St
Bartholomew one was of The 12 Apostles of Jesus.
He preached in India and in Greater Armenia, where he was flayed and beheaded by King Astyages.
In India, which was considered the end of the world, he lived in a temple to an Indian idol apparently and the idol was possessed by a demol, Astaroth.
Another devil described Bartholomew as:
"And the devil said to them: He hath his hairs black and crisp, his skin white, eyes great,
his nostrils even and straight, his beard long and hoar a little, and of a straight and seemly
stature. He is clad in a white coat, and a white mantle, which in every corner hath gems of purple
and precious stones therein. And it is sith twenty-six years that his clothes never waxed old ne
foul."
Unwashed clothes- that seemingly never got dirty..which is just as well for his beautiful nostrils.
He is often depicted wrapped in his flayed skin or holding his skin in his hands.
Christian traditional has three stories about 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 Bashkale, Armenia." [13]
The account of Bartholomew being skinned alive is the most represented in works of art, and consequently Bartholomew shown with a large knife, holding his own skin (as in Michelangelo's Last Judgment), or both. Bartholomew is also the patron saint of tanners.
More information on his martydom
here
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