"The Face of Santa"
Recognize this man?
(Image Credit: Image Foundry Studios, Anand Kapoor)
He’s Saint Nicholas, 4th-Century Bishop of Myra and historical basis for the Santa Claus myth—or at least a reasonable fascimile. Anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson got her hands on x-rays and detailed measurements of his skull (taken by a Vatican anatomist in the 1950’s) and applied modern forensic techniques to produce the above reconstruction.
While I guess I can understand the press’ apparent impulse to attribute his broken nose to a life of brawling (not only does he look the part, but there’s also the famous story of his punching out the heretic Arius at the Council of Nicea), it was most likely broken during his ten-year imprisonment (begun under the Emporer Diocletian), throughout which he was severely tortured and beaten.
Incidentally—Nicholas, who had long earned a reputation as a gentle, big-hearted and holy man, was extremely grieved over that punch, going so far as to ask that his own name be stricken from the official record of that council. The account of his attendance comes to us from other sources.