Unique Portraits of the Evangelists in an English Gospel-Book of the Twelfth Century

Abstract

THE most imposing illustrations in the Gospel-books of the early middle ages are the portraits of the Four Evangelists. Their prototypes were the late antique representations of writers, poets, or philosophers who are shown sometimes accompanied by their Muses.1 But, unlike the usually formal and static juxtaposition of the antique figures, the Evangelists and their symbols assume a great variety of interesting interrelations. Perhaps the most unusual combination is found in an illustrated manuscript of the Gospels now at the Pierpont Morgan Library (MS 777).2 The Four Evangelists are represented seated upon their respective apocalyptic symbols, an iconographic scheme unique in the early middle ages.