Facial representation of the Brazilian Imperial Family

Pedro I of Brazil (Dom Pedro IV of Portugal) has recently gained a new facial representation.

The image results from a multidisciplinary team that processed about 20,000 computerized tomography images.

But that’s not all.

Medical and dental studies were also used in the graphic work, which also recreated the faces of Empress Leopoldina and Amelia.

The work was conducted by historian Valdirene Ambiel, author of the book “O Novo Grito do Ipiranga” (Linotipo Digital, 2017).

And this graphic work is part of her doctoral thesis at the USP School of Medicine, which was approved this Tuesday, 7.

Valdirene says that “facial approximation is a thorough correlation between bones and muscles”.

She also states, “first of all, you must study anatomy a lot because this kind of work requires the largest amount of images possible”.

The result of the analyses proved that Dom Pedro I had an elongated face, with a short upper lip and a “droopy” eye pattern.

The emperor must have had deep dark circles under his eyes and some difficulty breathing due to a deviated septum.

The author of the cry of “Independence or Death!” had the habit of chewing mainly on the right side of his mouth.

His oral hygiene was exemplary – at least for the standards of the time – because Pedro had almost all his teeth in good condition.

The analyses also showed two dental restorations, probably made of gold, in the emperor’s mouth.

Empress Amelia – Pedro’s second wife – died at 60 and had only five teeth.

D. Leopoldina, as an authentic representative of the Habsburgs, had asymmetric jawbones with a protruding chin.

Contrary to popular belief, her femur is not broken; there is no evidence that the empress suffered domestic violence.

With information from Revista Oeste