St. Bartholomew: The Grossest Saint of All?

Of all the Bartholomews in the world, the most famous was one of the twelve Apostles who followed Jesus about 2,000 years ago. The legend is that that Bartholomew traveled all the way to India to spread Christianity. Some of the people there didn't appreciate it, though, so they skinned (or "flayed") Bartholomew.

With knives.

That's not very nice!

So Bartholomew became a martyr, or someone who dies for his beliefs. And then he became a saint. Since most saints get to be in charge of something, Saint Bartholomew became the saint of bookbinders (cool!), butchers (uh...), and leatherworkers (hey!). And one of Bartholomew's symbols is a hand holding a knife.

Yeesh!

Grossest of all, there is a statue of Saint Bartholomew in the Italian city of Milan. Made by Marco D'Agrate in 1562, the statue doesn't look bad from certain angles... but if you REALLY look at it, you'll see that Saint Bartholomew is skinned! Furthermore, Bart's draping his own skin like a garment or folded cape over his shoulder. See what I mean?

Now THAT'S a gross statue. Thanks, Marco D'Agrate!