For the first time in nearly eight centuries, the face of St. Thomas Aquinas has been reconstructed.
A team of researchers used digital technology to approximate the saint’s likeness based on his skull. They recreated a 3D model of the skull, which lacked teeth and a jaw, using data from CT scans of living individuals. Anatomical deformation, a technique adjusting the dimensions of a living donor’s skull to match Aquinas’, was used to refine the facial structure.
The reconstruction follows a growing trend of applying forensic science to historical figures.
“We combined all this data to create the basic bust and also generate a colored version, based on the iconography of the saint,” 3D designer Cicero Moraes explained to Pen News. The result presents a “humble” face, aligning with historical depictions of the 13th-century theologian.
The study was released alongside another significant finding regarding Aquinas’ death.
Historical accounts detail that while traveling to the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, Aquinas struck his head on a fallen tree. Though initially lucid, his health declined over several weeks before he died at the Abbey of Fossanova. A study published in World Neurosurgery points to a chronic subdural hematoma, a condition where blood accumulates between the brain and skull following trauma.
The findings provide new insights into both the physical appearance and final days of Aquinas, whose writings and Summa Theologica remains a cornerstone of Christian philosophy, influencing theological education and modern discussions on faith and reason.
