Christian apostle and martyr
Bartholomew the Apostle
|
---|
St Bartholomew
by
Rubens
,
c.
1611
|
|
Born
| 1st century AD
Cana
, Galilee,
Roman Empire
|
---|
Died
| c.
69/71 AD
Albanopolis
,
Kingdom of Armenia
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
|
---|
Venerated in
| All
Christian denominations
which venerate saints
|
---|
Major
shrine
| |
---|
Feast
| |
---|
Attributes
| |
---|
Patronage
| - Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- bookbinders
- butchers
- Florentine
cheese and salt merchants
- Gambatesa
,
Bojano
, Italy
- Catbalogan
, Samar
- Magalang
, Pampanga
- Malabon
, Metro Manila
- Nagcarlan
, Laguna
- San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija
, Philippines
- Għargħur
, Malta
- leather workers
- neurological diseases
- skin diseases
- dermatology
- plasterers
- shoemakers
- curriers
- tanners
- trappers
- twitching
- whiteners
- Los Cerricos, Spain
- Barva, Costa Rica
|
---|
Bartholomew
[a]
was one of the
twelve apostles of Jesus
according to the
New Testament
. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as
Nathanael
,
who appears in the
Gospel of John
(1:45?51; cf. 21:2).
[7]
[8]
[9]
New Testament references
[
edit
]
The name
Bartholomew
(
Greek
:
Βαρθολομα?ο?
, transliterated "Bartholomaios") comes from the
Imperial Aramaic
:
??-?????
bar-Tolmay
"son of
Talmai
"
or "son of the furrows".
Bartholomew is listed in the
New Testament
among the Twelve Apostles of
Jesus
in the three
Synoptic Gospels
:
Matthew
,
[11]
Mark
,
[12]
and
Luke
,
[13]
and in
Acts of the Apostles
.
[14]
Tradition
[
edit
]
Eusebius of Caesarea
's
Ecclesiastical History
(5:10) states that after the
Ascension
, Bartholomew went on a
missionary
tour to India, where he left behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew. Tradition narrates that he served as a missionary in
Mesopotamia
and
Parthia
, as well as
Lycaonia
and
Ethiopia
in other accounts.
[15]
Popular traditions say that Bartholomew preached the Gospel in India and then went to Greater Armenia.
Mission to India
[
edit
]
Two ancient testimonies exist about the mission of Saint Bartholomew in India. These are by Eusebius of Caesarea (early 4th century) and by
Saint Jerome
(late 4th century). Both of these refer to this tradition while speaking of the reported visit of
Saint Pantaenus
to India in the 2nd century.
[16]
The studies of Fr A.C. Perumalil SJ and Moraes hold that the Bombay region on the
Konkan
coast, a region which may also have been known as the ancient city
Kalyan
, was the field of Saint Bartholomew's missionary activities. Previously the consensus among scholars was at least skeptical about an apostolate of Saint Bartholomew in India. Stallings (1703), Neander (1853), Hunter (1886), Rae (1892), Zaleski (1915) supported it, while scholars such as Sollerius (1669), Carpentier (1822), Harnack (1903), Medlycott (1905), Mingana (1926), Thurston (1933), Attwater (1935), etc. do not. The main argument is that the India that Eusebius and Jerome refer to should be identified as
Ethiopia
or
Arabia Felix
.
[16]
In Armenia
[
edit
]
Along with his fellow apostle
Jude "Thaddeus"
, Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus, both saints are considered the
patron saints
of the
Armenian Apostolic Church
. According to these traditions, Bartholomew is the second
Catholicos-Patriarch
of the
Armenian Apostolic Church
.
[17]
Christian tradition offers three accounts of Bartholomew's death: "One speaks of his being kidnapped, beaten unconscious, and cast into the sea to
drown
. Another account states that he was
crucified upside down
, and another says that he was
skinned alive
and beheaded in
Albac
or
Albanopolis
, near
Baku
,
Azerbaijan
[18]
or
Ba?kale
, Turkey."
In the Hellenic tradition, Bartholomew was executed in
Albanopolis
in Armenia, where he was martyred for having converted Polymius, the local king, to Christianity. Enraged by the monarch's conversion, and fearing a Roman backlash, King Polymius's brother, Prince Astyages, ordered Bartholomew's torture and execution. However, this version of the story appears ahistorical, as there are no records of any Armenian king of the
Arsacid dynasty of Armenia
with the name "Polymius". Other accounts of his martyrdom name the king as either Agrippa (identified with
Tigranes VI
), or
Sanatruk
, king of Armenia.
[20]
The 13th-century
Saint Bartholomew Monastery
was a prominent Armenian monastery constructed at the presumed site of Bartholomew's martyrdom in
Vaspurakan
, Greater Armenia (now in southeastern Turkey).
[21]
In present-day Azerbaijan
[
edit
]
Saint Bartholomew Church (Baku)
was built in 1892 with donations from the local Christian population on the site where the Apostle Bartholomew was believed to have been martyred.
[22]
It is believed that in this area near the
Maiden Tower
, the apostle Bartholomew was crucified and killed by pagans around 71 AD.
[23]
The church continued to operate until 1936, when it was demolished as a part of the Soviet campaign against religion.
Veneration
[
edit
]
The
Armenian Apostolic Church
honours Saint Bartholomew and
Saint Thaddeus
as its patron saints.
The
Eastern Orthodox Church
venerates Bartholomew on June 11.
[24]
Bartholomew is also venerated on August 25 in commemoration of the transfer of Bartholomew's relics.
[25]
He is also venerated as one of the twelve apostles on June 30.
[26]
Hence, the
Russian Orthodox Eparchy of Baku and Azerbaijan
[27]
honour Saint Bartholomew as
the Patron Saint of Azerbaijan
and regards him as the bringer of Christianity to the region of
Caucasian Albania
, modern-day
Azerbaijan
. The feast day of the Apostle is solemnly celebrated there on 24 August by the Christian laity and the Church officials alike.
[28]
In the
Synaxarium
of the
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
, Bartholomew's
martyrdom
is commemorated on the first day of the
Coptic calendar
(i.e., the first day of the month of
Thout
), which currently falls on 11 September (corresponding to 29 August in the
Julian calendar
).
In the current Roman General Calendar Saint Bartholomew's feast occurs on 24 August.
[29]
Bartholomew the Apostle is
remembered
in the
Church of England
with a
Festival
on 24 August.
[30]
Relics
[
edit
]
The 6th-century writer
Theodorus Lector
averred that in about 507, the Byzantine emperor
Anastasius I Dicorus
gave the body of Bartholomew to the city of
Daras
, in Mesopotamia, which he had recently refounded.
The existence of relics at
Lipari
, a small island off the coast of
Sicily
, in the part of Italy controlled from Constantinople, was explained by
Gregory of Tours
[33]
by his body having miraculously washed up there. A large piece of his skin and many bones that were kept in the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew in Lipari, were translated to
Benevento
in 838, where they are still kept now in the Basilica San Bartolomeo. A portion of the relics was given in 983 by
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
, to Rome, where it is conserved at
San Bartolomeo all'Isola
, which was founded on the site of the temple of
Asclepius
, in pagan times an important Roman medical centre. This association with medicine caused Bartholomew's name to become associated in course of time with hospitals.
A part of Bartholomew's alleged skull was transferred to the
Frankfurt Cathedral
, while an arm was venerated in
Canterbury Cathedral
.
[
citation needed
]
In 2003, Patriarch
Bartholomew I of Constantinople
brought some of the remains of St. Bartholomew to Baku as a gift to Azerbaijani Christians, and these remains are now kept in the
Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral
.
[35]
Saint Bartholomew has been credited with several miracles.
[36]
Art and literature
[
edit
]
In artistic depictions, Bartholomew is most commonly depicted holding his
flayed
skin and the knife with which he was skinned.
Of this a well known example is featured in
Michelangelo
's
Last Judgement
.
Not rarely, Bartholomew is shown draping his own skin around his body.
Moreover, representations of Bartholomew with a chained demon are common in Spanish painting.
St. Bartholomew is the most prominent flayed Christian martyr;
During the 16th century, images of the flaying of Bartholomew were popular and this detail came to become a virtual constant of iconography.
An echo of concentration on these details is found in medieval heraldry regarding Bartholomew, which depicts "flaying knives with silver blades and gold handles, on a red field."
Saint Bartholomew is often depicted in lavish medieval manuscripts.
Bearing in mind that manuscripts are in fact made from flayed and manipulated skin, they hold a strong visual and cognitive association with the saint during the medieval period.
Florentine artist
Pacino di Bonaguida
, depicts his martyrdom in a complex and striking composition in his
Laudario
of Sant'Agnese, a book of Italian Hymns produced for the Compagnia di Sant'Agnese
c.
1340
.
In the five-scene, narrative-based image, three torturers flay Bartholomew's legs and arms as he is immobilised and chained to a gate. On the right, the saint wears his own skin tied around his neck while he kneels in prayer before a rock, his severed head lying on the ground.
A further depiction is that of the
Flaying of St. Bartholomew
in the
Luttrell Psalter
c.
1325
?1340. There, Bartholomew is depicted lying on a surgical table, surrounded by tormentors while he is flayed with golden knives.
Due to the nature of his martyrdom, Bartholomew is the
patron saint
of
tanners
,
plasterers
,
tailors
,
leatherworkers
,
bookbinders
,
farmers
,
housepainters
,
butchers
, and glove makers.
In works of art the saint has been depicted being skinned by tanners, as in
Guido da Siena
's reliquary shutters with the
Martyrdoms of St. Francis, St. Claire, St. Bartholomew, and St. Catherine of Alexandria
.
[44]
Popular in
Florence
and other areas in
Tuscany
, the saint also came to be associated with salt, oil, and cheese merchants.
The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew
(1634) by
Jusepe de Ribera
depicts Bartholomew's final moments before being flayed alive. The viewer is meant to empathize with Bartholomew, whose body seemingly bursts through the surface of the canvas, and whose outstretched arms embrace a mystical light that illuminates his flesh. His piercing eyes, open mouth, and petitioning left hand bespeak an intense communion with the divine; yet this same hand draws our attention to the instruments of his torture, symbolically positioned in the shape of a cross. Transfixed by Bartholomew's active faith, the executioner seems to have stopped short in his actions, and his furrowed brow and partially illuminated face suggest a moment of doubt, with the possibility of conversion.
[46]
The representation of Bartholomew's demise in the National Gallery painting differs significantly from all other depictions by Ribera. By limiting the number of participants to the main protagonists of the story (the saint, his executioner, one of the priests who condemned him, and one of the soldiers who captured him), and presenting them half-length and filling the picture space, the artist rejected an active, movemented composition for one of intense psychological drama. The cusping along all four edges shows that the painting has not been cut down: Ribera intended the composition to be just such a tight, restricted presentation, with the figures cut off and pressed together.
Although Bartholomew's death is commonly depicted in artworks of a religious nature, his story has also been used to represent anatomical depictions of the human body devoid of flesh. An example of this can be seen in
Marco d'Agrate
's
St Bartholomew Flayed
(1562) where Bartholomew is depicted wrapped in his own skin with every muscle, vein and tendon clearly visible, acting as a clear description of the muscles and structure of the human body.
[48]
This idea has influenced some contemporary artists to create an artwork depicting an anatomical study of a human body is found amongst with
Gunther Von Hagens
's
The Skin Man
(2002) and
Damien Hirst
's
Exquisite Pain
(2006). Within Gunther Von Hagens's body of work called
Body Worlds
a figure reminiscent of Bartholomew holds up his skin. This figure is depicted in actual human tissues (made possible by Hagens's plastination process) to educate the public about the inner workings of the human body and to show the effects of healthy and unhealthy lifestyles.
[49]
In
Exquisite Pain
2006,
Damien Hirst
depicts St Bartholomew with a high level of anatomical detail with his flayed skin draped over his right arm, a scalpel in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. The inclusion of scissors was inspired by
Tim Burton
's film
Edward Scissorhands
(1990).
Bartholomew plays a part in
Francis Bacon
's
Utopian
tale
New Atlantis
, about a mythical isolated land, Bensalem, populated by a people dedicated to reason and natural philosophy. Some twenty years after the ascension of Christ the people of Bensalem find an ark floating off their shore. The ark contains a letter as well as the books of the Old and New Testaments. The letter is from Bartholomew the Apostle and declares that an angel told him to set the ark and its contents afloat. Thus the scientists of Bensalem receive the revelation of the Word of God.
Culture
[
edit
]
The festival in August has been a traditional occasion for markets and fairs, such as the
Bartholomew Fair
which was held in
Smithfield, London
, from the Middle Ages,
and which served as the scene for
Ben Jonson
's
1614 homonymous comedy
.
St Bartholomew's Street Fair is held in
Crewkerne
,
Somerset
, annually at the start of September.
[53]
The fair dates back to
Saxon
times and the major traders' market was recorded in the
Domesday Book
. St Bartholomew's Street Fair, Crewkerne is reputed to have been granted its charter in the time of
Henry III
(1207?1272). The earliest surviving court record was made in 1280, which can be found in the
British Library
.
[
citation needed
]
In Islam
[
edit
]
The
Qur'anic
account of the
disciples
of
Jesus
does not include their names, numbers, or any detailed accounts of their lives. Muslim
exegesis
, however, more or less agrees with the
New Testament
list and holds that the disciples included
Peter
,
Philip
,
Thomas
, Bartholomew,
Matthew
,
Andrew
,
James
,
Jude
,
James the Less
,
John
and
Simon the Zealot
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
"Saint Bartholomew | Christian Apostle | Britannica"
.
www.britannica.com
. Retrieved
30 November
2022
.
- ^
Sacred Lives, Batholomew
- ^
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible by David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck ,2000,page 152: "... Bartholomew preached to the Indians and died at Albanopolis in Armenia). It was condemned in the Gelasian decree, referred ..."
- ^
The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Guide to Understanding the New Testament by Frank Viola,page 170: "... one of the Twelve, is beaten and crucified in Albanopolis, Armenia. ..."
- ^
Curtin, D. P. (July 2015).
Jacobite Arab Synaxarium- Volume I
. Dalcassian Publishing Company.
ISBN
9781088061237
.
- ^
What Do We Know about Nathanael ? the Disciple without Deceit? - Bible Study Tools
- ^
Meet Nathanael in the Bible, the 'True Israelite' - Learn Religions
- ^
Raymond F. Collins, "Nathanael 3," in
The Anchor Bible Dictionary
, vol. 4 (New York: Doubleday), p. 1031.
- ^
10:1?4
- ^
3:13?19
- ^
6:12?16
- ^
1:13
- ^
Encyclopædia Britannica
, Micropædia. vol. 1, p. 924. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1998.
ISBN
0-85229-633-9
.
- ^
a
b
"Mission of Saint Bartholomew, the Apostle in India"
.
Nasranis
. 10 October 2014
. Retrieved
24 August
2020
.
- ^
Gilman, Ian; Klimkeit, Hans-Joachim (11 January 2013).
Christians in Asia before 1500
. Routledge.
ISBN
9781136109782
.
- ^
In the Life of the Apostle Bartholomew Baku is identified as Alban. Some historians assume that Baku during the existence of Caucasian Albania was called Albanopolis.
- ^
Curtin, D. P. (January 2014).
The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew: Greek, Arabic, and Armenian Versions
. Dalcassian Publishing Company.
ISBN
9798868951473
.
- ^
"The Condition of the Armenian Historical Monuments in Turkey"
.
raa.am
. Retrieved
24 August
2020
.
- ^
"Bakıda m?zarı tapılan ?sa pey??mb?rin apostolu Varfolomey"
.
qaynarinfo.az
. Retrieved
28 April
2021
.
- ^
"Проповедь Святого Апостола Варфоломея"
.
udi.az
. Retrieved
28 April
2021
.
- ^
"Apostle Bartholomew of the Twelve"
.
Orthodox Church in America
.
Archived
from the original on 11 June 2023
. Retrieved
21 July
2023
.
- ^
"Return of the Relics of the Apostle Bartholomew from Anastasiopolis to Lipari"
.
Orthodox Church in America
.
Archived
from the original on 21 July 2023
. Retrieved
21 July
2023
.
- ^
"Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Twelve Apostles"
.
Orthodox Church in America
.
Archived
from the original on 30 June 2023
. Retrieved
21 July
2023
.
- ^
"24 iyun ? Bakı ??h?rinin s?mavi qoruyucusu H?vari Varfolomeyin Xatir? Gunu"
.
pravoslavie.az
.
- ^
"Az?rbaycanda ya?ayan pravoslavlar Muq?dd?s Varfolomeyi anıblar"
.
interfax.az
.
- ^
"24 AVQUST ? MUQ?DD?S H?VAR? BARTALMAYIN BAYRAMI"
.
catholic.az
.
- ^
"The Calendar"
.
The Church of England
. Retrieved
27 March
2021
.
- ^
Gregory,
De Gloria Martyrum
, i.33.
- ^
"KONSTANT?NOPOL PATR?ARXI I VARFOLOMEY AZ?RBAYCANA G?LM??D?R"
.
azertag.az
. 16 April 2003
. Retrieved
28 April
2021
.
- ^
"Golden Legend: Life of St. Bartholomew the Apostle"
.
www.christianiconography.info
. Retrieved
21 December
2021
.
- ^
Decker & Kirkland-Ives 2017
, p. ii.
- ^
"The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew"
.
nga.gov
. Retrieved
24 August
2020
.
- ^
"The statue of St Bartholomew in the Milan Duomo"
.
Duomo di Milano
. 29 June 2018. Archived from
the original
on 31 October 2018
. Retrieved
30 October
2018
.
- ^
"Philosophy"
.
Body Worlds
. Archived from
the original
on 9 June 2019
. Retrieved
30 October
2018
.
- ^
"About the Fair"
.
Crewkerne Charter Fair, Somerset ? (Formerly St.Bartholomew's Street Fair)
. Retrieved
24 August
2020
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Attwater, Donald; John, Catherine Rachel (1995).
The Penguin Dictionary of Saints
. Penguin.
ISBN
978-0-14-051312-7
.
- Bacon, Francis
(1942).
New Atlantis
. New York: W. J. Black.
- Benedict XVI
(4 October 2006).
"General Audience"
.
vatican.va
. Retrieved
24 August
2020
.
- Bissell, Tom (1 March 2016).
"A Most Violent Martyrdom"
.
Lapham's Quarterly
. Retrieved
24 August
2020
.
- Butler, Alban; Burns, Paul (1998).
Butler's Lives of the Saints: August
. A&C Black.
ISBN
978-0-86012-257-9
.
- Cavendish, Richard (9 September 2005).
"London's Last Bartholomew Fair"
.
History Today
. Vol. 55, no. 9.
- Crane, Thomas Frederick (2014).
Tales from Italy: When Christianity Met Italy
. M&J.
ISBN
979-11-951749-4-2
.
- Damo-Santiago, Corazon (28 August 2014).
"Saint Bartholomew the Apostle skinned alive for spreading his faith"
.
BusinessMirror
. Retrieved
24 August
2020
.
- Decker, John R.; Kirkland-Ives, Mitzi (2017).
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ISBN
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.
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.
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.
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.
ISSN
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.
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.
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.
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.
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246967494
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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