Meet the REAL Father Christmas: Scientists rebuild face of Saint Nicholas after 1,700 years – complete with iconic beard
Scientists have recreated the likeness of the guy who inspired Santa Claus from his skull, revealing his genuine face for the first time in nearly 1,700 years.
The Dutch folk character Sinterklaas, who would later become Santa Claus in the United States, was influenced by the early Christian saint Saint Nicholas of Myra’s reputation for delivering gifts.
In order to produce the persona that kids love today, this mythological figure would then combine with the English Father Christmas, who is typically connected with eating and games rather than presents.
However, the majority of depictions of “Old Saint Nick” date from decades after his death in 343 AD, and no portrayal of the man behind the tradition survived from his day.
Experts used his skull to reconstruct his features forensically, allowing his living face to be viewed for the first time since the Late Roman Empire.
The new study’s principal author, Cicero Moraes, described it as a compassionate and powerful face.
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He clarified that it was also oddly compatible with the broad face depicted in the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas, which was published in 1823 and is popularly known as Twas the Night Before Christmas.
According to him, the skull’s larger-than-average horizontal dimensions give it a very powerful appearance and a strong face.
This produced a wide face that oddly matched the poetry from 1823.
When paired with a thick beard, this trait strongly reminds us of the person we picture when we think of Santa Claus.
The relevance of the genuine Nicholas of Myra was explained by Mr. Moraes’ co-author and saint life expert, Jos Lu s Lira.
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He claimed to have been a bishop in the early centuries of Christianity who had the guts to uphold and practice Jesus Christ’s teachings, even at the risk of his own life.
He criticized the Roman Emperor and other authorities for this decision.
People looked to him for inspiration when they were looking for a Christmas symbol of generosity because he helped those in need so often and so successfully.
Among all peoples, not just Christians, his memory is universal.
Mr. Moraes described how the well-known saint came to be associated with modern folklore.
He said: The Protestant Reformation, led by Martin Luther, was a movement that contributed to the disappearance of devotion to Saint Nicholas in many countries.
A notable exception was in the Netherlands, where the legend of Sinterklaas which is a linguistic suppression of the saint’s name remained strong, even influencing the colonies of that nation.
One of these colonies was the city of New Amsterdam, today New York, where the legend was anglicised into the name Santa Claus.
He was characterized as an elderly man who gave gifts to youngsters who performed well and disciplined disobedient ones.
He continued: The image of Santa Claus as we know it today is based on an illustration by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly magazine in early 1863.
This in turn was inspired by the description in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas attributed to Clement Clarke Moore.
The poem gave rise to many popular notions about the folk figure we have today, including his rosy cheeks, his reindeer, his sleigh, his sack of toys, and the broad face described earlier.
To create the face, Mr Moraes and his team used data collected in the 1950s by Luigi Martino, with permission from the Centro Studi Nicolaiani.
He said: We initially reconstructed the skull in 3D using this data.
We then traced the profile of the face using statistical projections.
We supplemented this with the anatomical deformation technique, in which the tomography of a living person’s head is adjusted so that the virtual donor’s skull matches that of the saint.
The final face is an interpolation of all this information, seeking anatomical and statistical coherence.
The result is two sets of images: one objective in greyscale, and one more artistic adding features like a beard and clothes, inspired by the iconography of Saint Nicholas.
The remains of the saint reveal more than just his face, however.
Mr Moraes said: He apparently suffered from severe chronic arthritis in his spine and pelvis, and his skull showed bone thickening that could cause frequent headaches.
According to this source, his diet would be mostly plant-based.In life, Saint Nicholas was Bishop of Myra, in what is now Turkey.
Various deeds are attributed to him, including saving three girls from prostitution by paying a dowry for each, allowing them to be married.
He s also said to have resurrected three children murdered by a butcher, who had pickled them in brine and planned to sell them as pork.
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Initially interred in Myra, his bones were later removed to Bari in Italy, where they remain today.
Mr Moraes, Dr Lira and their co-author, Thiago Beaini, published their study in the journal OrtogOnLineMag.
The legend of Saint Nicholas
SAINT Nicholas, the historical figure who inspired the modern-day Santa Claus, is a beloved saint in Christian tradition.
He was a 4th-century bishop of Myra (modern-day Demre in Turkey) and is known for his generosity, miracles, and compassionate spirit.
Saint Nicholas was born around 270 AD in the Roman province of Lycia, in the town of Patara (present-day Turkey).
Raised in a wealthy Christian family, he lost his parents at a young age and inherited a substantial fortune.
Rather than keeping the wealth for himself, Nicholas dedicated his life to serving others, living out his faith through acts of charity.
Several stories about Saint Nicholas emphasise his generosity and miraculous deeds. Some of the most well-known include:
The Dowries for the Three Sisters: A poor man in Myra had three daughters but could not afford dowries for them, leaving them at risk of being sold into slavery or forced into lives of destitution.
According to legend, Saint Nicholas secretly provided dowries by throwing bags of gold through their window at night.
Some versions of the story say he dropped the gold down the chimney, where it landed in stockings hanging by the fire to dry a detail that inspired the Christmas stocking tradition.
Saving sailors at sea: Saint Nicholas is also revered as the patron saint of sailors.
One legend recounts that he calmed a fierce storm while on a voyage, saving the ship and its crew through his prayers.
This story spread widely among seafarers, and they began to invoke his protection during their journeys.
The resurrected children:Another famous tale tells of Saint Nicholas resurrecting three children who had been murdered by a butcher during a famine.
In this story, the children had been dismembered and hidden in barrels, but Saint Nicholas miraculously restored them to life.
This narrative contributed to his reputation as a protector of children.
Saint Nicholas was known for his habit of secretly leaving gifts for the poor.His generosity earned him widespread admiration, and he became a symbol of selfless giving.
After his death on December 6 (the year is uncertain but believed to be between 343 352 AD), Saint Nicholas’s feast day became widely celebrated in Europe.
Over the centuries, his legend grew, blending with local customs.In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas became known as Sinterklaas, a figure celebrated on December 5 or 6.
Dutch settlers brought the tradition of Sinterklaas to America, where it evolved into the modern Santa Claus, further shaped by cultural influences such as Clement Clarke Moore s poem A Visit from St. Nicholas and Coca-Cola s iconic 20th-century advertisements.
Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of numerous groups, including children, sailors, merchants, the innocent, and the wrongfully accused.
Icons of Saint Nicholas often depict him as a bishop holding a staff, with gold coins, children, or ships symbolising his miracles and patronage.
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