Decapitation
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Then she [Judith] struck his [Holofernes] neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head." --Book of Judith |
With the early 19th century Disasters of War, Goya continued a tradition set in motion by French 17th artist Jacques Callot with his The Miseries and Disasters of War, both of them criticizing the horrors of war in their art
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Decapitation (from Latin, caput, capitis, meaning head), or beheading, is the removal of a living organism's head. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, or knife, or by means of a guillotine. Accidental decapitation can be the result of an explosion, automobile or industrial accident, improperly-administered execution by hanging or other violent injury. Suicide by decapitation is rare, but not unknown. In 2003 a British man killed himself by means of a home-made guillotine, constructed over a period of several weeks. Decapitation is always fatal, as brain death occurs within seconds to minutes without the support of the organism's body. There is no way to provide life support for a severed head with current medical techniques.
The word decapitation can also refer, on occasion, to the removal of the head from a body that is already dead. This might be done to take the head as a trophy, for public display, to make the deceased more difficult to identify, or for other reasons.
In an analogous fashion, decapitation can also refer to the removal of the head of an organization. If, for example, the leader of a country were killed, that might be referred to as 'decapitation'.
See also
- Atlanto-occipital dislocation, where the skull is dislodged from the spine; a generally, but not always, fatal injury.
- Beheading in Islam
- Beheading video
- Blood atonement
- Blood squirt, a result from a decapitation.
- Cephalophore, a martyred saint who supposedly carries their severed head.
- Chhinnamasta, a Hindu goddess who supposedly decapitates herself and holds her head in her hand.
- Cleveland Torso Murderer, a serial killer who decapitated some of his victims.
- Dismemberment
- François-Jean de la Barre
- Guillotine
- Headhunting
- Independent body parts
- List of methods of capital punishment
- Mike the Headless Chicken
