For over 20 years, this graduate in environmental systems engineering at
Cornell University has studied the image of the Virgin left on the rough
maguey-fiber fabric of Juan Diego's tilma. What intrigued Tonsmann most
were the eyes of the Virgin.
Though the dimensions are microscopic, the iris and the pupils of the image's
eyes have imprinted on them a highly detailed picture of at least 13 people,
Tonsmann said. The same people are present in both the left and right eyes,
in different proportions, as would happen when human eyes reflect the
objects before them.
Tonsmann said he believes the reflection transmitted by the eyes of the
Virgin of Guadalupe is the scene on Dec. 9, 1531, during which Juan Diego
showed his tilma, with the image, to Bishop Juan de ZumÁrraga and others
present in the room.
In his research, Tonsmann used a digital process used by satellites
and space probes in transmitting visual information.
He insisted that the basic image "has not been painted by human hand."
As early as the 18th century, scientists showed that it was impossible to
paint such an image in a fabric of that texture. The "ayate" fibers used by
the Indians, in fact, deteriorate after 20 years. Yet, the image and the fabric
on which it is imprinted have lasted almost 470 years.
Tonsmann pointed out that Richard Kuhn, the 1938 Nobel Prize winner in
chemistry, found that the image did not have natural animal or mineral colorings.
Given that there were no synthetic colorings in 1531, the image is inexplicable.
In 1979, Americans Philip Callahan and Jody B. Smith studied the image with
infrared rays and discovered to their surprise that there was no trace of paint
"[How] it is possible to explain this image and its consistency ...
on a fabric that has not been treated?" Tonsmann asked. "[How] is it possible
that, despite the fact there is no paint, the colors maintain
their luminosity and brilliance?"
Tonsmann, a Peruvian engineer, added, "Callahan and Smith showed how
the image changes in color slightly according to the angle of viewing, a
phenomenon that is known by the word iridescence, a technique that
cannot be reproduced with human hands."
The scientist began his study in 1979. He magnified the iris of the Virgin's eyes
2,500 times and, through mathematical and optical procedures, was able to
identify all the people imprinted in the eyes.
The eyes reflect the witnesses of the Guadalupan miracle the moment
Juan Diego unfurled his tilma before the bishop, according to Tonsmann.
Moreover, in the center of the pupils, on a much more reduced scale, another
"This could be the case of the picture of the family in the center of the
Virgin of Guadalupe's Eyes Tell of Mystery IBM Expert Talks of Microscopic