SYMBOLS OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS

Your correspondent "JARLZBERG" (No. 24. p. 385.) inquires for the origin of the Evangelistic symbols. The four living creatures, in Ezekiel, i. 10., and Revelations, iv. 7., were interpreted from the earliest times to represent the four Gospels. Why the angel is attributed to St. Matthew, the lion to St. Mark, and so on, is another question: but their order in Ezekiel corresponds with the order of the Gospels as we have them. Durandus would probably furnish some information. The fabulous legend of the lion savours of a later origin. Some valuable remarks on the subject, and a list of reference…