical products, in the same way for the weaving process we have set ourselves the goal from the beginning of not using any kind of glue or paraffin and the fabric coming off the loom has been subjected to a simple water washing, drying and ironing. The goal that we managed to achieve was to obtain an artefact as natural as possible, without compromising the final effect: a beautiful and natural fabric from the start, with effects of unevenness that are typical of linen fabrics.
The project “Linen in Val Gandino: the fabric, the relic of the world” has been realized thanks to the commitment of several actors: the International Institute of Sindonology Studies of Turin, the Municipality of Gandino, the Municipality of Peia, the Linificio e Canapificio Nazionale, Efi Reggiani and, of course, Torri Lana 1885.
