What Historical Figures Really Looked Like… (11 of 11)
George Washington
We all know George Washington as the very first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797. After leading Patriot forces to victory during the War for Independence, Washington presided over the 1787 Constitutional Convention and helped establish a new federal government.
The Founding Father is a highly revered figure in United States history and now we see his face everywhere. He is on the dollar bill, the quarter, and his portrait is hung up in many government buildings and museums across the nation. We’re all familiar with his face but what it actually looked like didn’t come to light until recently.
Researchers compared detailed renderings to painted portraits to create this computer-generated image of Washington to prove that most of his portraits are pretty authentic.
What makes this image so realistic is Washington’s five o’clock shadow and his full head of hair – all of which was real and powdered white in his day. Washington died on December 14, 1799, after complications with a sore throat. He was 67 years old.