‘Jesus with 12 Disciples’ is part of the altar composition. An unknown German artist creates it. The work entered the Tula Museum of Fine Arts in 1965 from the Hermitage Museum. The altar image was brought to Russia by Johann Friedrich Groot in 1767 (the artist donated it to the Lutheran Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in St. Petersburgh).

On the altar composition, Jesus is in the center directly facing the audience wearing a crown of thorns, with wounds on his hands and below the ribs. Apostles are on both sides of Jesus. Near each disciple, there is an attribute of martyrdom. The Apostles’ faces are concentrated and harsh, filled with suffering. This intimidating interpretation was probably intended to show a willingness to defend one’s faith and endure persecution. Jesus sent out these 12 disciples with the following instructions (Gospel of Mathew): 

The original number of the closest disciples called by Jesus included Andrew, Peter, John son of Zebedee, and his brother James, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James son of Alpheus, and Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. After Judas’s betrayal, Matthew was chosen by lot, but according to tradition (as in this work), the twelfth is depicted Paul, not Matthew.

After the Ascension of Christ, the apostles cast lots and each of them went to preach to the entrusted lands. All of Jesus’s disciples were martyred, except John, who lived to old age.

Almost every apostle can be recognized by the attribute in hand. Peter is depicted with a key, Andrew with an X-shaped cross, James Zebedee with a shell on his headdress, Thaddeus with a halberd, Paul with a sword, Bartholomew with a butcher’s knife, Thomas with a spear, Philip with a narrow straight cross, and James son of Alpheus with a baton. The Apostle John holds a cup with a snake looking out, a symbol of poison in his hands. According to legend, John was tried to be executed using a deadly poison, but he drank it and stayed alive.