Where should Richard III be buried?

[DGuller]

Come to think of it, Henri II and IV were killed too. Must be an unlucky name for French kings.

Henry V was the greatest of French Kings, as his stupidity killed the French Monarchy forever.

What would have happened had he not died so soon?  Would things really change that much in the long run?  It's hard to imagine England and France being a single entity for long.

[alfred russel]

Has anyone considered that perhaps instead of thinking of where to rebury Richard III, we should be thinking of how to reanimate him?

[jimmy olsen]

They computer-generated his face too now.

Looks really similar to this painting

[Valmy]

Come to think of it, Henri II and IV were killed too. Must be an unlucky name for French kings.

Henry V was the greatest of French Kings, as his stupidity killed the French Monarchy forever.

What would have happened had he not died so soon?  Would things really change that much in the long run?  It's hard to imagine England and France being a single entity for long.

I am talking about Henry V of France: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri,_Count_of_Chambord

I think Edward III or his immediate successors could have pulled off being King of both, I mean the Angevins came pretty close, but the Lancastrians were not French enough to be acceptable.

[OttoVonBismarck]

It does, but it's probably helped by the fact they obviously put him in a hat and wig designed to maximize his resemblance to the most famous portrait of him. I think facial reconstruction is said to be something like "70%" accurate, so yeah that portrait was probably a decent likeness of him, but it's made a bit more striking by the intentional framing to make it look like that specific portrait.

[DGuller]

I'm curious:  how do you reconstruct a nose?  I haven't yet seen a skull that has anything other than a gaping hole for a nose.

[Caliga]

Has anyone considered that perhaps instead of thinking of where to rebury Richard III, we should be thinking of how to reanimate him?

Somebody get Herbert West on the line plz.

[garbon]

I'm curious:  how do you reconstruct a nose?  I haven't yet seen a skull that has anything other than a gaping hole for a nose.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/forensic-science-communications/fsc/jan2002/prokopec.htm/#Results

[alfred russel]

Has anyone considered that perhaps instead of thinking of where to rebury Richard III, we should be thinking of how to reanimate him?

Somebody get Herbert West on the line plz.

Then reanimate those two skeletons they found in the tower and we would have the beginnings of an interesting episode of Dr. Phil.

[PDH]

I'm curious:  how do you reconstruct a nose?  I haven't yet seen a skull that has anything other than a gaping hole for a nose.

The people who do the reconstructions spend a lot of time learning the metrics of skulls.  For most humans, the basic muscles over the bones in the head follow pretty consistent ratios, and so flesh "depth markers" can be attached to a skull (or overlaid on a computer to a scanned image) to give the rough look of muscle, fat, and skin over the skull).

The really good reconstruction people know the metrics of the various regional groups, what we try to call race (but more accurately are clinal subgroups), and they know the various features (cheekbone size, amount of foramen, eye socket metrics, chin, forehead, nasal cavity, etc.) that all play a role in the shape of eye lids, the amount of fat in various places, the shape of the nose.

The best ones mix this knowledge with artistry and their reconstructions somehow capture a more lifelike feel than the  ones above.  That is why part of the process to do really good reconstructions takes a while.

[Phillip V]

Meh. They did a better job physically reconstructing Washington.

[Valmy]

Well he was far more worthy of being reconstructed.

[crazy canuck]

Well he was far more worthy of being reconstructed.

Meh, a rebel that won vs a rightful king that lost.

[Brazen]

Meh. They did a better job physically reconstructing Washington.

The difference is there were plenty of contemporary paintings of Washington, none survive of Richard III. That famous one posted above from the National Gallery was painted in the late 16th century.

Here's his descendent, whose DNA they used to confirm the identity of the remains, meeting his likeness:


And here's Lord Farqaad from Shrek meeting it...

[Admiral Yi]