James, son of Zebedee James, son of Zebedee James, son of Zebedee (Hebrew: , "Yaʿqob"; Greek: Ἰάκωβος; ; died 44 AD) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, traditionally considered the first apostle to be martyred. The son of Zebedee and Salome is James, styled "the Greater", to distinguish him from the Apostle James "the Less", with greater meaning older or taller, rather than more important. He was the brother of John the beloved disciple. James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels state that James and John were with their father by the seashore when
Vocation of the Apostles portrait of Diotisalvi Neroni, who had taken refuge in Rome after plotting against Piero di Cosimo de' Medici. Another exile from Constantinople is John Argyropoulos, who appears on the right. Other characters on the right are members of the Tornabuoni family. Vocation of the Apostles The Vocation of the Apostles is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, executed in 1481–1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel, Rome. In 1481 a group of Florentine painters left for Rome, where they had been called as part of the reconciliation project between Lorenzo de' Medici, the "de facto" ruler of