The lion, eagle, ox and man of Ezekiel’s vision re-emerge in early Christian art as the standard symbols of the authors of the four New Testament Gospels. In his famous vision, the prophet Ezekiel describes four cherubim, each with four faces—of a human being, a lion, an ox and an eagle; each with four wings with human hands underneath; and each with eyes all around (Ezekiel 1:5–10).
In western Christian iconography, however, Ezekiel’s composite creatures are usually conflated with the apocalyptic vision of four living creatures surrounding the divine throne in the Apocalypse of John, or Revelation (4:6). Unlike the beasts of Ezekiel’s vision, the four creatures of John’s heavenly vision have only one face each: “Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle” (Revelation 4:6–7).
The earliest known Christian images of the cherubim, dating to the late fourth or early fifth century, illustrate Revelation’s vision rather than Ezekiel’s, as do the spectacular representations of the four evangelists in the Book of Kells (opposite), an illuminated manuscript of the Four Gospels, dating to about 800 A.D. A Latin manuscript named after the Irish monastery that housed it until the 17th century, the Book of Kells is now in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
Long before Christian artists depicted the four beasts, however, the early Church fathers expounded on the relation between the Gospels and these mythical creatures. Explaining why four gospels were the perfect number, the second-century bishop Irenaeus of Lyons wrote that the four cherubim of Revelation were living metaphors for the Four Gospels. Each face represented both an aspect of Jesus’ work and a characteristic of a particular gospel.
Irenaeus argued that the lion symbolized Jesus’ leadership and royal power; the calf or ox indicated his sacrificial and sacerdotal commission; the creature with the man’s face signified his humanity; and the eagle-like creature referred to the Holy Spirit hovering over the church.
Irenaus derived the associations with particular evangelists from the opening scenes of each gospel. To Luke, which begins with the priest Zacharias offering sacrifice, Irenaeus assigned the ox or calf. Since Matthew opens with Jesus’ human genealogy, Irenaeus gave him the creature with the human form (often seen as an angel). Mark received the eagle because of his early introduction of the Holy Spirit, and John was given the lion.1
Later Western commentaries explained the tetrad as representing different phases of Jesus’ life—the man for the incarnation, the calf for his sacrificial death, the lion for the resurrection (medieval scholars believed the lion could roar a stillborn cub back to life), and the eagle for the Ascension.
Other commentators like Jerome (c. 400) switched the figures associated with Mark and John, the eagle going to John and the lion to Mark. John got the eagle because his gospel began with the words “in the beginning,” which encouraged readers to let their spirits soar into the heavens, the abode of the pre-existent logos. Jerome gave Mark the lion because his gospel opened with the prophetic voice, roaring like a lion in the desert, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”2 The folio from the Book of Kells reflects this later classification, which became standard by the sixth century, even though Saint Augustine made still different assignments.
Although, as far as we know, these symbols did not appear in art before the late fourth century, once they did they almost immediately became popular, at first in mosaic and then in almost every artistic medium, including relief sculpture, manuscript illumination and fresco painting. One of the best-known mosaics appears in the apse of the Roman church of Santa Pudenziana (c. 390). Here, the four winged beasts hover in a cloudy sky above the twelve apostles and Jesus, enthroned in the heavenly city, Jerusalem.
In certain fifth-century images, Ezekiel’s and Revelation’s visions seem to merge. A late fifth-century apse mosaic in the chapel of Hosios David in Thessalonika depicts Jesus encircled by a mandorla (an almond-shaped frame that often encircles a divine figure), sitting on a rainbow and attended by the four beasts of John’s vision. Each evangelist-beast carries his jeweled gospel book. At the edge of the mosaic, however, Ezekiel raises his hands in awe at this divine vision.
Other early Christian images, however, adhere more closely to Ezekiel’s vision of the cherubim. An excellent example appears in a representation of the Ascension of Jesus from the Rabbula Gospels (c. 586 C.E.), a Syriac manuscript named after the monk who copied it, now in the Biblioteca Laurenziana, in Florence. Although the manuscript’s canon tablesb illustrate the four evangelists as human beings, a full-page illumination of the Ascension depicts Jesus mounting a four-winged chariot complete with four faces, hands under wings, and eyes all around.
Whether Revelation’s vision or Ezekiel’s vision is depicted may depend on geography. The four creatures described in Revelation as four separate symbols were more popular in Western Christendom. The single tetramorphic figure of Ezekiel’s vision (as in the Rabbula Gospels) or the combination of John’s and Ezekiel’s visions (as in the apse of Hosios David) was more typical of Eastern Byzantine art until the 11th or 12th century. At that time, possibly due to Western influence, the four individual creatures, paired with a human portrait of the evangelist, began to appear in gospel books in the East. This different tradition might reflect the questionable canonical status of the Book of Revelation in the Byzantine church before the 14th century.
Conversely, the four separate creatures of Revelation became commonplace symbols for the four evangelists in Western Christian art. The beasts continued to appear in images of the Last Judgment or Majestas Domini (Christ in majesty) in illuminated gospel manuscripts and almost any place with four empty corners to fill with carved, painted or mosaic imagery.
The Evangelists and Their Symbols: How the Church Fathers Differed
| Matthew | Mark | Luke | John | |
| Irenaeus | Man | Eagle | Ox/Calf/Bull | Lion |
| Jerome and Later Commentators | Man | Lion | Ox/Calf/Bull | Eagle |
| St. Augustine | Lion | Man | Ox/Calf/Bull | Eagle |
Each of the four Gospels focuses on a specific aspect of Christ’s figure:
- Gospel of Matthew (man or angel): His Incarnation
- Gospel of Mark (lion): His victorious power (the Resurrection)
- Gospel of Luke (ox or calf): His sacrifice (the Passion)
- Gospel of John (eagle): The outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost)
The Revelation 4:7 Order corresponding to the modern gospel order
“And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.”
- Matthew = lion of Judah/Jews, King of Israel, reason of the Abrahamic and Davidic genealogy, also attested that Matthew was written first in Hebrew
- Mark = ox, servant of Rome, many attest that Mark was written first in Latin
- Luke = man, perfect man of the Greeks, reason of the Adamic genealogy and that the Greeks looked for the perfect man with their myths, Luke’s works are the only ones we know for sure was Greek first
- John = eagle of God, the Son of God, because John has the highest view of Christ, John’s works are purported to be written first in Aramaic
Saint Matthew the Evangelist
The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus, a list of men, followed by the account of Jesus’ birth and childhood. According to some biblical scholars, it may have been the first Gospel to be written and served as a source for the Gospels of Mark and Luke, while others suggest it borrowed heavily from the Gospel of Mark.
What is certain is that the Evangelist Matthew devoted considerable attention to Jesus as a man, starting with His genealogy and highlighting His human story. For this reason, he has been associated with the tetramorph figure of the man or angel, where the angel symbolises the union between the human aspect and the divine nature.
Saint Mark the Evangelist
The Gospel of Mark, on the other hand, begins with John the Baptist, who took on the mission of preparing the way for the Messiah. Dressed in animal skins and deeply devoted to his role, John the Baptist can easily be imagined as a lion, with a voice as powerful as a roar, announcing that the Time was near. In the Middle Ages, the lion symbolised justice. Its majestic head indicated divine nature, while its body and paws represented human nature.
The Evangelist Mark does not mention Jesus’ childhood but focuses significantly on His Passion, inspiring many works of art depicting this episode.
Saint Luke the Evangelist
The Gospel of Luke opens with a sacrifice: Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, a relative of the Virgin Mary, offers an ox to God. Then he has a vision in which he is told that his wife will bear a child, who must be named John. That child would become the Baptist.
From the beginning, we see how the Evangelist Luke focuses on the theme of sacrifice—not only that of Christ but also that of Mary, whose story Luke examines in detail.
Saint John the Evangelist
From the Gospel of John, we understand that this Evangelist was likely the favorite among the apostles who followed Jesus. Deeply mystical, his Gospel is infused with spirituality and is less concerned with human events than with their deeper, religious significance.
In the prologue to his Gospel, John reflects on the concept of the Word, the Word of God, capable of dispelling darkness. It was believed that the eagle could stare at the sun without being blinded, and for this reason, Saint John, who sought to gaze deeply into God, was attributed this symbol.
