Evangelist portrait

The Evangelist may be holding a book, but is not writing in it, and he faces the front on a large throne, surrounded by an elaborate frame, usually domed or pedimented.

Details of the classical models, such as anachronistic scrolls and scroll-boxes, and a small writing-stand with a single dolphin-shaped support (see gallery below), survive well into the Middle Ages, sometimes clearly misunderstood by the artists concerned.

An arch behind the author, often with curtains hanging across it, in some examples close to the classical models, gradually is turned into a decorative framing device for the whole scene.

The Tassilo Chalice is an 8th-century example of pure metalwork with five oval medallion portraits of Christ and the Evangelists (with symbols) round the cup.

Standing portraits were usual, however, for wall and later panel paintings (and in the Tree of Jesse composition) with the Evangelists often treated as, and mixed with, other saints.

The Gospel book as a medium for heavily illustrated manuscripts declined in the West from the Romanesque period, and with it the use of the Evangelist portrait.

Similar compositions began to be used for other saint-authors, especially for St Jerome, who is often shown in a book-lined study, often with his symbol, a lion, dozing at his feet.

Similarly St Gregory the Great may be shown with a dove, representing his inspiration from the Holy Spirit, whispering in his ear.