Famous Figures In History And What They Actually Looked Like

The images of famous historical figures have been immortalized in sculptures, portraits, and paintings that were made while they were alive, but it is possible that these works of art were not that accurate. In some cases, those who commissioned the works of art ordered artists to flatter the subject. Thanks to modern technology, however, we can now find out what historical figures actually looked like. Keep reading to see what some famous figures in history really looked like! King Tut The Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamun reigned from 1332 until 1323 BC, during the New Kingdom era of Egypt. In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb, which had been sealed for over 3,200 years. Completely intact, the tomb contained treasures and artifacts meant to accompany the young pharaoh in the afterlife. King Tut only reigned for around ten years before he passed away and scientists discovered what had contributed to the young pharaoh’s death after they found out what he really looked like. What King Tut Really Looked Like When DNA studies were carried out on Tut’s mummy, scientists found out that he had quite a few health problems which contributed to his death. Even though Tut was tall, he was frail, had a bone disorder, suffered from several bouts of malaria, and had an infected broken leg when he died. There is also evidence that he had a club foot, a disadvantage of inbreeding, which was traditional at the time (his mother and father were siblings). These revelations are possible explanations of some aspects of the life of King Tut, the only pharaoh who is pictured doing all things sitting down, including archery. Emperor Nero When he was only 17 years old, Nero became the Roman Emperor, the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In his fifth year as emperor, he had his mother killed, and soon, he started becoming more active in politics. However, he was also known for making public appearances as an actor, charioteer, poet, and musician, which many believed undermined his authority. The middle and upper classes detested him after he raised taxes in order to fund extravagant private and public works for his empire. Modern technology enabled artists to find out what the emperor really looked like. What Nero Really Looked Like In 2019, Spanish artists made a lifelike rendering of the Roman Emperor based on descriptions, drawings, and busts of Nero. They got Nero’s attributes perfectly, including his chinstrap and arrogant smirk. In 64 A.D. there was a fire that consumed Rome, but Nero dressed up and sang on the roof of the palace. Before others could execute him, Nero killed himself saying, “What an artist dies in me!” Nefertiti The bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti, the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten, is made of limestone, covered in stucco, and believed to have been created by the sculptor Thutmose in Amarna, Egypt in 1345 B.C. The bust was discovered in Thutmose’s workshop in 1912. Based on the sculpture, the Egyptian queen was obviously beautiful and had defined facial features. However, with 3D imaging, experts could determine what Nefertiti possibly looked like in person. What Nefertiti Really Looked Like In 2018, Travel Channel’s show Expedition Unknown utilized 3D imaging technology in scanning and digitally mapping the facial structure of “The Younger Lady,” a mummy believed to be Nefertiti. The true identity of the mummy remains hotly debated, though. After the face of the mummy was scanned, it took 500 hours for paleoartist Elisabeth Daynes to recreate the face that was on the bust, which was based on Nefertiti’s historical images. It seems that this project has proven that “The Younger Lady” was actually Nefertiti, but upon the release of the image, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the color of the Egyptian queen’s skin. Robert The Bruce Robert the Bruce, also called Robert I, was the king of Scots who reigned from 1306 until 1329. He secured the independence of Scotland from England after he waged a successful guerrilla war against the English. In June 1314, he won in the Battle of Bannockburn but the defeated Edward II still did not give up the overlordship of Scotland. This caused the earls, barons, and the people of Scotland to write a letter to Pope John XXII saying that Robert I was the rightful monarch. What Robert The Bruce Really Looked Like Although Robert the Bruce is not depicted in any contemporary works of art, researchers at the University of Glasgow used casts from the skull believed to belong to the king of Scots. In the past, however, artists would just use word of mouth and their imaginations to make statues and portraits of Robert I. Researchers used Face Lab technology as well as legal and archaeological evidence in order to create his likeness. In 1324, Robert the Bruce was recognized by the Pope as the king of independent Scotland, though he passed away five years later. Julius Caesar Julius Caesar was a war general and Roman politician who is mainly responsible for the Roman Empire’s expansion. He crossed the Rhine River and the English Channel and subsequently invaded Britain. After refusing to step down from command to avoid arrest, Caesar re-entered Roman Italy from Gaul under arms, which lead to a civil war. There have been many sculptures of him like this one here, but in 2018, a realistic rendering of the military genius’s head was created. What Julius Caesar Really Looked Like A lifelike bust of Julius Caesar can be found in Leiden’s National Museum of Antiquities. One of Caesar’s marble portraits were scanned using 3D technology and the results were used to create this 3D reconstruction. After the Roman civil war that Caesar won, he began reigning as a dictator, starting governmental and social reforms and even granting citizenship to people who lived in the Roman Empire’s farthest regions. The Senate’s elite members were not pleased by Caesar’s reign, so they assassinated him in 44 B.C. Cleopatra Cleopatra ruled over Egypt for almost three decades. At 18, she ascended the throne, alongside her brother Ptolemy XIII, who was 10 years old, after their father died. In 49 B.C., her brother’s advisers succeeded in running Cleopatra out of Egypt, but with Julius Caesar’s help, she was reinstated a few years later with her brother, Ptolemy XIV. Cleopatra gave birth to Ptolemy Caesar, who is believed to be Caesar’s son. In 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was murdered and shortly after, Ptolemy XIV died, so Cleopatra ruled Egypt with her son. What Cleopatra Really Looked Like Cleopatra could speak multiple languages and was well-educated, so she became the dominant ruler when she was co-regent. In addition, she was considered an exotic beauty who used the powers of seduction, and was known for her alliances and romantic relations with the rulers of other empires. 3D artists used existing sculptures and portraiture to determine what Cleopatra really looked like. The Egyptian queen’s masculine features and prominent nose might be surprising to some who watched Elizabeth Taylor portray Cleopatra in film. Queen Elizabeth I Queen Elizabeth I ruled over Ireland and England from 1558 until 1603. Her father was King Henry VIII and her mother was his second wife Anne Boleyn. However, the marriage was annulled when Anne died, so Elizabeth was regarded as illegitimate. Because of this, it took Elizabeth a few years to ascend the throne, which happened in 1558. Although there are many paintings which depict what Elizabeth looked like, in 2018, Mat Collishaw, a mixed media artist, brought things to another level. What Queen Elizabeth I Really Looked Like What Collishaw created was a hyper-realistic animatronic mask with eyes that literally follow you around and with a mouth that opens as if it is about to speak. A mirror is attached to the mask, which is now displayed across the Armada Portrait at the Queen’s House. The famous Armada portrait shows a youthful Elizabeth, but she was actually 55 years old when it was painted, and the mask is more accurate in showing what the Virgin Queen might have looked like during that time. Some might say that Queen Elizabeth’s actual face is more or less the same as in her portraits. William Shakespeare There is still a lot of debate over what William Shakespeare really looked like, though many historians and scholars agree that the most accurate is this engraving made by Martin Droeshout. The man who created literary classics, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, surely had some facial hair in spite of a receding hairline. In 1975, Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel discovered the death mask of William Shakespeare in London. In the 1800s, death masks were made by using plaster or wax over a dead person’s face. There is ongoing debate over the fact that the mask may not be that of Shakespeare, but someone decided to make it the real thing. What William Shakespeare Really Looked Like In 2010, Dundee University’s Dr. Caroline Wilkinson used Shakespeare’s alleged death mask in order to make a rendering of his face. Wilkinson used 3D imaging on the mask to map every feature of Shakespeare’s face and created this rather somber rendering. Most would agree that Wilkinson’s depiction is to some extent similar to other interpretations out there, except for the fact that Shakespeare’s entire head is not seen here. The literary genius died when he was 52 years old on April 23, 1616. George Washington George Washington was the very first United States President from 1789 until 1797. After winning the War for Independence with the Patriot forces, Washington was unanimously elected as president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and was integral in the establishment of a new federal government. A highly revered historical figure in the United States, the Founding Father is everywhere, that is, his face is everywhere like on a dollar bill, a quarter, in numerous government buildings and museums all over the country. People are quite familiar with his face, though it was only recently when what he really looked like came to light. What George Washington Really Looked Like Researchers compared painted portraits to detailed renderings in order to make this computer-generated picture of Washington and to prove that many of his portraits are quite authentic. This image is so realistic you can even see Washington’s full head of hair (which was real and white in his day) and his five o’clock shadow. Washington died at the age of 67 on December 14, 1799, after having complications from a sore throat. Mary, Queen of Scots English School. Oil on canvas, 18th century. Located in a private collection. (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images) Mary Stuart, or more popularly known as Mary, Queen of Scots, reigned from 1542 to 1567. Sadly, her father died a few days after her birth, making her the queen only six days after she was born. Her mother sent her to France so that Mary could be in French court while growing up and she returned to Scotland in 1559. Do you think this painting really shows what she looked like at the time? What The Queen Of Scots Really Looked Like Dundee University’s Professor Caroline Wilkinson used drawings and paintings to create a 3D face of Mary, the Queen of Scots. In addition, Wilkinson drew upon biographical info to avoid her artwork’s highly stylized depictions. This rendering of the Queen of Scots is not too different from how her classic paintings depicted her but you can still spot the difference. Mary’s nose, however, is the feature that remained closest to the original. Richard III King Richard III ruled over England for two years (1483-1485), but his reputation has been regarded as less than honorable as time has gone by. He was labeled a tyrant In Shakespeare’s play and in the end, he was replaced by the Tudors. In the 1485 Battle of Bosworth Field, Richard III courageously led a charge into Henry Tudor’s army. His clan’s quick defeat followed that move! What Richard III Really Looked Like It was only in 2012 when it became possible to recreate this image of Richard III since his body was lost after he died. In 2012, a team of researchers looked through clues which brought them to the underground parking lot where they found his body and exhumed it. Many members from Dundee University helped create this image that depicts what Richard might have looked like when he was alive. Since there are no realistic paintings of him, researchers needed to use historical records. Meritamun Did you know that Meritamun means “beloved of the god Amun”? Researchers from the University of Melbourne introduced this queen to us when they looked through their archives and discovered her skull. She was naturally from ancient Egypt, so how her skull managed to travel across the globe is quite perplexing. She was one of the Great Royal Wives of Pharaoh Ramesses the Great and her burial place was the Valley of the Queens in Egypt. What Meritamun Really Looked Like There is not a lot about Meritamun that researchers could find mainly because they only had her skull, but they still managed to gather some information, such as the former queen’s age at the time of her death. She is believed to have been between 18 to 25 years old at that time, but why she died remains a mystery. They also found out that she might have had a sweet tooth because of her tooth decay. It is not that surprising since Alexander the Great first brought sugar to Egypt around the time that she lived. Jesus Christ We are pretty sure that you have heard of Jesus Christ: the biblical figure who walked on water, turned water to wine, healed the blind, and rose from the dead. Jesus Christ gave up his life and got crucified on a cross for the greater good. A few renditions have been created to depict what Jesus looked like, but it appears that artists did not really capture Jesus’ true essence. What The Real Jesus Christ Might Have Looked Like The Bible does not specifically describe the physical appearance of Jesus Christ and a lot of modern evidence indicates that Jesus does not look like how people have portrayed him over the centuries. There is also no skeletal remains or body parts which might have Jesus Christ’s DNA, so researchers relied only on forensic anthropology. When this image was created, the team of Israeli archeologists and British scientists who did the work used the methods commonly used in solving crimes. Do you think this what Jesus actually looked like? The Lord Of Sipan In case you have never heard of The Lord of Sipan, he was the first of a number of discoveries which have been called the Moche mummies. He was originally found by Archaeologists in Peru back in 1987. This discovery is among the most significant that were made during the 20th century, and there were a lot of treasures buried with the body of the Lord of Sipan, similar to King Tut. We bet you are wondering how experts recreated this historical figure. What The Lord Of Sipan Really Looked Like The forensic team definitely did not have an easy job, especially since pressure from the sediment unfortunately broke the skull during the excavation. Thankfully, modern technology helped a lot in the reconstruction of the 96 separate pieces of broken skull. The team used photogrammetry (a process that uses cameras that are set up at different angles to create a 3D image) in order to reconfigure the skull. This image was produced by the Brazilian Team of Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Odontology. Saint Anthony Saint Anthony was born in Portugal in 1195. He passed away quite young at the age of 36, but he definitely made a huge impact during his day, with his great ability to heal. The Catholic Church adores Saint Anthony since he was canonized as a saint really quickly, the second-fastest to be exact. Only a year after he passed away, he was declared by the church as the saint of lost things. What Saint Anthony Really Looked Like It has been said that when Saint Anthony died, children cried in the street and bells rang by themselves. His body was actually exhumed three decades after his death, but the researchers only had his tongue and jawbone to guide them. The team behind this recreation of Saint Anthony’s real face were composed of the University of St. Anthony of Padua’s Anthropology Museum researchers and a 3-D designer from the University of Sao Paolo.