Bartholomew the Apostle
1st century AD — ca. 70–80 AD
Bartholomew the Apostle carried the Gospel to Armenia, where he converted a king before being flayed alive for his faith. Tradition identifies him with Nathaniel, the skeptic who asked 'Can anything good come from Nazareth?' — only to be stunned into belief when Jesus revealed: 'Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.' In Michelangelo's Last Judgment, Bartholomew stands holding his own skin, the artist's own face staring back from it.