Peruvian Catholic artist Walter Huamán, known internationally as Walt Wizard, unveiled the hyper-realistic sculpture he created of Jesus Christ based on the image on the shroud.

Walt worked for six years, and the idea came about when he discovered a 3D image reproduced by American artist Ray Downing showing how Christ’s face could have come from the Turin Shroud shot.

The artwork was officially presented in Lima, Peru, at the Church of San Antonio de Padua, in the Jesús María neighborhood of Lima. “I thank the artists who accompanied me to imitate Jesus as faithfully as possible. What I do is art in the service of faith,” the artist told ACI Prensa.

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Who is Walter Huaman or Walt Wizard?

Walter Huamán is a 46-year-old Peruvian industrial engineer. At the age of 30, he chose to devote himself to developing his skills as a visual artist and began his career specializing in hyperrealism, Perú21 reviewed.

In the past 16 years he has made sculptures of Bruce Willis, Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt, Maradona, Santa Rosa de Lima and Miguel Grau, among others.

Walter studied at La Inmaculada school and comes from a Catholic family. Never did he reread the Gospels of the Bible as often as in recent weeks. He had never felt more confident in his faith than until now, he revealed to Peruvian media.

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How he made the hyper-realistic image of Jesus Christ

Walter and his team conducted research based on studies on the Shroud of Turin. In addition, they interviewed specialists to recreate other details, such as clothing, the size of the beard, the dark shade of the skin and the brown eyes.

The artist even hired a cobbler to make sandals worn by the Jews in the 1st century. To imitate Christ’s skin in detail, medical grade silicone was used, which is “the closest material to human skin to date”.

I used real eyelashes, beard and hair, and the outfit came from the Middle East

Walter Huamán plans to recreate Jesus along with other elements of his environment. The project is called ‘Jesús Life and Passion’ and will soon be touring the most important cities of the world.

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