Elizabeth Zelasko Art

The Four Gospel Writers Print

Size:
  • U.S. shipping is a flat rate of $6 and free for orders over $75
  • Usually ships in 3-5 business days

  • Your order is fulfilled by Printful on museum-quality matte paper.
  • Images will arrive in a mailing tube and will need to be flattened out and framed as desired.
  • This particular set of icons reside on the Royal Doors inside Holy Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church in Denver, Colorado.

Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John: the four Evangelists can be found throughout the entire scope of art history in the Catholic Church. The Royal Doors are what separate the worshiper from the Holy of Holies where the Eucharist is in the tabernacle. When the Divine Liturgy (Mass) begins, the doors are opened wide by the priest and the attendees now have access to God. The Royal Doors are how Christ enters the Holy Place, therefore the doors themselves contain the images of Christ coming into our world through the Annunciation and the events of related in Scripture (symbolized by the Gospel Writers.) The Annunciation icon is always found above the Gospel Writers.

Each Evangelist holds the Gospel that is credited to him, with the covers displaying the traditional symbol for each. St. Matthew displays the divine man; St. Mark presents a winged lion; St. Luke, a winged ox; and St. John presents a soaring eagle. The imagery is taken from the book of Revelation, where John records what he has seen in a vision of God’s heavenly throne:

“In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

Revelations 4:6–8

These four creatures are also said to represent the four corners of the world, with the Word of God reaching out and spreading to the ends of the earth.

*The cropping of all images is completed by me and may vary from size to size. As such, your print may appear slightly different than the image posted here.

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