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Lois Kosch | all galleries >> Galleries >> Paris 2005 > Angels and Beheaded Bishop - Notre Dame
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29-APR-2005 Lois

Angels and Beheaded Bishop - Notre Dame

Notre Dame, Paris

We saw a lot of statutes and other images like the one of this bishop holding his beheaded head (third from the left). Strange. I don't know the interpretation of the imagery.

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Date/Time29-Apr-2005 08:47:36
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Exposure Time1/1000 sec
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Almighty101 19-Aug-2005 18:52
Interpretation:

According tohttp://www.zpinaddict.com/parishtm/nodame.htm and
http://members.aol.com/mat/photo/stdenis.htm it is St Denis.

Also fromhttp://www.france-paris.fr/paris_vacation_rental9.html
"Now turn your attention to the church facade. Look at the left doorway and find the statue to the left of the door with his head in his hands.
When Christianity began making converts in Roman Paris, this Bishop of Paris was beheaded. But these early Christians were hard to keep down. St. Denis got up, tucked his head under his arm, headed north, paused at a fountain to wash it off, and continued until he found just the right place to meet his maker. The Parisians were convinced of this miracle, Christianity gained ground, and a church soon replaced the pagan temple.
By the way, Montmartre (the one hill overlooking Paris) is named for this martyr. Denis eventually died on the edge of town where the church of St. Denis was built (famous in history books as the first Gothic church, but not much to see today)."

Fromhttp://www.as.wvu.edu/mlastinger/vendee/2000/2000-06-01.htm
"Here you may note to the left of the door, one of the statues holding his head in his hands. The is the statue of Saint Denis, a martyr who was beheaded by the Romans on the hill of Montmartre (Mount of Martyrs). It is said that after the execution, Saint Denis took his head in hands and marched several kilometers outside the city. There he posed his head and asked to be buried in that spot. This of course is the site of the Basilica of Saint Denis, one of the most venerated places in France."

I thought it was St John the Baptist but I now think that it is St Denis.