Turning round, arms raised, he looks up into the light.
Bible in art · Revelation
Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos
Titian · c. 1553/1555
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Titian and his workshop painted this canvas around 1553–55 for the centre of the ceiling in the meeting hall of the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, a confraternity in Venice. That is why we look up at John from far below, as visitors once did from the floor of the hall.
John kneels on a rocky ledge and twists round, arms thrown up, towards a burst of light in the clouds. Beside him lie a book and an eagle, the companion painters always gave him.
From the text
- “I, John … was on the island of Patmos” (Revelation 1:9)
- “I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet” (Revelation 1:10)
- “Write on a scroll what you see” (Revelation 1:11)
The artist’s own
- The eagle — the usual sign for John in Christian art, from the four living creatures of Revelation 4:7
- A bound book instead of a scroll
- A white-bearded figure among small angels in the clouds
- The steep view from below, made for a ceiling
Details
John
In the clouds
A white-bearded figure in a plum robe holds out his hand among small angels.
Rays of light
Pale beams slant down through the clouds.
The eagle
A brown eagle lifts its wings on the rock beside John.
The book
A book with a red cover lies on the ledge.
Titian and Workshop (Tiziano Vecellio), Venetian, 1488/1490–1576. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.6) · Oil on canvas · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)