An artist has almost succeeded in bringing Queen Elizabeth I back to life.

In a new exhibit titled “The Mask of Youth,” English artist Mat Collishaw has created a strikingly realistic recreation of the Tudor Queen’s head with eyes that follow you around the room, blink expectantly and a mouth that opens periodically*.

The exhibit takes on a surrealist* feeling as the animatronic* head sits suspended* in a mirrored recess*, facing “Armada Portrait,” one of the most famous paintings of Queen Elizabeth I.

Collinshaw worked to model the animatronic head after how the Queen looked as she was being painted in “Armada Portrait.”

Three different versions of the portrait currently exist. The Royal Museums Greenwich has overseen a copy since two years ago and their copy recently underwent a six-month restoration process.

The artist used historical depictions, digital scans of her portraits and a cast of a sculpture of Elizabeth that sits on top of her tomb in Henry VII’s chapel, to make the mask hyperrealistic*.

She has lifelike patches of hair by her lips and on her eyebrows, while the skin on her nose and cheeks appears to glimmer with life.

Collinshaw paid attention to even the most subtle details, creating a lifelike recreation of Elizabeth’s brown eyes and even her teeth. But if the head is seen from the side, viewers can see machinery behind the mask is exposed, wires and all.(SD-Agencies)