# A Classic Composition in Medieval Art

The evangelists, seated at their lecterns, appear much like canons in a scriptorium, the place where religious scholars wrote manuscripts before the invention of the printing press.

This iconography is frequently found in medieval art—in painting, sculpture, and metalwork.

A notable example is the foot of the Saint-Bertin Cross, created around 1180 by a Mosan workshop, which is part of the collections at the Sandelin Museum in Saint-Omer.

Saint-Bertin Cross Foot
Mosan workshop, circa 1180, inv. 2800 bis
Photo © Marc Gil