John the Evangelist
(Ital. Giovanni; Sp. Juan; Fr. Jean). Apostle.

The son of Zebedee, and brother of James and the presumed author of the fourth gospel and, by tradition, of the Apocalypse. He was one of the first to be called to follow Christ. He appears with Peter and James in the scene of the Transfiguration. At the Last Supper he is shown leaning his head on the breast of Christ, from the tradition that identified him with 'the disciple whom Jesus loved'. The Agony in the Garden shows him asleep with Peter and James, while Christ prays. In one version of the Crucifixion John and the Virgin are seen standing alone at the foot of the cross. He is shown among the figures at the Descent from the Cross, the lamentation (Pieta) that followed and at the Entombment. John appears at the Death of the Virgin and her Assumption because the apocryphal writings on which the scenes are based were ascribed to him. During the apostolic ministry John often accompanied the apostle Peter. He was traditionally identified with John who was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation (see 2, below). He was believed to have died at Ephesus at a great age. John's attributes are a book or scroll, in allusion to his writings, an eagle which may hold a pen or inkstand in its beak, a chalice from which a snake emerges (see below), a cauldron (see 1, below) and a palm - not the martyr's but one belonging to the Virgin and handed on to John at her death; he holds it only in scenes relating to her. John may be represented in two distinct ways: as the apostle he is young, sometimes rather effeminate and graceful, typically with long, flowing, curly hair, and is beardless; or in complete contrast as the evangelist, he is an aged gray-beard. Among his inscriptions the commonest are 'Passus sub Pontio Pilato'—'He suffered under Pontius Pilate', from the Apostles' Creed; 'In principio erat verbum'—'In the beginning was the Word' (John 1: 1); 'Lignum vitae afferens fructus'—'The tree of life which yields (twelve crops of) fruit' (Rev. 22:2).

1. The 'martyrdom' of St John, immersed in a cauldron of boiling oil. According to the Golden Legend, during the persecution of the Christians under the Roman emperor Domitian, John was thrown into a vat of boiling oil. He emerged miraculously unharmed, even rejuvenated. He is seen sitting naked in the pot, his hands maybe joined in prayer, while his executioners apply bellows to the fire and ladle oil over his head. The emperor and senators are looking on. The chapel of San Giovanni in Olio outside the Latin gate at Rome marks the supposed site.
   
   
2. St John on the island of Patmos writing the Revelation. John was exiled by Domitian to Patmos, an Aegean island close to the mainland of Asia Minor. He was believed while there to have written the book of Revelation. He is generally depicted in a rocky desert in the act of writing. The eagle, the symbol of his inspiration, is beside him, perhaps with an inkhorn hanging from its neck. Above is sometimes seen John's vision of the Virgin crowned with stars, holding the infant Christ (Rev. 12: 1).
   
   
3. The raising of Drusiana. After the death of Domitian John went to Ephesus. The Golden Legend tells how on the way he met the funeral procession of Drusiana, a woman who in her lifetime had followed John's example, and had longed to set eyes on him again before her death. John bid the procession stop, and said in a loud voice, 'Drusiana arise, and go into thy house, and make ready for me some refection.' Drusiana, miraculously restored to life, is seen sitting up in her coffin or, later, receiving John into her house.
   
   
4. John changes sticks and stones into gold and jewels. Another legend tells how two young disciples of an ascetic philosopher of Ephesus ground precious stones to powder to show their contempt for earthly belongings. But John reproved them for not selling the stones to provide for the poor. The young men were converted to Christianity when John miraculously turned the powder back into stones. They then gave them away, as he had bidden. Later they regretted their generosity so John took sticks and stones which he turned into gold and jewels for them, warning them that they would no longer be able to enter heaven, The two youths are seen standing before John with their precious stones and rods of gold.
   
   
5. St John drinking from the poisoned chalice. A legend that is seldom seen in narrative painting but which is important as the source of John's familiar attribute, the chalice with a snake, tells how the priest of the temple of Diana of Ephesus gave John a poisoned cup to drink as a test of the power of his faith. Two condemned men had already drunk of the cup and died; John not only survived unharmed but restored the other two to life. From medieval times the emblem had a symbolic meaning, the chalice standing for the Christian faith, the snake for Satan. In medieval art a dragon may replace the snake.
   
   
6. Death and ascension of St John. Tradition had it that John dug his own grave in the shape of a cross, and he is even depicted descending into it, watched by his disciples! At his ascension he is met by the figures of Christ and the Virgin, with SS Peter and Paul.