The four evangelists, folio 14 verso of the Aachen Gospels

While reading the introduction chapter to our text book, I came across a painting of the four gospel writers of the New Testament. The painting, folio 14 verso of the Aachen Gospels, uses symbols to differientiate the four men. John's symbol includes an eagle, Luke is symbolized by an ox, Mark is represented by a lion, and Matthew's symbol is a winged man. This painting caught my attention because I immediately recognized these symbols. I took a New Testament class last year and remembered these symbols associated with each of the four evangelists. I do not quite remember why each symbol is used for the four writers, but recognizing the symbols myself made this painting stand out to me. Learning other such techniques in interpreting art will hopefully make looking at other works as fascinating as it was to see this painting of the 4 writers of the gospels.