There is a lot of art that cannot be understood without knowing the Bible and mythology, so I will summarize it by episode (New Testament Part 17) - The 12 Apostles

I am learning about art through a 1000-day challenge, but isn't there too much Western art that you can't really understand without properly knowing the Old Testament, New Testament, and Greek mythology? Including homages and such. That's no fun, so in order to enjoy art more, I have a strong desire to
at least know the Bible and mythology, even if only superficially, so I've decided to organize representative episodes and the art related to them. I have no intention of covering or interpreting the Bible and mythology; this is just a series to cover the parts that seem like common knowledge to Westerners. If you'd like to learn these things along with me, please join me.
The Old Testament series was completed in 65 parts
. Please see here. I am currently working on the New Testament.

The logs will be summarized here After this, Greek mythology. Perhaps Dante's 'Divine Comedy' as well.

Well, with the previous installment, the story of Christ's childhood and his connection with John the Baptist has ended, and it feels like the beginning of the New Testament is over.

In terms of the chart, we are here now.

Well, it feels like 1/3 is finished.

So, as you can see from the arrow above, we are entering the section called 'Jesus' Ministry and Miracles.' From here on, we will follow Jesus' ministry and passion during the three years known as his 'public life'. Before that, the purpose of this installment is to briefly summarize the '12 Apostles' whom we will be dealing with for a long time to come.

An apostle is a high-ranking disciple of Jesus. Well, it's like a 'highly trusted disciple.' Among them, the 12 specifically selected are called the
'12 Apostles'. The number 12, as those who read the

Old Testament series will know, is derived from the 12 tribes of Israel. It is a holy number in Christianity. There are variations of the apostles, such as Mary Magdalene being included, or Matthias being included in place of the traitor Judas. Well, usually, the number of disciples increases as missionary work progresses, and there are twists and turns before the high-ranking disciples are finally decided. Career competition happens, and favoritism happens too.

However, the case of Jesus' 12 Apostles is a bit special; 12 people were selected very early in the missionary work, and it remained 12 for a long time.

Or rather, since we are following the New Testament like this, I think it's better to know these 12 people.

Because the main apostles will appear many times from here on out.

So, let's memorize these 12 people first!

In reality, there are only about 5 important people among the 12, but since we're at it, let's memorize all of them.

I looked for various ways to memorize them, but there weren't any good ones, so as usual, I created my own mnemonic.

If you write down the 12 people in the order they became disciples, it looks like this (there are some differing opinions on the order in the middle). I want to memorize them in order.

Peter(Famous as the chief disciple. Since he was entrusted with the keys to heaven, he is considered the first Pope. He was executed on an inverted cross.)

Andrew(Peter's younger brother. A man of humility. He was martyred on an X-shaped cross. It is called the Cross of St. Andrew and is used on the Scottish flag, etc.)

James the Greater(Short-tempered and called a 'Son of Thunder.' He became famous for appearing as a vision for some reason during the conquest of the Moors.)

John(James the Greater's younger brother. The most beloved by Jesus. He was the only disciple present at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified. Some say he is the same person as John who wrote the Gospel, but there are many counterarguments.)

Philip(Executed on an inverted cross.)

Bartholomew(Philip's friend. Executed by being flayed alive.)

Matthew(He was a tax collector, a profession considered lowly. He is a different person from the Matthew who wrote the Gospel.)

Thomas(Called 'Doubting Thomas' because he doubted Jesus' resurrection, but in a way, he was an intellectual, right?)

James the Less(There is a theory that identifies him with Jesus' brother 'James the Just,' but it seems they are different people.)

Thaddaeus(His real name was Judas, and he is a background character who ends up being called 'the other Judas, not Iscariot.')

Simon(From the 'Zealots' who carried out the independence movement of Judea. Strong sense of justice.)

Judas(Super famous for betraying Jesus. Judas Iscariot.)

So, I made something like this.

Pair diamond!
Waiting for a fever?
You're a shota!

...Sorry lol
In other words, I connected the first characters like this.

Peter
Andrew
James the Greater
John

Philip
Bartholomew
Matthew
Thomas

James the Less
Thaddaeus
Simon
Judas

Meaning?
No, image-wise, it's like Johnny-san finding the two members of Kinki Kids before their debut.Kinki Kids

"You guys are like a pair of diamonds!
Huh? You were waiting for a fever?
You guys are shota (slang for cute boys), so you'll definitely have a fever!"

Something like that... (sorry).

A pair of diamonds!
Waiting for a fever?
You're shota, you!

...Ah, I feel like I'm going to get yelled at by everyone. I'm really sorry lol
But it's a pun, so please forgive me.
Also, why the Hakata dialect?

By the way, if you translate the 12 Apostles into English, many familiar names appear.
Parents named their children after the 12 Apostles.

Peter: Peter (Peter)
Andrew: Andrew (Andrew)
James: James (James)
John: John (John)
Philip: Philip (Philip)
Bartholomew: Bartholomew (Bartholomew)
Matthew: Matthew (Matthew)
Thomas: Thomas (Thomas)
Simon: Simon (Simon)
Jude: Jude (Jude)

Wow, it's full of familiar names.

Now, let's look at the 12 Apostles in the famous Da Vinci's "The Last Supper".

Let's go from the left side of the painting.

Judas is the dark-skinned person in the foreground.
It is said that he is holding the bag of silver coins for which he betrayed Jesus.

What's famous in this upper part is the hand holding a fruit knife.
No one knows whose hand this is. It's said to be a mystery left by Da Vinci.
Indeed, it looks unnatural as Peter's hand, and as John's hand, you'd think, "John, your arm is too long!"
Who on earth is it! Since Da Vinci, who calculates everything he paints, wouldn't paint something carelessly, it's said that it has some meaning.

The painting below.
Thomas is skeptical lol, so he's raising the question, "Wait, a traitor? Is it just one person?"

This is the group with little presence lol

Well, among these, the most famous ones are probably

Peter
Andrew
James the Greater
John
Bartholomew
Thomas
and Judas

I suppose.

Explanations for each individual will appear in future episodes, so I will write about them then, but for now, I had a personal discovery so I would like to mention just that.

It is about Andrew.

Andrew will appear in the next episode, The Miraculous Catch of Fish. He became a disciple along with his brother Peter, but he is also said to be the
first person to follow Jesus. Because of that, he is a very important figure in Christianity.

After Jesus' death, he went to Turkey to preach and was martyred, at which time he requested an X-shaped cross himself, saying, 'I cannot be crucified in the same way as Jesus.'.

Rubens. This is the X-shaped crucifixion. Wow, it's quite a masterpiece. I think this will come up again in the following series.

And that X-shaped cross is apparently called the St. Andrew's Cross.

And, and, that is exactly what the Scottish flag is!

I didn't know that... It's apparently also called the Saint Andrew's Cross.

Reading the English 'Saint Andrew's Cross' here, I suddenly realized, Oh, so Saint Andrew is St. Andrew!!!

...Whoa!

I love Scotland and have visited three times in my life, and I have been to the town of St. Andrews on the east coast twice.

And the 'St Andrews Old Course,' the birthplace of golf located in that town, although I haven't played a round there, I have walked around it many, many times (you can normally walk around the course in the evening or morning).

This place is derived from Saint Andrew! Seriously!

Wow... I learned something new. Well, when you think about it, since it has 'Saint' in the name, it must be related to Christianity, but I've lived my life until now without even realizing that. Man, that was a huge intellectual pleasure.

Now, let's look at a few paintings of the 12 Apostles and wrap things up for this time.

A 14th-century painting from Constantinople.

The painting above doesn't label who is who, but I found a painting with almost the same arrangement and poses. I'm not sure of the source, but comparing it with this painting might help identify who is who (though the painting below is by no means guaranteed to be completely correct).

The artist of this one is unknown.
It is likely the Ascension of Jesus.
The 12 Apostles are each depicted... or rather, there are 13 people because Mary Magdalene is in the center.

James Tissot.
Jesus officially chose the 12 Apostles early in his ministry, and this is that scene.
There are 11 people on the right. And the 12th person seems to be outside the frame. Yes, that is Judas, who would later betray Jesus.

Compared to the paintings above that look like they are saying 'We are the Apostles' with their flashy appearances, Tissot focuses on realism. That consistency is one of Tissot's strengths.

With that, let's make this the picture of the day.

The painting below is also byTissot.
Knowing him, I'm sure he depicted all 12 distinctly, but it's hard to tell who is who. There's even a guy with long hair lol

Gustave Doré.
This is the scene where Peter is preaching to the Apostles after Jesus has passed away.

And so, that is all for this time.

If you repeat that 'mnemonic' in your head a few times, it's surprisingly effective and you'll naturally memorize it, so I recommend it lol

Now, from next time, we begin Jesus' missionary work.

First, starting with the 'Miraculous Catch of Fish'.

...Oh, and as a bonus.

When it comes to apostles, for young people, it's probably 'Evangelion'.

By the way, 'Evangelion' translates to 'Gospel' in Japanese.
Naturally, it brings the New Testament to mind.
On top of that, they are called apostles, there is the cross-shaped light, and the names of the Magi are used for the computers; it is an anime deeply connected to Christianity.

The names of the Angels in Eva aren't taken from the 12 Apostles, though.

One more bonus.

The 12 Apostles are called the 'Twelve Apostles' in English, and there is a scenic spot by the same name in Australia.
It consists of several limestone sea stacks. Apparently, some have collapsed by now, but it is likely a scenic spot where the rocks are likened to the apostles.

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The logs for this New Testament series will be summarized here.
By the way, the Old Testament series is complete, and can be found here.

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Corrections regarding mistakes are welcome, but I do not intend to debate interpretations of the Bible. My goal is strictly to 'learn the surface level of the Bible to enjoy art,' so I apologize.

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The references and sources used in this article are: 'Visual Guide: The Bible and Famous Paintings', 'World Famous Paintings Traced Through Christianity and the Bible', 'The Bible: Color Bible', 'The Bible as Depicted by the Masters', 'Reading the New Testament Through Art', 'Tracing Saints Through Famous Paintings', 'Art Bible', 'Art Bible 2', 'Bible Stories: New Testament Edition', 'Reading the Bible Through Paintings', 'Unraveling the Mysteries of Famous Paintings with Kyoko Nakano: Old and New Testament Edition', 'A History of Paintings of Angels and Demons', 'Angel's Drawer', 'Devil's Dance', 'Mary's Wink', 'Illustrated Bible', 'Christian Encyclopedia for Appreciation', 'Basics of Western and Japanese Art History', 'Basics of Western and Japanese Art History: Continued', and various articles on the internet.