ROYAL RETURN

Gaunt, bearded face of King Henry VII recreated in stunning detail using his ‘death mask’

THE FACE of British King Henry VII has been recreated in creepily realistic detail.

The death mask of the father of infamous Henry VIII was used to create this impressive look into the past.

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Henry VIII's father likely looked very similar to thisCredit: Matt Loughrey/mycolorfulpast.com

King Henry VII died back in 1509 and his son Henry VIII became the ruler of England and had many wives.

Back in the Tudor times, when important people died wax masks would be made to preserve their likeness.

Graphic artist Matt Loughrey used Henry's VII's death mask impression details and added natural colours to bring the image to life.

Loughrey told : "Death masks are like a conduit to another time — they're like a wormhole.

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: "In photogrammetry, we can get a really good idea of positioning for the simpler things, like cheekbones, [eye] orbits, upper jaw.

"The tonality of the skin is basically painting, it's all done by hand in layers."

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