Face reconstruction shows Richard III in 3D

Face reconstruction show Richard III in 3D

The face of the English King Richard III, whose remains were discovered in a car park in the city of Leicester, has been reconstructed in three dimensions.

The Richard III Society unveiled on Tuesday a plastic mold made from a digital reconstruction of the face, which reflects how  the last British monarch of the House of York looked like.

Philippa Langley, a member of the Society, told the BBC that this rebuilding “does not show the face of a tyrant,” as  portrayed in the play by William Shakespeare, in an eponymus way.

The reproduction of the face began with the scanning of the skull and digital adding of the layers of muscle and skin: “When the 3D digital bust was cometed, we replicated it in plastic, painted it and added the prosthetic eyes, the wig, the hat and clothes,” said Caroline Wilkinson, who has led the process.

The colors of hair and eyes, as well as the style of the clothing, it also inspired in the surviving paintings of the monarch.

Leicester University announced last Monday that it had discovered the skeleton of Richard III, last English king killed in battle. Excavations at what is today the English town park began last August and in September was found the bones of a man with a curved spine and wound marks.

The DNA comparison and relation of the teeth and femur of the skeleton with Michael Ibsen, a descendant of the sister of Richard III, Anne of York, provided the final proof confirming the discovery.