Forensic Recreation and Visual Representation of Greek Orthodox Church Saint Eftychios of Crete

Facial reconstruction is employed in medical science and archaeology. Though quite popular as anthropological method, it has not so far been used in the orthodox ecclesiastical tradition. This work presents the facial reconstruction of St Eftychios of Crete, who lived between the ninth and tenth centuries. Computed tomography and reverse engineering methods were employed to complete the task. Reconstruction of the mandible and the missing left zygomatic arch was implemented following the Sassouni method. The American method was followed for the soft tissues, with clay deposition of appropriate thickness, on the surface of the skull model. The eyes, nose, and lips were added based on the dimensions of the underlying bone structures. Long hair and beard were added, according to the classic Byzantine tradition pattern of the time period. The final bust developed was then digitized, using a 3D non-contact laser scanner. The 3D geometry produced was employed to produce a mold with vacuum casting techniques. This mold provides the ability to produce copies of the bust, if needed. At the same time, a realistic 3D representation of the Saint's bust was developed, with the aid of special software, in order to compare the traditional forensic reconstruction to the pure digital one. This work is the first case of a Saint's facial reconstruction in the Orthodox Church. The facial reconstruction process, with all the limitations considered, offers the ability to present a realistic aspect of a Greek Orthodox Church Saint, in a form that is easily accessible. Both physical and digital facial reconstruction processes were based on scientific data, so they were as accurate as possible, considering that the mandible was missing in the skull. The facial reconstruction was entirely implemented in Greece creating the basis for similar work in the future. The final bust developed was donated to the Odigitria Monastery, to be exhibited to its visitors.