History lessons seem boring at first. However, artist Alessandro Tomasi is on a journey to change that. Tomasi uses modern technology to reconstruct famous faces from history. His work is making the process of learning about the past much more engaging for students of all ages.
A 20-year-old artist and student of Italian and Lebanese descent, Alessandro Tomasi has made a name for himself by taking busts of historical figures and turning them into incredible, lifelike images. He’s reconstructed the faces of a wide range of famous characters from history, including Aristotle, Plato, Homer, Socrates, and Cleopatra.
In an interview with Bored Panda, Tomasi explained that his journey into facial reconstruction began after he was inspired by others online who were doing similar work (although not as well as he can).
He said that he found images of facial reconstructions that were done by folks who obviously had “absolutely no knowledge” of genetics or history. His projects are a response to the “historically inaccurate” images that he found circulating on the internet.
Tomasi uses two different software programs for his facial reconstruction work: Photoshop and Artbreeder, an online tool that uses machine learning to manipulate portraits. Tomasi utilizes Artbreeder to create a base for his work, then does the rest in Photoshop.
When you compare other facial reconstructions to those created by Tomasi, it’s easy to see that his pieces are more historically accurate than most. He goes through a rigorous process to ensure that’s the case.
For example, he reads population genetics studies to choose the right skin color and eye color for his subjects. He also references the work of historians like Pliny the Elder and Suetonius to study the physical descriptions of different historical figures.
Those who want to learn more about Tomasi’s work and see his latest creations can follow him on Twitter.