5. In a rich landscape, with cypresses, palm-trees, and birds, the Virgin is seen kneeling; St. Peter on the right, and James Minor on the left, also kneeling; five other Apostles on each side. The Celestial Dove, with outspread wings, descends in a glory surrounded by fifteen cherubim: there are no tongues of fire. The prophet Joel is seen above, with the inscription, ‘Effundam de Spiritu meo super omnem carnem.’[155]
6. The Virgin and the Apostles seated; flames of fire stand on their heads; the Holy Ghost appears above in a glory of light, from which rays are poured on every side. Mary Magdalene, and another Mary, are present behind; astonishment is the prevailing expression in every face, except in the Virgin and St. Peter. The composition is attributed to Raphael.[156]
The next event of importance is the separation of the Twelve Apostles when they disperse to preach the Gospel in all lands. According to the ancient traditions, the Apostles determined by lot to what countries they should go: Peter went to Antioch; James the Great remained in Jerusalem and the neighbourhood; Philip went to Phrygia; John to Ephesus; Thomas to Parthia and Judea; Andrew to Scythia; Bartholomew to India and Judea. The Parting of the Apostles is a beautiful subject, of which I have met with but few examples; one is a woodcut after Titian. The Mission of the Apostles I remember to have seen by Bissoni over an altar in the Santa Giustina at Padua: they are preparing to depart; one reads from a book; another looses his shoes from his feet, in allusion to the text, ‘Take neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes;’ several are bidding adieu to the Virgin. This picture struck me as dramatic; its merits otherwise I do not remember.
We have next ‘The Twelve Baptisms.’[157] In the upper compartment Christ is standing in a majestic attitude, and on each side are six Apostles, all alike, and in white garments. The inscription above is in Greek: ‘Go ye, and preach the Gospel to all nations.’ Below, in twelve smaller compartments, each of the Apostles is seen baptizing a convert: an attendant, in white garments, stands by each font, holding a napkin. One of the converts and his attendant are black, denoting clearly the chamberlain of the Queen of Ethiopia. This is a very uncommon subject.
And, lastly, we have ‘The Twelve Martyrdoms.’ This is a more frequent series, in pictures and in prints, and occurs in a set of large fresco compositions in the church of San Nereo e Sant’ Achilleo at Rome. In such representations the usual treatment is as follows:—1. St. Peter is crucified with his head downwards. 2. St. Andrew, bound on a transverse cross. 3. St. James Major, beheaded with a sword. 4. St. John, in a cauldron of boiling oil. 5. St. Philip, bound on a cross in the form of a T. 6. St. Bartholomew, flayed. 7. St. Thomas, pierced with a spear. 8. St. Matthew, killed with a sword. 9. St. James Minor, struck down with a club. 10. St. Simon and St. Jude together: one is killed with a sword, the other with a club. 11. St. Matthias has his head cloven by a halbert. 12. St. Paul is beheaded.[158]
The authority for many of these martyrdoms is wholly apocryphal,[159] and they sometimes vary; but this is the usual mode of representation in Western Art. In early Greek Art a series of the Deaths of the Apostles often occurs, but they do not all suffer martyrdom; and the subject of St. John in the cauldron of boiling oil, so famous in the Latin Church, is, I believe, unknown, or, at least, so rare, that I have not found it in genuine Byzantine Art.
The most ancient series I have met with (in a Greek MS. of the ninth century) shows us five Apostles crucified: St. Peter and St. Philip with the head downwards; St. Andrew on the transverse cross, as usual; St. Simon and St. Bartholomew, in the same manner as our Saviour. St. Thomas is pierced by a lance; and St. John is buried, and then raised by angels, according to the legend. The same series, similarly treated, ornamented the doors of the old Basilica of St. Paul, executed by Greek artists of the tenth century.[160]