Saints in Christian iconography are often depicted with specific features that make them immediately recognisable. For example, Saint Paul is shown with the sword he carried as a Roman soldier, and Saint Peter appears with the keys to Heaven. When looking at statues, mosaics, and paintings of these figures, you may encounter a Saint shown in a unique way—headless, or holding his severed head. This is not a macabre image, but a precise visual code. In the Middle Ages, these figures were called "cephalophores," which means "head bearers."

The Saint depicted is Saint Denis of Paris (??? - 285), a Roman bishop who was the first bishop of Lutetia (now Paris, France) and the patron saint of France, with his feast day on October 3. The Roman Church tasked him and his companions with spreading Christianity in Gaul, then a Roman province where both native people and conquerors practised pagan beliefs. His constant, faithful preaching led to his imprisonment, first in a quarry and then by order of the Roman prefect of Lutetia. He was tortured, but refused to renounce his faith or mission, and was sentenced to beheading on a hill. Roman soldiers ultimately beheaded Dionysius halfway up the hill.

Legend holds that after his beheading, the Saint picked up his head and walked up the hill. At the summit, he washed his head and continued until an old believer buried his body. Thus, Saint Dionysius is shown with his head in his hands and wearing bishop's robes. Though the iconography seems macabre, it shows martyrdom does not destroy sanctity. Even when the body is destroyed, faith endures.