Saint Bartholomew flayed

The statue depicting the flayed Saint Bartholomew is amongst the most famous sculptures in Milan Duomo. It was made in 1562 by the Lombard sculptor Marco d'Agrate and represents the fisherman Bartholomew, one of Christ's Apostles, sent out to preach his word throughout the world. According to tradition, Bartholomew went as far as Armenia, where he converted King Polimius, his wife, and twelve entire cities to the Christian faith. These conversions aroused the envy of the priests of the local divinities, who set Astiage, brother of Polimius, against him. He ordered Bartholomew to be punished, skinned alive, and then beheaded. Marco d'Agrate, therefore, depicts Bartholomew skinned and with the Gospel in his hand. The sculpture is characterised by the particular attention paid to the anatomy and by the emphasis on the martyr's body, without skin, which slides behind his back like a robe. At the base of the work a later epigraph celebrates the mastery of the artist, making it a real "talking" sculpture - NON ME PRAXITELES SED MARC(US) FINXIT AGRATIS - PRAXITELES DID NOT SCULPT ME, BUT RATHER MARCO D'AGRATE. Initially placed outside the Cathedral, it was brought inside in the last quarter of the 16th century.