La Degollación de San Juan Bautista
Wood, gesso, paint; tin halo; glass eyes, lashes, sculpted hair, sculpted teeth; life size
Church of San Juan Teitipac, Oaxaca, Mexico
A sculpture of the severed head of St. John the Baptist sitting in a bowl, with a metal halo attached to the top of the skull. 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.
Read more about the beheading of John the Baptist
Photographed at the church by Claire and Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.