Secondo Pia

Secondo Pia ( born September 9, 1855 in Asti, † September 7, 1941 in Turin ) was an Italian lawyer and photographer. He is particularly known for his recording of the Turin grave cloth of 28 May 1898. This was recognized by the Catholic Church as part of the devotion of the Holy Face of Christ.

Biography

Pia was interested in both the arts as well as sciences and began to explore the new photo technology in the 70s of the 18th century. In the 1890s, he was mayor and member of the Turin photography clubs. He was a well known photographer in Turin and some of his recordings are in the collection of the local film museum. He should also apply as a pioneer in the application of the light bulb in the 1890s.

Secondo Pia was the impetus for the modern grave cloth science in unusual circumstances. In 1898, Turin also celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Turin cathedral and the 50 years of the Constitution of 1848 ( Statuto Albertino ) in favor of the House of Savoy. In this context, the grave cloth was publicly exhibited and photographed by Pia. Only with an elaborate lighting equipment in the dark Turin Cathedral Pia managed to photograph the cloth. Pia then stated that the portrait in the negative much more detailed than the original had. The whole story was published in the newspaper Corriere Nazionale, and shortly thereafter in the newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. This triggered a lot of theories and debates in science and religion. In 1931, a similar photograph was taken by photographer Giuseppe Enrie - with the same phenomena in the negative.