The San Vitale Hospitality of Abraham: Detail, St. John the Evangelist
St. John the Evangelist

This is in the upper left corner of the mosaic; St. Luke's portrait is in the upper right. In corresponding positions on the facing wall are portraits of St. Matthew and St. Mark.

St. John the Evangelist sits beneath his traditional symbol, an eagle. The stylized writing desk with pen and inkpot refer to his authorship of the Gospel of John, which he holds in his arms. The Latin phrase in the book is secundum iohannem, "according to John."

I have not yet been able to explain the ducks swimming in the marsh at the bottom of the composition. "Birds of the air" are referenced dozens of times in the Bible, but ducks or water fowl in general are not. The corresponding panel with St. Luke on the right also has a marsh at the bottom, with a water bird, and the same is true of St. Mark on the facing wall.

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Photographed at the basilica by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.