Richard III's face reconstructed

12:59pm Tuesday 5th February 2013 in News By Stephen Lewis

Richard III reconstructed Richard III reconstructed

MEET Richard III, England’s last Plantagenet king.

Experts at the University of Dundee made this reconstruction after carrying out a CT scan on remains found in a council car park in Leicester – remains now confirmed to have been Richard’s.

The reconstruction shows the monarch, who was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, with a large chin and nose, thin lips, prominent cheekbones and one shoulder higher than the other – as suggested by his spinal curvature.

Richard III enthusiasts hailed the reconstruction as revealing a "more pleasant" looking Richard than those of contemporary portraits and "far removed" from the image of the cold-blooded villain portrayed by Shakespeare.

Should Richard be returned to York? Contact Steve Lewis on (01904) 567263.

 

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Comments(25)

redbluelion says...
1:48pm Tue 5 Feb 13

looks just like the guy from the movie..

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razor08 says...
2:05pm Tue 5 Feb 13

is this the same one that was on television last night at about 10.00 pm ?
Newsworthy I think not!

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Pedro says...
2:10pm Tue 5 Feb 13

If you walk through the ground of York Minster - with your eyes open - you will come across the building in which he was crowned King of England. There is a plaque on the wall to mark the spot.

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ReginaldBiscuit says...
3:12pm Tue 5 Feb 13

He reminds me of a young 'Fast' Eddie Clarke from Motorhead when he was about 19.

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Firedrake says...
3:14pm Tue 5 Feb 13

No. You will come across the building where his son, Edward, was invested as Prince of Wales. That is what the plaque records. A good, strong connection nonetheless.

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Firedrake says...
3:21pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Unfortunately, the C4 programme last night made the most exciting piece of English royal archeaology since the discovery of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial into a piece of tabloid pap. I grinned and bore it because I am very interested in the subject - thrilled and delighted, even - that this identification has been made, but I'm afraid C4 has fallen a long way from the cutting edge glory days of its infancy!

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Keeet Lemon says...
3:49pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Plaggy terry?

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Big Bad Wolf says...
3:51pm Tue 5 Feb 13

It was a win win situation for the person who did this..... No one could argue that he looked any different.

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Firedrake says...
4:02pm Tue 5 Feb 13

I wasn't clear as to whether the person who did the forensic reconstruction knew (at the time) that she was working on w2hat might be Richard's skull, or wether it was a genuine "blind" experiment.

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ReginaldBiscuit says...
4:11pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Big Bad Wolf wrote:
It was a win win situation for the person who did this..... No one could argue that he looked any different.
Part of me so wanted her to see a reconstructed model of Jimmy Savile's face grinning back at her when she opened her eyes.

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AMAJET says...
4:19pm Tue 5 Feb 13

For all those loyal to the King, lets bring him home.

https://submissions.
epetitions.direct.go
v.uk/petitions/38772

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another grump says...
4:32pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Bring him home.

Sign the petition to have him buried in York Minster.

http://epetitions.di
rect.gov.uk/petition
s/38772

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ysb45 says...
6:20pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Actually, this is "NOT" Richard III. I know fom my archaological studies that it is Pete Wilson from Malton.

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Seadog says...
6:23pm Tue 5 Feb 13

As a York-area resident since 1972, I would very much like to see King Richard's remains interred in the Minster.

However, I have to acknowledge that there is no clear-cut, AUTOMATIC reason why they should be. He was not born here; he did not live here (though he certainly spent much of his youth at Middleham, and may - conceivably - have held a parliament or two in the Chapter House (though this is by no means certain). He did not die here as we know, and I've never seen contemporary "chapter and verse" to support the oft-repeated assertion that he "wanted" to be buried in the Minster. (Even a fiercely pro-Ricardian friend of mine admits that she has never before encountered this popular assertion.)

He may well have endowed (or was perhaps intending to endow) a Chantry Chapel in the Minster, at which the chantry priests already resident in the newly constructed St William's College would have sung daily masses for the repose of his soul ... but chantry chapels were not invariably mortuary chapels.

As the undoubtedly rightful King of England at the time of his death (unless one takes the view that Henry ap Tyder - as a Welshman and therefore a native Briton - should take precedence over any Anglo-Norman!) Westminster Abbey would be the proper place for his tomb.

Actually, I rather like the idea of sharing him out - bone by bone - between Gloucester Cathedral (he was Richard of Gloucester after all!); Fotheringay parish church (near where he was born); Ripon Cathedral, near where he grew up; Westminster Abbey (where he SHOULD lie); Leicester Cathedral (near where he died); and York Minster which undoubtedly had a special place in his affections.

As a churchwarden, however, I am aware that current canon law takes a dim view of such distributions of mortal remains. I'm not sure why: "the man's dead - his soul is fled" etc.

Anyway: it looks like Leicester Cathedral has got it sewn up. Well, it'll be very good news for Leicester, which - though maligned - is actually a much more interesting city than most people realize.

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CHISSY1 says...
6:46pm Tue 5 Feb 13

"What difference will it make bringing these bones to York,other than costing money that York has not got.What about the thousands killed in two World Wars that are buried abroad."

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Seadog says...
8:10pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Chissy - I think the second sentence in my penultimate paragraph actually answers your question, at least in part. And your point about the war dead is actually a good one, especially as we approach a number of significant centenaries! "Some corner of a foreign field" and all that ...

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capt spaulding says...
8:46pm Tue 5 Feb 13

He looks just like Blofeld in the Bond Movie Diamonds are forever.

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Omega Point says...
10:07pm Tue 5 Feb 13

There is no superior claim that York has to Leicester to keep the bones. Apart from a sense of historical superiority which is snobbish.

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morriarty says...
2:11am Wed 6 Feb 13

If he wanted to be buried in York, then York it should be. Makes no difference to Leicester as the place where events of 1484 took place any more than Nottingham's place in history is dented by Robin of Loxley being buried in Kirklees.

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again says...
8:57am Wed 6 Feb 13

CHISSY1 wrote:
"What difference will it make bringing these bones to York,other than costing money that York has not got.What about the thousands killed in two World Wars that are buried abroad."
They lie amongst their comrades with whom they shared a common fate. It's a significant bond.

I suspect the Richard 3rd has more links with York than Leicester and will sign the petition:

http://epetitions.di

rect.gov.uk/petition

s/38772

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Firedrake says...
9:15am Wed 6 Feb 13

Seadog: Only room for about 30 Chantry Priests in St William's: RIII was hoping to endow 100, so another building must have been planned for their accommodation. You're right, though; it's not proof that he wanted to be buried here.

Incidentally, a condition of the exhumation license was that the remains should be rinterred "near" where they were found.

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Frodo Baggins says...
9:28am Wed 6 Feb 13

What's special about him coming back to York? Our car parks have been full of Richard the Thirds for years.

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Garrowby Turnoff says...
11:15am Wed 6 Feb 13

Further to my previous suggestion that maybe York Minster could have a single body part to create queues in a genuine tourist attraction, p'raps it should be Leicester who get the small bit.

Might I suggest a white rose plinth with his middle finger mounted erect and pointing upwards.

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AngryandFrustrated says...
2:39pm Wed 6 Feb 13

There is a whole minefield full of problems when considering where he should be re-buried and the service that should be held.

In short, convention says he should be reburied in the nearest consecrated ground to where his remains were found - so Leicester wins on that point. However, arguably, the service could not take place either in York Minster, Leicester Cathedral or Westminter Abbey on grounds of religion. The Church of England had not been formed at the time he died (it was approx 80 years later when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries). Richard was a devout Catholic and therefore technically speaking, if his religion is to be respected, he needs to be reburied according to Catholic traditions and creeds.

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Garrowby Turnoff says...
5:50pm Wed 6 Feb 13

AngryandFrustrated wrote:
There is a whole minefield full of problems when considering where he should be re-buried and the service that should be held.

In short, convention says he should be reburied in the nearest consecrated ground to where his remains were found - so Leicester wins on that point. However, arguably, the service could not take place either in York Minster, Leicester Cathedral or Westminter Abbey on grounds of religion. The Church of England had not been formed at the time he died (it was approx 80 years later when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries). Richard was a devout Catholic and therefore technically speaking, if his religion is to be respected, he needs to be reburied according to Catholic traditions and creeds.
On that premise all the Catholics currently buried in York Minster up to the time of the Reformation, need exhuming and reburying in Catholic churches.

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