AI-artist creates ‘realistic’ image of teenage Virgin Mary before she gave birth to Son of God using Shroud of Turin
AN ARTIST has used artificial intelligence to create what he claims is the most realistic image of a teenage Virgin Mary before she gave birth to Jesus.
The tech expert said he reconstructed the face of Virgin Mary as she mysteriously appeared on a piece of cloth more than 700 years ago in Mexico.
Miguel Ángel Omaña Rojas, from Mexico, said he spent weeks studying the intricate facial features as they appeared in the original picture of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
He analyzed her facial structure, skin tone and expression to “capture gestures and expressions in a dynamic way”, the DailyMail reports.
The tech expert then used his artificial intelligence models – which were previously trained to study large sets of data about human faces and bodies – to recreate the life-like photos.
He said in a YouTube video: “This is the most faithful approximation that artificial intelligence was able to carry out.”
The Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as the Our Lady of Guadalupe, is a Catholic title given to Mary, mother of Jesus which has been linked to her mysterious supernatural appearance to a Mexican peasant named Juan Diego.
Catholics believe that Mary left a miraculous image of her appearance on his cactus fibre cloak, which still exists today in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
The picture of Mother Mary on the cloak is depicted with golden rays of light shining behind her, representing the sun.
It comes after artificial intelligence revealed what could be the true face of Jesus after analysing the mysterious Shroud of Turin.
Scientists made a shocking new discovery saying the historic relic – a burial cloth claiming to show an imprint of Christ when he died – could be real.
Believers claim Jesus was wrapped in the shroud after he was crucified and that the markings left behind resemble his injuries from the cross.
Using the marks on the cloth, The Sun asked AI to reimagine what the son of God might have looked like.
Clever AI tool Gencraft was given the prompt “face of Jesus based on the Shroud of Turin” and returned some fascinating results.
It shows Jesus as having hazel eyes and a gentle complexion.
The man in the picture has a well-kept beard, clean eyebrows and long brown hair going past his shoulders.
Under his tired eyes, he has clear signs of weariness.
Researchers who have studied the real cloth have made their own impersonations in the past.
Many have agreed that the person wrapped in the cloth was a man with sunken eyes who was between 5ft 7in to 6ft tall and had plenty of facial hair.
Some claim markings on the body resemble horror crucifixion wounds.
Signs of wounds from a thorny crown on the head, injuries to the arms and shoulders and lacerations to the back have all been reported by scientists.
The Bible says Jesus was whipped by the Romans, made to wear the agonising headpiece and forced to carry his cross before he was left to die.
It comes as the latest evidence around the shroud suggests the cloth was made around 2,000 years ago – the same period when Jesus was said to have lived and died.
Most estimates say Jesus was crucified in AD 33, based on the Julian calendar, Bible passages and gospels from the time – 1,991 years ago.
Italian researchers used specialist x-ray technology to examine the linen sheet and determine its age.
The Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council studied eight small samples of fabric to uncover tiny details of the linen’s structure and cellulose patterns.
They used specific ageing metrics like temperature and humidity to determine the results.
The Turin Shroud was first displayed publicly in 1350 and since 1578 has been preserved in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy – hence its name.
But it has been at the centre of religious debates for centuries with many describing the idea it was used by Jesus as a hoax.
Researchers in 1988 even claimed to have debunked the relic and proved it was from the Middle Ages – hundreds of years after Jesus.
Dr Liberato De Caro, lead author of the latest study, said the old research – which used carbon dating to estimate the shroud was made between the years 1260 and 1390 – was unreliable.
Meanwhile, an atheist filmmaker who once set out to prove the Shroud of Turin was a hoax is now convinced it’s real.
David Rolfe used to be a sceptic when he began filming a documentary on the mysterious cloth but ended up converting to Christianity during the project.
What is the Shroud of Turin?
THE Shroud of Turin is a mysterious piece of linen cloth which has left researchers debating its origins for centuries.
Many have suggested the cloth was used to wrap around Jesus before his burial following the crucifixion.
Others have said it was produced far too late to be used by Jesus.
The burial cloth has captivated the minds of historians, church chiefs and religious sceptics since it was first shown publicly in the 1350s.
Esteemed French knight Geoffroi de Charny gave it to the dean of a church in Lirey, France.
It was later dubbed the Holy Shroud when the suggestions that it was used for Jesus came about.
Many of these theories relate to how it features brown marks across it resembling a person’s face and body.
Scientists have said the feint markings could possibly belong to the son of God.
It is 14ft 5in long and 3ft 7in in width and actually features some burn marks.
The shroud was damaged in a fire in 1532 in the chapel in Chambéry, France and was later repaired by nuns.
Scientists have long been studying the Shroud of Turin with hopes of solving the long-standing mystery.
More than 170 peer-reviewed academic papers have been published about the linen since the 1980s.
Despite a variation of findings many do believe it was used to bury Jesus.