This time of year, you can see images of Santa Claus just about everywhere you go. But did you know that the face of the real Saint Nicholas has remained unknown? Well, at least that was the case until recently! In case you weren’t aware, the fictional Santa Claus was based on a real man. He was a Christian bishop in Asia Minor and was known for his generosity and gift-giving.
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While imagery does exist of this real-life Santa, none are considered accurate visual representations. So, a group of researchers, led by Cicero Moraes, set out to use forensic analysis to reconstruct his face. But how was this possible? In 1950, a man named Luigi Martino collected data from Saint Nicholas’ skull. His findings were used to generate an initial 3D facial reconstruction.
“We supplemented this with the anatomical deformation technique, in which the tomography of a living person’s head is adjusted so that the virtual donor’s skull matches that of the saint,” Cicero explains. “The final face is an interpolation of all this information, seeking anatomical and statistical coherence.”
In other words, quite a lot goes into the recreation of an image like this one. In the end, however, the result was 100% worth it! Check out the stunning results below.
Researches Reveal Our Most Accurate Image of the Real Saint Nicholas to Date
@dailymail The true face of the man who inspired Santa Claus can be seen for the first time in almost 1,700 years after scientists reconstructed his likeness from his skull. Most representations that exist are from 'Old Saint Nick' who died in 343 AD. Now his living face can be seen for the first time since the Late Roman Empire, after experts forensically rebuilt his features using his skull. Read the full story on DailyMail.com 🎥PennNews #santa #xmas #science #history ♬ original sound – Daily Mail
Although this reconstructed image isn’t exactly like the jolly Saint Nick we see around Christmas, it’s shockingly close! In fact, the researchers found that he bears a close resemblance to the Santa that is described in the classic Twas the Night Before Christmas. This accuracy, despite how much time has passed since Saint Nicholas was alive, further proves the powerful impact he continues to have on the world!
Plus, this isn’t the only recent news on this infamous man. Recently, a major discovery was made regarding his place of burial.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here!
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