The anthology Decapitation and Sacrifice is the result of an
interdisciplinary project on the phenomenon of the decapitated head of
Saint John the Baptist in its exegetical context, in the material
culture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and finally in more
recent approaches regarding medium studies. Several specialists and
scholars from these fields were invited to share their most recent
conclusions, thus contributing to our understanding of one of the most
peculiar events, artifacts and phenomena in West: the rise and fall of a
male head as subject of martyrdom, devotion and artistic
expression.
What emerges from these collected essays is a nuanced understanding of
the beheading and presentation of Saint John. We begin with the biblical
account, already finding multiple layers of exegetical meaning, with a
focus on John as a Christ figure. As the narrative is adapted into other
textual and visual forms, its symbolism is transformed, deepened, or
extended in new ways relating to medieval and early modern spirituality,
morality, performance and representation. What John’s disembodied head
symbolically embodies shifts as we move from one medium to another, and
from one geographic region to another. And, within those broader
categories, meaningful distinctions can be made between differences in
details such as the presence or absence of a platter, the use of
specific terminology, the contents of inscriptions, the characterization
of Herodias and her daughter, specifics of stage directions, even the
parting of John’s beard and the portrayal of his eyes as open or closed
or half-closed - to name but a few. The close analysis of these and
other details that the contributors to this volume provide tell us both
about the symbolic potential of John’s beheading and about how the
textual and visual objects studied here functioned in medieval and early
modern communities.
