The Evangelist Mark

St. Mark appears here in half length, holding a quill in one hand and supporting his head with the other in a classic melancholic pose. The books in his lap and on the shelf at the left reflect his role as one of the authors of the Gospels, and the lion at his side is his traditional attribute in Christian iconography. This painting is a copy of Wtewael's The Evangelist Mark (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), one of a series of the Evangelists from around 1616. A less accomplished copy of Wtewael's painting is in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht.