The true face of the man that inspired Santa Claus can be seen for the first time in almost 1,700 years, after scientists reconstructed his likeness from his skull. Saint Nicholas of Myra was an early Christian saint whose reputation for gift-giving inspired the Dutch folk figure of Sinterklaas, later to become Santa Claus in the US.
![[Saint Nicholas of Myra was an early Christian saint whose reputation for gift-giving inspired the Dutch folk figure of Sinterklaas, later to become Santa Claus in the US (stock image)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/04/09/92777531-14156341-image-a-40_1733303378194.jpg)
This mythical figure would then merge with the English Father Christmas – often associated with feasting and games, rather than gifts – to create the character children adore today. Yet no depiction of the man behind the myth survives from his lifetime, with most representations of 'Old Saint Nick' dating to centuries after his death in 343 AD.
![[To create the face, Mr Moraes and his team used data collected in the 1950s by Luigi Martino, with permission from the Centro Studi Nicolaiani]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/04/09/92777537-14156341-image-a-41_1733303395238.jpg)
Now his living face can be seen for the first time since the days of the Late Roman Empire, after experts forensically rebuilt his features using his skull. Mr Moraes, lead author of the new study, said it was a 'strong and gentle face'. He said it was also 'curiously compatible' with the 'broad face' described in the 1823 poem, A Visit From St Nicholas, widely known as 'Twas The Night Before Christmas.
![[Mr Moraes said: 'We initially reconstructed the skull in 3D using this data. We then traced the profile of the face using statistical projections']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/04/09/92777539-14156341-image-a-42_1733303418483.jpg)
He said: 'The skull has a very robust appearance, generating a strong face, as its dimensions on the horizontal axis are larger than average. The true face of the man that inspired Santa Claus can be seen for the first time in almost 1,700 years, after scientists reconstructed his likeness from his skull.
![[This image shows a 13th-century depiction of Saint Nicholas from Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, Egypt]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/04/09/92777543-14156341-image-m-44_1733305831834.jpg)
