Bringing the Marble to Life

Though Alexander the Great's occupation -- conqueror -- is very much out of fashion these days, he still has many fans, who wonder what he looked like. The only form of portrait durable enough to last the 2,300 years since his time is sculpture; a bust found in Pergamum, Turkey, is held by many to be the most accurate existing likeness, possibly carven by the great sculptor Lysippos (the only sculptor Alexander would permit to portray him, or so the story goes). It's been used to good effect on at least one book cover:



In the decades and then centuries subsequent, renditions of Alexander grew increasingly more idealized and less realistic. To me the Pergamum head is the only one extant that looks like a real person.

So I thought... could I transform it digitally into something that looks like a photo? Alexander was said to be fair-haired, of ruddy complexion, and -- according to some sources, at least -- odd-eyed, with one blue and one brown. That was enough information for me.