Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke & John created the four Gospels of the Bible's New Testament. In art the attributes given to these four are winged creatures respectively: Angel, Lion, Ox (bull), Eagle. The reason comes from the Old Testament's Prophet Ezekiel who predicted that God would send a king to rule a kingdom without end. Ezekiel also described a winged beast called a Tetramorph with four heads: Angel, Lion, Ox, Eagle. The Tetramorph was a heavenly throne bearer. To attract Jewish followers to Christianity, early leaders linked the new faith to Ezekiel's prophesies. They reduced several Gospels to four and associated one winged beast to each Evangelist. |
