>>Jonathan Gilbert wrote:
>I'm put in mind of "The Name of the Rose" where the monastery is described
>as keeping, among its relics, "the head of John the Baptist as a young boy"
>... are there actual records of such relics (i.e. ones whose claims are
>patently absurd once you think about it) being kept, and/or taken
>seriously, or should that be read as Eco's aritistic license?
>
>
>
Well, I'm put in mind of a delightful, venerable, and narrow little mezcal
bar, called La Pasita, facing the Plazuela de los Sapos, in the antiquarian
district of Puebla, Puebla in Mexico. The walls are enlivened by many items
the likes of which were probably the origin of the word "curios". In one
display case, next to the aquarium housing the Invisible Fish, is a tiny
skull labeled, "La Cabeza de Pancho Villa como Nino" (the head of Pancho
Villa as a young boy).
I suppose ample samples of the barkeep's keepers could make one a believer,
'though I never made it to that level. But maybe there is just something
simple and poetic going on here, and the world is home to dozens of
childhood heads of important men and women. I once thought, as an artist,
to do something about Saint Apollonius' baby teeth, but then, the more I
read about saints' relics, I wasn't so sure someone might not already be
venerating them.
jmichael
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