Today, we’re exploring a question that has followed me ever since I started doing facial reconstructions of past figures: What are old portraits hiding? Why do so many faces from the past look alike? Why do these French portraits all have huge eyes and soft chins? Why do Tudor-era portraits have all have pinched lips and high foreheads? And the most important question to me: Do these portraits look like the real person they were meant to depict? These old portraits are most definitely glossing over the truth - so let’s get the bottom of what they are hiding.

Pocahontas is one of those historical enigmas with a huge reputation, but a ton of question marks about her real life and appearance. Of course we all know her from the 1995 Disney Film, but it’s not shocking to hear that what’s shown in the movie is barely a shadow of the real Pocahontas. 

Katherine Parr is often hailed as the wife of King Henry VIII who “survived” - the nursemaid, or the “old one”.

But the reality was different than that. Katherine was a champion for religious reform, a fierce supporter of her stepchildren, and a celebrated author. Her reign as queen and life after Henry is much more interesting than you might think - including a dangerous brush with death. Watch our full video for Katherine’s history, as well as bonus re-creations at the end.

Mary I is a somewhat forgotten figure in Tudor history - her five year reign squeezed between those of her half siblings, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Her religious zeal has earned her the moniker, “bloody Mary”. But was Mary really the bloody despot that history remembers?

What did Mary I really look like? Are her portraits an accurate representation of the Queen? We’ll examine her portraiture and reveal facial reconstructions down below.

King Henry VIII is an infamous figure in English history, famous for his six wives and the extreme lengths he went to in order to divorce the first - changing religion in England forever.

His reputation looms large in history - and so do his portraits. Today, we’ll dive into Henry’s appearance and reveal some lifelike re-creations, so let’s go!

Catherine of Aragon is an iconic figure in English history. Catherine was the daughter of Spain’s famous Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, and the wife of two princes of England, including the infamous King Henry VIII. 

But what did Catherine really look like? Movies and TV shows rarely portray Catherine correctly, plus, the most famous portrait of Catherine may not even be her. So, let’s dive into the research and reveal some re-creations of her appearance.

Henry VIII and Jane Seymour’s son, Edward, became the King of England at just 9 years old. Despite being quite young when he died, we have a lot of portraits of the young Edward.

Jane Seymour is one of Henry VIII’s most enigmatic wives. We only have one or two portraits of her. Despite being the one to give birth to a son, Henry’s greatest desire, she died not long after the birth. We know very little about her - lost to history are her personal thoughts, motivations, and feelings. What did Jane really look like? How did her contemporaries describe her?

What did Elizabeth I really look like? Today we’re going to dive into her portraits and contemporary descriptions to reconstruct the face of Elizabeth Tudor.

There are dozens if not hundreds of images of Queen Elizabeth that you can see today. But they all look just a little different. Which is the most accurate - which reveals the true Elizabeth?