Cephalophore
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A cephalophore (from the Greek for "head-carrier") is a saint who is generally depicted carrying his or her own head; in art, this was usually meant to signify that the subject in question had been martyred by beheading. Handling the halo in this circumstance offers a unique challenge for the artist. Some put the halo where the head used to be; others have the saint carrying the halo along with the head.
In literature
In Dante's Divine Comedy (Canto 28) the poet meets the spectre of the troubadour Bertrand de Born in the eighth circle of the Inferno, carrying his severed head in his hand, slung by its hair, like a lantern; upon seeing Dante and Virgil, the head begins to speak.
The speaking severed head appears memorably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The motif Head in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk Literature Aristotle was doubtless familiar with the story of the singing disembodied head of Orpheus and Homer's image of heads severed so rapidly they seemed still to be speaking, and Latin examples could be attested. A link between Latin poets and the Middle Ages in transmitting the trope of the speaking head was noted by Beatrice White, in the Latin poem on the Trojan War, De Bello Troiano by Joseph of Exeter. Hector whirls in the air the severed head of Patroclus, which whispers "Ultor ubi Aeacides", "Where is Achilles [Aeacides], my avenger?" Some modern authors link the legends of cephalophores miraculously walking with their heads in their hands to the Celtic cult of heads.
Cephalophores
- Alban of Mainz
- Aphrodisius
- Chrysolius
- Denis of Paris
- Domninus of Fidenza
- Emygdius
- Felix and Regula
- Gemolo
- Ginés de la Jara
- Justus of Beauvais
- Juthwara
- Lucian of Beauvais
- Miliau
- Minias of Florence
- Nectan
- Nicasius of Rheims
- Nicasius, Quirinus and Scubiculus
- Osyth
- Saturnina
- Theonistus
- Valerie of Limoges
- Winefride
- Wyllow
See also
- Saint symbology
- Chhinnamasta: a Hindu goddess holding her own severed head
