Signs & Symbols

Decoding Mediaeval & Renaissance Iconography

Case 8 - Four Evangelists (Luke & John)

Single leaf from Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend. Westminster: Wynkyn de Worde, 1527. RPRF Eng. 1527/1

Single leaf from Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend. Westminster: Wynkyn de Worde, 1527. RPRF Eng. 1527/1

St. Luke, author of the third Gospel and the Book of Acts, is here portrayed writing his Gospel and wearing a physician’s hat, a sign of his former profession. Kneeling before his desk is St. Luke’s emblem, a winged ox.

The ox, a sacrificial animal which represents strength, service and sacrifice, was chosen for St. Luke because his Gospel begins with an account of Zechariah sacrificing in the temple and gives a full description of Christ’s sacrifice in his Passion and Crucifixion.

Single leaf from Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend. Westminster: Wynkyn de Worde, 1527. RPRF Eng. 1527/1

Single leaf from Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend. Westminster: Wynkyn de Worde, 1527. RPRF Eng. 1527/1
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The New Testament of oure Sauyour Iesu Christ … [Antwerp]: Matthew Crom, 1538. RBP NT English 1538

The New Testament of oure Sauyour Iesu Christ … [Antwerp]: Matthew Crom, 1538. RBP NT English 1538

As the youngest of the twelve apostles, St. John is the only one of the Four Evangelists depicted as a young, beardless man with long hair.

He is often shown with a book (seen here balanced across his leg) and an eagle, the latter signifying the elevated inspiration of his Gospel and Jesus Christ’s Ascension to the Heavens.

The New Testament of oure Sauyour Iesu Christ … [Antwerp]: Matthew Crom, 1538. RBP NT English 1538

The New Testament of oure Sauyour Iesu Christ … [Antwerp]: Matthew Crom, 1538. RBP NT English 1538
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Cases