Background
St. Bartholomew is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (i:13) and, always after Philip, in the synoptic Gospels (Matt. x:3; Mark iii:18; Luke vi:14). Since John (i:45-51) couples Philip with Nathanael, many scholars identify Bartholomew with Nathanael. The name may be a patronymic, "Son of Tholmai"; in any case it is Hebrew. Tradition represents Bartholomew as preaching in India (anciently a very general term) and martyred by being flayed alive and crucified in Armenia (or in Cilicia). In works of art he has been represented as flayed and wearing his own skin as a cloak, as in the statue by Marco d'Agrate in the cathedral at Milan, or carrying his skin in his hand, as in Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. His feast is on August 24, which from 1133 to 1855 was marked by the opening of Bartholomew Fair in West Smithfield, London, in medieval times the chief cloth market in the kingdom.
