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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > In my response to John's Saints of Oct 11, I indicated that I had been > unable to find an image of Saint Nicaise at Reims. A bit more digging > uncovered this: > http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hst/gothic/reims10.html > Scroll down for N. between two angels. I find it peculiar to depict > a decapitated person with his head sliced neatly in half. Saint > Denis et al hold their heads in their hands. Any ideas about why > Nicaise is shown in this manner? Any other semi-cephalores? MG Marjorie, St Denis, in fact, is sometimes depicted holding his whole head, as you say, but in some instances, as quite centrally in the sculpture of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, he is only holding his cranium. In this case, the difference stems from the fact that, while the Abbey Church of St Denis claimed to possess the entire head of the saint, Notre-Dame claimed part of his skull. I'm not enough aware of the situation with St Nicaise's relics to say with any certainty that the same applies to him, but it is at least possible that this mode of representation similarly reflects possession of or contention over relics. As for images of St Nicaise at Reims, there are several, I believe, among the cathedral sculpture there. You might consult Willibald Sauerlander, Gothic Sculpture in France 1140- 1276 (London, 1970); there are lots of illustrations, and I believe the index includes subjects. Cheers, Jim Bugslag ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html