# Men, Holy Scriptures, and Symbolic Attributes

Each face of this capital depicts a man seated at a lectern, with a parchment scroll before him. These are the four evangelists, the authors of the Gospel.

Each face of the capital follows the same design: a vegetal motif flourishes at mid-height on the corners to support the symbol of the evangelist.

To distinguish these different figures, the sculptor relies on the symbols of the tetramorph, a recurring theme in Christian iconography. This subject represents the vision of Saint John as recounted in the Book of Revelation, inspired by a vision of Ezekiel in the Old Testament.

The four living creatures—the lion, the winged man, the eagle, and the ox—symbolize the four evangelists. They serve as their identifiers and are frequently depicted in medieval art.

Chasse de Champagnat (detail): The Four Living Creatures
1150, Limoges, France
Object Number: 17.190.685–87, .695, .710–.711 | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org)