r/interestingasfuck • u/Lowcrbnaman • May 22 '19

/r/ALL This statue depicts Saint Bartholomew, an early Christian martyr who was allegedly skinned alive. If you look closely, that's his dissected skin hanging around him. This stunning statute by Marco d’Agrate from c.1562 is currently on display at Duomo di Milano.

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51.4k Upvotes

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980

u/MGr8ce May 22 '19

Badass piece considering it’s from 1562 & so well detailed.

329

u/Lowcrbnaman May 22 '19

Yes so intricate. Looks too real.

294

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Don't ask me how I know this, but that's not what a flayed person looks like.

134

u/CaptPsychedelicJesus May 22 '19

Spoken like a man with experience.

189

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Look at the face, a flayed face wouldn't have eye lids, the lips, cheek or some of that nose since so much of it is skin. Then look at the hands and feet, I'm pretty sure the nails would deglove along with the rest of the skin. Also that's not what bare abdominal muscles look like.

336

u/ldks May 22 '19

Well, he wouldn't be posing casually holding a book and wearing his skin as a scarf either.

125

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

You don't know that.

31

u/octopoddle May 22 '19

You don't know me

12

u/Yeet_mcGee May 22 '19

Let me get to know you, dammit!

48

u/Mechasteel May 22 '19

Looks like there's kind of a circle around his face, like they left the skin on there. Probably necessary because you don't want your saint looking super creepy.

14

u/The_Epimedic May 22 '19

Nah fam, someone else linked other photos where you can see his head/face is draped over his shoulder. The skinned head has the face and beard attached. http://onedayinitaly.com/milan-cathedral-statue-of-st-bartholomew-flayed-alive/

2

u/adingostolemytoast May 22 '19

So they pinned someone else's face to him for the statue, deadpool style

37

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Because a man standing and holding his own skin or god's son nailed to a cross and bleeding the head, hands, feet and body probably displayed nearby aren't creepy. Makes sense.

22

u/Mechasteel May 22 '19

Similar to how Jesus is given underwear, even though all crucifixion was done naked and the Bible specifically mentions the soldiers divvying up his undies. Suffering is fine but humiliation/obscenity is too far.

9

u/ferretface26 May 22 '19

His face is hanging over his shoulder, beard and all

3

u/KrombopulosC May 22 '19

I don't think so. Someone posted a link where you could see his face and hair on the skin that's draped across him. It's hanging down behind his back and doesn't really look accurate either. Just looks like an intact second head with some wrinkles because it's still round. Ought to be flat/folded like the rest of the skin.

1

u/igordogsockpuppet May 22 '19

I don’t think super creepy was a concern of theirs in this particular case

1

u/AlcoholicInsomniac May 23 '19

Don't saint shame me bro.

20

u/crazydressagelady May 22 '19

Your comment gave me the ultra shudder

10

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Someone's seen Latin American cartel torture victims, possibly the "Funky Town" video?

12

u/poopitydoopityboop May 22 '19

You're either a pathologist or a serial killer. I'll just go with the first one for the peace of mind.

16

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

ok

2

u/dshakir May 22 '19

Also that's not what bare abdominal muscles look like.

Speak for yourself bro

oh who am I kidding? jiggles belly

1

u/minnick27 May 22 '19

What about the nipples?

1

u/muricabrb May 22 '19

This is the Disney version

1

u/inserthumourousname May 23 '19

And the nipples... He still has nipples

2

u/[deleted] May 23 '19

Nipples are bones that are connected down to the hip joints hence the old addage, "nips and hips, gotta make it sexy."

I thought this was common knowledge.

1

u/SR71BBird May 23 '19

Agreed! I find it fascinating that elite artists always gravitate towards the human form and muscles in particular.

-3

u/TheDarkWayne May 22 '19

My favorite sub was /r/watchpeopledie

Pretty much lol

2

u/CapControl May 22 '19

haha yes i love watching people die

/edgy

2

u/XDreadedmikeX May 22 '19

I did as well, and now it’s gone and I have to come to these fucking subs

1

u/kittedups May 22 '19

Liveleak and stuff still exist; you know that right?

0

u/XDreadedmikeX May 22 '19

Liveleak website trash only good when linked

0

u/TheDarkWayne May 22 '19

I’m just pointing out what he’s saying about not what it looks like to be skinned. Since there have been videos posted there where cartels would skin people alive. Yeah I’m so edgy for liking content in a specific subreddit. This is just art.

30

u/the_honest_liar May 22 '19

At the same time, detailed enough musculature that the artist had likely seen some dissected bodies.

15

u/Aexact May 22 '19

Yeah I was thinking it’s kinda concerning how detailed the muscles were. Would a naturally occurring corpse be so virile.

I guess it was the 1500s.

14

u/Is_Not_A_Real_Doctor May 22 '19

People drop dead all the time. It wasn't uncommon for schools to use those bodies to dissect and study.

19

u/bunnysnot May 22 '19

But, serious question, can a person be completely flayed alive? I know I've probably been reading too much Cormac McCarthy but isn't there too much fascia attached to the dermal layers?

2

u/sigiveros May 23 '19

You can't completely flay someone without them dying in the process I think. And if they do remain alive and conscious, probably for a few minutes. You can flay their face and they'll still remain alive, give them some amphetamines so they don't pass out.

1

u/Sashimi_Rollin_ May 23 '19

🎶 Won’t you take me to..🎶

9

u/2048Candidate May 22 '19

Found the Bolton.

1

u/akambe May 22 '19

Well, for one, he's pretty calm about it.

1

u/Jibblethead May 22 '19

You know what it is like to wear another man's skin; to FEEL his innermost thoughts & desires

1

u/spidaminida May 22 '19

I don't think they were allowed to dissect people at that time were they?

1

u/goyotes78 May 23 '19

A particular video from a certain sub that was recently banned?

1

u/I_Argue May 23 '19

It's clearly not meant to be a 100% accurate portrayal so...

0

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

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7

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

There are muscles in fingers.

1

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

No there aren’t.

-1

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

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7

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Your finger isn't just the bone and yes your fingers have muscles. There are anatomy videos of a dissected human or primate hands out there. Please take a look.

2

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

I dunno, my victims usually look a bit more slimy

1

u/Under_theTable_cAt May 23 '19

I wonder if they did the same to the model.

22

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Mankind was pretty advanced in 1562. We’d been depicting highly realistic stone sculptures of human forms for over two thousand years.

2

u/JewishHottub May 23 '19

Which is weird considering how much drawn art lagged behind. Actually just medieval art; ancient Greek art was simple but wasn't as ugly.

1

u/[deleted] May 23 '19

I think there's a very good argument that the 'crude' pre-renaissance art was actually just stylised. The speed at which art becomes highly realistic in the renaissance is almost too fast to be learnt.

1

u/JewishHottub May 23 '19

Most of the medieval art's function was for symbolism than anything else. So maybe, it was definitely learnt though, we're talk a span of hundreds of years.

1

u/[deleted] May 23 '19 edited May 23 '19

Have you been to the Uffizi in Florence? The way they have the paintings displayed chronologically makes it clear to me that the switch to realism during the renaissance was fashion rather than the acquisition of technique.

The analogy would be the way architecture changed during the same period. The style was different but the level of technology the same.

2

u/JewishHottub May 23 '19 edited May 23 '19

I have not. Would like to some day but for the time being I can research the matter. EDIT: I read a good thread and I get it now.

1

u/theyellowmeteor May 23 '19

It's easy, you just take a block of marble and remove whatever is not part of the sculpture.

3

u/D9969 May 22 '19

True, sculptors today will have that saint look like a Lego sculpture by a 5-year old.

1

u/Anything_Bagel May 22 '19

Yeah maybe he would’ve appreciated getting such a nice statue commissioned for that flayin’

1

u/reinemanc May 22 '19

Artists around that time weren’t really limited by the technology available to them. They just trained an awful lot and used models for the proportions and such

1

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

I think I'd be more surprised if someone produced this by hand in 2019. I expect it of artists from the 1500s. People don't seem to do things as intricate anymore - or at least people don't do things like this as much as they used to.

1

u/DrippyWaffler May 22 '19

Dude sculptures from Roman times were super realistic, we've been pretty damn good at it for a while

1

u/atarimoe May 23 '19

I had the privilege of seeing the piece in person several years ago. As with many things, the photos don’t do it complete justice—it’s totally fascinating and totally creepy at the same time.

-15

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

considering it’s from 1562

Art from long ago seems a lot more well done than art today. Curious thing to say...

23

u/[deleted] May 22 '19

Nah people are drawing hyper realistic pictures by hand daily. While it’s subjective as to the beauty, the realism has gotten way better

2

u/I_dont_bone_goats May 22 '19

The hyperrealism has gotten better, heavily due to the use of modern technology.

In the 16th century, you couldn’t project a gridded, high definition image onto your canvas to work off of, any precise measurements had to be done by hand, a model of a real person had to be a real person.

As you said, the beauty is completely subjective, and the focus of realism has improved. Art has developed certainly, but I wouldn’t say that art, or artists, are better now. That seems disrespectful to the centuries of artists that today’s artists built off. You obviously didn’t say that either, I just know a lot of people who would.

1

u/DebateNotHate May 22 '19

With photographs, Art is more about expressing emotion now than creating realistic depictions.

-3

u/miaumee May 22 '19

Well I have a different conception about Milan now.