The real face of Robert Burns revealed

THE true face of Scottish bard Robert Burns has been revealed for the first time thanks to 3D technology.

THE true face of Scottish bard Robert Burns has been revealed for the first time thanks to 3D technology.

The STV documentary, In Search of Robert Burns, last night revealed the real face of Scotland’s most famous poet.

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The documentary, presented by actor and Burns’ enthusiast David Hayman, unveiled a life size model of Robert Burn’s head, reconstructed using state-of-the art forensic technology by Professor Caroline Wilkinson and her team at The University of Dundee.

Casts of Robert Burns’ skull and contemporary portraits were used to recreate the most accurate 3D depiction of his head.

Caroline Wilkinson, Professor of Craniofacial Identification at The University of Dundee, said: “To be able to reveal the 3D head of Burns to Scotland and the world is an immense privilege for us and all the team have watched this head develop and take on character over the last year. Finally we can see this charismatic poet as others would have seen him in life and it has not been disappointing.

“This project has been quite a challenge and an enormous responsibility. We assessed as much material as we could for this reconstruction, including skeletal and anatomical structure, facial proportions from the Reid miniature and the Miers silhouette and texture details from the portraits. This 3D depiction is as accurate as possible based on the available information and shows Burns in his full living glory.”

• In Search of Robert Burns will be repeated on 25 January at 10.35pm on STV and is also available on the STV Player.

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