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Head of an Enemy

 Digital reconstruction of Chertsey combat tile with head of an enemy and surrounding text, tile molds designed in the 1250s. Eames 475. © Janis Desmarais and Amanda Luyster.
Animated transition between photographs  and drawing © Janis Desmarais and Amanda Luyster.

This tile depicts only the head of a wounded man, a small section of the original design. He has taken an arrow to the head and seems shocked, his mouth agape. His cap resembles that of Saladin, and both caps relate loosely to the pileum cornutum, a low peaked hat often associated in northern and western Europe with Jewish and other non-Christian men. Here the cap is used to suggest that this wounded man was a Saracen (Muslim).  He is presumably part of Saladin’s army, and the injury he has sustained suggests the superior strength of Richard’s forces.

To learn more about the soldier tiles, see the video on the Parthian Shot page.

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