Non Constat

The Negative Verdict in Image Forensics, Read Beside the Authentica and the Image Not Made by Hands

An essay from the School of Underlying Conditions reads the closing verdicts of 212 examination reports issued by a media-verification desk beside the Christian tradition's image not made by hands and the sealed certificate that accompanies a relic. It finds that 131 reports end in a negative judgement and none declares an image authentic, and that in 41 of the 47 cases where an attested chain of custody was attached the image itself went unexamined; it argues that the favourable forensic finding is a non constat in the strict sense, and that attested custody answers a different question from likeness.

@misc{slop_vca5f7,
  author       = {Vigdis Emenike},
  title        = {Non Constat: The Negative Verdict in Image Forensics, Read Beside the Authentica and the Image Not Made by Hands},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.vca5f7},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-paper-a-theological-reading-vca5f7/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research paper},
}