La Degollación de San Juan Bautista

Church of San Juan Teitipac, Oaxaca, Mexico St. John the Baptist (Severed head in bowl, halo). 
Wood, gesso, paint; tin halo; glass eyes, lashes, sculpted hair, sculpted teeth; life size. 

The eyes are unusually large and expressive. Plentiful blood shows at the base of the neck. The halo is in the form of six concentric rings and is attached to the head by a peg. Some paint has flaked from the right temple. The bowl and stand seem to be sculpted of one piece and not of the same quality as the head itself, which is of fine work.

More of St. John the Baptist

Photo: Claire and Richard Stracke. This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.