Otto Bach the earliest forensic sketch artist?
When James Hepburn (the Earl of Bothwell) supposedly kidnapped, raped and then married Mary Queen of Scots at his castle in Dunbar, for which later she got beheaded in 1857 for treason, it ensured the Earl of Bothwell was going to be famous in history. He fled to Norway and was imprisoned in Denmark cruelly tied to a post like a dog until he died ten years later.
His body was buried in ground that mummified his remains and his body was frequently dug up and shown to the public. At one time artist Otto Bach was present to effectively make a detailed forensic sketch.
But it has remained an unsolved mystery as to whether the body was really the Earl of Bothwell.
Today technology can be used to create an average image of Bach’s forensic sketch against artwork of the Earl Of Bothwell.
Of course, it could be that Bach worked backwards from a picture of Bothwell to make sure his sketch matched the mummified body. The near- perfect matching hairlines suggest some element of cheating by Bach.
You would imagine a prisoner kept in a dark cell for 10 years would not have had visits from a hairdresser. But the hump on the nose is an interesting item which could help authenticate the body. But the best way would be to DNA test the hair (if available) and find relatives of the Earl of Bothwell.
