I guess we should be asking where was this photo taken?

Dear Carl,
Thx very much for the very appropriate question! You are quite right! I have made the correction: these are statues under one of the front palisades of Notre Dame de Paris. As you know, Notre Dame was completed (reaching the current status) over a few hundred years. As far as I know, a lot of the details in the front depict the theme of Resurrection. This particular palisade -to my knowledge- was among the very first structures...13th century I believe. Yet, I have no clue why that figure -I assumed a saint- is holding his head in his hands!

Sincerely,

Rokh

Our headless Saint is now identified. An an interesting story it is!The patron saint of those suffering from headaches and dog bites, St. Denis.

Gotta love Google.

Source: http://www.paris.org/Kiosque/nov96/denis.html

You may pride yourself on your knowledge of Paris, the metro system and the fine museums that you have visited, but do you know who is the patron saint of those who suffer from headaches and dog bites? Of course you do...it is Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and its first martyr for Christendom.
Saint Denis, it can be verified historically, was a missionary sent by the early Christian church of Rome in 250 A.D to convert those Roman pagans who had settled Paris. The Roman lifestyle was well established - chatting at forums, taking thermal baths, constructing walls and bridges, and praying to their many gods.

Denis and his companions, through their energy and sincerity, managed to convert a significant number of inhabitants of Lutece, a.k.a. Paris, a phenomenon which was not well received by the local authorities.

Governor Sisinnius Fesceninus ordered the trio to appear before him to recant and submit to Roman authority.

Like all heroes of old, the three refused and were imprisoned and tortured not far from the present flower market n the Ile de la Cite. Frustrated that these Christians were steadfast in their religious commitment, the governor ordered their execution at the temple of Mercury at the summit of the highest hill in Paris.

The legionnaires set out with the condemned, and in their zeal, if not perhaps fatigue, decided to dispatch Denis halfway up the mountain. "Who's to know?" was undoubtedly their reasoning.

Unfortunately, Denis had no intention of cutting the trip short. Once decapitated, he picked up his head and continued up the hill for a distance of 6 kilometers! At 9 Rue Yvonne-le-Tac, he washed his bloody head in a spring and finished his trek.

On the north side of the descending slope, he fell to his knees before a recently-converted holy woman named Catulla and died. She buried him at that site, in a Christian ceremony. Sprigs of wheat immediately sprang from his grave.

The martyrdom of the three prelates, as well as the slaughter of Christians in the area, resulted in naming this hill the "Mount of Martyrs" or Montmartre.

Saint Genevieve, whose presence and courage routed the huns from Paris, in 475 was touched by the life of Denis and ordered a chapel to be built at his grave.

King Dagobert who reigned between 629 and 639, lavishly modernized the interior. He was buried there, thus starting the multicentury tradition of interring over 71 kings and queens of the three great dynasties of France in the crypts below the main floor of the church..

In ll22, the famous abbot Suger ordered the construction of a basilica , named for Saint-Denis, in the innovative flamboyant Gothic style at the site. This was the first church to feature the stained-glass rose window which became the hallmark of later Gothic churches like Notre-Dame de Paris.

To celebrate the first anniversary of the death of the monarchy during the French revolution, a mob invaded the consecrated crypts , disinterred the remains, scattering skulls and bones as well as articles buried with the dead about like toys. What was not destroyed was thrown in a common grave outside the basilica. The coffins and lead dome of the church were melted to make bullets.

It was only through the intervention of the architect Alexandre Lenoir, that the magnificent Renaissance mausoleums of Louis XII, Francois I, and Henri II were preserved.

Napoleon I restored the church, dallying with the idea of being buried there. The focal point of the church is the immense altar which was created for Napoleon's wedding to Marie-Louise at the Louvre and was later moved to Saint-Denis..

Another remembrance of the patron of Paris is Avenue Saint-Denis. It cuts through the Right Bank from the Rue de Rivoli toward the basilica Saint-Denis. Historically it was the approach taken by the monarchs en route to Notre Dame to be consecrated as rulers, and conversely, it was the route for the funeral processions to their final resting place.

It doesn't quite fit with the chronology of this essay, but I cannot resist telling you that paleontologists have discovered the bones of elephants, "elephas primigenus" who lived in the forests of the Buttes Chaumont in the neolithic period ,and would descend to drink at the Seine along the avenue Saint-Denis!

Since the basilica is not in Paris but on its outskirts, many tourists miss the opportunity to visit this hidden treasure. I believe it is far more intriguing architecturally and has more appeal than Notre Dame.

One excellent way of enjoying the cathedral would be attending the music festival at Saint-Denis from early June to early July. At that time, world famous conductors and musicians present symphonic performances of classical and contemporary religious and secular works.

There are also jazz concerts performed within these medieval walls!

Although the surrounding neighborhood is changing, the church remains a fitting tribute to Paris' larger-than-life hero, Saint Denis.

meanwhile back at the photograph...

while the subject content is interesting, (you should go to Milan, the Dumo has naked women and upside down people on it) the picture is a little bland and the framing could be better. But not an easy shot to get.

Intresting shot,well captured!
Nice work.

It seems a little askew and the quality isn't great, but it's an interesting shot all the same. I have no clue how difficult it was to get this shot either...

St.Denis "I don't know what I was thinking".

It seems to be John the Baptist, whom the king had beheaded for a dance from his daughter-in-law.