King Henri IV's head is the genuine article

Researchers have reconstructed the face of Henry IV, using the presumed skull Scientists say they have identified an embalmed head as belonging to King Henri IV of France, who was assassinated in 1610 at the age of 57.

The head was lost after revolutionaries ransacked the royal chapel at Saint Denis, near Paris, in 1793.

A head, presumed to be that of Henri IV, has passed between private collectors since then.

A team of scientists used the latest forensic techniques to identify features seen in portraits of the king.

A lesion near his nose, a pierced ear and a healed facial wound - from a previous assassination attempt - were among the marks that identified the head.

The methods used to embalm the head also matched techniques in use at the time of his death, said the scientists in a report published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

'Worth a Mass'

It was not possible to use DNA evidence to identify the head because it was impossible to find a sample from it that could be guaranteed to be uncontaminated.

"The human head had a light brown colour, open mouth and partially closed eyes," said the scientists, led by forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier.