Scientists Reconstructed the Face of St. Nicholas – Here’s What They Found

Catholic News Agency ^ | December 11, 2016 | N/A

[BlessedBeGod]

Liverpool, England, Dec 11, 2016 / 03:43 pm (CNA).- Scientists at a university in Liverpool recently unveiled what they say is the most realistic portrait ever created of St. Nicholas of Myra, the popular 4th Century bishop best known as the inspiration for the modern-day figure of Santa Claus.

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University's Face Lab used a facial reconstruction system and 3D interactive technology to create the portrait, which was unveiled on Dec. 6, the feast day of St. Nicholas.

It's #StNicholas day. Check out the facial depiction of St Nicholas we produced @LJMU @LSAD_2016 https://t.co/EQfjjHmRis #stnicholasday pic.twitter.com/MW1GpWhBWW — Face Lab Liverpool (@FaceLabLJMU) December 6, 2016

University Professor Caroline Wilkinson said the reconstruction relied on “all the skeletal and historical material” available, the BBC reports. A university spokeswoman said the new image uses “the most up-to-date anatomical standards, Turkish tissue depth data and CGI techniques.”

Among the features depicted in the saint’s image is a broken nose, which Wilkinson said had “healed asymmetrically, giving him a characteristic nose and rugged facial appearance.”

St. Nicholas lived 270-343 A.D. He was the bishop of Myra, in southern Turkey.

During his years as bishop, he was imprisoned during the Diocletian persecution, then later released when Constantine came to power.

He was known for his staunch defense of the faith, as well as his often anonymous generosity toward those in need.

Stories surrounding the saint abound. He is believed to have once rescued three sisters from being sold into slavery by throwing bags of gold through an open window into their house to pay their family’s debts.

Another popular story holds that he became so enraged by the heretic Arius – who claimed that Christ was not truly God – that he punched him during a heated debate at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.

Based on the broken nose in the saint's facial reconstruction, maybe Arius punched him back.

[FroggyTheGremlim]

Ho! Ho! Ho!

[broken_arrow1]

Where’s the bowl full of jelly?

[PlateOfShrimp]

Awesome tats on the shoulders!

[sphinx]

The story says the reconstruction is based on “all the skeletal and historical material,” but it’s not clear what that means. Do we actually have his skeleton? How much remains? How early are the surviving artistic depictions? What’s the evidence for the broken nose?

[mwilli20]

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/anatomical-examination/

[BuffaloJack]

read later

[COBOL2Java]

Scientists Reconstructed the Face of St. Nicholas – Here’s What They Found

[buffaloguy]

Iirc, the fat Santa was a creation of Coca Cola. Most earlier depictions show him with normal weight.

[reed13k]

A right jolly old elf!

[HereInTheHeartland]

I saw that guy at the mall yesterday.

[reed13k]

No the first real written description for Santa were from “Twas the night before Christmas” originally titled “A visit from St. Nicholas”. In it we get the lines:

He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

[IronJack]

But Clement Clarke Moore also depicted St. Nick as an elf, a tiny, even miniature man. Yet today’s image is of a normal-sized man surrounded by worker elves, but the Boss isn’t one of them.

[katana]

Way before Coca Cola (or perhaps when they were still using real cocaine in their formula) there was the famed nineteenth century cartoonist Thomas Nast.

[Maverick68]

Surprising....Given the way “Scientists” operate now, I assumed it would be revealed that Saint Nick was a black Transgendered person.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

There is an old painted depiction of St. Nicholas, which someone noticed.

[reed13k]

Not all elf representations are small and pixieish. I always saw it as the largest of the elves by which he was surrounded. The poem to me has always read as shorter than average but very plump and rotund.

[FlingWingFlyer]

White guy?

[Little Pig]

I wonder if Dickens’ description of the Ghost of Christmas Present influenced the idea of the “fat Santa”?

[reed13k]

In truth he never talks about his stature/height...only that he is broad and round. The only potential reference to height is in the very first mention where he is called a ‘little old driver’ (to me not much different than any reference to an older gentleman) and the term ‘elf’ (which as I noted can be of many different sizes).

Here is the complete description from Moore himself:

“With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

.......

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,”