That doesn't work very well either. Armenia declared Christianity the state religion in 301, the first nation to do so.
I think you’re right. I’m in the wrong century. Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa! LOL
I read the 8th century thing somewhere on the internet, but should have read more sources of information.
From Wikipedia:
“Along with his fellow Apostle Jude, Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus both saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church. There is also a local tradition that he was martyred at the site of the Maiden Tower in Baku, Azerbaijan, by being flayed alive and then crucified head down.”
The statute of St. Bartholmew in the Duomo in Milan was done by a student of Da Vinci’s. It is chillingly tragic—a skinned man draped in a vestment of his own skin. Da Vinci was into dissecting cadavers and believed if an artist knew human anatomy, he could paint/sculpt the human body better.
On the other hand, Michelangelo would look at a block of marble and “see” what was already inside it. Then he’d pick up the chisel and hammer and get started.