Restored portrait of astronomer Copernicus

For the first time in more than 400 years, researchers were able to reconstruct the face of the father of heliocentrism based on a skull in Poland.

Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer born in 1473, revolutionized planetary research by suggesting that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Scientists reconstructed Copernicus' face more than 400 years after his only self-portrait was destroyed in a fire in 1597. New images reveal what the famous astronomer looked like when he died at the age of 70 in 1543, the Mail reported on March 26.

Image of Copernicus's reconstructed face (left) and posthumous portrait (right). (Photo: Cicero Moraes).

The face of Copernicus is one of the lasting mysteries in the history of science. He was the first to propose the heliocentric theory, placing the Sun at the center of the star system. At that time, this hypothesis went against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and Copernicus's research was banned from circulation after his death. Despite his fame, every surviving portrait of Copernicus was created after the astronomer's death, based on a long-destroyed self-portrait. Therefore, no one knows for sure whether Copernicus really resembled those paintings or not.

"One problem with historical figures is determining whether the portraits that survive today accurately depict the real person. In the case of Copernicus, as far as I know, no intact portraits were painted when he alive ," said Cicero Moraes, author of the new study.

To solve the mystery from 400 years ago, Moraes reconstructed a digital face based on the skull believed to belong to Copernicus. Researchers discovered the remains in 2005 beneath Frombork church in Poland, where Copernicus lived, worked and died. Due to the lack of a jaw bone, Moraes first used computed tomography data to reconstruct the complete skull. "After constructing the skull, I estimated the face, including using data from measurements on living people to draw a face compatible with the skull," Moraes said.

In particular, the digitally reconstructed image matches almost perfectly with one of Copernicus's most famous portraits . Both portray square jaws, high cheekbones and similar nose shapes.

Although the archaeologists who discovered the skull are almost 100% certain that it is Copernicus, many experts are not sure. According to the archaeological team, the hair taken from a book believed to belong to Copernicus matched DNA with the remains. However, the origin of the skull still makes some experts wonder whether it really belongs to the famous scientist. According to Moraes, his reconstructed image could help settle the debate. The similarity between the reconstructed image and the portrait indicates the exact portrait and that the skull is that of Copernicus.