1:1–5:20 James Depictions of James

Western Catholic Tradition

Depictions of James, the author of the epistle, in paintings, statues, manuscript illustrations, engravings, woodcuts, and embroidery on liturgical vestments are particularly prominent in the Middle Ages. A common consensus of the artists is that the author of the epistle is James the Just, leader of the Jerusalem church; he is typically further identified with James, son of Alphaeus, one of Jesus' Twelve (Mk 3:18), and "James the Less" (Mk 15:40; →Jameses near Jesus). The iconography of James draws particularly on accounts of James recorded in →Eusebius of Caesarea Hist. eccl. 2.23 and →Jerome Vir. ill. 2, who in turn draw on accounts from Clement of Alexandria and Hegesippus (→Introduction). Several prominent features of these portrayals may be noted:

• Following the tradition that he was the first bishop of Jerusalem, James is often portrayed anachronistically in bishop's vestments.
• James is often portrayed holding a fuller's club, alluding to the tradition that James was beaten to death with a such a club. Variations show him holding different types of clubs. Another related tradition shows James holding a bow such as one used by hat-makers of the Middle Ages.
• James bears a striking physical resemblance to his brother Jesus.
• One artistic tradition, based on accounts found in the preface to the →Glossa ord. and →de Voragine Leg. aur., portrays the infant James as part of a large extended family. According to this legend, Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, had three children named Mary with three different husbands. James and his brothers Joses (Joseph), Simon, and Jude (cf. Mk 6:3) are the sons of Mary (daughter of Anne and Cleophas; cf. Jn 19:25) and Alphaeus (cf. Mk 3:18). James and his brothers are thus cousins of Jesus (son of Mary, daughter of Anne and Joachim) and of John the Evangelist and James the Greater (sons of Mary, daughter of Anne and Salomas).

The following images are noteworthy:

• A painting of James in the Armenian St. James Cathedral, Jerusalem: James is dressed in episcopal robes, wears a miter, and holds a crozier (→Gowler 2014, 54).
• Blessed James Apostle. In the Stavelot Bible (1093–1097, British Museum Add. MS. 28106–28107) illuminations of the apostle James are at the introduction to the Catholic epistles (f. 197 r→) and at the beginning of his epistle (f. 197 v→). The apostle stands, holding a book.
• Apostle James the Less, statue, south portal of Chartres Cathedral, early 13^th century.

James holds a club.

• Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper (1495–1498), Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. 

James, who resembles his brother Jesus, is second from his left. This full-scale copy was the main source for the—unfortunate—twenty-year restoration of the original (1978–1998). It includes several lost details such as Christ's feet, the transparent glass decanters on the table, and the floral motifs of the tapestries that decorate the room's interior. It was first mentioned in 1626 by the author Bartolomeo Sanese as hanging in the Certosa di Pavia, a monastery near Pavia, Italy, but it is unlikely that it was intended for this location. At some point, the upper third of the picture was cut off, and the width was reduced. Giampietrino is thought to have worked closely with Leonardo when he was in Milan. A very fine, full-size copy of this painting, before it was cut down, is installed at Tongerlo Abbey in Westerlo, near Antwerp, Belgium. 

• Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Holy Kinship (1509), a triptych in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, Germany. The infant Jesus, his mother Mary, and Mary's mother Anne are portrayed in the center. To the right is Anne's other daughter Mary, her husband Zebedee, and sons John the Evangelist and James the Greater. To the left is another of Anne's daughters named Mary with her husband Alphaeus; their children James, Joses (Joseph), Simon, and Jude are in the left and center panels.

The side and central panels describe a great hall with blue grey walls and three-colored tiles. In the side panels are depicted the half-sisters of the Virgin Mary —called after their fathers Mary Cleophas (left) and Mary Salome (right)—together with their husbands.

Left panel: Mary Cleophas and Alphaeus (with the features of Frederick the Wise) with their two sons, the Apostles James the Less (at her breast) and Joseph Justus, called Barnabas, depicted with a book as annunciator of the Gospel according to Matthew.

Central panel: Joseph, who seems to seems to sleep, the Virgin dressed in blue with yellow lining, Anna and the Christ Child on her knee, who is stretching out his hand towards an apple given to him by the Virgin Mary. Anna's three husbands following →de Voragine Leg. aur. are shown in the background in the matroneum: on the left Joachim, who is attracted by the holy women in front of him and whose relation is also shown by the corresponding blue and yellow color of his dress, Cleophas (with the physiognomy and chain of Emperor Maximilian I), and Salomas (with the physiognomy of Sixtus Oelhafen von Schöllenbach, secretary of Frederick III, Maximilian I, and Charles V), who are talking to each other. There is an architectural structure by a great stone bench in the foreground of the central panel with two marble columns on the sides, over which is stretched a cloth of gold. On the right column is a tablet with date and signature: LVCAS CHRONVS FACIEBAT ANNO MDIX (1509). The parapet of the matroneum is decorated by a sculptured frieze with dancing putti holding six escutcheons with the six fields of the electorate of Saxony. In the hall are shown the 17 members of the The Holy Kinship. In the central panel are shown two more children of Mary Cleophas and Alpheus: the Apostles Simon, patron saint of weavers, dyers, tanners, and saddlers, and Jude, who went on mission. They suffered their martyrdom together and therefore are regularly depicted together.

Right panel: Mary Salome and Zebedee (with the features of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, and his brother Herzog Johann der Beständige). Mary Salome, dressed in gold with dark red lining, is combing her son James the Greater, while John the Evangelist is hiding in her dress.

• Paolo Veronese (Caliari), James as Bishop (ca. 1578), Burghley House Collection, Lincolnshire, UK. James with crozier and miter, holding a book.

• El Greco, Saint James the Less (1610–1614), Museo del Greco, Toledo, Spain. 

James is shown holding a Bible, symbolizing his status as a scriptural writer, in one hand. James is depicted in the Mannerist style with elongated form and without any of the traditional iconographic symbols

• Niccolò Bambini, The Communion of the Apostle James the Less→ (1722–1723).

The risen Jesus appears to James and breaks bread with him (based on an account recorded in →Jerome Vir. ill. 2, said to be drawn from the Gospel according to the Hebrews).

• Angelo de Rossi, James the Less→ (1705–1711), Saint John Lateran, Rome.

James holds a book and club.

• James Tissot, Saint James the Less→ (1886–1894), Brooklyn Museum, New York.

James, resembling Jesus, prays on his knees with outstretched arms. It perhaps reflects Hegesippus' statement that James spent so much time in prayer that his knees were as hard as a camel's.

Eastern Orthodox Traditions

• Martyrdom of James the Just, illustration from the Menologion of Basil II (late 10^th/early 11^th c., PG 117:9–614), Vatican Library, Vat. gr. 1613: image 131→.
• James the Just, Russian icon, 16^th c., Novgorod. James is depicted in episcopal robes and holds a book.

The inscription bearing the name of the saint has disappeared, but the iconography—facial features and beard shape—suggest that the icon is of James. Byzantine art places him among the founding fathers of the Church. As the creator of the first liturgy containing memorial services and the author of the message that speaks of the healing power of prayer (Jas 5:14–16), he was worshipped in ancient times as a healer. In Novgorod, James is prayed for the end of the epidemics. In sacred iconography, the representations of James alone are very rare. On icons he is represented with other saints: James the brother of the Lord, Nicholas the Thaumaturgist, and Ignatius the God-Bearer (end of the 15^th c.); James the brother of the Lord, Cosmas, and Damian (2^nd quarter of the 16^th c.).

For discussion of visual depictions, see →Bedford 1911; →Gowler 2014, 53–62.