Although it’s not technically book-related, I consider any news about Shakespeare to be worthy of reporting. Today, therefore, I am pleased to inform readers that forensic anthropologists have used facial reconstruction technology to create a new picture of Shakespeare, thought to closely resembled how he actually looked in life.
By carrying out analysis on Shakespeare’s death mask, the team from at Dundee University used computer technology to create super-detailed 3D images of the poet’s face. The images have caused something of a stir in Shakespeare-related communities, as his exact resemblance has, up until now, been highly speculated-upon. Stuart Clarke, director of Death Masks, says of the image that “this 3D model may be, in fact, the way Shakespeare looked in life. Breakthroughs in computer imaging mean we may have to rewrite the history books on Shakespeare.”
Of course, this is nonsense; even if it is an exact resemblance on the man, there are no books that will need to be rewritten on account of our now knowing what he looked like. Even so, there is little doubt that thousands will be thrilled to known they can now gaze upon the face of one of the greatest writers ever to have lived.
