Much of history we know thanks to art, portraits, paintings, sculptures, or busts that were responsible for capturing historical characters and events of great importance, but, despite the total mastery of the technique of many of these works, there is no way to check the accuracy or precision of the works concerning the characters or events captured since there is no comparison.
However, since February 2019, with the help of the creativity and skill of a user on Instagram called Royalty Now, whose real name is Becca Saladin, we can get an idea of what some of the most important personalities in history would look like through reconstruction with own historical documentation and some photo and image editing software out there of the artworks that portrayed them.
To work on these images Becca has two main techniques, in the first one she adapts the original portrait or old photo to the physique of a current person with similar features to the ancestor she intends to modernize, or on other occasions, she plays to reconstruct the physiques from a sculpture or a bust chiseled in past centuries. The results are truly amazing, read on to find out how these faces could pass as modern portrait photographs.
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar is remembered for being one of the most outstanding politicians and military men of Rome, he was the one who achieved victory in the civil war against the most conservative sector of the Senate. His firm look and hard countenance stands out, typical of a person with great strength and determination.
Caligula
Third Roman emperor, son of Tiberius. Caligula is remembered for being a terrible ruler who led his people to a severe crisis as a product of his own mental disorders and for his violent and aggressive personality, in addition to his unusual sexual activity. The large and marked features on this young man’s face inspire a great deal of distrust.
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I, one of the most important queens in British history. This queen is remembered for having been beheaded on charges of adultery, incest, and treason, despite her remarkable innocence. Her life has been adapted into numerous novels, plays, songs, operas, television dramas, and films. Undoubtedly this woman could not hide her fine lineage, her large eyes and elongated features are a sign of European refinement.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra is often depicted in the image of Elizabeth Taylor and her enigmatic violet eyes, however, she is a very Westernized and therefore inaccurate figure. Cleopatra ruled what is now known as Egypt, North Africa, and is remembered for her beauty and for being one of the most iconic figures of power, strength, and femininity in history. Of course, she was a woman with a broad nose and lips crowning a spectacular beauty.
Nefertiti
Like Cleopatra, Nefertiti is remembered as a beautiful and powerful woman. A very important figure in Egyptian history, she was the wife of Akhenaten. In her case in particular, Nefertiti was represented with much finer features, perhaps this was the reason why she was considered a beauty out of the ordinary in this region.
Elizabeth I
Daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, she was known as the virgin queen or Gloriana, this queen never married, her virginity was a myth during her reign. Elizabeth I took charge of a country divided by religious issues and also hosted a great period of cultural splendor, with figures such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe.
Louis XV
The ‘Well loved’, king with little political activity, unlike his predecessor Louis XIV, is said that thanks to his lack of economic ambition earned him empathy with his people, his beautiful appearance made him a great lover with many women, the appearance of this man could make us think that today he would have also conquered several hearts with that blond and curly hair.
Marie Antoinette
An extremely controversial character, Marie Antoinette she was very young when she assumed the throne and has been severely judged by the naive and selfish she took, although she is also remembered for being a woman of extraordinary beauty.
The artist is incredibly surprised by the response that social media users have had to her work displayed on Instagram, which has generated more than 30 thousand followers.
Photos by @royalty_now_
This story was originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
