Bartholomew  was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is said to have been martyred for having converted Polymius, King of Armenia, to Christianity. He has also been identified as Nathanael or Nathaniel, who appears in the Gospel of John when introduced to Jesus by Philip (who also became an apostle; John 1:43–51), although some modern commentators reject the identification of Nathanael with Bartholomew.

According to the Synaxarium of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Bartholomew's martyrdom is commemorated on the first day of the Coptic calendar (i.e., the first day of the month of Thout), which currently falls on 11 September (corresponding to 29 August in the Julian calendar). Eastern Christianity honours him on June 11 and the Catholic Church honours him on 24 August.

Bartholomew the Apostle is remembered in the Church of England with a Festival on 24 August.

The Armenian Apostolic Church honours Saint Bartholomew along with Saint Thaddeus as its patron saints. Bartholomew is English for Bar Talmai (Greek: Βαρθολομαῖος, transliterated Bartholomaios in Greek) comes from the Aramaic: בר-תולמי bar-Tolmay native to Hebrew "son of Talmai", or farmer, "son of the furrows". Bartholomew is listed among the Twelve Apostles of Jesus in the three synoptic gospels: Matthew,[10:1–4] Mark,[3:13–19] and Luke,[6:12–16] and also appears as one of the witnesses of the Ascension;[Acts 1:4, 12, 13] on each occasion, however, he is named in the company of Philip. He is not mentioned by the name "Bartholomew" in the Gospel of John, nor are there any early acta,[a] the earliest being written by a pseudepigraphical writer, Pseudo-Abdias, who assumed the identity of Abdias of Babylon and to whom is attributed the Saint-Thierry (Reims, Bibl. mun., ms 142) and Pseudo-Abdias manuscripts.

In art Bartholomew is most commonly depicted with a beard and curly hair at the time of his martyrdom. According to legends, he was skinned alive and beheaded so is often depicted holding his flayed skin or the curved flensing knife with which he was skinned; thus, he is remembered and approved as saint of leather makers. 

24 August (Western Christianity)
11 June (Eastern Christianity)