You know, [b]The_Macallan[/b], I'm not certain that Jesus received 'no more than 39 lashes.'
At His trial before Herod, maybe He received only 39 lashes, but the Bible is only silent on whether any lashes at all were given in the court of Herod.
At His trial before Pontius Pilate, however, there was no such safeguard as a magic number of 'forty lashes, save one.'
Pilate ordered Christ 'scourged', which has no limitations, and was done with a flagellum, at least in the First Century AD.
Romans would sometimes flog criminals to death and then crucify their bodies.
What I'm getting to in all this is that the image on the Shroud of Turin shows the features of someone who received way in excess of 39 lashes, beginning at the top of his shoulders and all the way down to the back of the calves of his legs.
Note that I did not capitalize the 'his' in any instance in the preceding paragraph. I just don't know the answer to that man's identity.
But, at least I'm honest about it.
Eric The(Believing)Hun[>]:)]