The scourging was done by "professional men." The strokes are never one on top of another, but always one after another, approximately at equal distance. Jesus must have been bound in such a way that He was in a rigid, almost immovable position; He could not twist himself around to avoid the blows.

What we see on the shoulders of our Lord are only black spots; in reality, by the time the soldiers had finished applying the scourging the body of Jesus was covered with blood from the head down to the feet. When the soldiers untied our Lord from the column, or the rope, probably Jesus fell to the ground, exhausted, and may have remained there for some time. Then He recovered enough to stand the trial and even to carry the cross for a time.

The Roman 'whip' or 'flagrum'

Reconstruction of the scourging

How did Jesus look after the scourging? "From the sole of the foot to the head there is no sound spot: wounds, bruises, open sores not dressed, not bandaged, nor soothed with oil." (Isaiah 1: 6)

Doctor Paul Vignon in his studies on the Shroud, along with Msgr. Giulio Ricci and many others have come to the conclusion that the whip used must have been made of a handle and probably two leather thongs which were weighted with two metal balls, their sole purpose to bite deeply into the flesh of the naked victim, weakening him and reducing his resistance to the ordeal to come. This type of whip would not tear the skin, but would cause deep, extremely painful bruises, which is exactly what the Shroud shows. The bruises caused by the scourging do not seem to have ripped the skin away.

Jewish law forbade administering more than forty lashes, and the Pharisees had reduced the number to thirty-nine. St. Paul speaks of his scourging as being "forty less one." (2 Cor. 11:24) Among the Romans there was no such restraint and we can be certain that many did die as a result of the scourging, if not immediately, then later, from either infection or internal hemorrhaging. The evidence on the Shroud is that Jesus was struck excessively.

The soldiers must have realized that Jesus was at the point of total exhaustion when they stopped the scourging, untied Jesus who fell on the floor and remained there till He regained some strength. The Evangelists in their stark brevity and reality can add veracity to the Shroud:
Mt. 2 7:26 - Then he released Barabbas for them. He ordered Jesus to be first scourged and then handed over to be crucified.
Mark: 15:15 - So Pilate, anxious to placate the crowd, released Barabbas for them and, having ordered Jesus to be scourged handed him over to be crucified.
Luke:22:15 - As you can see, this man has done nothing that deserves death, so I shall have him flogged and then let him go.