Since lately there hasn't emmerged any detailed references, being them artistic or textual in nature, regarding Jesus' face or even any data from his close family – the most famous, most beloved and most celebrated characters of the Western Civilization. Thus, our research stands still in time... It is indeed upon this generation, garned with great faith and resolute discipline, to take advantage of the most contemporary tools that Thechnology has to offer today and to turn our attention again towards those old and scarced fragments of his face that time has left us as a gift and bring into light new evidences on our subject. However, it is important to highlight that this experiment that I have proposed, is an exercise of "speculation", taking into account the hypothetical legitimacy of the Holy Shroud as a Christian Relic, also revered by the Cathechism and the Theology of Rome. It is also important to point out that the Church has never officially declared the Holy Shroud divine, regarding it simply as a very important piece as promoter of deep manifestations of faith among its followers.
My starting point (and the main basis for the forthcoming result) was the face of the man in the Shroud, obtained in 2010 by The Emmy Winner American Graphic Designer: Ray Downing and his Macbeth Studio. The latter, with the most advanced Forensic Technology, has produced what is perceivable as the most believable approximation of how that face might have been when alive.
For this MADONNA DE LA SACRA SINDONE PROJECT experiments, I've been using a Software of Artificial Intelligence and high technology of convolutional neural networks for gender change, another one for facial adjustments and some "artistic manual touches" - my own work – in order to better define an anthropologically feminine and ethnic face. The outcome is a woman around 30 years old. I also decided to feature a Mary while a cosmetics user, as some of the Bible's greatest heroines were notorious for paying special attention to their fine appearance. Furthermore, we shouldn't ignore the fact that women in the Middle East have historically used makeup - including red lipstick - to prevent dryness of the skin and lips. It was a practice even in Ancient Egypt - where Mary lived for some years of her life. Surely, she might as well have adopted the custom.
In fact, this couldn'd be further from the truth - the image of a "Renaissance" or a "Baroque" Madonna, created to better establish a connection of serenity and interiorization with her devotees, according to Ancient Artistic Canons. Moreover, with the same technology and thesis, I can recreate two more moments of her childhood, and one more of her adolescence days, when she supposedly gave birth.
How likely would have been the real face of the Virgin Mary - 33 years old (artistic-realisitc version by Átila Soares). IMAGE: Átila Soares.
One should ask: how does one get to such an extrordinary and amazing conclusion, having only the son's face as a study base in such a project? The answer is quite simple: according to the Scriptures, Joseph - Jesus' adoptive father, had no biological participation in the physical formation of the Messiah. The nature of this consubstantiation - as defended by the Catholic Church) is a Theological Concomitance, whose consequence was the Man-Christ as a biological reproduction exclusively of his mother and, being also God, he had turned into flesh through the “Hypostatic union of divine and human nature”. Therefore, this attribution regarding Jesus' human nature would be solely from Mary. According to the Millenary Catholic Dogma, Jesus would have received 50% of Mary's DNA (human) and 50% of the Holy Spirit (immaterial), in a completely immaculate conception. On this subject, Pope Pio IX, in 1854, would proclaim the Ineffabilis Deus bula, defining The Doctrine of The Immaculate Conception of Mary. It's also important to mention that Christ was commonly referred to as one descendent of David or "from The House of David”.
The childhood of Mary, around five years old, and as a teen girl (artistic-realistic / hyper realistic versions by Átila Soares). IMAGE: Átila Soares.
Hyper realistic version: Mary as an adult (by Átila Soares). IMAGE: Átila Soares.
Hyper realistic version: Mary as a preteen young girl (by Átila Soares). IMAGE: Átila Soares.
Hyper realistic version: Mary, again, as a preteen young girl (by Átila Soares). IMAGE: Átila Soares.
The debate on this subject is endless, but it is reasonable to assume that the biological elements (or material) that would define Jesus´ appearance, by finding his genetical heritage only in Mary (because she was human and not immaterial), would have made the first one – the “fructus ventris”, “offspring of the womb” - very similar to the latter, his only carnal progenitor.
According to this point of view, another version of Mary´s face can be obtained by pixels, bytes, algorithms, plus mathematics, some anthropomorphic considerations and a final artistic touch. When the astonishing Technology of the XXIst century deals with controversial themes such as faith and the invisible, we understand why Faith and Science should never have been apart.
Professor Átila Soares da Costa Filho (Opening picture: A detail of "Our Lady of Mount Carmel" by the Cuzco School)
English version: Gilza Martins Saldanha da Gama, PhD in Literature - Catholic Pontifical University, Rio de Janeiro
English revision: Andréa Aud Costa - Federal Fluminense University
