Workshop of Simone Martini, c. 1317-19: St. Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace Judas Iscariot, and thus the first in “apostolic succession.” If somehow he had failed in his duties it might have devastated the infant Church; but he did not fail. Where he succeeded we’re less sure of; competing traditions say he evangelized around the Caspian Sea, or was martyred in Ethiopia or Judea, but Hippolytus of Rome said he died in Jerusalem of old age. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City)
