The shroud is rectangular, measuring approximately 4.4 by 1.1 metres (14 ft 5 in × 3 ft 7 in).
The cloth is woven in a three-to-one herringbone twill composed of flax fibrils.
Its most distinctive characteristic is the faint, brownish image of a front and back view of a naked man with his hands folded across his groin.
The two views are aligned along the midplane of the body and point in opposite directions.
The front and back views of the head nearly meet at the middle of the cloth.

The image of the "Man of the Shroud" has a beard, moustache, and shoulder-length hair parted in the middle.
He is muscular and tall (various experts have measured him as from 1.70 to 1.88 m or 5 ft 7 in to 6 ft 2 in).
Reddish-brown stains are found on the cloth, correlating, according to proponents, with the  Biblical description of the crucifixion of Jesus.

In May 1898 Italian photographer Secondo Pia was allowed to photograph the shroud.
He took the first photograph of the shroud on 28 May 1898.
 In 1931, another photographer, Giuseppe Enrie, photographed the shroud and obtained results similar to Pia's.
In 1978, ultraviolet photographs were taken of the shroud.

The shroud was damaged in a fire in 1532 in the chapel in Chambery, France.
There are some burn holes and scorched areas down both sides of the linen, caused by contact with molten silver during the fire that burned through it in places while it was folded.
 Fourteen large triangular patches and eight smaller ones were sewn onto the cloth by Poor Clare nuns to repair the damage.
The shroud is rectangular, measuring approximately 4.4 by 1.1 metres (14 ft 5 in × 3 ft 7 in). The cloth is woven in a three-to-one herringbone twill composed of flax fibrils. Its most distinctive characteristic is the faint, brownish image of a front and back view of a naked man with his hands folded across his groin. The two views are aligned along the midplane of the body and point in opposite directions. The front and back views of the head nearly meet at the middle of the cloth.
The image of the "Man of the Shroud" has a beard, moustache, and shoulder-length hair parted in the middle. He is muscular and tall (various experts have measured him as from 1.70 to 1.88 m or 5 ft 7 in to 6 ft 2 in). Reddish-brown stains are found on the cloth, correlating, according to proponents, with the  Biblical description of the crucifixion of Jesus.
In May 1898 Italian photographer Secondo Pia was allowed to photograph the shroud. He took the first photograph of the shroud on 28 May 1898.  In 1931, another photographer, Giuseppe Enrie, photographed the shroud and obtained results similar to Pia's. In 1978, ultraviolet photographs were taken of the shroud.
The shroud was damaged in a fire in 1532 in the chapel in Chambery, France. There are some burn holes and scorched areas down both sides of the linen, caused by contact with molten silver during the fire that burned through it in places while it was folded.  Fourteen large triangular patches and eight smaller ones were sewn onto the cloth by Poor Clare nuns to repair the damage.
Shroud of Turin