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The 'cruellest man who ever lived' is revealed after 440 years: Scientists reconstruct the true face of Ivan the Terrible - the Russian tyrant who had subjects boiled ALIVE
The cold gaze of Russia's cruellest tyrant falls upon us 440 years on from his death, after scientists rebuilt his face from his skull.
Ivan the Terrible, Russia's first tsar, transformed his country into an empire, expanding its borders eastwards into Siberia, and south to the Caspian.
But he's better remembered for his barbarity, having his subjects variously quartered, boiled alive, impaled, roasted, drowned under ice, and torn apart by horses.
He's even said to have beat his own son to death, enraged after he was confronted for striking the prince's pregnant wife, causing her to miscarry.
For all his infamy, however, the tsar's true face is lost to history – with one faded engraving perhaps the only depiction of him from his lifetime.
The cold gaze of Russia's cruellest tyrant falls upon us 440 years on from his death, after scientists rebuilt his face from his skull
Ivan the Terrible, Russia's first tsar, transformed his country into an empire, expanding its borders eastwards into Siberia, and south to the Caspian. But he's better remembered for his barbarity, having his subjects variously quartered, boiled alive, impaled, roasted, drowned under ice, and torn apart by horses
Now we can look upon his icy visage for the first time in centuries, after a scientific reconstruction of his face was made from his skull.
The tsar's grave was excavated in 1963 by Soviet scientist Mikhail Gerasimov.
Cicero Moraes, lead author of the new work, said: 'According to Dr Gerasimov's study, it appears that Ivan indulged in a disorderly life of excessive eating and alcohol abuse.
'This must have worsened his condition in his last years.
'This is in contrast to the appearance he had when younger, when he was described as tall, with beautiful hair, broad shoulders, strong muscles, and a pleasant face.
'An interesting fact is that they found a large amount of mercury in his body, which made some suspect poisoning.
'But given the habits of the time, it may have been used as a treatment for some health problem.'
The final face represents a combination of several approaches.
One method involved using data from living donors to reveal the likely thickness of the tsar's skin at different places across his skull.
Another technique used was anatomical deformation, in which the face and skull of a living donor was digitally altered until it matched the dimensions of Ivan the Terrible.
'The final bust was a combination of all this data,' said Mr Moraes, a Brazilian graphics expert, calling it a 'strong and determined' likeness.
He continued: 'It was a very interesting experience, as it involved not only facial approximation, but the study of the tsar's history.
'I found sources that affirmed the epithet of 'terrible' and others with different evidence, indicating that the fame may have been exaggerated, for example, by enemies and adversaries.'
A depiction of Ivan the Terrible from his lifetime was revealed by multispectral imaging in 2017, on the cover of a book called the Apostle, published in 1564.
And though it's too faded to make a comparison with the new reconstruction, Mr Moraes said the face he created was a good match for a previous reconstruction by Dr Gerasimov himself.
He said: 'After finishing, I compared the faces and, although we used different approaches composing the busts, the results were very similar.
'They only differ in the lower lip and chin region.'
We can look upon his icy visage for the first time in centuries, after a scientific reconstruction of his face was made from his skull
Ivan the Terrible, who reigned as Ivan IV, was just three when he rose to power after the death of his father.
His mother initially ruled as regent, but five years later she too would die – allegedly by poisoning – and the boy would become a pawn in the power struggle between competing noble families.
In remarks attributed to the tsar, he says of this time that he and his brother lived like 'vagrants and children of the poorest'.
Animals apparently bore the brunt of his wrath, and he's said to have pulled the feathers from live birds, and thrown cats and dogs out of windows.
But by age 13 he was ready to shake off his captors.
At a feast in 1543, he had Andrei Shuisky – the power behind the throne – arrested and put to death, with legends recounting that he was torn apart by dogs.
A period of relative peace followed, but as he entered his 30s, Ivan IV was plunged into paranoia by a double blow.
First his wife died in 1560, apparently by poisoning.
Then, four years later, his close friend Andrei Kurbsky defected to the other side during a war against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Another technique used was anatomical deformation, in which the face and skull of a living donor was digitally altered until it matched the dimensions of Ivan the Terrible
Though it's too faded to make a comparison with the new reconstruction, Mr Moraes said the face he created was a good match for a previous reconstruction by Dr Gerasimov himself
Ivan IV tried to abdicate, citing the treachery of the aristocracy, but the court was unable to rule without him and begged him to return.
As his price, he demanded the right to execute perceived traitors and confiscate their estates without interference.
He also decreed the creation of the oprichnina, a vast portion of Russia where he could rule with absolute power.
Backed by his own personal guard, the Oprichniki, he brutalised the territory, executing anyone who fell foul of his paranoid zeal.
In 1570, the tsar had up to 15,000 people killed in Novgorod – then Russia's second city – in a massacre so brutal that the city never regained its pre-eminence.
One legend, perhaps apocryphal, says he also blinded the architect who built St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow so that he could never build anything so beautiful again.
He died aged 53, in 1584, during a game of chess, and was interred at the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Russian capital.
Having murdered his heir, Ivan Ivanonich, the tsar was succeeded his second son, Feodor Ivanovich.
Uninterested in politics, Feodor I left others in charge and died childless, ending the Rurik dynasty and plunging Russia into a period of crisis and lawlessness dubbed the Time of Troubles.
Mr Moraes published his study in the journal OrtogOnLineMag.