Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew is named among the Twelve in the first three Gospels and in Acts, always together with Philip. Since the Gospel of John names instead Nathanael of Cana, whom Philip brought to Jesus and who asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, many have held since the Middle Ages that they are the same man; the name Bartholomew means “son of Tolmai”. Eusebius records a report that Bartholomew had preached in India and left there the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew. A later tradition, strong in the West and in Armenia, says he preached in Armenia and died a martyr, flayed alive; for this he is often painted holding his own skin, as in Michelangelo's Last Judgment. Rome claims his relics in the church of St Bartholomew on the Tiber Island.