The cloth, which first entered historical records around the year 1353, became famous for displaying what appears to be the faint outline of a man who had been crucified. Many believed the markings closely resembled the wounds Jesus Christ was said to have suffered, as described in biblical texts.

The image features what look like punctures from a crown of thorns, along with wounds on the wrists and feet — details that led countless Christians to think it could be the burial shroud of Jesus himself.

This latest analysis comes from Cicero Moraes, a Brazilian 3D digital designer known for his work on historical facial reconstructions. He used computer modeling software to simulate how cloth would realistically fall over a human form.

To add more depth to the study, Moraes also looked at how fabric behaves when draped over a low-relief sculpture — a type of sculpture where the raised elements barely stick out from the background.

The linen material is considered by some to have covered Jesus Marco Destefanis/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Moraes wrote: “Although there is a remote possibility that it is an imprint of a three-dimensional human body, it is plausible to consider that artists or sculptors with sufficient knowledge could have created such a piece, either through painting or low relief.”

These findings line up with results from earlier carbon dating studies, which placed the cloth’s origin somewhere between A.D. 1260 and 1390. That date range makes it more likely to be a medieval creation than an ancient religious artifact.