148. Saint Luke, 750 C.E. Illustrated manuscript.

Abbey Library of St. Gall, St. Gallen. Pre-Romanesque.

 

 

Saint Luke is the assumed author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. The four evangelists are normally shown together with their prospective attributes. Luke was known as a physician, historian and even painter who is believed to have painted the first image of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus, although now this fact is most likely untrue. Because of this tradition, however, he is considered a patron of painters of pictures and is often portrayed as painting pictures of Mary. He is also shown in his animal form—an ox or a calf—because it is the symbol of sacrifice, which alludes to Jesus’ sacrifice for the world.