Gaby
A team led by 3D designer Cicero Moraes has digitally reconstructed the face of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), author of the “Divine Comedy.” The face of the man who described a journey through heaven, hell, and purgatory has been recreated in digital format.
Although he’s long been an icon of Italian literature—his depiction of hell’s nine circles remains a benchmark—the poet’s actual appearance has been a mystery until now.
Cicero Moraes (born November 13, 1982) is a Brazilian 3D designer who specializes in computer face reconstructions and in designing and modeling prosthetics for humans and animals.
According to Moraes, all earlier portraits of Dante Alighieri were based on the biography written by Giovanni Boccaccio. Boccaccio described Dante as about average height, slightly hunched, with an elongated face, an aquiline nose, and rather large eyes. Boccaccio did not know Dante personally; his information came from people who had known the poet, the Daily Mail reported.
Dante (in a red hood) visiting hell, in a painting from 1850 by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
How the Reconstruction Took Place
These descriptions were somewhat accurate. The most precise likeness, however, came only after researchers examined Dante’s skull. Moraes’s team recreated the poet’s image by analyzing skull data from a 1921 study, supplemented by findings from a 2007 scientific article.
Moraes explained the reconstruction process: “We relied on facial approximation. This involves creating a series of predictions based on statistical data obtained from tomography and ultrasound analysis, and comparing them with anatomical deformations.”
The researchers created two sets of images of Dante Alighieri. One set is in shades of gray, showing the poet without hair and with closed eyes. The other set is in color; to render the eyes, skin, and clothing, the designer used the most famous portraits of the poet.
Moraes said the reconstruction revealed “a brilliant man, embittered by exile.” (Dante was exiled from Florence in 1302 and died in Ravenna in 1321.)
While those details match many existing images, the reconstructed face differs from our previous notions. The designer emphasized that the poet’s skull was larger than average. Some people link a larger skull to greater intelligence, Moraes noted, though he said that’s not necessarily the case. Still, he added, Dante was a genius.
“It is a great honor for me to work on his face; my great-grandparents were Italian, and my mother spoke Italian until she was 17,” Cicero Moraes said. “In a way, this is a tribute to my family,” he added.
Cicero Moraes and his co-author Thiago Beini from the Federal University of Uberlândia (Brazil) published their results in the journal 3D Computer Graphics OrtogOnLineMag.
