Two ancient testimonies exist about the mission of Saint Bartholomew in India. These are by Eusebius of Caesarea (early 4th century) and bySaint Jerome (late 4th century). Both of these refer to this tradition while speaking of the reported visit ofSaint Pantaenus to India in the 2nd century.[16] The studies of Fr A.C. Perumalil SJ and Moraes hold that the Bombay region on theKonkan coast, a region which may also have been known as the ancient cityKalyan, 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), and 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 asEthiopia orArabia Felix.[16]
Along with his fellow apostleJude "Thaddeus", Bartholomew is reputed to have brought and preach Christianity toArmenia in the 1st century; as a result, in 301 the Armenian kingdom became the first state in history to embrace Christianity officially. Thus, both saints are considered thepatron saints of theArmenian Apostolic Church. According to these traditions, Bartholomew is the secondCatholicos-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 todrown."
In the Hellenic tradition, Bartholomew was executed inAlbanopolis 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 theArsacid dynasty of Armenia with the name "Polymius". Other accounts of his martyrdom name the king as either Agrippa (identified withTigranes VI), orSanatruk, king of Armenia.[18]
The 13th-centurySaint Bartholomew Monastery was a prominent Armenian monastery constructed at the presumed site of Bartholomew's martyrdom inVaspurakan, Greater Armenia (now in southeastern Turkey).[19]
According to theVisions of the Apostles, Martyrs and Saints recorded byBlessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824),Saint Bartholomew first preached the Christian faith inIndia, where he made numerous converts and left behind several disciples.[20]
Emmerich’s account relates that the apostle journeyed eastward, passing throughJapan before returning west by way ofArabia and theRed Sea toAbyssinia (modern-dayEthiopia). There, he is said to have converted King Polymius, raised a man from the dead, and silenced a local idol that had previously spoken to the people. When Bartholomew commanded the demon inhabiting the idol to reveal its deceptions, the spirit confessed that the supposed healings attributed to the idol were illusions meant to maintain idol worship among the populace.
Following this event, the king and his household were baptized, and Bartholomew consecrated the former pagan temple to the worship of the true God. He then healed the sick and became widely loved by the people. However, priests of the old cult later accused him before Astyages, the king’s brother, who ordered his arrest and torture. Emmerich describes Bartholomew’s martyrdom by flaying, during which he continued to preach until his death. His followers are said to have recovered his body and buried it honorably, over which a church was later constructed.
The vision concludes with the conversion of Astyages, while the idol priests are depicted as dying miserably soon afterward. Emmerich also notes that some exegetes have erroneously identified Bartholomew withNathanael; however, in her visions the two were distinct. Bartholomew (son of Tolmai, of the tribe of Naphtali) preached in India andArmenia, while Nathanael evangelized inMauretania andBrittany, dying inTréguier, Brittany.[21]
TheEastern Orthodox Church venerates Bartholomew on June 11.[22] Bartholomew is also venerated on August 25 in commemoration of the transfer of Bartholomew's relics.[23] He is also venerated as one of the twelve apostles on June 30.[24]
Altar of San Bartolomeo Basilica inBenevento, Italy, containing the relics of Bartholomew
The 6th-century writerTheodorus Lector asserted that in about 507, the Byzantine emperorAnastasius I Dicorus gave the body of Bartholomew to the city ofDaras, in Mesopotamia, which he had recently refounded.[28] The existence of relics atLipari, a small island off the coast ofSicily, in the part of Italy controlled from Constantinople, was explained byGregory of Tours[29] 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 toBenevento in 838, where they are still kept in the Basilica San Bartolomeo. A portion of the relics was given in 983 byOtto II, Holy Roman Emperor, to Rome, where it is conserved atSan Bartolomeo all'Isola, which was founded on the site of the temple ofAsclepius, 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.[30]
Saint Bartholomew has been credited with several miracles.[31]
In artistic depictions, Bartholomew is most commonly depicted holding hisflayed skin and the knife with which he was skinned.[32] Of this a well known example is featured inMichelangelo'sLast Judgement.
Not rarely, Bartholomew is shown draping his own skin around his body.[33] Moreover, representations of Bartholomew with a chained demon are common in Spanish painting.[33]
St. Bartholomew is the most prominent flayed Christian martyr;[34] During the 16th century, images of the flaying of Bartholomew were popular and this detail came to become a virtual constant of iconography.[33][32] 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."[35]
Saint Bartholomew is often depicted in lavish medieval manuscripts.[36] 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.[36]
Florentine artistPacino di Bonaguida, depicts his martyrdom in a complex and striking composition in hisLaudario of Sant'Agnese, a book of Italian Hymns produced for the Compagnia di Sant'Agnesec. 1340.[34] 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.
The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew (1634) byJusepe 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.[41] 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.[42]
Reliquary shutters with theMartyrdoms of St. Francis, St. Claire, St. Bartholomew, and St. Catherine of Alexandria byGuido da Siena
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 inMarco d'Agrate'sSt 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.[43]
This idea has influenced some contemporary artists to create an artwork depicting an anatomical study of a human body is found amongst withGunther Von Hagens'sThe Skin Man (2002) andDamien Hirst'sExquisite Pain (2006). Within Gunther Von Hagens's body of work calledBody 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.[44] InExquisite 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 byTim Burton's filmEdward Scissorhands (1990).[45]
Bartholomew plays a part inFrancis Bacon'sUtopian taleNew 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.[46]
St Bartholomew's Street Fair is held inCrewkerne,Somerset, annually at the start of September.[48] The fair dates back toSaxon times and the major traders' market was recorded in theDomesday Book. St Bartholomew's Street Fair, Crewkerne is reputed to have been granted its charter in the time ofHenry III (1207–1272). The earliest surviving court record was made in 1280, which can be found in theBritish Library.[citation needed]
QuotingIbn Ishaq, theAndalusian scholaral-Qurtubi gives the following details concerning the mission of the disciples of Jesus Christ: He sent Peter and Paul to the Roman lands; Andrew and Matthew to Cannibals; Thomas to Babylon; Philip to Africa; John to Damascus the town of the seven-sleeper; Jacob to Jerusalem; Ibn Talma (Bartholomew) to the Arab world; Simon to the Berbers; Yehuda and Bard to Alexandria. Allah aided them with points of right argument and they prevailed.[50]
^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. ..."
^"About the Fair".Crewkerne Charter Fair, Somerset – (Formerly St.Bartholomew's Street Fair). Retrieved24 August 2020.
^Noegel & Wheeler 2002, p. 86: Muslim exegesis identifies the disciples of Jesus as Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Thomas, Philip, John, James, Bartholomew, and Simon
Kay, S. (2006). "Original Skin: Flaying, Reading, and Thinking in the Legend of Saint Bartholomew and Other Works".Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies.36 (1):35–74.doi:10.1215/10829636-36-1-35.ISSN1082-9636.
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