Editing Ivan the Terrible (section)

== Appearance ==
[[File:Lifetime portrait of Ivan the Terrible.jpg|thumb|The only authentic lifetime portrait of Ivan IV is embossed on the binding of the first printed [[Acts and Epistles of the Apostles|Apostle of 1564]].]]
Little is known about Ivan's appearance, as virtually all existing portraits were made after his death and contain uncertain amounts of [[artist's impression]].<ref name="Gerasimov">{{cite journal|url=http://liberea.gerodot.ru/a_quest/gerasimov01.htm|script-title=ru:Документальный портрет Ивана Грозного|author-link=Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov|author=Gerasimov, M.M.|journal=Краткие сообщения института археологии Академии наук СССР|year=1965|volume=100|pages=139–42|language=ru|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-date=4 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104085713/http://liberea.gerodot.ru/a_quest/gerasimov01.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1567, the ambassador Daniel Prinz von Buchau said about Ivan that: "He is very tall. His body is full of strength and quite thick, his large eyes, which constantly run around, observe everything carefully. His beard is red with a slight shade of black, quite long and thick, but like most Russians, he shaves his hair with a razor".<ref name=Zimin/>

According to [[:ru:Катырёв-Ростовский, Иван Михайлович|Ivan Katyryov-Rostovsky]], the son-in-law of [[Michael I of Russia]], Ivan had an unpleasant face with a long and crooked nose. He was tall and athletically built, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.<ref name="Zimin">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.portal-slovo.ru/rus/history/89/11372/ |chapter=Отечественные историки о государе Иване IV Грозном |script-title=ru:Россия времен Ивана Грозного |place=Moscow |year=1982 |author1=Zimin, A.A |author2=Khoroshkevich, A.L. |pages=147–51 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320001845/http://www.portal-slovo.ru/rus/history/89/11372/ |archive-date=20 March 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

In 1963, the graves of Ivan and his sons were excavated and examined by Soviet scientists. Chemical and structural analysis of his remains disproved earlier suggestions that Ivan suffered from [[syphilis]] or that he was poisoned by arsenic or strangled. At the time of his death, he was 178&nbsp;cm tall (5&nbsp;ft. 10 in.) and weighed 85–90&nbsp;kg (187–198&nbsp;lb.). His body was rather asymmetrical, had a large amount of [[osteophyte]]s uncharacteristic of his age and contained excessive concentration of mercury. Researchers concluded that Ivan was athletically built in his youth but, in his last years, had developed various bone diseases and could barely move. They attributed the high mercury content in his body to his use of ointments to heal his joints.<ref name=Gerasimov/>