Experts have digitally rebuilt the face of 18th century German composer Johann Sebastian Bach -- and say the results may surprise his fans.

Using his bones and computer modeling, they have come up with an image of a thick-set man with closely-shorn white hair.

The new Bach face, the creation of Scottish forensic anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson, will go on display at the Bachhaus museum in the eastern German town of Eisenach, Bach's birthplace, next month.

Eighteenth century portraits show him very differently. "For most people, Bach is an old man in a wig, it is a stylized image, we have no realistic portrait of him," Joerg Hansen, managing director of the museum said.

"We know he was a physical man, that he danced, that he stamped his feet when he played, that he sang. He was a very dynamic man -- with this reconstruction you can see it."

Bach's bones were excavated in 1894 and sculptors first used them to help create a bust in 1908.

But it was mainly based on a portrait of the composer and contemporary critics said it was so inaccurate that it might as well have been the composer Handel.

"It's not really that important to know what he looked like, we love Bach through his music, that is why people come to the museum, but they are also interested in the man," Hansen said.

近日，有关专家利用数字技术还原出18世纪德国著名作曲家约翰·塞巴斯蒂安·巴赫的容貌，并称这个新形象可能会让他的乐迷们大吃一惊。

专家们利用巴赫的颅骨和计算机建模技术合成出了他的新形象。从新形象可以看出，巴赫体格健壮，留着一头短短的白发。

巴赫的“新颜”出自苏格兰法医人类学家凯罗琳·威尔金森之手，并将于下月在巴赫出生地——东德小镇埃森纳赫的巴赫故居博物馆展出。

这个新形象与18世纪的巴赫画像差别很大。巴赫故居博物馆馆长乔格·汉森说：“在多数人心目中，巴赫是一个戴着假发的老人，这是一个程式化的形象，其实我们并没有他的真实画像。”

“我们知道，巴赫体格健壮，能唱能跳，演奏的时候还会跺着脚。他活力四射——这从他的新形象可以看出来。”

巴赫的遗骨于1894年被掘出。1908年，雕塑家们首次利用这些遗骨塑造出了巴赫的半身雕像。

但这尊塑像主要还是以巴赫的一副画像为样本，现代批评家们认为这尊塑像不够逼真，看上去倒是更像作曲家亨德尔。

汉森说：“其实知道巴赫长什么样并不是那么重要，我们热爱巴赫主要是因为他的音乐，这也是人们来博物馆参观的原因，不过人们对巴赫本人还是很感兴趣的。”