These days we can use technology for just about anything. With the advent of deep fakes,
software that can recreate people’s real voices, and everything in between, it’s scary to think
about how we’ll know who’s real and who’s not a few years down the road. And that might not be
limited to people currently alive. Technological advances have made it easier to figure out what
certain historical figures actually looked like. In some cases, there were paintings of them,
but that’s obviously subject to a lot of interpretation by the original artist. And in
other cases, we’ve had to rely more on written descriptions of these famous faces. But now,
we can use facial reconstruction technology to get a fairly accurate rendering of what they
looked like. 3D facial reconstruction utilizes a human skull and takes the natural markings on it
to recreate what the face that was once on top of it looked like. The marks tell the computer
how much skin to layer over each area of the face, which gives the face its general structure. Today,
we’re taking a look at some of the famous faces they’ve been able to recreate. So stick around,
as Facts Verse Presents: Technology Reveals What Historical Figures Actually Looked Like
George Washington The biggest name
among the founding fathers was obviously George Washington, and there were plenty of paintings
of Washington that we can reference. However, we have to keep in mind that painters sitting
in a room with George, or even ones working off of their memory of what he looked like,
were going to likely make his visage as impressive and flattering as possible. They
also always gave him expressions of sternness and gravitas. But facial reconstruction isn’t
as concerned with this type of flattery. As such, the recreation of GW looks similar,
but not exactly the same as the paintings we’ve often seen of him. For starters,
he has much rosier cheeks. He also has a stronger jaw than what we’ve traditionally seen, and his
nose is a bit more crooked. Plus, he apparently had dimples. What an adorable first president!
King Tutankhamun
King Tutankhamun is generally referred to as King Tut, and he’s among the most famous of
the ancient Egyptian kings. When it tomb was discovered, it gave us the first look at what
he might have looked like, based on the mask on the tomb. The assumption was that it was
created to match his face. But that still left things pretty open to interpretation. But with
3D facial reconstruction technology, we’re able to see with a lot more precision what the boy
king looked like. The thinking these days is that King Tut was actually more of a sick little boy
with a royal title. Historians think he may have had a club foot and walked with a cane,
and a limp accentuated by extra wide hips. Deformities like these are chalked up to
generations of inbreeding in the royal families. And as you can see from the reconstructed photos,
he had quite a flat head. This head shape was actually pretty common in that region during
this time period. He also likely had buckteeth and an overbite. So while his physical looks
were that of a sick young man, his historical legacy has far outshined that description.
Mary Queen of Scots Mary Queen of Scots
was the cousin of Queen Elizabeth. She was a queen almost literally from birth,
having ascended to the throne of Queen of Scotland after only 6 days of being alive. But obviously,
she couldn’t start her rule then, and she was sent to France for her formative days. However,
she returned to Scotland at age 19 to take over. Things overall didn’t go so great for her,
as she was widowed more than once, imprisoned, and forced to abdicate her throne. But physically,
she was apparently quite beautiful. So that’s something. She was 5’11” which was incredibly tall
for women in that era. The early paintings of her show a beautiful girl with red hair and pale skin.
Of course, the 3D facial reconstruction photos show her after years of hard living. Though,
to be fair, she still looks pretty similar to some of the paintings of her. So this is a case
where perhaps the historical records and the 3D imaging arrive at a pretty similar place.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra was a legend of ancient Egypt. She served as its ruler from 51 to 30 BC,
and was known as much for her beauty as for her intelligence. She was actually Greek by heritage,
but she spoke nine different languages fluently. She also made the Egyptian language the official
language of the land. Tales of her beauty went far and wide, especially because she successfully wood
both Mark Antony and Julius Caesar. And yet people often don’t realize that she was much
more likely to have traditional Greek features than the more Egyptian ones we often associate
with her. One thing that’s noticeable in the modern reconstructions of Cleopatra’s face
is that her nose is much more prominent than we’ve seen before. It’s likely that painters
and sculptures made her Greek nose smaller, to fit the beauty standards of the Egyptian
region. But regardless, it’s clear she was a beautiful and intelligent woman.
Nero
The Roman Emperor Nero was a bad dude. Not bad, like, cool. Bad as in a bad person. He’s actually
considered one of the most nefarious rulers in history, and might have even personally started
the giant fire of Rome in 64 AD that destroyed the city. The famous tale of Nero playing the fiddle
casually as the city burned around him is probably apocryphal, but it was likely based on what people
thought of him back then. His busts haven’t even been particularly flattering, and perhaps his
looks are part of what made him horrible to other people. He had a weak jaw and a brooding eyebrow
ridge. And 3D reconstruction has also revealed something we previously didn’t know – he had red
hair and freckles. He certainly didn’t look like modern day citizens of Rome, but that’s a fairly
common thing for historical figures, since the Roman Empire spanned so much of the globe.
Jesus of Nazareth The image of Jesus with light skin,
long wavy hair, and no beard is one that has somehow endured throughout history. There are even
some depictions of him with blue eyes. But given when and where the historical figure was born,
it’s pretty unlikely that he looked much like that at all. A big part of this is that with
the rapid spread of Christianity, many parts of the world adopted the religion, and just started
making recreations of Jesus that were similar to how the people in their area looked. That was true
of the Romans and Greeks, who presumed that Jesus must have looked somewhat like them. And their
influence on the globe was so far reaching that the images they created of him were the ones that
endured through history. But for starters it’s clear that Jesus wasn’t a white guy. Like all
the other people living in modern day Israel, he would have had much darker skin. And his
eyes and hair would have been likely dark brown. Plus his hair was likely not straight and flowy,
it likely had more of a matted and wool feel to it. As the 3D facial reconstruction shows us,
Jesus was a far different person than the depictions of him over the years.
Julius Caesar Julius Caesar is another one of
the most famous Roman historical figures. Originally a military general and statesman,
Caesar took over the Roman Empire in 49 BC, beginning a strong rule that ended
with his brutal murder in 44 BC. Though he made some incredibly authoritarian moves,
like declaring himself ‘dictator for life’, he also set in motion many important modern
programs that changed things for the better. These included support for war veterans, land reform,
and allowing citizenship for people who lived far from Rome but still under the Empire’s rule. He
also created the structure of the government bureaucracy for the Empire that lasted for
a long time. Of course, because he was such a strong and important figure, depictions of him
have always been quite flattering. He’s seen as a handsome figure and an imposing one too. But the
real Caesar wasn’t nearly as good looking. Facial reconstruction has shown us that his stern brow,
often seen in sculptures and paintings of him, was fairly accurate. But his head was fairly
misshapen, reportedly due to a tough delivery when he was born. And his eyes were incredibly close
set. So all in all, Caesar was an important and powerful figure, but a bit of an odd looking guy.
Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth is one
of the most famous and influential of the British monarchs in history. And most depictions of her
show a young queen looking fresh and vital. And that was a very deliberate thing on her
part. As the queen began to age, she demanded that painters keep painting a young version of
her. She even went so far as to give them a template to work from – one that showed her
as a much younger woman. The result is that many of the paintings of her over the years
look basically the same. Unfortunately it’s likely that aging didn’t treat her very well,
mostly because of the beautification techniques she used. Back then, women often used white paint
as makeup, to give them even more fair skin. Sadly, that paint contained a lot of lad,
which damaged the skin over the years. Elizabeth also contracted smallpox,
which scarred her face (and left her half bald.) But to be honest, even the facial reconstruction
shows a woman who was beautiful, despite her aging and the medical issues she dealt with.
Now it’s time to hear from you. Which of these faces was the most
surprising to you? Let us know in the comments section below!