Leaf from a Gospel Book with Four Standing Evangelists

Leaf from a Gospel Book with Four Standing Evangelists

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Displaying the authors of the four Gospels standing in a row at the beginning of a Gospel book is an early Christian tradition that continued to be used in some areas of Armenia into the medieval period. The elaborately patterned, colorful garments of the evangelists may reflect contemporary Armenian clerical dress.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Leaf from a Gospel Book with Four Standing EvangelistsLeaf from a Gospel Book with Four Standing EvangelistsLeaf from a Gospel Book with Four Standing EvangelistsLeaf from a Gospel Book with Four Standing EvangelistsLeaf from a Gospel Book with Four Standing Evangelists

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.