The facial restoration of Antal Simon, a Hungarian priest-teacher of the 19th c.

Abstract

A large series of well documented, naturally mummified individuals were discovered during reconstruction works at the Dominican church in Vác in 1994–1995. Among them was Antal Simon (1772–1808), a well-known priest and teacher, the director of the Institute of the Deaf in Vác in the 19th century. His remains were used to reconstruct the facial appearance, employing standard techniques. There is an authentic painted portrait of him. The finished facial reconstruction was compared to this portrait. As a measure of the effectiveness of the reconstruction, the technique of superimposition was also used, which represented a direct comparison of the features of the portrait with those of the reconstructed face. The topographical, morphological and anatomical characteristics of the two faces were compared with the following results: 62% of the reconstructed traits showed great resemblance to the original face, 35% showed close resemblance and 3% showed approximate resemblance.