WE find it quite difficult to project a face onto a skull,’ admits Caroline Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University. Through a mixture of science and sculpture, she has taken the skulls of Richard III and Robert the Bruce, then shown how they would have looked in their prime. ‘Seeing someone’s face is a really good way of interacting and communicating with them,’ she continues. ‘It also creates a sense of empathy and understanding and has been used by museums as a way of drawing the attention of the audience, of connecting them with people from the past.’
Facial reconstructions have been around since the late 19th century, at first as a strand of forensic science and then, in the same way, that dental records might be used, as a way of confirming the identity of the deceased. However, another use that also began to emerge was as a means of delving back into the deep past and re-creating what our ancestors would have looked like.
The existence of the skull is key. A cast of it is made and then, using knowledge of facial tissue and muscles, a face is painstakingly built up, layer by layer. Sometimes, this is done in clay by hand, other times digitally, with a computer. Yet, explains Prof Wilkinson, ‘anatomical accuracy isn’t the only thing that’s important in these depictions. There is always going to be that interplay between scientific rigor and artistic interpretation. You need it to look realistic as a face. It needs to look like a person’.
Denne historien er fra February 12, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra February 12, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
