The Head of St John the Baptist in the Southern Netherlands (1370-1800). Context, Motif, Object

A three-dimensional representation of the head of John the Baptist, often on a platter, emerged in the early thirteenth century throughout Europe. On the one hand these sculpted St John's Heads refer to the biblical account about the beheading of John the Baptist (Mt 14:1-12; Mk 6:14-29), on the other hand they show a significant affinity with the relic cult of the saint, in particular with the skull relic of Amiens. The first traces of these objects in the Southern Netherlands appear in the records of the Church of St John in Ghent in the first half of the fourteenth century; the earliest sculptures that survive are dated in the last quarter of that century. In a religious context, the head sculpture, isolated from its narrative, represented and at the same time embodied the head relic of St John and consequently the Precursor himself. St John's role as intermediator was crucial through the ages, and his head was believed to contain therapeutic powers. As a result, it was represented by a variety of objects, originating from and simultaneously contributing to the appeal of this iconic motif of the St John's Head. Scholarship still reveals an essential gap in the knowledge on the sculpted St John's Heads dated later than the sixteenth century. Further, a general overview of the existence of the motif in the Southern Low Countries is needed, and moreover, a detailed study of the various appearances of the St John's Head, grounded in a cultural-historical context, is still to be written. Consequently, the aim of this study is twofold. A first goal is a narrow one: contributing to the study of the motif of the St John's Head, filling in the gaps in current scholarship by specifically focusing on the objects of the Southern Low Countries, and more importantly by including the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century objects. This study zooms in on the meaning and the historical setting of artworks with the motif of the St John's Head, on a platter or otherwise. Starting from a broad spectrum of images, the motif is explored from a medium-based (prints, paintings, sculptures) or contextual perspective (private collections, confraternities, parish churches). In particular the three-dimensional objects, sculptures as well as heads in precious metalwork, are studied. As many of these St John's Heads, especially the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century objects, are still preserved in their original context and are often unknown to the scientific community, these were fruitful objects of study. A second goal is more general: to gain insight into the religious material culture of a saint's cult in the Southern Low Countries through the ages, from the Late Middle Ages to the French Revolution. By studying a single motif and a variety of objects representing it over several centuries, this object-oriented though interdisciplinary study provides a long-term image of the development and versatility of a religious motif and all of its manifestations within their cultural context. As such it contributes to the studies of visual culture and material religion as well as to some narrow fields of study such as confraternity studies and research on relics, cult images, and related objects of devotion. The study starts with a rather general introduction on John the Baptist and his presence in the framework of the Southern Low Countries. By acknowledging the prevalence of St John the Baptist as Forerunner of Christ and as intercessory saint, it is established that the head sculptures are not isolated remembrances of an unknown martyr; they are surrounded with a multitude of other witnesses to the popular St John's cult, both material as immaterial. Further, a second part explores the motif of the Head of St John the Baptist, on a platter or otherwise, in various contexts and in different art forms. Particularly the media in which the image of the St John's Head occurs - and the variety thereof - will be explored to establish the wealth of the motif. For this reason, an angle as wide as possible was used, starting from a broad range of objects, all representing or carrying the motif of the St John's Head. A multitude of objects are found in different contexts and offer the opportunity to explore functions and meanings. The third part zooms in on the 'object' of the St John's Head. An analysis of the research corpus of three-dimensional St John's Heads (macro-perspective) is followed the biographies of the St John's Heads in three cities: Ghent, Mechelen, and Kachtem (micro-perspective). Although in a very different way, all three narratives raise questions and induced a further discussion on the complex relation of and fluid boundaries between (cult) image, relic and reliquary. A last chapter deals with the proposition that the sculpted Head of St John was also used as a prop in plays and performances.

Jaar van publicatie:2021

Toegankelijkheid:Closed