A photographer has become an internet sensation by recreating historical figures' portraits with their distant descendants. Drew Gardner recreates the portraits of some of the world's most famous people, putting his knowledge of history to good use, and incredibly, the creation of this series initially involved making a just few phone calls. Gardner also had to carry out in-depth research for each portrait and painstakingly tracked down each historical figure's relatives and verifying their lineage. Not only this, but Gardner paid painstaking attention to detail when it came to creating the sets for each picture, and as you're about to see, his hard work definitely paid off. 1. "The 1798 portrait by William Shuter of Famous British Poet William Wordsworth, recreated with Tom Wontner his 4 times Grandson" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCZBbTHjW6f/]] This involved sourcing period costumes and researching historical backgrounds, and the result is something that looks like it could easily belong in a history book. Gardner also researched the lighting of each portrait and made sure to recreate that perfectly too, something which involved using a myriad of gear and techniques. 2. "This 1653 portrait of King Charles II of England is recreated with his 9 times great-grandson Lord Charles Fitzroy" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCYi7JQjSOl/]] 3. "The circa 1773 portrait first viceroy of India Sir Robert Clive, (the man who popularized the name Clive) recreated with his five times Great Grandson Robert Holden" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCW5cTpjj4F/]] 4. "Recreation of ’Berthe Morisot with a bouquet of Violets' by Edouard Manet 1872' with Berthe Morisots' great-granddaughter Lucie Rouart" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCWC2pzjBiI/]] 5. "Meet Princess Irene Strozzi, the 15 times great-granddaughter of Lisa del Giocondo - The Mona Lisa" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCQ2cuDj0pG/]] 6. "Meet Gerald Charles Dickens, Charles Dickens' great-great-grandson" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTybNgDexY/]] 7. "Meet the four times great-grandson of one of Britain’s great Naval Heroes - Admiral Nelson" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCUEprZjjCx/]] 8. "Meet Hugo de Salis the great-great-great-great-grandson of Napoleon" [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CCThwNeDJGW/]] In short, Gardner has created pictures which are almost the same as the originals, but different in the best possible way, and we are completely here for it. You can keep up with his work by following his Instagram account <a href="https://www.instagram.com/smithsonianmagazine/">here</a>.

Man recreates historical figures' portraits with their distant descendants

Top Stories

Lifestyle

Mom issues warning after baby gets severe reaction from eating celery

Lifestyle

3-day-old newborn stuns mom as she lifts head and starts crawling

Lifestyle

Angry neighbor writes brutal note to sexually active couple in same apartment block

Lifestyle

Swimming coach warns parents not to put towel around kids' shoulders

Lifestyle

Black plane passenger records the moment she confronts man sending 'racist texts' about her

Lifestyle

Reason police officers touch the back of vehicles during traffic stops explained