His eyes are limpid deep brown and the lips, while not quite the pretty pink rosebuds that helped sell countless shortbread tins, are still a perfect cupid’s bow.
At 67 years old, with a life defined by what would turn out to be a failed rebellion and latter years spent in the company of a brandy bottle, it would seem that Charles Edward Stuart managed to maintain the dashing
good looks that once earned him his Bonnie Prince Charlie title.
Even without the distinctive rosy cheeks, white curly wig tied with its black bow, blue bonnet and white cockade, a new digital facial depiction of the Young Pretender suggests he would still have been able to turn heads well into his sixties.
The “silver fox” digital image has been created by a forensic artist using
a death mask made of the prince just after he died in 1788 in Palazzo Muti, Rome.
Unlike more youthful portraits which depict him as a smooth-skinned, rosy-cheeked Jacobite poster boy and others from his latter years that show
a bloated prince with middle-aged jowls and hooked nose, it reveals the man who would be king to be far more regal and dignified.
Forensic artist Hew Morrison used a death mask held in the collection at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery as the basis for the digital image.
He built up the final portrait from other copies of the prince’s death mask, as well as paintings and written histories and used features spliced from images of real people to create the lifelike impression.
He said: “He is an iconic character whose image seems very familiar, probably thanks to him appearing on shortbread tins. A lot of people could shut their eyes for a few moments and picture him. As the work progressed, what was revealed was the face of a curious, strong, but heavily burdened character,” he said.
His clean-cut looks and a story drenched in romance and tragedy have made Bonnie Prince Charlie one of Scottish history’s most enduring figures.
He was raised in palatial surroundings in Italy, where his father and grandfather lived in exile, and arrived in Scotland as a young man with just seven followers to begin a bold bid to regain the British throne for the Stuart dynasty.
Against the odds, his Jacobite army made it as far as Derby, defeating government forces at the Battle of Prestonpans on the way.
However, a lack of support from English and Welsh “armchair” sympathisers and little encouragement from France saw him turn back.
- READ MORE: 273 years after defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie, new battle lines drawn in row over ‘Rebel Tree’
His army was later defeated by government forces at the Battle
of Culloden, near Inverness, on April 16, 1746. Author Stephen Lord, who will deliver this year’s National Trust for Scotland/1745 Association Lecture at Culloden Battlefield tomorrow, said the prince’s ‘Bonnie’ image may have been at odds with his real character.
He said: “There’s a popular image that doesn’t portray the actual physicality and personality of the man. I followed in his footsteps from the north west of Scotland to Derby, to Culloden and then the Western Isles, and it was extremely tough. He did it while being chased by the Hanoverian army and militia and in really testing conditions.He must have been a pretty tough chap.”
Charlie becomes the latest Scottish figure of history to have his face digitally remastered for the 21st century after Robert The Bruce got the treatment. Mr Morrison’s other work also includes a digital depiction of Ava, a woman who died in the Highlands more than 4,250 years ago.
A spokesman for High Life Highland said: “A portrait may not simply reflect a physical likeness of a person but also their politics, allegiances, wealth or even the image of what a king should look like.”
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