Tabernacle of the Madonna delle Tosse: Four Evangelists 1484

Benozzo Gozzoli painted the ceiling of the Tabernacle of the Madonna delle Tosse with tempera, depicting the Four Evangelists, each accompanied by their symbolic animal. Mark, with his lion, and Luke, with the ox, stand in testament to ancient traditions. These symbols, echoing Mesopotamian deities, found new life as representations of the Evangelists, their meanings shifting yet retaining a primal, powerful essence. We see echoes of this symbolic language in antiquity, from winged bulls guarding palace gates to the animal-headed gods of Egypt. The figure of Christ echoes images of emperors. In this representation, the figure is made more human with a more humble and earthly appearance, yet it retains the power of a deity. As the motif of Christ evolved, it became a touchstone for expressing power. These images speak to a collective memory, a resonance of symbols across millennia. We are reminded that nothing is ever truly new, but rather a continuous reinterpretation of what has come before.