Visitors to Dunfermline Abbey will have the opportunity to come face to face with Robert the Bruce after a 3D model was put on display to the public for the first time to celebrate the 750th anniversary of his birth.
The 3D reconstruction is the most realistic likeness to Robert the Bruce produce to date and was created as part of a collaboration between the University of Glasgow and Liverpool John Moores University Face Lab, which released the digital model.
It’s produced from a cast of his skull with Dr Martin MacGregor, a senior lecturer in history at the University of Glasgow, first conceiving the model after the discovery of King Richard III of England’s skeleton in Leicester in 2012.
The model was produced using a combination of historical research and scientific analysis with advances in facial reconstruction techniques. Over the course of time, historians have debated whether Robert the Bruce suffered from leprosy and because of that, there are two versions of the digital. One has a mild representation of leprosy and one is done without leprosy.
Read More:
- New photo trail launched at iconic Scottish castle
-
Home at last for the children of the mist: Clan McGregor returns
For the 3D model, however, only the version showing no visible signs of leprosy was portrayed. The team used a 3D scanner to to scan the cast of Robet the Bruce’s skull held at Hunterian Museum, which allowed them to accurately establish the muscle formation from the positions of the skull bones.
They then used CHI technology to have realistically textured skin layered over the muscle structure. The nose is the least accurate feature of the facial depiction due to the bone deterioration.
Alasdair Campbell, Interpretation Officer at Historic Environment Scotland (HES), said: “We are delighted to host the most accurate model of Robert the Bruce’s face to date. Robert the Bruce’s story is an important part of Dunfermline Abbey, and we are excited for visitors to be able to visualise this story in a new way, particularly as we celebrate his 750th birthday.”
Dr Martin MacGregor, Senior Lecturer in History at University of Glasgow, said: “In a lifetime of only 55 years, Robert Bruce achieved the impossible and restored peace and freedom to a war-torn and colonised kingdom. Contemporary sources tell us much about his remarkable life, but virtually nothing about his appearance.
“This is what persuaded a team of historians, museum curators, geneticists, forensic scientists and medical artists to combine to create a new 3D depiction of the head of the hero-king, based upon the skull-cast taken from a skeleton in a tomb discovered within the ruins of Dunfermline Abbey in 1818.
“The head is dressed in a helmet surmounted by a crown, as worn by Bruce at his most famous victory, the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. 750 years after his birth in 1274, it is fitting that Dunfermline Abbey, where Robert Bruce was buried in 1329, should host an exhibition which brings us face-to-face with Scotland’s greatest monarch.”
In 2016 academics from the University of Glasgow and Liverpool's John Moore University unveiled the first ever, digitally reconstructed image of Robert Bruce. Using a cast of Bruce's skull, scientists recreated two versions, one which displayed the ravages of leprosy and another without.
The new model, at Dunfermline Abbey, went on show for the first time on Monday July 29 and will be available for the public to view until Saturday December 7.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here