Martyrs

The concept of martyr, for me has always been associated with the Christian era people: Jean d'Arc and the many who have been canonized as saints in the Catholic church.

As is most often the case with my sculptural work, I did not set out to sculpt figures of martyrs.
Jean d'Arc began with a washed-up handle of a paintbrush (no intended symbolism).  Something about the upraised arms were both feminine and heroic.  The addition of china shards, copper, wax, the posterior of a porcelain doll, wire screening, mounted on a roof tile fragment brought back from France created a miniature figure (6" tall).  The candle stub, both lit and recently extinguished, seemed appropriate to Jean d'Arc's destiny.

It turns out that martyrdom has its origins in Judaism.

Jews were "being executed for such crimes as observing the Sabbath, circumcising their boys or refusing to eat pork or meat sacrificed to foreign gods. According to W. H. C. Frend, 'Judaism was itself a religion of martyrdom' and it was this "Jewish psychology of martyrdom" that inspired Christian martyrdom."  From Wikipedia

Wikipedia's definition is as follows:
 A martyr (Greek: μάρτυς, mártys, "witness"; stem μάρτυρ-, mártyr-) is somebody who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, and/or refusing to advocate a belief or cause, usually a religious one. Most martyrs are considered holy or are respected by their followers, becoming a symbol of good leadership and heroism.

Two characteristic deaths associated (but not exclusive) to martyrdom has been burning and crucifixion.

The theme arose again last year with the piece below, composed of bone, cord, copper, 19th century clay pipe fragment, cloth, lead, marbled book cover, and Jerusalem stone (base).

It's pretty straightforward.