ROME - The international exhibition The Mystery Man, has officially opened its doors to the public. Inside the fourteenth-century church of San Domenico in Chioggia (Venice), you can experience an immersive and unique journey through art and history that culminates in the spectacular three-dimensional and hyper-realistic sculpture depicting the man of the Holy Shroud.

The Mystery Man - which debuted with great success last year in Spain - traveled thousands of kilometers to be welcomed for the first time in Italy, in the city of Chioggia, where it will remain until January 7, 2024.

 The exhibition is organized as a real itinerary in six rooms in which the technology of ArtiSplendore plays a fundamental role in living the most immersive experience possible.

The exhibition opens with the first room completely dedicated to Jesus of Nazareth, in which there are various texts on the history of the character and his face. Subsequently, his death sentence is retraced through the reproduction of various objects: the coins of Judas, a crown of thorns, the cross and finally the tomb, inside which appears a hologram of the burial. Subsequently, there is a focus on the history of the Shroud, its discovery and arrival in Turin. Inside the immersive room it is possible to physically immerse yourself in the history of the image of Christ over the centuries, studying the first representations to arrive up to today. The fulcrum of the videomapping room is a reproduction of the Shroud onto which the history of the sheet is projected, as well as the analyzes and forensic studies that have taken place over the years.

 The last room houses the highlight of the entire exhibition: the three-dimensional and hyper-realistic sculpture totally faithful to the image of the Holy Shroud man, The Mystery Man. The body is the culmination of a historical, scientific, religious and artistic research that lasted more ten years old and edited by Álvaro Blanco. The sculpture - made of latex and silicone, with natural hair - represents a totally naked man lying about 1.78 meters in height and 75 kg in weight. The work does not present any artistic presumption, letting only the naturalness and realism with which it was conceived and created speak for themselves. On his body there are numerous wounds attributable to torture and crucifixion, his face is swollen and his hair is soaked in sweat and blood: the signs of passion. Like the man of the Shroud, also on the three-dimensional body there are wounds to the feet and wrists caused by the nails, a dislocated shoulder, a contracted leg due to the rupture of a tendon, the nose deviated by blows to the face and head, and also the hair is disheveled and dirty with a mixture of blood and sweat.

 Mayor of Chioggia, Mauro Armelao, said,“I am proud that Chioggia, a unique city in the world, is hosting a unique exhibition in the world, a very important international exhibition from both an artistic and scientific point of view. For this I sincerely thank all those who in various capacities made this event possible which we have the pleasure of welcoming to the city until 7 January 2024 and which began in its preparation in October 2022. The hyper-realistic representation of the man of the Shroud is the result of 15 years of in-depth studies carried out both on the Holy Shroud and on numerous historical-scientific texts. I invite everyone to come and visit this incredible exhibition, a unique opportunity to get carried away even emotionally by the path created by the curator Alvaro Blanco and which ends in the room that houses the reconstruction of the man of mystery, watched over by the large wooden crucifix of the Church of San Domenico. An immersive experience not to be missed.” Francisco Moya, CEO of ArtiSplendore, affirms, “We are really happy to have been welcomed by this wonderful city” “The exhibition is truly special: this hyper-realistic body has never been made; it is the first time that the face of the one who left his mark on the sheet can be seen. It is a unique exhibition, because it is precisely the people, through the emotions and feelings they experience in front of the sculpture, who demonstrate that it is a completely different representation from the others.”

 "In that tortured body, in that load of suffering, we see the stories of many persecuted people of our time reflected. But the mysterious image of the Shroud also offers a light of hope, because it is an icon of Holy Saturday and a prelude to a new life" adds Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Vatican media.

 Experiencing The Myster Man exhibition is an all-encompassing experience, an immersion in history and mystery. The Shroud is a relic steeped in science, mystery and faith, to which hundreds of people over the centuries have tried to give an answer. But in front of the body of The Mystery Man, the words stop and his eyes widen. A raw and violent work that shows pain without veils. The Mystery Man awakens the heart, touches the soul and defies science. After Chioggia, he will be transferred to other locations to be defined and, hopefully, also to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee.

The Mystery Man

Church of San Domenico, Chioggia (Venice)

until Jan.7

For more information: https://themysteryman.com/