Lectern for the Reading of the Gospels with the Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist

Lectern for the Reading of the Gospels with the Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist

Giovanni Pisano

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sculpted by Giovanni Pisano, one of the finest sculptors of the Gothic period, this lectern was once a part of the pulpit at the Church of Sant' Andrea at Pistoia. It is in the shape of an imposing full-size figure of an eagle, grasping a book in its talons, which stands with head erect, facing to its left, wings held poised as if ready for flight. The head is a later replacement. A marble bookrest, hexagonal in form with a protruding ledge at the bottom, meant to hold the Gospels for liturgical reading, rests on the bird's wings. The eagle served as the crowning element of a Tetramorph, a sculptural composite of the symbols of the four Evangelists.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lectern for the Reading of the Gospels with the Eagle of Saint John the EvangelistLectern for the Reading of the Gospels with the Eagle of Saint John the EvangelistLectern for the Reading of the Gospels with the Eagle of Saint John the EvangelistLectern for the Reading of the Gospels with the Eagle of Saint John the EvangelistLectern for the Reading of the Gospels with the Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.