Cleopatra's Face

Cambridge University researchers used ancient artifacts and a computer to put together this image of Cleopatra.

The most recent rendering contrasts greatly from previous portrayals. The Sefton Museum at Newcastle University had Cleopatra with "a shallow forehead, pointed chin, thin lips and hooked nose."

Shakespeare said she was youthful with looks of "infinite variety." Other renditions included one having her short and frumpy with bad teeth, and another with bulging eyes and a thick neck.

Whether Cleopatra truly looked like the latest image is unknowable. Science can only estimate. In any event, science didn't determine the color of her skin.

Reportedly, the researchers decided that a person of Macedonian-Greek heritage would become dark-skinned after the family lived in Egypt for a number of generations. It's unknown if there is evidence to support that contention.