‘He has quite striking features,’ Veselá told the Daily Telegraph. ‘He was still called beautiful and handsome while being described with pimples. But I think it shows there were definitely different beauty standards at the time. The way we view beauty today is definitely very different to how it would have been seen in the 18th century. Hopefully this recreation encourages people to think about him as a person, instead of just a legend.’
Born in Rome to the exiled Stuart court, Prince Charles Edward Stuart spent much of his early life in Italy. In 1745, he led the Jacobite rising in an attempt to regain the Great British throne on behalf of his father, the exiled King James III of England and Ireland and James VIII of Scotland. His army was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Culloden, near Inverness, in 1746. ‘Bonnie’ Prince Charlie spent five months as a fugitive before fleeing to the continent, where he spent the rest of his life and eventually married Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern. He died of a stroke in Rome in 1788, at which point a cast was taken of his faith.
‘Scans and images of his death mask were taken in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow and the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery,’ information on Veselá’s university profile explains. ‘A holistic age regression approach was utilised to recreate the young appearance of the Prince, combining scientific knowledge of ageing patterns and artistic skills. Using 3D digital software and traditional sculpting methods, two portraits of the Prince were created from two very different points in time: during the Jacobite occupation of Edinburgh and his flight after the battle of Culloden. Despite their stark contrast, they both tell the tale of one man: a popular, charming, yet hot-headed Prince, and a hardy fugitive on the run who was always brave despite his desperate circumstances.’
