This icon is a reproduction of an original piece of artwork by "K.Mucha". It represents one of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus. In the Gospel narratives the Twelve Apostles are described as having been commissioned to preach the Gospel to the world, regardless of whether Jew or Gentile. Although the Apostles are portrayed as having been Galilean Jews, and 10 of their names are Aramaic, the other 4 names are Greek, suggesting a more metropolitan background. According to the list occurring in each of the Synoptic Gospels, the Twelve chosen by Jesus near the beginning of his ministry, those whom also He named Apostles, were:
1/ Simon: called Peter by Jesus, also known as Simon bar Jonah and Simon bar Jochanan (Aram.) and earlier Cephas (Aram.) by Paul of Tarsus and Simon Peter, a fisherman from Bethsaida "of Galilee";
2/ Andrew: brother of Peter, a Bethsaida fisherman and disciple of John the Baptist, and also the First-Called Apostle;
3/ 4/ James (the Greater) and John (the Evangelist): sons of Zebedee, called by Jesus Boanerges (an Aramaic name for "Sons of Thunder");
5/ Philip: from Bethsaida "of Galilee";
6/ Bartholomew: sometimes identified with the Nathanael of John;
7/ Thomas: also known as Judas Thomas Didymus;
8/ James, son of Alphaeus: commonly identified with James the Lesser and sometimes with James the Just;
9/ Matthew: the tax collector, some identify with Levi son of Alphaeus;
10/ Simon the Canaanite: called in Luke and Acts "Simon the Zealot", some identify with Simeon of Jerusalem, which others dispute on the grounds that Simeon was described at the time of Jesus' birth some thirty years before, as an old man not far from death;
11/ Judas Iscariot: the name Iscariot may refer to the Judaean towns of Kerioth or to the sicarii (Jewish nationalist insurrectionists), or to Issachar. Also referred to as "Judas, the son of Simon". After Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ and then in guilt committed suicide before Christ's resurrection (in one Gospel account), the apostles numbered eleven. So between the ascension of Christ and the day of Pentecost, the remaining apostles elected a twelfth apostle by casting lots, a traditional Jewish way to determine the Will of God. The lot fell upon Matthias, who then became the last of the Twelve Apostles in the New Testament;
12/ The identity of the other apostle of the twelve, traditionally called St. Jude, varies between the Synoptic Gospels and also between ancient manuscripts of each gospel: Mark names him as Thaddaeus; different manuscripts of Matthew identify him as either Thaddeus or Lebbaeus; Luke names him as Judas (not Iscariot), son of James (translated in the KJV as: "Judas the brother of James");
13/ Paul of Tarsus - Many historians maintain that Paul and Peter certainly disagreed on the extent of Paul's authority as an Apostle, with Peter maintaining Paul was not one of those chosen by Jesus, or by his chosen after his death. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church consider Paul an Apostle; they honor Paul and Peter together on June 29. Paul sometimes replaces Matthias in classical depictions of "The Twelve Apostles," although he has also been called the "Thirteenth Apostle" because he was not a member of the original Twelve (unlike the replacement Matthias) but is still considered an apostle.
