The Apostles (Elgar) the disciples of Jesus and their reactions to the extraordinary events they witness. Despite arranging the commission in December 1901, Elgar paid little attention to "The Apostles "until July 1902, when he had finished composing and rehearsing his "Coronation Ode", Op. 44. Elgar's planning of the libretto included a long immersion in theological writings, as well as Wagner's sketch for "Jesus von Nazareth", and Henry W. Longfellow's poem "The Divine Tragedy". He assembled his libretto from verses of scripture, as had been the pattern for many of the most influential oratorios, including Handel's "Messiah" (1741) and Mendelssohn's "Elijah" (1836). After
Communion of the Apostles (Signorelli) Communion of the Apostles (Signorelli) The Communion of the Apostles is a painting by Italian Renaissance artist Luca Signorelli, dating from around 1512. It is currently housed in the Diocesean Museum of Cortona, Tuscany. The iconography of the painting was rather unusual for Italy, and had been indeed inspired by Justus van Gent's "Corpus Domini Altarpiece" (1472–1474), that Signorelli had seen during his stay at Urbino. Above an ancient style background, similar to Perugino's works, Signorelli painted Christ in the center of the scene, surrounded by brightly dressed apostles in a pyramidal composition. Christ holds a dish with the hosts