Getty Museum

Saint John

Date

late 13th century

Medium

Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold ink, and ink

Culture

Byzantine

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

Though the tools of a scribe--a pot with two cavities for ink, a penknife, and two quill holders--are visible in and on the cabinet beside him, Saint John rests his chin on his hand, pausing from his Gospel-writing labors. This pose and his carefully rendered facial features combine to give him an air of meditative seriousness. His long, gray beard, a traditional author's attribute that derives ultimately from portraits of philosophers in ancient Greece and Rome, adds to the air of solemnity. This portrait of Saint John appears at the beginning of his account of Christ's life.

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