Tetramorph. The origin story of man, lion, eagle and ox

Evangelist symbols

images of four living beings, which the ancient iconographic tradition assigned to the evangelists; as is commonly believed, these symbols are borrowed from the vision of John the Theologian. The symbols reveal various aspects of the redemptive feat and the teachings of the Savior as presented by the evangelists. Under the Evangelist Matthew, an Angel is depicted as a symbol of the messianic messenger into the world of the Son of God, predicted by the prophets. The Evangelist Mark is symbolized by a lion, in commemoration of the power and royal dignity of Christ (see Rev. 5:5). Evangelist Luke is depicted with a calf, emphasizing the sacrificial, redemptive service of the Savior. The eagle under the Evangelist John depicts the height of the Gospel teaching and the Divine Mysteries communicated in it. On some ancient icons and frescoes, these symbols, having the same meaning, are combined in a different order. Images of the four evangelists and the creatures symbolizing them in the traditional composition of the paintings of an Orthodox church are usually placed on the four sides of the cross-domed vault, on the so-called “sails” supporting the dome, inside of which the Lord Pantocrator is usually depicted.

Orthodoxy. Dictionary-reference book. 2014 .

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Kabbalistic animals

Kafziel- Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel (Raphael, 1518) Tetramorph (Greek τετραμορφος four-shaped) in Judeo-Christian mythology and theology is a winged creature from the vision of the Prophet Ezekiel, one with four faces: a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. In... ... Wikipedia

Winged Taurus- Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel (Raphael, 1518) Tetramorph (Greek τετραμορφος four-shaped) in Judeo-Christian mythology and theology is a winged creature from the vision of the Prophet Ezekiel, one with four faces: a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. In... ... Wikipedia

Everything we know about God is stated in the Gospels. Their authors are 4 apostle-evangelists. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

In the times described by the Bible, all missionaries who preached Christianity to Jews and pagans were considered evangelists. But the 4 evangelists that will be discussed did a special job - they wrote four great books, from which the human race learned about Christ’s love, forgiveness, repentance and salvation.

John - a fisherman, the only one of the apostles who died a natural death

• Symbol- eagle or lion;
• Lifespan- 72 years old;
• Books – Gospel of John, 1, 2, 3 John, Revelation;
• Death - natural, according to age.

Christians know him by his middle name - Theologian. In his gospel, he called Jesus the Word of God (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” John 1:1).

Jesus Christ called him “Son of Thunder” - for his impetuosity and emotionality. John was a simple fisherman. After being called into the ranks of Jesus' disciples, the apostle never left Him.

The evangelist saw the miracles of Jesus: the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter, the Transfiguration on Tabor. He was with Him at the Last Supper. On the day of his execution, Jesus entrusted the care of His mother to John.

John preached Christianity, cast out demons from churches, healed the sick, and raised the dead. Unlike the other apostles, John accepted a natural death. When his time came, the saint prayed, lay down in a prepared grave and asked his disciples to bury him.
Later, other students dug up the grave, but found nothing in it.

Matthew - tax collector, representative of one of the shameful social groups of the time

• Symbol - angel or man;
• Date of Birth - 1st century AD;
• Date of death - 74 AD;
• Books - Gospel of Matthew;
• Death - killed by sword in Ethiopia.

Little is known about the evangelist Matthew. Scripture says that Matthew Levi was a tax collector (such people were called “publicans”). One day he heard the voice of Jesus, who said to him: “Follow me.” From then on, Matthew left his job and home and relentlessly followed Christ. Before this, he distributed property to the poor. He witnessed many miracles of the Savior. I went through suffering with my Teacher. I saw Him die, rise again, and ascend into heaven.

Matthew preached in Palestine, Persia, Media, Syria and Parthia. He continued his Christian work in Ethiopia, where it was cut short by martyrdom, appointed by the ruler Fulvian.

The Gospel of Matthew stands first among all the books of the New Testament. In it, Matthew often refers to the Old Testament, showing that the prophecies written there were fulfilled with the appearance of Jesus Christ.

Mark is an evangelist who did not see Christ, but wrote the gospel from the words of eyewitnesses

• Symbol - lion or eagle;
• Date of Birth - 1st century;
• Date of death - 68 AD .;
• Books - Gospel of Mark;
• Death - was burned for his faith in Alexandria.

Mark was born in Jerusalem. From childhood he was surrounded by the successors of Christ. His mother firmly believed in the teachings of Christ. Mark was close to his uncle, the Apostle Barnabas, his teacher, the Apostle Peter, and the Apostle Paul. The saint worked and preached with them in Seleucia, Rome, Egypt, Antioch, and Cyprus.

He became the founder of many churches and a Christian school. Traveling through Africa, Libya, and Nectopolis, the apostle carried God's word to the people. Mark accepted death in Alexandria at the hands of pagans who disagreed with the teachings of Christ. The Gospel of Mark was written by him in Rome and was intended for pagan converts to the Christian faith.

Luke - a doctor by profession, assistant to the Apostle Paul

• Symbol - bull, calf;
• Life expectancy - 84 years old;
• Books - Gospel of Luke, Acts of the Holy Apostles;
• Death - was hanged for his faith in Thebes.

Luke is another companion of the Apostle Paul. Born in Antioch, he was a doctor and was of Greek origin. He began preaching while Jesus was still alive. He was Paul's companion for many years. After Paul's martyrdom, Luke continued his preaching in Libya, Egypt, Thebaid and Achaia.

Then he preached in Thebes, where he died cruelly by hanging. In addition to the Gospel, Luke wrote the Acts of the Holy Apostles. He is also credited with painting many icons found in Russian, Roman, Western churches, as well as on Mount Athos.

This is how the four evangelists appear to us in Scripture. Of no less interest are the symbols of the apostles and evangelists.

What symbols did these four evangelists have?

Symbols of the four evangelists appeared in the earliest depictions of saints. Initially they were represented in the form of four heavenly rivers. Then came the symbols of the four animals that surround the throne of Jesus.
These creatures are first encountered in the Old Testament in the vision of Ezekiel, where they appear as guards of the Throne of God with the face of a man, a calf, a bull and an eagle.

In the second century, Irenaeus of Lyons offers the following symbolism:

• John - the image of an eagle;
• Matthew - the face of an angel, or a man;
• Mark is the image of a lion;
• Luke is the image of a bull.

Blessed Jerome connects the image of a certain living being and the evangelist as follows:

• John - lion image;
• Matthew – human face;
• Mark - the image of an eagle;
• Luke is the image of a calf.

There are three versions that interpret the symbols of the apostles and evangelists.

One of them suggests that the symbol of the Apostle Matthew is the human life of Jesus on earth. Luke's symbol of the bull embodies Christ's sacrifice for the salvation of people. The Savior is resurrected, as a symbol of John's lion. And soars into the heavens like an eagle - the symbol of the Evangelist Mark.

Jerome explains the symbols as follows:

• Matthew in his gospel reflects the human origin of Jesus, his race;
• Mark describes the word of the Baptist John as heard like a lion's roar in the desert;
• Luke describes Zechariah's sacrifice, which can be compared to the pagan custom of sacrificing a bull;
• John: its sublime syllable resembles the high flight of an eagle.

For the Jerusalem Patriarch Sophronius, man signifies the appearance of Jesus in the flesh, lion signifies Christ’s ability to lead, calf signifies the Savior’s service to people, and eagle signifies the embodiment of the Holy Spirit.

The four gospels describe and reveal the life path and teachings of Jesus Christ from different angles. The names of 4 evangelists: Matthew, John, Mark, Luke entered the history of Christianity.

Friends, I think most of those present here are quite erudite and have some understanding of the four animals: lion, eagle, bull and man. With my sometimes characteristic meticulousness, I decided to dig a little deeper into this issue and clarified many new and interesting facts for myself, because the history of these symbols is very ancient. Which I will be happy to tell you about.

These are the symbols of the four evangelists, you will say, and you will be right. However, you must understand that the editors could not allow such a terrible boyan, so let’s start with an even more terrible boyan, but closer to us on the timeline. Three of these four animals are mentioned in Boris Grebenshchikov's song Golden City:

One is like a yellow fire-maned lion,
Another ox full of eyes.
With them is a golden eagle of heaven,
Whose unforgettable gaze is so bright.

“Evangelists!” - you will happily say, “Not yet.” - I will answer you. Next on the timeline from now to past is the mention of this symbol on the coat of arms of the Grand Masonic Lodge of England.

And now here are the evangelists. The generally accepted identification of each of the four animals by one of the evangelists is due to Jerome. According to his preface to his commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, the sequence of the evangelists is as follows: the first is St. Matthew, followed by St. Mark, loan to St. Luke and finally St. John. Jerome then compares this order with the order in which the “faces” of the four beasts appear in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel (see below).

Thus it turns out: St. Matthew is symbolized by a man (angel), St. Mark - lion, St. Luke - Taurus, St. Joanna is an eagle. At first, the evangelists were allowed to be depicted in a symbolic form, that is, in the form of animals, but later a ban appeared and animals were depicted side by side with human images.

Patron Saint of Venice Mark. Column on St. Square Mark, actually in Venice.

Symbols of the four evangelists in the handwritten "Book of Armagh" (9th century Ireland)

Evangelists with animals.

In the New Testament, four animals are mentioned in the Apocalypse:

1 After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice, which I heard like the sound of a trumpet, speaking to me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.”
2 And immediately I was in the spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, and on the throne was one who sat;
3 And this One who sat was in appearance like a jasper and a sardis stone; and a rainbow around the throne, similar in appearance to emerald.
4 And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, who were dressed in white robes and had golden crowns on their heads.
5 And from the throne came lightnings and thunders and voices, and seven lamps of fire burned before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God;
6 And before the throne was a sea of ​​glass, like crystal; and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind.
7 And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a calf, and the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
8 And each of the four living creatures had six wings around, and within they were full of eyes; and they have no rest day or night, crying out: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, is and is to come.
9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10 Then the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and lay down their crowns before the throne, saying:
11 You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You created all things, and [everything] exists and was created by Your will.
(Rev. 4)

In general, the Revelation of John is characterized by the fact that it widely uses Old Testament symbolism to present the events that should happen before and after the second coming of Christ. There are different interpretations of this vision. For example, 24 elders can symbolize time. In the Babylonian tradition, the duodecimal number system was used and therefore, to this day, the day is divided into two halves of 12 hours each.

In this miniature, the Lord is flanked by Cherubim.

And this is an engraving from the 17th century.

The images of the four animals in Revelation go back to the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, described in the Old Testament:

4 And I saw, and behold, a stormy wind came from the north, a great cloud and swirling fire, and a brightness around it,
5 And out of the midst of it was like the light of a flame out of the midst of fire; and from the middle of it the likeness of four animals was visible, and this was their appearance: their appearance was like that of a man;
6 And each one had four faces, and each one had four wings;
7 And their legs were straight legs, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of a calf, and they shone like bright brass.
8 And the hands of men were under their wings, on their four sides;
9 And they had faces and wings, all four of them; their wings touched one another; During their procession they did not turn around, but walked each in the direction of their faces.
10 The likeness of their faces is the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side of all four of them; and on the left side the face of a calf in all four and the face of an eagle in all four.
11 And their faces and their wings were divided above, but each had two wings touching one another, and two covered their bodies.
12 And they walked, each one in the direction that was before him; Where the spirit wanted to go, that’s where they went; They did not turn around during their procession.
13 And the appearance of these living creatures was as the appearance of burning coals, as the appearance of lamps; [fire] walked among the animals, and a radiance came from the fire and lightning came from the fire.
14 And the animals moved quickly to and fro, like lightning flashing.
15 And I looked at the animals, and behold, on the ground next to these animals there was one wheel in front of their four faces.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their structure is like the appearance of topaz, and the likeness of all four is the same; and from their appearance and their structure it seemed as if there was a wheel within a wheel.
17 When they went, they went to their four directions; They didn’t turn around during the procession.
18 And their rims were high and terrible; All four of their rims around were full of eyes.
19 And as the living creatures walked, the wheels also walked beside [them]; and when the animals rose from the ground, then the wheels also rose.
…
26 And above the vault, which was over their heads, [was] the likeness of a throne, in appearance as if made of sapphire stone; and above the likeness of the throne was the likeness of a man above it.
(Ezek.1:4-26)

Vision of Ezekiel Matthaeus Merian (1593–1650)

Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel (Raphael, 1518)

From this description, the four animals are perceived as the means of transportation of God, but the Cherubim are considered the means of transportation.

Cherub and Macarius the Great

And according to the Talmud, Ezekiel begged God to take Cherubim instead of the bull, so that God would not constantly have a bull before his eyes, which would remind him that the Jews once worshiped the Golden Calf.

An important difference between the vision of Ezekiel and John the theologian is that Ezekiel saw, as it were, one creature combining the images of four animals, while in John the four animals are seen separately.

In general, there is some confusion. Two illustrations of the visions of John the Theologian differ in that on one the Lord is surrounded by exactly four animals, as they are described in the text of revelation, and on the other - four cherubim.

Christ is lifted up by angels.

Christ is lifted up by an eye-filled four-winged tetramorph with wheels, “by their appearance and by their structure it seemed as if a wheel was within a wheel.”

Well, I haven’t found the answer to this riddle yet. In general, everything indicates that a cherub and a tetramorph are one and the same thing, for example, in the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was guarded by two five-meter cherubs, which in appearance are practically no different from Assyrian bulls and Egyptian sphinxes (see below).

In fact, the image of the four animals goes back to Sumerian-Akkadian mythology (Babylon, Assyria, etc.), the images of which also penetrated into Egypt and other civilizations of the region.

First of all, it is the tetramorphs that catch the eye, that is, creatures that combine the characteristics of four animals. The most famous, perhaps, is the Sphinx.

Everything is afraid of time, and time is afraid of the Sphinx.

The Egyptian Sphinx has the head of a woman, the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle and the tail of a bull. Its Greek counterpart is distinguished by a snake tail. Here and further in different cultures we will notice variations in certain animals.

Greek version of the Sphinx

Another famous tetramorph is the celestial bull (bull colossus), which guarded the gates to cities and palaces in Assyria.

On the gate to the interior of Babylon (the Ishtar Gate), sacred animals, particularly the bull and the lion, are depicted as separate animals.

Ishtar Gate

This topic was born from a question from a reader of our column and it sounded like this: “There are four evangelists. Each of them has his own image, and always with some natural signs. Matthew is depicted as an angel, Mark is a lion, Luke is a winged bull, and John is an eagle. Explain why these symbols come from and what exactly do they mean?

This question seemed so interesting and voluminous to us that we decided to make it the main topic of this issue. Together with the press secretary of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, Archimandrite Paphnutius, we armed ourselves with the Holy Scriptures, books about the Life of the Holy Apostles, in order to understand the symbolism of the images of the icons of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

LEO: APOSTLE MARK

“A winged mythical creature, personifying different qualities of human perception of the Divine, is known from the Old Testament,” says Archimandrite Paphnutius. “In the vision of the prophet Ezekiel we find evidence of a creature with four faces - a man, a lion, a bull and an eagle. In the later Revelation of John The theologian's supreme being is already presented in the image of four separate apocalyptic creatures, which became symbols of the ancient iconographic tradition. They reveal the four sides of the redemptive feat and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented by the evangelists - the messianic mission, the Lord's love for man, the power and dignity of Christ and His atoning sacrifice. Most often, in the painting of an Orthodox church, they are placed on four sides on the so-called “sails” that support the dome, inside which is usually the Lord Almighty. Also, images of the four evangelists with the four “animals” of the Apocalypse, according to tradition, are on the Royal Doors along with the image of the Annunciation. .

According to legend, Evangelist Mark was a young man who followed Christ on the night when even his disciples (except John) betrayed him and abandoned him. Later the Apostle Peter called him his spiritual son. On the icons, Mark is symbolized with a lion, which shows the power and royal dignity of Christ.

The Gospel of Mark is the second book of the New Testament in terms of time and place of writing. In his Gospel, Mark does not so much set out the teachings of Christ as depict His miraculous divine actions, which clearly prove in Him the Lord of all creatures, visible and invisible, the almighty God, which is especially convincing for the pagans. Mark begins the Gospel narrative with a story about the appearance of John the Baptist, who with his preaching announced the Judean wilderness, was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” and was likened to a lion living and prowling in the desert. Therefore, on icons the holy evangelist Mark is depicted together with a lion.

Saint Mark. Like a roaring lion in the desert.

ANGEL: CLUBLE MATTHEW

As Archimandrite Paphnutius explained to “Today,” the icons of the Evangelist Matthew depict an Angel as a symbol of the Messianic messenger into the world of the Son of God.

At the time of the coming of Christ, Judea was a Roman province and imposed taxes on all conquered areas. This tax was collected by publicans, whom the Romans chose exclusively from local residents. For universal contempt, the publican received “preferences” from the Romans - they were allowed all kinds of abuse and oppression for the sake of profit.

Christianity has many symbols. We have already written about the most common of them, related.

Probably, many wondered: what do the images that are next to the images of the apostle-evangelists mean? In temples and chapels you can often find them on different walls (usually under the dome or on the royal doors) Angel, Leo, Taurus and Eagle. Like all symbols, these images carry their own sacred meaning.

Of course, every believer knows that there is 4 Gospels , written by different apostles. This Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is not difficult to guess that for the reason that these four apostles wrote the Gospel, they began to be called evangelists. By the way, the word “Gospel” is translated as "good news", the apostles in their books carried the “good news” about the teachings of Christ.

It is worth noting that the symbols were not immediately assigned to the evangelical apostles; many theologians argued about the ownership and interpretation of these symbols. However, approximately from the 2nd century(symbolism first appeared in the hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons) there was a rationale for the allegorical images associated with the evangelists, which we still use today. Matthew depicted next to Angel(by a person) Mark corresponds a lion, Luke-Taurus(Ox), and Joanna symbolizes Eagle.

It is believed that these symbols originate from the vision of the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel(Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, chapter 1, verse 10), who saw a creature descending from heaven. It had the body of a man, and four faces: the face of a man, the face of a lion, a calf and the head of an eagle. Initially, this image was interpreted as a designation of four Angels who surrounded the throne of God. Later these four images were formed into one term - tetromorph (from Greek "quadruple"). Such unity can be found in ancient church paintings, on icons, and it is also believed that the words of the liturgy “singing (eagle), crying (ox), crying (lion) and speaking (man)” also belong to the ancient tetromorph.

Tetromorph Fresco from the Vysoki Decani Monastery, Kosovo, Serbia. Around 1350

Stucco molding with the image of a Lion, Eagle, Angel and Taurus at the Cathedral in Burgos, Spain

IN Revelation of John the Evangelist these four hypostases are mentioned separately. Like the four cardinal directions, the four seasons, the four symbols of the evangelists form the unity of the Gospel set out in four books. It is curious, but many theological researchers (for example, Grigory Dvoeslov) compare the images of the evangelists with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He was born as Human, atoned for the sins of humanity with His Blood Sacrifice, like Taurus, then rose again and broke the bonds of death, as if a lion and ascended into heaven like Orlu.

A similar comparison is found in the patriarch Sophronia. He believed that Human- this is a symbol of the appearance in the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, a lion- the power and glory of the Lord, Taurus– the service and sacrifice of Christ, Eagle- a symbol of the descending Holy Spirit.

So, let's talk about the evangelists and their symbols in a little more detail.

The first canonical Gospel was written Levi Matthew, scientists believe that this is approximately 41-55 years.

Matthew was among the 12 closest chosen disciples of Jesus Christ. Before he believed in the Lord and followed the Teacher, Matthew Levi was a publican, i.e. tax collector.

Evangelist symbol Matthew counts Angel(Man) as a symbol of the Messiah, the Son of God, who was sent to earth. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, as if thereby reaffirming His human nature.

Mark was an apostle from 70, a disciple of the apostle Petra. Brand identified with powerful and strong Leo, a symbol of the royalty and power of Jesus Christ. As the Almighty King of glory, the Savior conquered death and opened the gates of Paradise.

Third Gospel of Luke dates from approximately 70 to 100 years. This Gospel is distinguished by historical details, vivid parables and events not found in other Gospels (for example, the story of the parents of John the Baptist).

Luke was one of the 70 apostles, the closest companion of the apostle Pavel. In his Gospel, Luke describes and explains to readers the main thing: the meaning of the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Son of God, at the cost of his own life, atoned for all the sins of mankind: “Thus it is written, and thus it became necessary for Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”(Luke 24:46).

Precisely because this Gospel emphasizes the sacrificial suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ, the symbol of the apostle Luke is sacrificial Taurus(Ox).

The Last Gospel of Joanna tells about the Divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The exact date of its composition is unknown, most likely it was written at the very end 1st century.

We know that John was the closest and most beloved disciple of Jesus Christ, he is called the “apostle of love,” and in his Gospel much attention is paid to Christ’s teaching about love. It was he, together with the Mother of God, who was next to the crucified Lord, and it was John who the Savior, while on the cross, entrusted to take care of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The Apostle John became the only apostle of the 12 who did not suffer martyrdom for Christ, but died his own death (by the way, like the Mother of God, God took the body of the Apostle John to heaven). The Lord prepared a special service for him; often on icons the Evangelist John is depicted with an Angel on his shoulder, who dictates to him Divine Revelation.

The symbol of the apostle Joanna is Eagle, this is a symbol of the height of the teaching that the Apostle set forth in his Gospel, as well as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which people were awarded after being cleansed of their sins.

In our workshop there is a wonderful cross on which the symbols of the four evangelists are depicted. Four reliefs create a single closed circle here, just as the four Gospels form a single Book of the Life of the Lord Jesus Christ.