New bust reveals face of Robert the Bruce in later years

stirling: Reconstruction depicts Scots hero as he would have looked later in life

Robert the Bruce came face to face with a direct descendant yesterday – as a new bust of the medieval Scottish king was unveiled in Stirling.

The King of Scots is depicted as he would have looked in the last year of his life, 1329, aged 54.

The forensic reconstruction was created by Canadian sculptor Christian Corbet using a cast of Robert’s skull.

Unlike previous interpretations, the Bruce is shown without the effects of leprosy after research by a team of world-leading experts concluded the king did not suffer from the disfiguring disease.

It was unveiled before an audience at the Smith Museum in Stirling by his descendent, Charles, Lord Bruce.

Lord Bruce said: “Few Scottish kings have held such a fascination as Robert the Bruce, and yet we have had no idea what he really looked like.

“Not only has Christian Corbet captured the identity of one of our greatest heroes, but he has also allowed us to get much closer to Robert the Bruce than any of us had ever imagined would be possible.”

The sculpture’s form was decided following research led by bio-archaeologist Dr Andrew Nelson of the University of Western Ontario, in Canada.

Dr Nelson, along with a renowned paleo-pathologist and leprosy expert from France and a professor specialising in forensic dentistry, examined the cast of Robert’s skull.

He said he concluded it was not “representative of an individual with leprosy”.

Instead, he believes Bruce may have been labelled a leper as a slur after the Battle of Bannockburn, because of the stigma attached to the disease.

As a result, the new forensic portrait bust shows King Robert as “dignified and strong”.

Mr Corbet said he had become fascinated with the mythology surrounding Robert the Bruce, while sculpting Charles’ father, the 93-year-old Earl of Elgin.

He took on the task of sculpting his ancestor.

Dr Nelson’s analysis enabled him to shape a bust that shows the 14th century king as a battle-scarred but without the signs of leprosy.

He depicted the king as clean shaven in order to show the face fully, but also after he discovered Robert had a personal shaver.

Mr Corbet said: “I asked myself how am I going to depict the face of Robert the Bruce – he’s one of the most famous kings of all time.

“He was a man of great renown, who endured so much. There is caution, pride and resilience.”

Picture: Mike Day. Lord Charles Bruce with the new bust of King Robert the Bruce which was unveiled in the Smith Museum, Stirling.