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Here’s What Famous Historical Figures Would Look Like Today, As Shared On This IG Page (30 Pics)
It's always fun to see paintings, cartoons or anime characters come to life when people create realistic edits of them. Inspired by that, award-winning comic book writer Magdalena Vissagio decided she would try to see how famous historical figures would look if they lived in modern times. She uses mobile apps to create these edits, specifically FaceApp and AirBrush, and the results are quite impressive.
Magdalena writes on her Twitter account: "A lot of people think I'm a digital artist or whatever, so let me clarify how I work. Everything you see here is done in Faceapp+Airbrush on my phone. On the outside, each takes between 15-30 mins."
More info: Instagram | Instagram | twitter.com
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Alexander the Great
hyperunknown 4 years ago
At the airport: - Name? - Alexander. - Occupation? - No, "sightseeing".
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
Keeping in mind that statues carved in someone's honor are highly idealized. Don't want to tick off the king, after all. For all we know he had spots.
Albert Puzzuoli 3 years ago
he had heterochromia one darkish brownish many black and one lighter colored one so i think green or blue
Apps these days let you do all kinds of things, from changing the way you look to turning you into a cartoon character, to even bringing photos to life! A.I. has gone very far recently and we carry it around in our pockets. It's only a matter of time before A.I. will be a big part of our everyday lives.
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#2
Henry VIII
Goth mouse (they/them) 4 years ago
He looks like a really nasty terrifying headteacher i had 😱 maybe he was henry VIII in a past life!
Ivy la Sangrienta 4 years ago
Or a descendant of an illegitimate offspring of his...could happen.
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Mary Tonningsen 4 years ago
I used to work with a guy who looked **exactly** like Henry VIII. His wife was a seamstress and made him the most amazing costume for Halloween and he was the spitting image of him.
#3
Catherine the Great
It would be very interesting to see Abraham Lincoln or George Washington these days. What would be their views? Would they still be in politics? Would Alexander the Great conquer the world or TikTok? Too bad that we're never going to find out—we can only see how they would look thanks to Magdalena and her project.
#4
William Shakespeare
Douglas Campbell 4 years ago
There are actually no contemporary portraits of Shakespeare. It is believed that the Chandos portrait here may be Shakespeare, but this is not authenticated.
Randy Klefbeck 4 years ago
In fact, people actually don't know if this portrait is him. The statues that are attributed to being his image are not verifiable either. We are only guessing.
#5
Julius Caesar
René Studer 4 years ago
Silence. I will not have my friends name ridiculed by the common soldiery!
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Rogério Melo Franco 4 years ago
Show me a single (and authentic) ancient source describing his eyes as blue. You Nordicist uncultured swine
Nero Elred 4 years ago
A lot of the artists at the time were reaaaally improving their subject, it was politic. I don't remember where I read it but apparently Julius Caesar was a pretty ugly man, if dramatically charismatic.
Magdalena Vissagio has over 40k followers on her Twitter account and creates comics. She is a writer and her most recent work is 'Cold Bodies' published by Dark Horse. If you're interested in reading it, go to her profile and check it out!
#6
Caravaggio
Natalie Seaton 4 years ago
Likely had the temper and an inclination for trouble that Al Pacino's characters would normally posses.
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Stefan Scheiben 4 years ago
While certainly not mexican, "bad guy" is fitting vor Caravaggio, who was not only a gifted artist, but also a murderer whith a long history of violence.
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Nia Loves Art 4 years ago
He died at 38, don’t know where the gray hair or that amount of wrinkles are coming from. He had some lines of his face but not like a 70 year old.
Catlady6000 4 years ago (edited)
I've known a few 35-40year olds who looked like this. Men and women. Genetics, illness, lifestyle can all age a person really dramatically.
Load More Replies... #7
Augustus
Lucy Skinner 4 years ago
Honestly the carvers (IDK what to call them) probably made them look better
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Malwin Wellham 4 years ago
The lower jaw, the forehead, the nose all don't match, too many modifications to make him look better. It is likely that the bust was also made to enhance his looks.
Birma Gustafsson 4 years ago
Actually, this portrait is most likely after he became emperor. When he was Octavius he didn't look as beautiful, more like a sick child.
What do you think of these edits? Do you think they are accurate? Which one is your favorite? Tell us in the comments down below and upvote the ones you like best! Also, go show some support to Magdalena and her work, maybe even DM her if you have a specific request for a historical figure.
#8
Tutankhamen
RoseTheMad 4 years ago
No.. just no tot his one. Not only would "his" death mask be inaccurate due to the fact it was not initially intended for him, but rather likely intended for Neferneferuaten (due to the fact her "royal name" , Ankhkheperure, was found partially erased in a cartouche of the mask. (Neferneferuaten is believed to likely have been Nefertiti) but they also did a CT scan of Tutankhamun's mummy and made a facial reconstruction from this, that showed him as having slightly deformed features and overbite (as well as suffering from a club foot)
Marvin Wandke 4 years ago
Well thts totaly wrong tutenkamun hat a clumped foot a massive overbite and many health defekts . the egyptian praktice of inbreeding over more then 4000 years took his part in it
Stefan Scheiben 4 years ago
Abundant curly hair is highly unlikely, as egyptians of that period, especially the upper class, usually shaved their head.
Load More Replies... Albert Puzzuoli 3 years ago
he was ugler than that he was lighter colerd skin ad look more like bevois and buthead he was pretty ugly unlike that guy
#9
Caesar Augustus (Gaius Octavius)
Miss Cris 4 years ago (edited)
Everything looks very different; nose, mouth, chin, jaw, ears, eyesbrows,...
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#10
Alexander Dumas
Nero Elred 4 years ago
Yeah he was metis, it jumps to the eye once you learn it doesn't it?
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#11
Abraham Lincoln
Chloe 4 years ago
The person that made this post was just making him look like a modern person, photography *is* actually an art form
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Michael Smith 2 years ago (edited)
The love child of Matthew McConaughey and Carl Sagan.
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#12
Martin Van Buren
#13
Zachary Taylor
#14
John Wilkes Booth
Wisemankugel Memicus 3 years ago
he was an actor. this would be like if keanu reeves shot joe biden with a snubnose
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Aunt Messy 4 years ago
Again, not even close. Why did the alleged "artist" feel the need to break his nose?
Catlady6000 4 years ago
I think with some of these, it's photos of actual people who bear a close resemblance.
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Amelia Bedelia 4 years ago
Yes, someone is clearly going to look at this and think, "This artist's rendition of John Wilkes Booth is lookin' like a snack, better go kill!" 🙄
Load More Replies... #15
Frederick Douglass
Victoria Remocaldo 4 years ago
How can you not see that the picture of today looks like the original Frederick Douglass? You can sooo see it!
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CrunChewy McSandybutt 4 years ago
But this is a photograph... we can see what he really looks like.
Fulsome Kitten 4 years ago
Maybe it's just my screen but it kinda looks like he's been white-washed.
Albert Puzzuoli 3 years ago
he looks white washed like you'd see thing like these in some paintings from the 1700s because they dont like there black example like josef balong the man only had one or two accurate paintings of him. that man looks like james garfield.
#16
Oliver Cromwell
Seán Baron 4 years ago
He and Sir John Major were the MP for the same constituency, Huntingdon.
#17
Andrew Jackson
Spittnimage 4 years ago
Native Americans refuse to use $20 bills because his picture is on it. He was responsible for the Trail of Tears.
Analyn Lahr 4 years ago
I didn't know that. Wasn't the US Mint or whatever prints the money thinking of switching Jackson out with Harriet Tubman? Or was that a rumor?
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Nathan Girard 4 years ago
Does anybody else see just a bit of Henry Winkler in the modern version?
Jamie artis 4 years ago
he was awful but i wouldnt say second worse, maybe third, but andrew johnson and woodrow wilson have him beat out by a lot.
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#18
Robert Todd Lincoln
Eglė Bukauskaitė 3 years ago
yeah, it looks like a face slapped on Tom Hiddleston picture
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Sharon Vaughn 4 years ago
Actually, the picture of Todd Lincoln looks more like Leonardo DiCaprio.
#19
John Tyler
engineer_nope.avi 4 years ago
Fun fact: one of his grandchildren is still alive as of 2021. Not great grandchildren, Grandchild.
#20
Andrew Johnson
#21
Nero
Duncan Schilder 4 years ago
I never thought of Nero as liking Cheetos and living in his mom's basement.
Nero Elred 4 years ago
A lot of it was a smear job. Look at what him and caligula had in common: the senate hated their guts and they tended to be the guy writing history at the time. Impartiality wasn't their forte either. Not saying Nero was a perfect angel, he was a broken man with a few problems but I seriously doubt he was the bloodthirsty psychopath described in the books.
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Michael Smith 2 years ago
Now that you mention it, change the hair color and he does look a bit like SBF...
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#22
Jane Austen
#23
Queen Anne of England
#24
Richard II Of England
#25
Millard Fillmore
Hollyann Hughley 4 years ago (edited)
Looks like a morphed version of a picture of "Old Man" from P**n Stars..
Hannah Edwards 4 years ago
There’s a great photo of him on Wikipedia where his hair is going every which way.
#26
James Madison
Rebekah Tracy 4 years ago
How do you write like you’re running out of time?
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Cheryl Daniel 3 years ago
James Madison is way off....he had a LIFE mask cast showing what he really looked like. james-madi...61ef73.jpg 
Jes.the.Mess 2 years ago
Modern day Madison looks like the type of politician that would drown puppies and poison a town's drinking water... And is probably a high level freemason.
#27
Ulysses S. Grant
#28
Thomas Jefferson
#29
Leonardo da Vinci
Erla Zwingle 4 years ago
Way off base. Eyebrows have to be bushy, and give the guy real lips like Leo has. Also, grow the beard already and cut the smile. Why is he smiling?
Miss Cris 4 years ago
Bwcause he was very much fatter than as he had painted himself, maybe?
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#30
Artemisia Gentileschi
Miss Cris 4 years ago (edited)
Both look beautiful but they are very different one from the other. It isn't only being thinner or fatter, it's every shape, size, attitude and character. All women llok the same to this "artist".
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Charles I Of England
#32
Alexander Hamilton
Newsies forever!! 4 years ago
There's a million things I haven't done......
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Roman Emperor Elagabalus
CrunChewy McSandybutt 4 years ago
It's a pretty pic, but I have to argue that it doesn't look much like the model.
#34
Franklin Pierce
#35
Abigail Adams
#36
Anne Boleyn
#37
Elizabeth I
Monique Reed 4 years ago
Um, can we talk about how her tiara is growing right out of her head and her earring is in the last mm of her earlobe??! There is also something hinky going on eyebrow-wise.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Incorrect. She had very bad teeth because she ate too much sugar and she was afraid of the dentists. (But who wouldn't be in those days...)
Cranky Pants 4 years ago
People obviously arent reading the info on this post.... these are what the person would look like in modern day. Obviously people take care of their teeth now...
Douglas Campbell 4 years ago
So should we assume that she also had cosmetic cheek implants and dyed her hair brown?
Load More Replies... Douglas Campbell 4 years ago
Not even close. Elizabeth had red hair, blackened teeth, and her face was badly scarred due to small-pox.
#38
John Quincy Adams
#41
Alexander Hamilton
René Studer 4 years ago
I‘m not american. I only know the musical. Isn’t he supposed to be puerto rican?
#42
James Buchanan
#44
George Washington
#45
Henry VI Of England
#46
William Henry
#47
James Monroe
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What do you think ?
Aahzmandus Pervect 4 years ago
They would have different styles, but their facial features wouldn't change.
Emma Byrne 4 years ago
Yes, a lot of these look nothing like their original. I guess the AI is still learning.
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Eunice Probert 4 years ago
A few, a very few, are good. But most of them are nothing like the historical person.
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
What is this "artist's" obsession with making Roman emperors blonde with blue eyes? Here's a hint..... they WEREN'T. ...///... so much for that.
Aahzmandus Pervect 4 years ago
They would have different styles, but their facial features wouldn't change.
Emma Byrne 4 years ago
Yes, a lot of these look nothing like their original. I guess the AI is still learning.
Load More Replies... Eunice Probert 4 years ago
A few, a very few, are good. But most of them are nothing like the historical person.
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
What is this "artist's" obsession with making Roman emperors blonde with blue eyes? Here's a hint..... they WEREN'T. ...///... so much for that.
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