Sword through the neck? S'cool, dude, no worries!
November 27, 2018 2:06 AM Subscribe
flapjax! it's been a while! thanks for the post!
posted by ouke at 2:53 AM on November 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by ouke at 2:53 AM on November 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
Just a flesh wound.
posted by fairmettle at 3:04 AM on November 27, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 3:04 AM on November 27, 2018 [9 favorites]
The dude with the chopper buried in his head is St Thomas of Canterbury (aka Thomas a Becket), martyred by Henry II's sword-weilding assassins in 1170. I wonder if some of the other figures are also Christian martyrs? If so, perhaps the gentle smile and untroubled demeanour is intended to suggest a serene acceptance of their fate.
posted by Paul Slade at 3:20 AM on November 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 3:20 AM on November 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
Yeah, but the murderers are also pretty blasé about the whole thing. "Oh, hey Tom. How're things? Working hard? Or hardly working? Anyway, don't mind me, I'm just cleaving your skull. Nice haircut, by the way. Where'd you go?"
posted by pracowity at 3:42 AM on November 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 3:42 AM on November 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
Glorious! There is no instance in which medieval illustration does not charm me to the core, and this category is right up there with penis trees and fantastical snails.
posted by freya_lamb at 3:53 AM on November 27, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by freya_lamb at 3:53 AM on November 27, 2018 [13 favorites]
Surely some of these have lots of meme-mileage in them. Or have I missed those memes?
posted by Juso No Thankyou at 3:56 AM on November 27, 2018
posted by Juso No Thankyou at 3:56 AM on November 27, 2018
The dude with the chopper buried in his head is St Thomas of Canterbury
The one brained by knights while kneeling at the altar is St Thomas, but the other guy who appears twice with a sword stuck in his head is St Peter of Verona.
posted by sukeban at 4:15 AM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
The one brained by knights while kneeling at the altar is St Thomas, but the other guy who appears twice with a sword stuck in his head is St Peter of Verona.
posted by sukeban at 4:15 AM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
The one brained by knights while kneeling at the altar is St Thomas, but the other guy who appears twice with a sword stuck in his head is St Peter of Verona.
My mistake. I found a similar image online which claimed to be St Thomas of Canterbury and jumped to the wrong conclusion.
posted by Paul Slade at 4:29 AM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
My mistake. I found a similar image online which claimed to be St Thomas of Canterbury and jumped to the wrong conclusion.
posted by Paul Slade at 4:29 AM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I suspect that the image of the bald person with a cross in the top of their head is actually being trepanned instead of being (intentionally) killed.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:42 AM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:42 AM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
I forget who it was who pointed it out to me, but I cannot unsee the fact that the first axe guy toward the top is a perfect ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by No-sword at 5:00 AM on November 27, 2018 [14 favorites]
posted by No-sword at 5:00 AM on November 27, 2018 [14 favorites]
the other guy who appears twice with a sword stuck in his head is St Peter of Verona.
I first read this as 'St. Peter of Vecna' and thought "No, you fools! The Head of Vecna is a trap!"
posted by haileris23 at 5:00 AM on November 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I first read this as 'St. Peter of Vecna' and thought "No, you fools! The Head of Vecna is a trap!"
posted by haileris23 at 5:00 AM on November 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
People who enjoy this may want to check out the subcategory 'Saint Sebastian getting shot full of arrows and looking mildly put out about it'.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 5:09 AM on November 27, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Sing Or Swim at 5:09 AM on November 27, 2018 [9 favorites]
I need trepanation like I need a hole in the head.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:13 AM on November 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:13 AM on November 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
In Hell, Rowan Atkinson is tortured by a team of Rowan Atkinsons, at the behest of Friar Bean.
posted by es_de_bah at 6:46 AM on November 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by es_de_bah at 6:46 AM on November 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
"Now we see the violins inherent in the system! Come and see the violins inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!"
posted by xedrik at 7:16 AM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by xedrik at 7:16 AM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
I wonder if some of the other figures are also Christian martyrs? If so, perhaps the gentle smile and untroubled demeanour is intended to suggest a serene acceptance of their fate.
I feel like saints/martyrs don't really count - they are holy and thus not expected to be reacting normally. Similarly, some of the other images look like they are a bit perturbed, at least.
But the first image is beautiful: a pure, "c'est la vie" approach being killed on a battlefield.
posted by jb at 7:32 AM on November 27, 2018
I feel like saints/martyrs don't really count - they are holy and thus not expected to be reacting normally. Similarly, some of the other images look like they are a bit perturbed, at least.
But the first image is beautiful: a pure, "c'est la vie" approach being killed on a battlefield.
posted by jb at 7:32 AM on November 27, 2018
I suspect that the image of the bald person with a cross in the top of their head is actually being trepanned instead of being (intentionally) killed.
Maybe not trepanning per se, but it's definitely medical. It's an image from Sloane 1977, an illuminated copy of Rogerius'
The image in question comes from the back of the second page. Regrettably, the British Library hasn't scanned f 2v, but they describe the detail as
posted by zamboni at 8:31 AM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Maybe not trepanning per se, but it's definitely medical. It's an image from Sloane 1977, an illuminated copy of Rogerius'
Livre de Cyrurgie … Les Ordonements des Galen et Ypocras(Book of Surgery, the ordinances of Galen and Hippocrates), a 14th century French surgery manual.
The image in question comes from the back of the second page. Regrettably, the British Library hasn't scanned f 2v, but they describe the detail as
cranial surgical procedure. I imagine it's similar to the front side of the second page.
posted by zamboni at 8:31 AM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
I need trepanation like I need a hole in the head.
"All right. Hats off. You know the drill."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:57 AM on November 27, 2018 [8 favorites]
"All right. Hats off. You know the drill."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:57 AM on November 27, 2018 [8 favorites]
fatalism -- it was all the rage for a while
posted by philip-random at 9:22 AM on November 27, 2018
posted by philip-random at 9:22 AM on November 27, 2018
I'm not a historian at all, but in some of these aren't the embedded weapons there to identify the person and not meant to represent something happening in the scene?
Like, the image is representing something that happened earlier in their life, and the sword sticking through the neck is a meta-contextual thing saying "this is that guy who famously got stabbed in the neck" or something?
posted by bjrubble at 10:11 AM on November 27, 2018
Like, the image is representing something that happened earlier in their life, and the sword sticking through the neck is a meta-contextual thing saying "this is that guy who famously got stabbed in the neck" or something?
posted by bjrubble at 10:11 AM on November 27, 2018
I also feel like some of these are added post production as a sort of graffiti.... I thought I remembered reading that that was a common thing in these medieval paintings?
posted by Grither at 11:26 AM on November 27, 2018
posted by Grither at 11:26 AM on November 27, 2018
Glorious! There is no instance in which medieval illustration does not charm me to the core, and this category is right up there with penis trees and fantastical snails.
Which are available as enamel pins.
(Note, I have no connection with the vendor beyond looking at their website and thinking "I want that... and that... and that. Ooh, that too.")
posted by Lexica at 11:49 AM on November 27, 2018 [5 favorites]
Which are available as enamel pins.
(Note, I have no connection with the vendor beyond looking at their website and thinking "I want that... and that... and that. Ooh, that too.")
posted by Lexica at 11:49 AM on November 27, 2018 [5 favorites]
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posted by Prince Lazy I at 2:34 AM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]