'SHROUD OF TOURIN' BY JOHN SET FOR £75,000 SALE

'Shroud of Tourin' in which John Lennon depicts himself as Christ set for £75,000 sale

An artwork by John depicting himself as Christ is going up for auction.

‘The Shroud of Tourin’ was created in the autumn of 1966 after John commented that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.

The piece is estimated to be sold for £75,000 at auction house CooperOwen.

In March 1966, Lennon was quoted as saying: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right.

“We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first — rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”

The comments provoked little reaction in the UK, but sparked large protests in America and Mexico, and Lennon’s comments were publicly denounced by the Vatican.

The auction house said that the image’s title ‘Shroud of Tourin’ is a reference to John Lennon’s dislike of touring, as he had been on the road for years at that stage.

It is claimed that the words on the shroud later morphed into the song ‘Strawberry Fields’.

John Lennon's Shroud of Tourin, which is to be sold at a CooperOwen sale on December 15.

 

The canvas shroud shows Lennon wearing two pairs of glasses and a Batman symbol across his chest. He has his fists held in front of him, with ‘love’ and ‘hate’ written on the knuckles.

To the left is a cross on a hill with a crown above it and the word ‘Elvis’.

A letter written in 1977 claimed that Lennon drew the shroud after taking drugs and seeing an apparition of the Shroud of Tourin. The letter, written by his friend Lacey, said; “he was empowered to be John the individual instead of John the Beatle”.

Louise Cooper, owner-managing director of CooperOwen Music Media Auctions of London, said: “The shroud is an astonishing relic, created by John Lennon at the height of his fame in 1966”.

Among the other items at the auction is a cartoon portrait of Yoko Ono by Lennon, with an estimate of £17,000.

Ms Cooper added: “We are anticipating a lot of interest in the sale from around the world. This year marks the Beatles’ 50th anniversary and Lennon’s memorial falls on December 8th.

“From a collecting or investing point of view our sale is a very special date and outside of Europe the big buyers can be found in the US, Russia, Australia and Japan.

“The market for music and movie-related memorabilia is massive and many items are bought by investors.

“We have been bombarded with some amazing pieces of music history from all over the world.”

The auction will take place in London on December 15. It is 34 years since John Lennon was killed in New York City.