The Flaying of Saint Bartholomew

Maybe if you just ate you should skip on past this post, and don’t squint too hard at the image along the way . . . On the other hand (no pun intended), if you’ve decided to keep reading, then you might notice that the bright red figure on the bed is actually having his skin peeled away as a form of torture (spoiler alert: he doesn’t survive). This is the martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, as depicted in the Hungarian Anjou legendary, c. 1325-1335. Stories about the death of Bartholomew, the first-century companion of Jesus, were extremely popular in Medieval Europe. Although actual knowledge of his execution (or even existence) is sketchy, Medieval people most enjoyed looking at the versions in which his tormentors rip off his flesh as he is being flayed alive. In fact, the historical record preserves relatively few instances of this type of punishment. Instead, it seems as though Medieval people more wanted to imagine and see pictures of flayings rather than have them actually carried out. Reasons why this might have been the case are discussed in the book _Flaying in the Pre-Modern World_, edited by Larissa Tracy (2017).