The surviving portraits of Richard III present their own complications. Approximately thirty to forty portraits claiming to show Richard III exist, almost none of which can be reliably dated to his lifetime. Many show evidence of later alteration: raised shoulders painted in over earlier versions, alterations to the facial expression, the addition of a ring on a finger associated with murder. X-ray analysis of several portraits has revealed these later additions, suggesting a systematic effort to make Richard’s portraits conform to the Tudor-era image rather than to document his actual appearance.
The portrait identified by the 2014 Nature Communications paper as most consistent with the genetic evidence — the Arched-Frame Portrait at the Society of Antiquaries — shows a man with a thoughtful, somewhat melancholic expression, a thin face, and no immediately obvious physical deformity. It is not what centuries of theatrical tradition would have led an audience to expect.
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## The Science of Ancient DNA
The DNA analysis performed on the Leicester skeleton represented a significant technical achievement, one that deserves some examination to understand both what it established and the limits of what the available methods could determine.
Ancient DNA degrades in characteristic ways. Over centuries, the long strands of DNA that make up the nuclear genome break down into increasingly short fragments, and chemical damage accumulates at specific positions in the sequence. The preservation conditions in a given burial affect the rate of this degradation: temperature fluctuations, moisture, soil acidity, and the presence or absence of protective structures like coffins all influence how much intact DNA survives after hundreds of years.