James the Great was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles to die, and the first to be martyred. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain and, according to tradition, his remains are held in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
St James the Elder (c. 1612–1613) by Peter Paul Rubens
James the Apostle, detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th century
Shield with symbol of St. James the Great, Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)
Saint James the Elder was painted by Rembrandt in 1661. He is depicted clothed as a pilgrim, with a scallop shell on his shoulder, and his staff and pilgrim's hat beside him.
Apostles in the New Testament
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles, were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and ministry of Jesus in the 1st century AD, the apostles were his closest followers and became the primary teachers of the gospel message of Jesus. There is also an Eastern Christian tradition derived from the Gospel of Luke that there were seventy apostles during the time of Jesus' ministry.
The Last Supper, a late 1490s mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci, is a depiction of the last supper of Jesus and his Twelve Apostles on the eve of his crucifixion. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Jesus and his Twelve Apostles, fresco with the Chi-Rho symbol ☧, Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome
The Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles. Russian, 14th century, Moscow Museum
Vocation of the Apostles, a fresco in the Sistine Chapel by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1481–82
