Researchers led by designer Cícero Moraes have reconstructed the face of the man who inspired the gift-bringing figure of Christmas.
Cícero Moraes is a Brazilian 3D designer known for forensic computer reconstructions. Thanks to his team’s work, we now have a clearer idea of what the real-life prototype of Saint Nicholas—the Dutch Sinterklaas and the American Santa Claus—may have looked like.
Saint Nicholas of Myra was a Christian bishop in the city of Myra in Lycia (present-day Turkey); he lived roughly from 270 to 343 AD.
José Luis Lira, a co-author of the study and a specialist on saints, said: “He was described as an old man who punished disobedient children and rewarded those who behaved well with gifts. The image of Santa Claus as we know him today is based on an illustration by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly in early 1863.”
No lifetime images of Saint Nicholas have survived. To recreate the familiar, kindly grandfatherly figure, experts used the saint’s remains, including his skull, and historical descriptions of his deeds.
What did the scientists talk about?
Moraes said the face showed both strength and kindness. That matches the broad face described in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” attributed to Clement Clarke Moore.
The lead author said the saint’s face was wider than average.
To reconstruct it, Moraes and his team studied data collected in the 1950s by Luigi Martino, with permission from the Centro Studi Nicolaiani, which researches Saint Nicholas. Using that data, the experts primarily created 3D model skulls. Then they “sculpted” the faces using statistical projections, the Daily Mail reported.
“We used the method of anatomical deformation, where the CT scan of a living person’s head is adjusted so the virtual donor’s skull matches the saint’s skull. The final face is an interpolation of that information designed to achieve anatomical and statistical consistency,” said Cícero Moraes.
In the end, they produced two sets of images. The first, “objective,” is in shades of gray; the second, “artistic,” adds details like a beard and clothing.
The remains revealed more than facial features. “He probably suffered from severe chronic arthritis of the spine and pelvis, and his skull had thickened bones, which could have caused frequent headaches,” Moraes said. He added that the saint’s diet was mainly plant-based.
His remains are currently kept in Bari, in southern Italy. The results were published in the journal OrtogOnLineMag.
