An artist has devoted her life to proving the legendary Turin Shroud is a genuine reflection of Jesus Christ's face.

Norma Weller has spent ten years travelling the world investigating the shroud and subjecting it to searching tests she claims throw new light on early Christianity.

The shroud is reputed to be the cloth Jesus was buried in.

Radiocarbon dating tests in 1988 suggested it was a medieval fake, produced between 1260 and 1390.

However, chemists and art experts are still baffled about the techniques used to make the image.

Ms Weller believes the shroud is real and proves Jesus was a member of a little-known sect called the Nazarenes, whose teachings were rejected by later Christians.

The fruits of Ms Weller's in-depth studies are on display at the Hove Ikon Gallery in Fourth Avenue, Hove.

She has subjected Secondo Pia's 1898 photographs of the shroud to colour-intensifying techniques which bring to light previously-hidden impressions on the surface.

These persuaded her Jesus's body had been treated and buried according to Nazarene customs.

She is also convinced Jesus emitted radiation waves which allowed him to transmit an image of his face on to the cloth.

Ms Weller, a former colour studies lecturer at the University of Brighton, said: "It sounds absolutely incredible but it is quite possible, as radionic tests have shown."

The Semitic Mandean-Nazarenes are thought to have lived in caves in the Wadi Nasara area of Jordan and across Petra during Jesus's time.

They may have migrated from the Jordan Valley in Palestine into the Eastern Territories of Iraq and Iran during the first and second centuries AD, following persecution by Orthodox Jews.

Ms Weller said: "Jesus did not call himself the son of God. He actually believed all human beings were part of a single light, which was what the Nazarene teachings were all about.

"They were independent of what later became orthodox Christianity and were even heretical."

Nazarene burial rites would have left Jesus's body unwashed and placed a myrtle wreath on his head as an emblem of resurrection.

Ms Weller says the crown of thorns he wore during crucifixion would have been removed and would not have left the myrtle pollen grains later found on the shroud.

Her colour-intensification images of the shroud also revealed to her signs of a rectangular grave cloth placed over his face and the imprint of an iron ring attached to the wreath.

Both would have been a feature of a Nazarene burial of a priest and are possibly backed by historian Ian Wilson's finding of iron particles on the shroud.

Ms Weller has explored the Sinai and Negev deserts, Jordan, Petra, Cappadocia in Turkey and remote areas of Greece following up clues.

Her interest had been sparked by a Turin Shroud exhibition she viewed a decade ago and she quit her job seven years ago to research the subject full time.

Ms Weller said: "There are some things which are beyond the intellect to understand but I think this was some kind of special manifestation."

Visitors can view the exhibition by appointment. It is open this Saturday and Sunday between 2pm and 5pm as part of the Brighton Festival.

For more details, call 01273 775630 or see www.altguide.com/turin