Scientists have found looked like Saint Valentine
MOSCOW, 14 Feb — RIA Novosti. The President of the Brazilian Academy of hagiology (the study of saints, ed.), photographer Jose Luis Lira with colleagues restored the appearance of Valentine’s day, using 3D technology and photographs of the skull of the Saint, resting in the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, reports Catholic Online.
“To carry out the facial reconstruction of one of the most venerated saints of the Roman Catholic Church was the dream of my life… I was in St. Peter’s square when one of the numerous vendors gave me the image of the Saint. I took it as a sign and decided to try to access his relics in the Basilica”, — leads edition of the words of josé Luis Lira.
But the specialist is not allowed to touch the relics, so he had to use to study images of the skull of the Saint. 3D reconstruction has allowed to establish the anatomical layering of the soft tissues, facial muscles, even the tone of skin pigmentation.
The relics stored in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin belongs to the presbyter Valentine, who lived in the third century. About the life of St. it is known very little: he was beheaded by order of Roman Emperor Claudius II, did not renounce Christ.
Only among the locally venerated saints of February 14, referred to three Valentines. Obxectivo the Saint with the same name in the General liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church there. The legend of Valentine as the author of the first ever “Valentine” was invented in the XX century.