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Public Executions In The Arena

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On the other hand, flaying was exceptional,

I'm not so sure about that.

There is an account of a Mesopotamian king having an opponent "peeled like a grape" and winding up admiring his victim for never uttering a sound.

And then after the siege of Cyprus (1571) the Ottomans (in violation of the surrender agreement) had Marcantonio Bragadin (Venetian commander) flayed alive and had his straw stuffed body hung from the yardarm of a ship and displayed around the Med.

The Aztecs were known to flay their victims and wear the skins for ceremonial purposes.

Was it as common as say crucifixion? No because it undoubtedly took a while and skilled executioners to carry it out without killing the victim too quickly but it does seem to have been used over quite a timespan across multiple cultures.

kisses

willowfall
 
I have found these images in a collection of random Georges Pichard drawings -- they appear to come from a 1966 publication of "La Vie des Saintes" which I have not previously seen. Execution scenes of female martyr saints in the arena and other Roman settings. I see it listed in this bio of Pichard, but not in his Wikipedia entry.

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Two more images that fit the theme of Roman executions but aren't from that publication -- not sure where they fit into Pichard's output.

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I think this one is from Pichard's "La vie des Saintes" as well -- the martyrdom of St. Julitta, executed in AD 304 by the Roman governor of Tarsus. Pichard shows her to be flayed, although Wikipedia says she was executed by having her sides "ripped apart with hooks", followed by beheading.

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Although "La vie des saintes" seems quite hard to get hold of in complete form, I have just stumbled across a scan of the (almost equally obscure) Pichard art book "La Perfection Chrétienne", which has as its final 19 pages a selection of pages from "La vie des saintes":


-- it doesn't seem to be the entire work, as it does not include the pages on Sainte Potamenie I had previously posted here. Also, most of the pages appear to be incomplete drafts, so it may be that these are unpublished outtakes which were includes as bonus material in the later artbook.

So, here are two more pages on St. Julitta (apologies for the white rectangle which I have added to remove St Cyricus who is banned here), plus St. Thaïs, St. Colombe de Sens, St. Maxens (martyred at Trier in 306 -- no Wikipedia page it seems), and St Crispina.

[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0110.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0112.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0113.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0114.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0116.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0118.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0119.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0120.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0122.jpg[Georges Pichard] La Perfection Chrétienne [French]_1122762-0123.jpg

Four more martyrs in the next post.
 
That art is amazing
If you haven’t explored Georges Pichard’s works I highly encourage you to do so. Two of my favourite comics are “Road to Repentance” and “Madoline” both available to view



Mmmm, sometimes I think I was born the wrong gender when I see such works!
 
Two rebel slaves crucified in the public arena.
 

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I'm not so sure about that.

There is an account of a Mesopotamian king having an opponent "peeled like a grape" and winding up admiring his victim for never uttering a sound.

And then after the siege of Cyprus (1571) the Ottomans (in violation of the surrender agreement) had Marcantonio Bragadin (Venetian commander) flayed alive and had his straw stuffed body hung from the yardarm of a ship and displayed around the Med.

The Aztecs were known to flay their victims and wear the skins for ceremonial purposes.

Was it as common as say crucifixion? No because it undoubtedly took a while and skilled executioners to carry it out without killing the victim too quickly but it does seem to have been used over quite a timespan across multiple cultures.

kisses

willowfall
There is a relatively well-documented case of a Saint being flayed alive: Gaïane of Armenia. It is reported by Agathangelos in his History of the Reign of Tiridates.
Google translation:
"Then he ordered that the tongue be torn out from the virtuous Gaïane, before killing her, because she had dared to destroy by perfidious counsels the one who among mortals had the beauty of a goddess (and this beauty, the goddesses had given her), and that they put her to death in atrocious torments, the chief of the executioners then presented himself, and he boasted of putting her to death cruelly. He led them out laden with chains, through the southern gate of the city, towards the road leading to the bridge of Medzamor, in the place where it was customary to execute all the condemned; it was a marshy place, near said ditch which surrounded the city.
They drove four stakes into the ground for each of them, and while they were preparing them, Saint Gaianè and her companions spoke thus: “We thank you, Lord ………. »
After that the executioners came and tore off their clothes. They fastened them each firmly to the four stakes; they made incisions in the skin of their legs, placed tubes of reeds in them, and, blowing, they flayed them, while they were still breathing, from the feet to the breasts. They pierced their necks and tore out their tongues through this opening. They put stones into their bodies, and brought out their entrails. And since they were still alive, they finally cut off their heads with the sword. Those who had accompanied them from the land of the Romans to the land of Armenia were seventy in number. But those who were massacred with the holy women Gaïane and Hripsime, and those who shared the martyrdom with them, were only thirty-seven. So on the twenty-sixth day of the month of Hori, Saint Hripsime was martyred with the holy cohort of thirty-three martyrs her companions; and on the twenty-seventh day of the same month, Saint Gaianè with two of her companions, who fought with them, received the crown of victory."

Saint Cyprilla and Saint Gudelia of Persia are also believed to have been flayed, according to legends.
 
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