Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, better known as Madame de Pompadour, was the official mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751. But she was much, much more than a King’s lover. Coming from humble beginnings, Jeanne rose through the ranks and became masterful at making herself indispensable to those around her, all while pioneering the art, architecture, and style in France for years to come. 

But what did she really look like? Let’s talk about her portraits and her appearance.

Luckily, because of his early success in the music world, we do have several life portraits of Beethoven, from his early 30s until the time he passed away.

Each portrait shows his light brown eyes, full head of dark hair, and distinctive eyebrows. Beethoven stood around 5’4”, which was around average for the time.

One of my favorite historical figures is Catherine the Great - a minor princess from the Holy Roman Empire with a grand vision, who overthrew her own husband to become Russia’s longest reigning female monarch. But her portraits all show a slightly different face. Which one is true? What did Catherine the Great really look like?

Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known by his nickname Caligula was a Roman empire during the 1st century AD, known for his irrationality, cruelty, and unpopularity. At the age of just 24, Caligula succeeded his predecessor, Tiberius, in 37 AD, and was assassinated just a few years later.

Today on the blog, we are talking about what he looked like.  

We have a few contemporary images of Caligula, but not as many statues or coins as you might expect - many were destroyed after his tyrannical reign, thrown in the Tiber river or re-carved as the faces of his successors. 

Today, we’ll be coming face to face with reconstructions of 3 women who inspired some of the most famous art pieces of all time.

So, what did Robert Dudley, the Queen’s favorite, really look like?

Luckily, we have many portraits from his lifetime available to reference. Probably the most well known image, which I’ve used for my re-creation, is this life portrait with an unknown artist. It depicts Robert at the age of 32, during the peak years of his affair with Elizabeth. He’s standing, in spectacularly expensive clothing, in front of the symbols of the Order of Saint Michael, and the Order of the Garter.

 Cleopatra is one of the most enchanting figures in all of history, not just for her alleged beauty, but for her famed intelligence and charm. But what did she really look like? We dive deep.

Here are ten historical figures, brought to life with facial reconstructions and stunning AI movement.

What did Julius Caesar really look like? It’s a fascinating question that is still hotly debated. Luckily for us, Roman artistic tradition at this time was unique, focusing on realism rather than idealism, and creating portraits that showed character rather than just physical beauty. In fact, Romans considered it a sign of character to show physical these imperfections in portraits.

Queen Charlotte: A young girl plucked from an obscure German province, and whisked away to become the Queen Consort of Great Britain. She’s recently been popularized through Briderton’s Queen Charlotte spinoff, and today, we’ll talk about what Charlotte really looked like, including the claims that she was a woman of color, and then reveal some recreations of her appearance.