St Martin de Porres died with just two teeth

St Martin de Porres must have had trouble eating toward the end of his life, as he had only two teeth, according to Dr Paulo Miamoto, a member of a Brazilian anthropology and dentistry group that spoke at a presentation on the Dominican saint’s reconstructed face.

Thousands of Catholics packed Lima’s Basilica of the Most Holy Rosary in Lima for the event, in which Auxiliary Bishop Raúl Antonio Chau of Lima in his homily recalled how St John XXIII had called the saint “Martin of Charity” at his canonisation Mass.

After Mass, Fr Luis Ramírez, prior of St Dominic Convent where Martin lived, introduced the specialists from a research group who explained how they were able to reconstruct – in digital 3D – the face of St Martin. Designer Cicero Moraes said the end result coincided closely with an old painting and a statue of the saint at St Dominic’s convent.