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Source Description
Saint Denis is commonly depicted as if alive but holding his severed head, as he is in this striking image. In the mid 3rd century, the pope sent Denis and other missionaries to what is now France to give support to the struggling Christian church there. He and his companion, the deacon Eleutherius, built a church on an island in the middle of the Seine River by the village that became Paris. Their activities angered the Roman governor, who had them decapitated. The veneration of Saint Denis gradually became a national devotion.The simple modeling and use of paint reflect the naturalism of Burgundian sculpture.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
22536
label
Saint Denis, Holding His Severed Head
core
obj
dtoType
sculpture
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
22536
sourceUrl
contentType
sculpture
stage
normalized
title
Saint Denis, Holding His Severed Head
description
Saint Denis is commonly depicted as if alive but holding his severed head, as he is in this striking image. In the mid 3rd century, the pope sent Denis and other missionaries to what is now France to give support to the struggling Christian church there. He and his companion, the deacon Eleutherius, built a church on an island in the middle of the Seine River by the village that became Paris. Their activities angered the Roman governor, who had them decapitated. The veneration of Saint Denis gradually became a national devotion.The simple modeling and use of paint reflect the naturalism of Burgundian sculpture.
provenance
Sam Fogg Gallery, London [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 2002, by purchase.
date
1460-1480 (Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Sculpture
statues
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
58
height
22
depth
17
dimensionsRaw
H: 22 13/16 x W: 8 11/16 x D: 6 11/16 in. (58 x 22 x 17 cm)
Source extras
med
limestone with traces of polychromy
creator_ids
5511
collection_ids
MED
REN
exhibition_ids
none
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
2e274596bfeee995