Beyond the Yalla Dog

Post 13 – The Final Acts and Who’s Who 

A short schoolgirl Summary  of the Lives and Deaths of the Apostles

In this version of The Last Supper by Andrea del Castagno   found in the church of Sant’Apollonia in Florence the artist has helpfully supplied us with the names of the various disciples underneath their table,  so for this brief summary I have decided to use this as the order of information about each Apostle.

My purpose for all this research is to offer Last Supper Tours around the various sites in Florence  - a bit esoteric I grant you but I have found that there is interest in these specialist tours.

The names are difficult to read on these small images but I wrote them down on my last visit and the characters are,  in left to right order:-

St Matthew, St Phillip, St Thomas, St Jacobus (James the Greater) St Peter, Judas, Jesus, St John, St Andrew, St Bartholomew, St Thadeus (St Jude)  St Simon, St James.                                                                                                                                 I could, of course, be wrong about which James is which, but I figured  James the fisherman from Galilee might logically sit with his friend Peter?

St Matthew –  The Evangelist - Attribute – a Winged man or Angel – No certainty where, how  or when he died 

St Matthew by Pontormo fresco in Chiesa Santa Felicita in Florence 

St Phillip – As Provider of loaves and fishes in the feeding of the 5,000 his Attribute is often bread – Preacher -also to Greek community – brother of female preacher Mariamne – Died in Hierapolis – crucified upside down or beheaded

 St Thomas – Famous for having doubts about Christ’s resurrection but the tables were turned when he claimed to have seen the assumption into heaven of the Virgin Mary and receiving  her girdle.  – Preacher -got as far as Madras in India –  died whilst in prayer on a hill in Mylapur

St Thomas with Jesus by Verrocchio   – in Chiesa Orsanmichele in Florence  

St James the greater – Patron saint of Spain – although no proof that he got there whilst alive his relics are to be seen in Santiago de Compestela – Attributes of Pilgrimage – staff and scallop shells

St Peter – preacher and keeper of the keys – attribute Keys – Died in Rome AD64 crucified upside down on the orders of Emperor Nero – his remains are traditionally held to be buried under St  Peter’s Basilica.

Caravaggio’s vision of St Peter being bound to the cross having declared himself “unworthy” to be crucified in the same way as Jesus Christ

Judas – Betrayed Jesus with a kiss  for 30 pieces of silver – Attribute money bags and in early Renaissance’s paintings distinguishable as clothes in yellow- committed suicide in Jerusalem – hung himself  on a Judas Tree in the fullers field.

Judas betraying Jesus in a fresco by Fra Angelico in Chieso San Marco Florence

St John – Preacher and probably Evangelist writer of the Gospel of St John and the book of Revelations – Attribute as Evangelist is an Eagle – the only one of the disciples who was definitely not martyred although the Roman Emperor Domitian  did try to boil him in oil and his miraculous survival converted a lot of new Christians – he died aged 94  in Ephesus. 

Detail from Domenico Ghirlandaio. Last Supper. 1480. Fresco. Convent of San Marco, Refectory, Florence,

St John as vigorous older writer  - also part of the  fresco by Mannerist painter Portormo  (also attributed to Bronzino) in Chiesa di Santa Felicita

St Andrew – brother of Simon Peter – Preacher – Patron Saint of Scotland –  Attribute the diagonal cross (saltire) on which he was  martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras on the northern coast of the Peloponnese

Saint Andrew’s shrine  in Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican City

St Bartholomew – Attribute – The knife with which he was flayed ( skinned alive) - alternative reports that he was then  beheaded or crucified in Albac in Turkey.

St Thaddeus or St Jude – preacher & Patron Saint of Lost Causes – Attribute is a carpenter’s rule, an image of Christ or a club with which he was  beaten before he was beheaded with an axe when he was Martyred with  Simon  about 65 AD in Beirut,

St Simon – the Zealot – preacher – Attribute a saw – died as a martyr by being sawed in half  

St James – the brother of Jesus – often painted in similar clothing to Jesus – Leader of the Christian Church in Jerusalem and difficult to find paintings of . He died in Jerusalem AD 42 having been sentenced to death by stoning .

 Now to get back to planning and promotion for activities in Florence for the rest of this year !