St. Denis (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
Denis, the patron saint of France, here carried his head topped with a bishop’s miter. According to tradition, St. Denis was beheaded in Paris around 280, at the place now called Montmartre (“Martyrs’ Hill”). He was said to have carried his severed head to his place of burial, where the abbey church of Saint-Denis was later built.
Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund, by exchange
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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