There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the legacy of England's long-departed Richard III. The monarch, killed in battle in 1485, has long been portrayed as everything from a vicious murderer to bumbling buffoon. With the discovery of his remains positively identified by matching skeletal DNA with that of a Canadian relative, the Richard III Society employed University of Dundee craniofacial ace Caroline Wilkinson to reconstruct a bust of the long-departed monarch.
The Richard III Society (with several chapters, no less) was thrilled when the results were unveiled yesterday (see image above), describing it as "breathtaking" and "overwhelming", an affirmation of the society's mission of restoring the reputation of the long-dead king.While all of this may be well and good, when I looked at the bust of Richard III, the first thought that came to my mind was this:
