561 Bartholomew, Gospel of 562
made their way to the island of Lipari north of Si- Rembrandt painted two paintings of Bartholo-
cily in 580 CE. According to Anastasius the Librar- mew, probably from a series of apostles. Both paint-
ian, the remains were taken to Benevento in 809 ings show him in the traditional way, with dark
CE, but another tradition suggests that the remains hair and beard streaked with white, and holding a
arrived there after they were translated during the knife. Another attribute used for Bartholomew is a
Saracen invasion of Lipari in 838 CE. In any case, book. His martyrdom is depicted in gruesome de-
Emperor Otto II had them brought to Rome in 983 tail in paintings and etchings by Giuseppe Ribera
CE, where they were placed in the island church of found in Florence’s Pitti Gallery.
St. Bartholomew-on-the-Tiber and can be viewed to Works: ■ Michelangelo, Bartholomew (detail in The Last Judg-
this day. In 1238, however, the skull was brought ment; 1537–41), Sistine Chapel, Rome.
to Frankfurt on the Main River (although a skull of
Bibliography: ■ Apostolos-Cappadona, D., Dictionary of
Bartholomew also appeared at Mount Athos). One Christian Art (New York 1998). ■ Hall, J., Dictionary of Sub-
chronicler maintains that the wife of Canute the jects and Symbols in Art (New York 1979). ■ Murray, P./L.
Great, Queen Emma, gave Bartholomew’s arm to Murray, Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art (London 2004).
Canterbury cathedral, while another asserts that the Daniel G. Callahan
arm was a gift from the bishop of Benevento to Ed-
See also /Bartholomew, Acts of; /Bartholomew,
ward the Confessor, Emma’s son by Ethelred the
Gospel of
Unready.
Bibliography: ■ Beeston, A. F. L., “The Quaestiones Bartholo-
mae,” Journal of Theological Studies 25 (1974) 124–27. ■ Berg- Bartholomew, Acts of
Onstwedder, G. van den, “The Apocryphon of Bartholomew
the Apostle,” in Acts of the Fifth International Congress of Coptic Acts of the Apostle Bartholomew are transmitted in
Studies (ed. D. W. Johnson; Rome 1993) 491–96. ■ Brown- various languages. The most extensive version is
rigg, R., The Twelve Apostles (New York 1974). ■ Cherchi, P., the Acts of Bartholomew, originally written in Coptic
“A Legend from St. Bartholomew’s Gospel in the Twelfth but transmitted only in Arabic and Ethiopian. The
Century,” RB 91 (1984) 212–18. ■ Esbroeck, M. van, “The text is related to the Coptic Acts of Andrew and Bar-
Rise of St. Bartholomew’s Cult from the Seventh to the Thir- tholomew, relating Bartholomew’s mission to Par-
teenth Centuries,” in Medieval Armenian Culture (eds. T. Sam-
thia.
uelian/M. Stone; Chico, Calif. 1984) 161–78. ■ James, M.
The Passion of Bartholomew, transmitted in Latin
R., “The Gospel of Bartholomew,” in The Apocryphal New Tes-
tament (ed. M. R. James; New York 1924) 166–81. ■ James, (Collection of Pseudo-Abdias) and Greek, is an inde-
M. R., “The Book of the Resurrection of Christ by Bartholo- pendent tradition, narrating Bartholomew’s mis-
mew the Apostle,” in The Apocryphal New Testament (ed. M. R. sion to India where he was skinned alive.
James; New York 1924) 181–87. ■ Schneemelcher, W./ In the Armenian Passion of Bartholomew, a late
R. M. Wilson (eds.), “The Gospel of Bartholomew,” in New composition which relies on earlier Syriac and
Testament Apocrypha, vol. 1 (eds. W. Schneemelcher/R. M. Greek sources, Bartholomew is depicted as the apos-
Wilson; Louisville, Ky. 2003) 537–57. tle of Armenia.
Leroy Huizenga
Bibliography: ■ Leloir, L., Écrits apocryphes sur les apôtres
(CChr.SA 4; Turnhout 1992). [Esp. 479–530] ■ Röwekamp,
III. Visual Arts G., “Bartholomaeus-Literatur,” Lexikon der antiken christlichen
According to The Golden Legend, Bartholomew evan- Literatur (Freiburg et al. 32002) 96–97.
gelized India and Armenia, and tradition further Els Rose
identified him as the founder of the Armenian See also /Acts, Apocryphal; /Bartholomew;
Church and the restorer of life to the son of the /Bartholomew, Gospel of
Armenian king. Given the style of his martyrdom,
he was the patron of butchers, tanners, and leather
traders, and was invoked in cases of skin and nerv- Bartholomew, Apocalypse of
ous diseases.
In Christian art, scenes of Bartholomew’s mar- /Bartholomew, Gospel of
tyrdom are modeled after the Hellenistic sculpture
from Pergamum of the flaying of Marsyas. The first
representations of Bartholomew are found in Rome Bartholomew, Gospel of
in San Paolo fuori le Mura and Santa Maria Anti- I. Questions of Bartholomew
qua, and in Ravenna at San Vitale. In the 8th cen- II. Book of the Resurrection
tury CE, Bartholomew depictions are frequently The Gospel of Bartholomew is a general indication for
found in Byzantine mosaics. The most famous rep- several apocryphal writings attributed to the apos-
resentation of Bartholomew is probably that found tle Bartholomew. Because of apocalyptic elements
in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment (1537–41), in which in these works, the phrase Apocalypse of Bartholomew
the artist used his own features to depict the saint’s is also used. The individual works are known as the
face as he holds his flayed skin (see /plate 6.b). Questions of Bartholomew and the Book of the Resurrec-
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563 Bartholomew, Questions of 564
6
tion of Jesus Christ by the Apostle Bartholomew. Al- NTApo, vol. 2 (ed. W. Schneemelcher; Tübingen 1997) 627–
though the Questions of Bartholomew and the Book of 28. ■ Wilmart, A./E. Tisserant, “Fragments grecs et latins
the Resurrection have much in common, they should de l’Évangile de Barthélemy,” in RB N.S. 10 (1913) 161–90,
be seen as two independent literary creations, as far 321–68.
as both content and style are concerned. It is plausi- Els Rose
ble that both texts go back to a common tradition. See also /Bartholomew; /Bartholomew, Acts of
I. Questions of Bartholomew
The Questions of Bartholomew is a work difficult to Bartholomew, Questions of
date. It must have been composed in Greek presum-
/Bartholomew, Gospel of
ably between the 2nd and the end of the 4th cen-
tury CE. The text is related to the genre of dia-
logues of the apostles with the risen Christ and
recounts the interrogative conversation of Bartholo- Bartholomew the Apostle, Book of
mew with Jesus before the crucifixion and after the the Resurrection of Christ by
resurrection. The oldest manuscripts still extant are /Bartholomew, Gospel of
in Latin and date to the 9th century CE; the oldest
Greek manuscripts are from the 13th century. The
text is also transmitted in Old-Slavonic, while the Bartimaeus
work was also known in Ethiopian circles, along
Mark 10 : 46–52 reports that as Jesus and his disci-
with other esoteric writings.
ples left Jericho on their way to Jerusalem, they en-
The narrative of the Questions of Bartholomew
countered a blind beggar named Bartimaeus (lit.
consists of four separate sections in which Bartholo-
mew receives various revelations on mysteries of the “Son of Timaeus”). Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus,
faith. The different parts are written as dialogues Son of David, have mercy on me” (10 : 47). After the
between Bartholomew and Christ or Mary. In some crowd surrounding Jesus rebuked him, Bartimaeus
sections the other apostles are present as well. The repeated his request. Jesus then commanded his
first section deals with Christ’s descent into hell disciples to call Bartimaeus to him, and the blind
during his crucifixion; this is assumed to be the beggar immediately cast aside his cloak and jumped
oldest testimony of the tradition of Christ’s victory to his feet. When Bartimaeus told Jesus that he
over hell. In the second section the mysteries con- wanted to see (10 : 51), Jesus proclaimed, “Go, your
cerning the virgin conception of Christ by Mary and faith has made you well,” and the blind man re-
Christ’s birth are revealed. In the third section, the ceived sight (10 : 52).
secrets of the terrifying place called abyss are ex- Of all who receive miracle healings in Mark,
plained, and in the final section those of Satan, his Bartimaeus is the only one who is named (Beavis:
origin and his fall. 29), and he is the only person in Mark to address
Jesus by the messianic title, “Son of David” (Gun-
II. Book of the Resurrection dry: 600). Moreover, Mark’s story of Bartimaeus oc-
The Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by the Apostle curs in a prominent place in the gospel between the
Bartholomew is a Coptic text preserved in only three travel narrative (8 : 27–10 : 52) and the story of Je-
manuscripts and can be dated to the 5th or 6th cen- sus’ entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11), linking his
tury CE. In this text, as is the case in the Questions healing and teaching ministry to his Jerusalem
of Bartholomew, Bartholomew is identified with Nat- ministry (Robbins: 237).
haniel (John 1 : 46–52). He is presented as the re- Matthew and Luke contain similar reports of Je-
ceiver of revelations on Christ’s passion, descent sus healing a blind beggar outside Jericho, although
into hell and resurrection. Bartholomew shares his they do not name him (Matt 20 : 29–34; Luke
revelations with the other disciples. The narrative 18 : 35–43). Unlike the account of a single blind
relates dialogues and prayers as well as events situ- beggar in Mark and Luke, Matthew reports that Je-
ated in the period of Christ’s passion, resurrection sus healed two blind men. Matthew and Mark place
and ascension. the healing of the blind beggar outside of Jericho as
Bibliography: ■ Kaestli, J.-D./P. Cherix, L’Évangile de Barthé- Jesus left the city, but Luke states that this healing
lemy (Turnhout 1993). ■ Kaestli, J.-D., “Questions de Bar- occurred as Jesus approached Jericho.
thélemy,” in Écrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1 (eds. F. Bovon/
P. Geoltrain; Paris 1997) 255–95. ■ Kaestli, J.-D./P. Cherix, Bibliography: ■ Beavis, M. A., “From the Margin to the
“Livre de la résurrection de Jésus-Christ par l’apôtre Barthé- Way: A Feminist Reading of the Story of Bartimaeus,” JFSR
lemy,” in Écrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1 (eds. F. Bovon/P. 14 (1998) 19–39. ■ Gundry, R. H., Mark: A Commentary on
Geoltrain; Paris 1997) 297–356. ■ Scheidweiler, F./W. His Apology for the Cross (Grand Rapids, Mich. 1993). ■ Rob-
Schneemelcher, “Bartholomäusevangelium,” in NTApo, vol. bins, V. K., “The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus (10 : 46–52)
1 (ed. W. Schneemelcher; Tübingen 61990) 424–40. in the Markan Theology,” JBL 92 (1973) 224–43.
■ Schneemelcher, W., “Apokalypse des Bartholomäus,” in Susanna Drake
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