Symbols of St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke thumbnail 1
Symbols of St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 10

Symbols of St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke

Statuette
ca. 1270 (made)
Artist/Maker
Pisano, Nicola (maker)
Place of origin
Pisa (made)

This carving depicts three figures and once supported a lectern in the form of an eagle. The eagle represented John, and the other three creatures depicted here represent the other Gospel authors – the man for Matthew, the lion for Mark and the ox for Luke.The Gospels were read from this lectern. The carving probably comes from the same pulpit as another lectern support acquired at the same time (5797-1859).


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Sculpture
Christianity
Religion
SCRAN
Object type
Statuette
TitleSymbols of St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke (generic title)
Materials and techniques
White marble
Marble
Brief description
Statuette depicting the symbols of Ss Matthew, Mark and Luke, by the workshop of Nicola Pisano, Pisa, ca. 1270
Physical description
In the centre stands a winged angel dressed as a deacon. To his left is a winged lion and to his right a winged ox. Volumes of the gospels are held by all three figures.
Dimensions
  • Height: 77cm
  • Width: 38.5cm
  • Depth: 33cm
  • Weight: 142kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries 2006.
Subjects depicted
Ox
Lion
St. Matthew
St. Mark
St. Luke
Summary
This carving depicts three figures and once supported a lectern in the form of an eagle. The eagle represented John, and the other three creatures depicted here represent the other Gospel authors – the man for Matthew, the lion for Mark and the ox for Luke.The Gospels were read from this lectern. The carving probably comes from the same pulpit as another lectern support acquired at the same time (5797-1859).
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1859 In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 45
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 4
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume I: Text. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, pp. 18, 19
  • Raggio, Olga. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Art Bulletin. Vol. L, 1968, p. 99-100
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
5799-1859

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O18103/symbols-of-st-matthew-st-statuette-pisano-nicola/
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