By Anne Leader

Today (27 December) is the Feast Day of St. John the Evangelist. Reputed author of the fourth gospel and the book of Revelation, John is often shown alongside the other gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke or at the foot of the cross opposite Mary. The evangelist, represented by the eagle, was also the subject of several narrative cycles, including Giotto’s frescoes in the Peruzzi Chapel at Santa Croce in Florence and Filippino Lippi.


Donatello, St. John the Evangelist, 1410-11, marble, carved for the facade of Florence cathedral, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence

Piero della Francesca, St. John the Evangelist, c. 1454-69, tempera on poplar panel. The Frick Collection, New York, 1936.1.138

Domenico Ghirlandaio, St John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos, 1480-85, tempera on panel, Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Giotto, Raising of Drusiana, 1320, fresco, Peruzzi Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence

Filippino Lippi, Torture of St. John the Evangelist, 1487-1502, fresco, Strozzi Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

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