AI reconstruction of Cleopatra VII Philopator

The Faces of History

Historical figures were real people, with real wrinkles and pimples. For some, we have surviving evidence of what they actually looked like. Busts, coins, and paintings made in their presence, and sometimes written accounts down to the shape of their nose.

We have researched these sources and fed them into AI to make photorealistic approximations of what they were like.

Ptolemaic Egypt · 69–30 BCE

Cleopatra VII Philopator

Silver tetradrachm, Antioch mint, c. 36 BCE (Cleopatra obverse, Antony reverse)
Silver denarius, c. 34 BCE (Antony obverse, Cleopatra reverse)
Silver tetradrachm, Ascalon mint, c. 49–30 BCE
View the evidence →
AI reconstruction of Tutankhamun

New Kingdom Egypt (18th Dynasty)

Tutankhamun

c. 1341–c. 1323 BCE

CT scan of Tutankhamun’s mummy, conducted January 2005 by Dr. Zahi Hawass and the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, with subsequent analysis by French, American, and Egyptian forensic teams
Gold death mask of Tutankhamun, c. 1323 BCE, Egyptian Museum, Cairo (GEM inventory)
→
AI reconstruction of Nefertiti

New Kingdom Egypt (18th Dynasty)

Nefertiti

c. 1370–c. 1330 BCE

Painted limestone bust of Nefertiti, by the sculptor Thutmose, c. 1345 BCE. Neues Museum, Berlin (inventory ÄM 21300)
Wall reliefs from Amarna (Tell el-Amarna), various temples and tombs, c. 1353–1336 BCE
→
AI reconstruction of Ramesses II

New Kingdom Egypt (19th Dynasty)

Ramesses II

c. 1303–1213 BCE

Mummy of Ramesses II, discovered 1881 in the Deir el-Bahri royal cache (DB320), originally from tomb KV7, Valley of the Kings. Now in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Cairo.
Colossal bust of Ramesses II (‘The Younger Memnon’), c. 1250 BCE, from the Ramesseum, Thebes. British Museum, London (EA 19).
Seated statue of Ramesses II, black granite, c. 1279–1213 BCE, Museo Egizio, Turin (Cat. 1380).
→
AI reconstruction of Socrates

Classical Athens

Socrates

c. 470–399 BCE

AI reconstruction of Alexander III of Macedon

Classical Greece / Hellenistic

Alexander III of Macedon

356–323 BCE

Azara Herm, Roman marble copy, Musée du Louvre, Paris (Ma 436)
→
AI reconstruction of Jesus of Nazareth

Roman Judea

Jesus of Nazareth

c. 4 BCE – c. 30 CE

Limited evidence
AI reconstruction of Gaius Julius Caesar

Roman Republic

Gaius Julius Caesar

100–44 BCE

Tusculum portrait, Museo di Antichità, Turin
Denarius of Julius Caesar, 44 BCE (Crawford RRC 480 series)
→
AI reconstruction of Nero Claudius Caesar

Roman Empire (Julio-Claudian dynasty)

Nero Claudius Caesar

37–68 CE

Portrait bust of Nero, Palatine Museum (Museo Palatino), Rome
Portrait bust of Nero, Capitoline Museums, Rome
Sestertii and aurei of Nero, c. 64–68 CE, various mints (Rome, Lugdunum)
→
AI reconstruction of Vlad III Dracula

Medieval Wallachia

Vlad III Dracula

c. 1431–1476/77

Portrait of Vlad III, late 15th or early 16th century, Ambras Castle collection, now Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (GG_4678)
→
AI reconstruction of Henry VIII

Tudor England

Henry VIII

1491–1547

Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Henry VIII, c. 1537, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
Hans Holbein the Younger, Whitehall Mural cartoon (left half), 1537, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 4027)
→
AI reconstruction of Anne Boleyn

Tudor England

Anne Boleyn

c. 1501–1536

AI reconstruction of Elizabeth I of England

Tudor England

Elizabeth I of England

1533–1603

The Darnley Portrait, c. 1575, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 2082)
Nicholas Hilliard, various miniatures of Elizabeth I, c. 1572–1600
→
AI reconstruction of Richard III of England

Late Medieval England

Richard III of England

1452–1485

Portrait of Richard III, c. 1510s, Society of Antiquaries of London
Rous Roll, English version, c. 1483–1485, by John Rous
→
AI reconstruction of William Shakespeare

Elizabethan & Jacobean England

William Shakespeare

1564–1616

Gheerart Janssen (Gerard Johnson), painted limestone bust of William Shakespeare, funerary monument, Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, before 1623
Martin Droeshout, engraved portrait of William Shakespeare, title page of the First Folio (Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies), London, 1623
Attributed to John Taylor, Portrait of William Shakespeare (the 'Chandos portrait'), c. 1600–1610, oil on canvas, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 1)
→
AI reconstruction of Napoleon Bonaparte

Revolutionary & Napoleonic France

Napoleon Bonaparte

1769–1821

Death mask of Napoleon, made by Dr. Francesco Antommarchi, Saint Helena, 6 May 1821
Jacques-Louis David, The Coronation of Napoleon (Le Sacre de Napoléon), 1805–1807, Musée du Louvre
→
AI reconstruction of Giacomo Casanova

18th century Enlightenment

Giacomo Casanova

1725–1798

Attributed to Alessandro Longhi, Portrait of Giacomo Casanova, c. 1774, oil on canvas
→
AI reconstruction of Lord Byron

Romantic era

Lord Byron

1788–1824

Thomas Phillips, Portrait of Lord Byron in Albanian Dress, 1813, oil on canvas, National Portrait Gallery, London
Richard Westall, Portrait of Lord Byron, c. 1813, oil on canvas, National Portrait Gallery, London
→