Brother of James the Greater, John was among the first disciples of Christ and is traditionally regarded as the “beloved disciple.” Closely associated with Peter, he appears repeatedly at key moments in the Gospel narrative and was the only one of the Twelve present at the Crucifixion. John was the first disciple to reach the empty tomb following the Resurrection and the first to recognise the risen Christ at the Sea of Tiberias.

From early Christian tradition onward, John the Apostle has been identified with John the Evangelist and John of Revelation. He is held to be the only Apostle to have lived to old age, a belief that strongly shaped his later cult and iconography.