The Symbols of the Four Evangelists

Unlike most of Veronese’s religious paintings from the 1570s, the present work does not depict a narrative, but rather presents the four symbols of the Evangelists. The iconography ultimately derives from the Old Testament. The Hebrew prophet Ezekiel, while held captive under Babylonian rule, sees a vision of the throne of God accompanied by four winged 'living creatures' in the shape of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle (Ezekiel 1:1-14 and 10:1-22). This imagery is taken up again in Revelation (4:6-9), where John the Evangelist perceives in his vision a throne set in heaven around which 'were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 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.' The association of these mystical creatures with the Four Evangelists flourished in the early Christian Church. Over the centuries, the pairing of Saint Matthew with the angel, Mark with the lion, Luke with the ox and John with the eagle became canonical. Moreover, medieval theologians ascribed meaning to these pairings drawn from the Gospels themselves. The angel/man was understood to stand for Matthew since his gospel begins with the genealogy of Christ’s ancestors. Mark begins with 'the voice of one calling in the wilderness,' which was seen as an apt description of a lion. Luke begins with the sacrifice of an ox by the priest Zacharias, and as the eagle was believed to be the bird that flies closest to heaven, it was most appropriate for John’s Gospel, which is full of visions and heavenly content.

Veronese’s exceptional talent as a colorist and his masterful approach to illusionistic painting is on full display in this oval canvas. Monumental in its conception, the painting is clearly intended to be read from below – the four figures are precisely foreshortened, so that they appear to be resting before a ledge, far above the viewer. Moreover, each of the Evangelist’s symbols is rendered with a startling naturalism. The composition favors a reading from left to right, beginning with the lion, who likely was intended to play a double role here both as the sign of Saint Mark and the symbol of the Venetian Republic, where the artist spent most of his career. As Carlo Falciani notes (written communication), the prominent central placement of the angel, along with the marvelously illusionistic book he holds, may allude to some larger artistic program and likely provides the key to understanding the original context of the painting. The eagle is third, appearing as if it has just alit on its perch, its claws digging into the wood. All three direct their gaze at the ox, which is painted with supreme naturalism and approaches from the right, creating a dynamic, yet harmonious composition typical of the artist’s mature style.

While it seems likely that Veronese conceived his Symbols of the Four Evangelists as part of a much larger, decorative cycle, the commission and therefore its original context remains a matter of speculation. By 1809, the painting was hanging in the picture gallery of the Palazzo Pisani at Santo Stefano (X.F. Salomon, op. cit., p. 159). That palace was built in the seventeenth century, so our painting must have originally been installed elsewhere. The format and composition imply that it was intended to be inserted into a ceiling. Together with the painting’s ecclesiastical subject matter, these elements suggest that Veronese painted it for a chapel or sacristy.