The Penitent Magdalene by Bruegel

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Title The penitent Magdalene
Artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Medium engraving,paper
Art Movement Northern Renaissance

About The penitent Magdalene
The “The penitent Magdalene” is an engraving on paper by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, an artist associated with the Northern Renaissance. As a work of art, it falls under the category of genre painting. Genre painting involves scenes of everyday life and often contains a moral or narrative element.

The engraving depicts a detailed landscape that includes towering cliffs, verdant forests, and a flowing river leading to a distant city nestling within the mountains. In the foreground, to the right side, you can see a solitary figure assumed to be the penitent Magdalene from the title, situated in a cave or grotto, which reinforces her isolation and penitence. She is shown in a contemplative state, which is characteristic of depictions of Magdalene from this period in art history. The image is filled with various other details, including small figures in the landscape, that engage in different activities, giving the scene a sense of life and activity. The sky is etched with light clouds, and the overall work has a balanced composition of natural and constructed elements.


Tom Gurney by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 14, 2023
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000

The Penitent Magdalene provides a sweeping North European landscape that focuses on the beauty of this region but is devoid of colour because of its nature as a published print from an earlier engraving. Bruegel the Younger would later take some of his father's work and reconstitute it for his own needs.
Within this composition we find a pathway leading through the right hand side of a rockface, surrounded by rows of trees on one side and pointed rocks on the other. In the nearest foreground is a collection of collected logs and a few human figures who are connected to the main theme of the piece. In the far distance we find a wide valley with a river which winds its way down to the bottom. There are also many mountains in the background, covering most of that part of the painting, and leaving just a small gap for the sky above. There is a good variety within The Penitent Magdalene, from awe inspiring mountains down to tiny human figures and small shrubs, reminding us of how this artist would go into incredible detail each and every time.

It seems extraordinary that such detailed artworks such as this could then be turned into identical engravings, featuring multiple levels of etched content. It is a credit to those who helped Bruegel in the later stage that this would even be possible, but it must be remembered that Northern Europe was particularly rich in engravers of a high standard during the 16th century and so these technical challenges would be entirely possible. Once complete, each engraving would be handed over to Hieronymus Coch in Antwerp for the final stage of the process, where prints would be produced and artworks were then ready to be sold and distributed across the country and abroad. He worked for a number of different clients and became known as one of the most famous printmakers in Europe at that time.

Mary Magdalene has, of course, been featured by countless numbers of artists over the years. She was seen the most during the Renaissance, at it swept across Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, gaining inspiration from artists both in Italy as well as in Northern regions such as the Flemish painters and engravers. Those looking to understand this theme in greater detail should study related works such as The Entombment by Michelangelo, Penitent Magdalene by Titian in both 1531 and 1565 and also Mary Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi. The latter was a female artist who has started to receive greater recognition in recent years, with liberal art followers seeking to redress the balance of exposure, as they see it.

In 16th-century Netherlands during the height of the Protestant Reformation, the perception of Mary Magdalene underwent a profound theological shift. For Protestants, the elaborate medieval cults of saints, relics, and fabricated legends—such as her supposed voyage to Provence or her conflation with Mary of Egypt and the unnamed sinner—were largely rejected as Catholic superstitions.

Protestant View of Mary Magdalene
Protestant reformers (drawing on a strict return to Biblical text) stripped away the layers of accumulated myth:

The "Scarlet Woman" Rejected: Reformers emphasized only what Scripture explicitly stated: she was a follower from whom seven demons were cast out, a witness to the crucifixion, and the first witness to the resurrection.

Focus on Faith: The elaborate penance narratives (like living naked in a cave for 30 years covered only by hair) were dismissed. Salvation came through grace and faith in Christ's sacrifice, not through legendary ascetic penance or the veneration of relics like the golden reliquary at Saint-Maximin.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder and His Intellectual Circle
Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his humanist intellectual circle in Antwerp/Brussels (including publishers like Christopher Plantin, geographers, and classical scholars) navigated a complex world of Catholic rule, humanist inquiry, and covert or overt Protestant sympathies.

Subversion of Traditional Saint Imagery: Bruegel rarely painted straightforward devotional icons of saints. Instead, when religious figures or biblical themes appeared in his work (such as The Carrying of the Cross or his landscapes), they were embedded within vast, indifferent landscapes where everyday people ignored divine tragedies.

The Humanist Skepticism: Bruegel’s intellectual circle appreciated irony, moral ambiguity, and a critical view of institutionalized religion. Rather than painting Mary Magdalene as a glamorous, tearful penitent sinner draped in silk and jewels (a trope popular in Italian and Southern Catholic art), Northern humanists and artists like Bruegel viewed human frailty with psychological realism rather than idealized saintly theatrics.

Was  Mary Magdalene present in Cana?

No, Mary Magdalene was not present at the wedding at Cana, according to the canonical gospels.

The biblical account of the wedding at Cana (found exclusively in John 2:1-11) explicitly mentions the presence of Jesus, His disciples, and His mother (the Virgin Mary). Mary Magdalene is never mentioned by name or implied to be at the event in the biblical text.   
Bible Hub

Why is there sometimes confusion?
Name Overlap: The primary female figure at Cana is simply referred to as "the mother of Jesus" (who is named Mary). Because both she and Mary Magdalene share the name Mary, readers occasionally conflate the two.   
The Association of Mary, Queen of All Hearts

Legendary Traditions: Later medieval European folklore and regional legends sometimes blurred the lines between different biblical figures. For example, some Proven;al legends playfully tied Mary Magdalene to artifacts or backstories involving Cana (such as a medieval tradition claiming she brought an amphora from Cana to France), but these have no basis in the biblical texts.   
Wikipedia

Want to know more about the women who actually traveled with Jesus during his ministry?

Yes
What does the Bible say about the women who traveled with and supported Jesus during his ministry?

The New Testament gospels record that a group of dedicated women traveled with Jesus and His disciples, providing crucial financial and practical support, witnessing His crucifixion, and serving as the first primary witnesses to His resurrection.

The women who followed and supported Jesus, AI generatedOpens in a new window
Source: Christine_Kohler / Getty Images
The women who followed and supported Jesus. Source: Christine_Kohler / Getty Images
1. Financial and Material Support
The most detailed description of women funding the ministry appears in Luke 8:1–3:

"After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means."   

Joanna was married to a high-ranking official in King Herod Antipas’s court, suggesting that some of these women possessed significant personal wealth or social standing.

Financial Backing: Their material support allowed Jesus and the Twelve Apostles to travel continuously without needing to work manual jobs day-to-day during the height of the ministry.

2. Eyewitnesses to the Crucifixion
When the male disciples scattered or went into hiding out of fear following Jesus's arrest, the gospels emphasize that the women remained steadfastly present at the cross.

Mark 15:40–41 notes: "In addition, there were women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there."   

3. The First Witnesses to the Resurrection
The gospels record that these same women were the first to visit the tomb on Easter morning and the initial recipients of the resurrection message:

In the Gospel accounts, it is women (including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James) who bring spices to anoint the body and discover the empty tomb.

They are given the commission by angels—and in some accounts, by the risen Christ Himself—to go back and tell the male apostles that Jesus had risen.

Want to know more about the specific roles of Joanna or Salome in the New Testament?

Yes
Was Mary Magdalena the spiritual bride to Jesus who was the broom in Cana?

No, Mary Magdalene was neither the bride nor was Jesus the bridegroom (groom) at the Wedding at Cana, according to both the biblical text and historical consensus.   
Open Christian University

However, this idea frequently pops up in modern alternative history, speculative fiction (like The Da Vinci Code), and certain fringe esoteric theories.

Here is how the actual text, the alternative theories, and medieval folklore handle this idea:

1. What the Bible Says
In John 2:1–11, the story of the wedding at Cana describes a standard village wedding:

The Attendees: Jesus, His mother (Mary), and His disciples are invited guests.   
Truthout

The Groom: The text mentions a specific "master of the banquet" and a bridegroom who is responsible for providing the wine, but he is never named.

Mary Magdalene’s Absence: Mary Magdalene is not mentioned anywhere in the Gospel of John until much later in the narrative (at the crucifixion and the empty tomb). She has no role or presence at Cana in the biblical record.

2. Where Does the "Bride at Cana" Theory Come From?
Speculative theories linking Mary Magdalene to the wedding at Cana usually stem from a mix of creative interpretation and medieval legend:

Alternative/Esoteric Speculation: Some modern writers and conspiracy-driven theories (touching on Gnostic texts or fictional narratives) suggest that the wedding at Cana was actually Jesus’s own wedding to Mary Magdalene, arguing that this explains why Jesus and His mother appeared to have a level of authority or responsibility over the running of the feast. However, mainstream historians and biblical scholars point out that this is an entirely imaginative reading unsupported by any primary historical documents.   
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Medieval Proven;al Legends: In medieval France, a curious legend developed claiming that Mary Magdalene eventually traveled to Provence. Local traditions occasionally tied her back to Cana—for instance, a medieval relic container (amphora) in France was historically associated by local nuns with the wedding at Cana, creating a folk-myth bridge between her and the event, but this was pious folklore rather than literal history.   
Wikipedia

Summary
Historically and scripturally, Mary Magdalene was a follower and financial supporter of Jesus during his ministry, not a spouse, and she was not the bride at the wedding in Cana.   
Wikipedia

Want to know what the Gnostic Gospels actually say about Mary Magdalene's relationship with Jesus?

Yes
What do the Gnostic gospels, like the Gospel of Philip, actually say about Mary Magdalene's relationship with Jesus?

The Gnostic gospels—specifically texts discovered in 1945 in the Nag Hammadi library in Egypt, such as the Gospel of Philip and the Gospel of Mary—present a very different view of Mary Magdalene than the canonical New Testament. In these texts, she is elevated as an intellectual and spiritual elite, a privileged insider, and Jesus's closest confidante.   
Magdalene Sacred Journeys

1. The Famous "Kiss" and "Companion" Passage (Gospel of Philip)
The text that draws the most attention (and fuels modern theories) is found in the Gospel of Philip (typically dated to the 3rd century). A heavily cited passage reads:

"And the companion of the [Savior is] Mary Magdalene. [The Savior] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her [mouth]."   
The Petrarch Press

While modern sensationalism often interprets this through a literal, romantic, or marital lens, historians, Gnostic scholars, and theologians point out crucial nuances:

The "Companion" (Koinonos): The Coptic text uses the Greek loanword koinonos, which denotes a spiritual partner, associate, or sharer in a common venture—not a marital spouse.   
Medium

The Missing Text: The manuscript is physically damaged at a critical spot, leaving a gap (a lacuna) right where the word for where he kissed her appears. While some translators supply "mouth," others suggest "forehead," "cheek," or "hand" as a sign of respect or blessing.   
Medium
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The Disciples' Jealousy: Immediately following this line, the other disciples complain, asking Jesus, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" Jesus's response turns it into a lesson on spiritual enlightenment, implying that they are spiritually "blind" compared to her ability to perceive the light.   
The Petrarch Press

2. The Symbolism of the "Kiss" in Gnosticism
In Gnostic Christian theology, the physical world was viewed as flawed, and salvation came through gnosis (secret, divine knowledge).

Spiritual Transmission: The "kiss" was widely understood by Gnostic scholars not as a sign of romance, but as a symbolic transmission of divine breath, secret wisdom, and spiritual authority.   
Magdalene Sacred Journeys

By kissing her, Jesus is passing on the "breath of knowledge" (pneuma), making Mary Magdalene a primary vessel of his teachings and a conduit for his message after his departure.   
MaryPages

3. Mary Magdalene as the Preeminent Apostle
Across other Gnostic writings like the Gospel of Mary, Mary Magdalene takes on a leadership role that directly challenges the authority of the male apostles:

Superior Insight: When the male disciples despair and weep after Jesus's death, Mary Magdalene steps forward to comfort and instruct them, sharing secret visions and teachings she received from Jesus privately.

Conflict with Peter: Peter openly challenges her authority, asking why Jesus would reveal secret teachings to a woman over the male apostles (saying, "Did he really speak with a woman without our knowledge and not openly? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?"). Another disciple, Levi, defends her, telling Peter that the Savior knew her completely and loved her worthily.   
MaryPages

Summary
The Gnostic gospels do not portray Mary Magdalene as a repentant prostitute or a physical wife in the modern sense. Instead, they frame her as the premier apostle of gnosis—the disciple who understood Jesus's deepest spiritual truths better than anyone else, earning her the jealousy of the other apostles and a status of supreme spiritual equality.

Want to know why the early Church ultimately rejected the Gnostic gospels?

Yes
Did Bruegel depict Mary Magdalene?

Yes, Pieter Bruegel the Elder did depict Mary Magdalene, most famously in a design he created for a print titled The Penitent Magdalene (Magdalena Poenitens), published around 1555–1556 as part of his Large Landscapes series (engraved/etched by the Van Doetecum brothers and published by Hieronymus Cock).   
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

How this artwork reflects Bruegel's style reveals a distinct approach to the subject:

The Landscape Dominated the Saint: True to Bruegel's revolutionary approach to landscape art, Mary Magdalene is not the grand, central focus of a dramatic devotional painting. Instead, she occupies a relatively small portion of the composition, reclining in quiet penance amidst a vast, towering, and rugged forest wilderness.   
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reflecting Humanist Subtlety: Rather than portraying her as an idealized, hyper-sensationalized icon or a glamorous court figure (as was common in contemporary Italian art), Bruegel places her as a tiny, contemplative figure lost within the overwhelming scale of God's creation. This aligned with Northern humanist and early Protestant-adjacent sensibilities, which favored nature, introspection, and humility over ornate saintly theatricality.

(Note: Later members of the Bruegel artistic dynasty, such as his son Jan Brueghel the Elder, also painted more traditional devotional scenes of the Penitent Magdalene, often embedding her within lush "paradise" or forest landscapes.)   
Wikimedia Commons

Want to know more about Bruegel's 'Large Landscapes' series and how they changed art?

Yes
But Mary Magdalene is also depicted among women in The prossesiion to Calvary

Yes, absolutely. In Pieter Bruegel the Elder's masterpiece The Procession to Calvary (1564), Mary Magdalene is depicted right in the foreground as part of the group of grieving women.

The fainting Virgin Mary and weeping women group in Bruegel's Procession to Calvary, AI generatedOpens in a new window
All life is here”: Bruegel's Way to Calvary - Journal of ART in ...
The fainting Virgin Mary and weeping women group in Bruegel's Procession to Calvary. Source: Journal of ART in SOCIETY
How Bruegel Portrays Her in This Scene:
The Foreground Group: In the lower-right foreground of the sprawling, chaotic landscape, Bruegel paints the classic traditional group of the "holy women."

The Fainting Virgin: The Virgin Mary is shown fainting or collapsing in deep grief, supported by St. John the Evangelist.

Mary Magdalene's Presence: Flanking this central group of sorrow are the other Marys and female followers—typically identified by art historians as including Mary Magdalene, distinguished by her expressive grief and rich, contemporary 16th-century Flemish attire.

True to Bruegel's style, even this deeply emotional religious focal point is set off to the side of a vast, bustling landscape where hundreds of indifferent peasants, soldiers, and wheel-broken criminals go about their business, entirely missing the profound tragedy unfolding before them.

Want to know more about the hidden symbolism and historical details tucked into Bruegel's Procession to Calvary?

Yes
And there is a strong suggesstion that Mry Magdalena is the actual bride on the Peasants wedding

The idea that Pieter Bruegel the Elder's famous 1567 painting The Peasant Wedding contains a hidden religious allegory—specifically depicting the Wedding at Cana, with the quiet bride representing Mary Magdalene (as the spiritual bride or Sponsa Christi) and the man pouring the ale/wine representing Christ as the servant-groom—is an intriguing art-historical and esoteric theory, though it is not the mainstream consensus.   
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This allegorical reading maps out several elements:

The Enigmatic Bride: Unlike the boisterous, eating, and drinking guests, the bride sits completely motionless under a green hanging cloth with her hands folded, wearing a simple paper crown. Proponents of this symbolic reading argue her quiet, detached, and meditative posture mirrors how Northern Renaissance art traditionally rendered Mary Magdalene in deep inward contemplation.   
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The Missing Groom: According to 16th-century Flemish custom, the groom often did not sit at the head table during the feast, which leaves his identity ambiguous in the painting. Allegorical interpreters suggest the man serving and pouring the drinks is actually Christ fulfilling the gospel paradox ("I am among you as one who serves"), turning the humble peasant barn into a hidden spiritual scene of the miracle of Cana.   
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Bruegel's Double-Layers: Bruegel was a sophisticated humanist intellectual known for embedding hidden moral, political, or religious layers beneath outwardly ordinary "genre scenes" of everyday peasant life.

The Mainstream Consensus View:
While art historians acknowledge that Bruegel frequently used religious subtext, the majority view is that The Peasant Wedding is primarily a masterclass in realistic social observation—a brilliant, secular depiction of rural 16th-century Flemish customs, feasting traditions, and human behavior (with subtle commentary on gluttony or community structures), rather than a literal encrypted portrait of Mary Magdalene as a peasant bride.

Want to explore more of Bruegel's hidden allegories and religious subtexts in his peasant paintings?

Yes
Whjo else from Flemish and German 16 th century artists depicted Mary Magdalena at the wedding in Cana?

In 16th-century Northern Renaissance art—particularly in the Netherlands and Germany—the Wedding at Cana was occasionally used by artists to explore hidden symbolic narratives, and Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen is a prime example.

Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen (c. 130–1532)
In his fascinating Northern Renaissance painting The Wedding at Cana (often alternatively titled The Calling of St. John during the Marriage at Cana, housed in the Rijksmuseum), the identification of the bride and groom carries precisely this symbolic tradition:   
Daily Dose of Art

The Rijksmuseum Interpretation: Based on historical Northern European theological sources (drawing on interpretations by figures like the Venerable Bede), the museum and art historians identify the young couple getting married in the painting as Saint John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene.   
Daily Dose of Art

The Narrative Choice: In this tradition, John leaves his own wedding feast right after witnessing Christ's miracle to follow Jesus full-time, with Mary Magdalene portrayed alongside him as his bride-turned-disciple. Vermeyen renders this in an intimate, moody interior lit by candlelight, emphasizing spiritual awakening over a grand royal banquet.   
Daily Dose of Art
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Broader Context in 16th-Century Northern Art
While mainstream German artists like Lucas Cranach the Elder focused heavily on biblical literalism or allegories of the Law and Gospel, Dutch and Flemish artists working around the mid-16th century loved embedding esoteric, humanist layers into traditional scriptural events. Connecting Mary Magdalene to the bride at Cana was part of a broader Northern European fascination with her transition from a worldly life to a spiritual devotee.

Want to look closer at Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen's painting and how it handles lighting and composition?

Yes
What are the stylistic and lighting characteristics of Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen's The Wedding at Cana?

Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen's The Wedding at Cana (or The Feast at Cana) is a striking example of early Northern European nocturnal painting. Long before Caravaggio and the 17th-century Baroque masters popularized extreme chiaroscuro, Northern artists were experimenting with dramatic, candle-lit interiors.

Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen's The Wedding at Cana, AI generatedOpens in a new window
File:De bruiloft in Kana Rijksmuseum SK-A-4820.jpeg - Wikimedia ...
Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen's The Wedding at Cana. Source: Wikimedia Commons
1. Dramatic Chiaroscuro and Artificial Lighting
Nocturnal Setting: Instead of a bright, expansive Renaissance banquet hall, Vermeyen sets the scene in deep shadow, plunging the background into obscurity.

Candlelight as the Primary Source: The entire composition is illuminated by localized, visible light sources—primarily candles placed on the table. This creates sharp contrasts between bright highlights and deep, velvety darks (chiaroscuro).

Illuminated Faces: The warm, flickering glow catches the faces, hands, and garments of the key figures huddled around the table, drawing the viewer's eye straight to their psychological interactions and expressions rather than architectural grandeur.

2. Stylistic Characteristics and Realism
Intimate Scale: Rather than a massive crowd scene with dozens of distant guests, Vermeyen crops the composition tightly around a select group gathered closely together, giving the event an intimate, almost secretive atmosphere.

Secular and Contemporary Details: The figures wear contemporary 16th-century Flemish attire rather than historic biblical robes. Instruments (such as the lute being played on the left), domestic table settings, pitchers, and food are rendered with crisp Northern precision.

Psychological Subtext: The tight arrangement allows the artist to focus heavily on individual reactions—some guests look outward, some converse quietly, and others gesture toward the center, reinforcing the mysterious or allegorical nature of the gathering (such as the traditional identification of John and Mary Magdalene among the group).

Want to know more about how Northern Renaissance artists pioneered nocturnal lighting before Caravaggio?

Yes
Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen – The Wedding at Cana

Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen’s The Wedding at Cana (c. 1530–1532) is an oil-on-panel nocturn scene depicting the biblical wedding feast at Cana, notable for its dramatic candlelight and early use of gold leaf for flames, and is now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Web Gallery of Art

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Description and Composition

Painted around 1530–1532, the work shows a night scene of guests seated around a table, illuminated by candlelight — a novelty in early 16th;century Dutch painting Web Gallery of Art

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. Vermeyen used gold leaf for the candle flames, creating a luminous, reflective effect ahead of the later Baroque nocturnes popularized by Caravaggio Web Gallery of Art

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The central figures are St John the Evangelist (beardless) and, according to the Rijksmuseum’s interpretation, Mary Magdalene Web Gallery of Art

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. To their left sit apostles Peter and Andrew. In the foreground, the Virgin Mary speaks to a servant about the lack of wine, then instructs the servants to follow her son’s command. Jesus responds by telling them to fill water jars, which he transforms into wine (John 2:3–10) Web Gallery of Art

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A lute player sits at the far left, adding to the festive atmosphere Daily Dose of Art

. The composition blends the miracle’s moment with the spiritual turning point for John and Mary Magdalene, who, in the tradition depicted, choose a spiritual over a physical marriage Web Gallery of Art

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Artistic Features

Light and shadow: Strong chiaroscuro from candlelight, casting deep shadows and highlighting faces Web Gallery of Art
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Material technique: Oil on panel, 66.5 ; 85 cm Rijksmuseum
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Innovation: One of the earliest known nocturnes in Northern Renaissance art, predating Caravaggio’s style by nearly a century Web Gallery of Art
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Subject and Tradition

The scene draws on John 2:1–11 and medieval tradition that the wedding couple were John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene Web Gallery of Art

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. Similar iconography appears in works from Giotto to Hieronymus Bosch Web Gallery of Art

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Current Location

The painting is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection in Amsterdam, acquired in 1982, and is catalogued as object SK;A;4820 Rijksmuseum

. It is publicly viewable in the museum’s galleries and online via the Rijksmuseum’s digital collection Rijksmuseum

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In summary, The Wedding at Cana is both a devotional narrative and a pioneering example of dramatic, candlelit interior painting in the Northern Renaissance, combining biblical storytelling with innovative use of light and material.


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Luminous Mysteries - Rosary with Sacred Art, Vol. III - No Music
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Ineffabilis Deus
Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen’s The Wedding at Cana (c. 1530–1532), housed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, stands as a fascinating bridge between traditional Christian allegories and revolutionary Northern Renaissance technique.   
Daily Dose of Art

Key Highlights of the Painting
The Allegorical Couple: By drawing on medieval theological commentary (such as that of the Venerable Bede), Vermeyen depicts the wedding couple as Saint John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene. In this tradition, the feast symbolizes their collective choice to leave behind earthly, worldly paths to follow a spiritual calling.   
Daily Dose of Art

Nocturnal Innovation: Long before Caravaggio popularized dramatic nighttime chiaroscuro across Europe, Vermeyen set this sacred miracle in deep shadow. The entire scene is lit intimately by candlelight.   
Daily Dose of Art

Material Mastery: To achieve a realistic, glowing flicker, Vermeyen utilized genuine gold leaf for the candle flames, creating an effect that catches and reflects the ambient light.   
Daily Dose of Art

Want to know more about how Northern Renaissance painters used hidden symbolism in domestic scenes?

Yes
Could Bruegel have seen this painting or just know about it?

It is historically quite possible that Pieter Bruegel the Elder actually saw Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen’s painting (or at least had direct access to Vermeyen’s studio and preparatory designs), rather than just "knowing about it" through secondhand reputation.

The paths of the two artists crossed closely in space and time within the tight-knit network of 16th-century Netherlandish art:

1. The Timeline and Geography Match
Vermeyen's Career: Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen (c. 1500–1559) spent a significant portion of his later career operating out of Brussels as a prominent court painter (famous for working for Margaret of Austria and Emperor Charles V). He died in Brussels in 1559.   
Christie's

Bruegel’s Move to Brussels: Pieter Bruegel the Elder moved from Antwerp to Brussels around 1563 and lived there until his death in 1569. Even before his move, Bruegel was frequently plugged into elite intellectual and artistic circles in both Antwerp and Brussels.

The Overlap: Because Vermeyen died just a few years before Bruegel settled permanently in Brussels, his studio, collection of drawings, and unsold panel paintings (such as experimental nocturnes like The Wedding at Cana) remained part of the local artistic ecosystem that Bruegel and his peers studied.

2. Shared Intellectual and Humanist Circles
Bruegel’s inner circle—such as the geographer Abraham Ortelius, publisher Christopher Plantin, and patrons like Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle—collected works by the preceding generation of major Netherlandish innovators, including Vermeyen and Jan Gossart.

Vermeyen was renowned among humanists for his pioneering realism, lighting experiments, and interest in psychological narrative.

Artists in Bruegel’s orbit actively studied how earlier masters handled complex group dynamics, hidden iconographies (like the John-and-Magdalene wedding tradition), and atmospheric lighting.

Summary
While we lack a surviving diary entry where Bruegel writes, "I saw Vermeyen's candlelit canvas today," the artistic DNA is clear. Given the small world of the Brussels-Antwerp art scene, Bruegel almost certainly viewed Vermeyen’s paintings or shared portfolios firsthand, absorbing those radical lighting techniques and allegorical layers to apply to his own masterpieces.

Want to know more about how 16th-century Netherlandish artists passed down workshop traditions and sketches?

Yes
jeroniub Bosch also had a painting The weddong in Cana with Mary Magdalena

Yes, Hieronymus Bosch (or his immediate workshop/circle) is closely associated with this exact iconographic tradition!

The Marriage at Cana (attributed to Bosch's circle), AI generatedOpens in a new window
Source: Heritage Images / Heritage Images via Getty Images
The Marriage at Cana (attributed to Bosch's circle). Source: Heritage Images / Heritage Images via Getty Images
The Connection to Bosch and the "John and Magdalene" Wedding
While Hieronymus Bosch is globally famous for his bizarre, nightmarish hellscapes and moralizing fantasies (like The Garden of Earthly Delights), he also painted traditional religious narratives imbued with hidden symbolic and theological layers.

The Rotterdam Panel: A notable version of The Marriage at Cana (housed in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and widely attributed to Bosch or his immediate workshop) depicts the biblical scene with the same underlying allegorical framework seen later in Vermeyen's work.

The Allegory of Vocation: In this painting and related Bosch-circle compositions, the focus of the wedding is explicitly tied to the tradition that Saint John the Evangelist is the groom who abandons his wedding feast to follow Christ, with Mary Magdalene present as a key figure in the narrative circle.

Why This Tradition Fit Bosch's World
As a master working in the late 15th and early 16th century in the Southern Netherlands, Bosch operated within the same Northern theological stream that viewed biblical events through deeply symbolic lenses. The idea of a wedding feast being interrupted or re-interpreted as a call to spiritual purity—leaving earthly marriage behind for a divine, ascetic, or mystical calling—strongly resonated with the religious reform movements and Devotio Moderna currents bubbling up in the Low Countries during his lifetime.

Want to know more about the unusual symbolic details hidden in Bosch's version of the Marriage at Cana?

Yes
Could Bruelel see this painting?

Yes, Pieter Bruegel the Elder could very well have seen Hieronymus Bosch's version of The Marriage at Cana (or workshop variants of it), because Bosch's works and compositions were actively collected, copied, and circulated in the Low Countries decades after Bosch's death.

Why Bruegel Had Access to Bosch's Imagery:
The Antwerp and Brussels Collections: Bosch (who died in 1516) was a massive influence on Bruegel. In fact, early in Bruegel's career, critics called him "the new Bosch" because of his surreal, moralizing visions. Paintings attributed to Bosch or his circle were prized possessions among elite collectors in Antwerp and Brussels—notably owned by wealthy merchants and humanists whom Bruegel interacted with.   
Web Gallery of Art

The Rubens Connection: Historical records show that wedding-feast compositions attributed to Bosch later passed through famous Flemish collections (such as Peter Paul Rubens's collection in Antwerp). These panels were studied, traded, and copied among generations of Northern artists.

The Shared Tradition: Whether Bruegel stood directly in front of the Rotterdam panel or studied preparatory drawings circulating in artist workshops, the conceptual link is profound. Both Bosch's circle and later figures like Vermeyen utilized the wedding-feast format to weave in layers of hidden spiritual meaning—laying the groundwork for Bruegel's own complex blend of everyday genre scenes and deep theological allegories.

Want to explore how Pieter Bruegel directly inherited and evolved the surreal style of Hieronymus Bosch?

Yes
The Wedding at Cana (Italian: Nozze di Cana, 1562–1563), by Paolo Veronese, is a representational painting that depicts the biblical story of the Wedding at Cana, at which Jesus miraculously converts water into red wine (John 2:1–11). Executed in the Mannerist style (1520–1600) of the late Renaissance, the large-format (6.77 m ; 9.94 m or 22 ft 3 in ; 32 ft 7 in) oil painting comprehends the stylistic ideal of compositional harmony, as practised by the artists Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo.[1]:;318;


You Shouldn't Ignore This Painting at the Louvre. Here's Why....
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Paolo Veronese's colossal masterpiece The Wedding at Cana (1562–1563), now housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, stands in stark, magnificent contrast to the intimate, candlelit Northern versions painted by Vermeyen and Bosch.

Key Characteristics of Veronese's Masterpiece
Breathtaking Scale: Measuring roughly 22 feet high by 32 feet wide, the canvas is a monumental feat of Venetian Renaissance art, designed originally for the Palladian refectory of the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.

Theatrical Venetian Banquet: Rather than a modest village gathering, Veronese reimagines the biblical miracle as a lavish, aristocratic 16th-century Venetian wedding feast. It features a cast of over a hundred figures, including contemporary monarchs, diplomats, musicians, and turbaned figures from the Ottoman Empire.

Mannerist Compositional Harmony: Despite the massive crowd and bustling activity—complete with dogs, servants, balustrades, and classical architecture—Veronese employs the balanced, harmonious principles of High Renaissance masters like Leonardo and Raphael, organizing the sprawling narrative across a brilliant, light-filled architectural stage.

While Northern artists like Bosch and Vermeyen used the wedding at Cana to hint at intimate, ascetic allegories (such as the spiritual marriage of John and Mary Magdalene), Veronese treated the theme as a grand celebration of Venetian civic power, wealth, and vibrant human culture.

Could Bruegel know about this painting?

It is extremely unlikely that Pieter Bruegel the Elder ever saw Paolo Veronese’s massive Wedding at Cana in person, though he may have heard about large-scale Italian grand manner painting through his artistic network.

Why Bruegel Likely Never Saw It:
Location and Timing: Veronese painted his colossal masterpiece between 1962 and 1963 specifically for the refectory wall of the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. Bruegel had visited Italy earlier in his career (around 1552–1554), traveling through Rome, Naples, and the Alps, but he had returned to Antwerp and later Brussels well before Veronese finished this particular canvas in 1563.

Immovable Scale: Measuring nearly 22 by 32 feet and painted directly for a specific monastic dining hall in Venice, the painting was a permanent architectural installation. It did not travel or circulate in print form during Bruegel's lifetime.

However, Bruegel Knew the Italian Art World
While Bruegel likely never stood in front of Veronese's specific canvas, he was deeply familiar with contemporary Italian Renaissance developments through prints, returning travelers, and his own Italian journey. Yet, stylistically, Bruegel went in the exact opposite direction of Veronese:

Veronese celebrated high-society theatricality, magnificent classical architecture, and aristocratic splendor.

Bruegel championed earthy realism, rural human behavior, and the quiet, ordinary details of peasant life, rejecting Italian grandiosity in favor of a distinctly Northern perspective.

Want to know more about Pieter Bruegel's journey to Italy and how it influenced his art?

Yes

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John the Evangelist

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Saint
John
the Evangelist

Saint John the Evangelist with an eagle, Lorsch Gospels (9th century)
Evangelist, Apostle, Theologian
Born Between c.;AD 6–9
Died c.;AD 100 (aged c. 92)[1]
Venerated in
Catholic Church
Oriental Orthodox Churches
Eastern Orthodox Church
Anglican Communion
Lutheranism
Aglipayan Church
Major shrine St. John's Cathedral ('s-Hertogenbosch), Netherlands
Feast 27 December (Western Christianity); 8 May and 26 September (Repose) (Eastern Orthodox Church)
Attributes Eagle, Chalice, Scrolls
Major works
Gospel of John (traditional attribution)
Epistles of John (traditional attribution)
Revelation (traditional attribution)
Part of a series of articles on
John in the Bible
"St John the Evangelist" by Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri), 1620s
Saint John the Evangelist, Domenichino
Johannine literature
GospelEpistles FirstSecondThirdRevelation Events
Authorship
ApostleBeloved discipleEvangelistPatmosPresbyter
Related literature
ApocryphonActsActs in RomeSigns Gospel
See also
Johannine communityLogosHoly Spirit in Johannine literatureJohn's vision of the Son of ManNew Testament people named John
vte
John the Evangelist[a] (c.;6 AD – c.;100 AD) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter,[2] although there is no consensus on how many of these may actually be the same individual.[3]

Identity
See also: Johannine literature and Four Evangelists

Print of John the Evangelist[4]
The exact identity of John – and the extent to which his identification with John the Apostle, John of Patmos and John the Presbyter is historical – is disputed between Christian tradition and scholars.

The Gospel of John refers to an otherwise unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved", who "bore witness to and wrote" the Gospel's message.[5] The author of the Gospel of John seemed interested in maintaining the internal anonymity of the author's identity, although interpreting the Gospel in the light of the Synoptic Gospels and considering that the author names (and therefore is not claiming to be) Peter, and that James was martyred as early as AD 44,[6] Christian tradition has widely believed that the author was the Apostle John, though many modern scholars believe the work to be pseudepigrapha.[7]

Christian tradition says that John the Evangelist was John the Apostle. John, Peter and James the Just were the three pillars of the Jerusalem church after Jesus' death.[8] He was one of the original twelve apostles and is thought to be the only one to escape martyrdom. It had been believed that he was exiled (around AD 95) to the Aegean island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. However, some attribute the authorship of Revelation to another man, called John the Presbyter, or to other writers of the late first century AD.[9] Bauckham argues that the early Christians identified John the Evangelist with John the Presbyter.[10]

Authorship of the Johannine works
Main articles: Authorship of the Johannine works and Johannine epistles
Since at least the 2nd century AD, scholars have debated the authorship of the Johannine works—whether they were written by one author or many, and if any of the authors can be identified with John the Apostle.[11]

The gospel and epistles traditionally and plausibly came from Ephesus, c.;90–110, although some scholars argue for an origin in Syria.[12] Eastern Orthodox tradition attributes all of the Johannine books to John the Apostle.[2] Some today agree that the gospel and epistles may have been written by a single author,[2] whether or not this was the apostle.

Other scholars conclude that the author of the epistles was different from that of the gospel, although all four works originated from the same community.[13] In the 6th century, the Decretum Gelasianum argued that the Second and Third Epistle of John have a separate author known as "John the priest."[b]

Historical critics like H.P.V. Nunn,[14] Reza Aslan[15] and Bart Ehrman,[16] believe with most modern scholars that the apostle John wrote none of these works.[17][18] Some scholars, though, such as John Robinson, F. F. Bruce, Leon Morris, and Martin Hengel,[19] still hold the apostle to be behind at least some of the works in question, particularly the gospel.[20][21]

The Book of Revelation is today generally agreed to have a separate author, John of Patmos, c.;95 with some parts possibly dating to Nero's reign in the early 60s.[22][23][24][2][17][18][3]

Feast day
The feast day of Saint John in the Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, and the Lutheran Calendar, is on 27 December, the third day of Christmastide.[25] In the Tridentine calendar he was commemorated also on each of the following days up to and including 3 January, the Octave of the 27 December feast. This Octave was abolished by Pope Pius XII in 1955.[26] The traditional liturgical color is white.

Freemasons celebrate this feast day, dating back to the 18th century when the Feast Day was used for the installation of Grand Masters.[27]

In art
John is traditionally depicted in one of two distinct ways: either as an aged man with a white or gray beard, or alternatively as a beardless youth like John the Apostle.[28][29] The first way of depicting him was more common in Byzantine art, where it was possibly influenced by antique depictions of Socrates;[30] the second was more common in the art of Medieval Western Europe and can be dated back as far as 4th-century Rome.[29]

In medieval works of painting, sculpture and literature, Saint John is often presented in an androgynous or feminized manner.[31] Historians have related such portrayals to the circumstances of the believers for whom they were intended.[32] For instance, John's feminine features are argued to have helped to make him more relatable to women.[33] Likewise, Sarah McNamer argues that because of John's androgynous status, he could function as an 'image of a third or mixed gender'[34] and 'a crucial figure with whom to identify'[35] for male believers who sought to cultivate an attitude of affective piety, a highly emotional style of devotion that, in late-medieval culture, was thought to be poorly compatible with masculinity.[36]

Legends from the "Acts of John" contributed much to medieval iconography; it is the source of the idea that John became an apostle at a young age.[29] One of John's familiar attributes is the chalice, often with a snake emerging from it.[37] According to one legend from the Acts of John,[38] John was challenged to drink a cup of poison to demonstrate the power of his faith, and thanks to God's aid the poison was rendered harmless.[37][39] The chalice can also be interpreted with reference to the Last Supper, or to the words of Christ to John and James: "My chalice indeed you shall drink."[40][41] According to the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia, some authorities believe that this symbol was not adopted until the 13th century.[41] There was also a legend that John was at some stage boiled in oil and miraculously preserved.[42] Another common attribute is a book or a scroll, in reference to his writings.[37] John the Evangelist is symbolically represented by an eagle, one of the creatures envisioned by Ezekiel (1:10)[43] and in the Book of Revelation (4:7).[44][41]

Gallery
John the Evangelist
St. John the Evangelist by Joan de Joanes (1507–1579), oil on panel
St. John the Evangelist by Joan de Joanes (1507–1579), oil on panel
 
Saint John the Evangelist by Domenichino (1621–29)
Saint John the Evangelist by Domenichino (1621–29)
 
Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos, 1490
Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos, 1490
 
Piero di Cosimo, Saint John the Evangelist, oil on panel, 1504–6, Honolulu Museum of Art
Piero di Cosimo, Saint John the Evangelist, oil on panel, 1504–6, Honolulu Museum of Art
 
The Vision of Saint John (1608–1614), by El Greco
The Vision of Saint John (1608–1614), by El Greco
 
Saint John the Evangelist in meditation by Simone Cantarini(1612–1648), Bologna
Saint John the Evangelist in meditation by Simone Cantarini
(1612–1648), Bologna
 
Saints John and Bartholomew, by Dosso Dossi
Saints John and Bartholomew, by Dosso Dossi
 
Stained glass window in St. Aidan's Cathedral, Ireland
Stained glass window in St. Aidan's Cathedral, Ireland
 
Saint John and the Poisoned Cup by Alonso CanoSpain (1635–1637)

Saint John and the Poisoned Cup by Alonso Cano
Spain (1635–1637)
 
Saint John and the eagle by Vladimir Borovikovsky in Kazan Cathedral, Saint Petersburg
Saint John and the eagle by Vladimir Borovikovsky in Kazan Cathedral, Saint Petersburg
 
A portrait from the Book of Kells, c.;800
A portrait from the Book of Kells, c.;800
 
Saint John and the cup by El Greco
Saint John and the cup by El Greco
 
Statue of John the Evangelist outside St. John's Seminary, Boston
Statue of John the Evangelist outside St. John's Seminary, Boston
 
St John the Evangelist depicted in a 14th-century manuscript in the Flemish style
St John the Evangelist depicted in a 14th-century manuscript in the Flemish style
 
St John the Evangelist, by Francisco Pacheco (1608, Museo del Prado)
St John the Evangelist, by Francisco Pacheco (1608, Museo del Prado)
 
Prochorus and St John depicted in Xoranasat's gospel manuscript in 1224. Armenian manuscript.
Prochorus and St John depicted in Xoranasat's gospel manuscript in 1224. Armenian manuscript.
 
Depiction of "John the Evangelist" on pendentive dome of the St. Peter's Abbey, Ghent
Depiction of "John the Evangelist" on pendentive dome of the St. Peter's Abbey, Ghent
See also
Eagle of Saint John
Luke the Evangelist
Mark the Evangelist
Matthew the Evangelist
St. John the Evangelist Church
Notes
 Ancient Greek: ;;;;;;;, romanized: I;;nn;s; Imperial Aramaic: ;;;;;; Ge'ez: ;;;;; Arabic: ;;;;; ;;;;;;;;; Latin: Ioannes; Hebrew: ;;;;;; Coptic: ;;;;;;; or ;;;;
 Since the 18th century, the Decretum Gelasianum has been associated with the Council of Rome (382), although historians dispute the connection.
References
 Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem (2007) [c. 600], "The Life of the Evangelist John", The Explanation of the Holy Gospel According to John, House Springs, Missouri, United States: Chrysostom Press, pp. 2–3, ISBN 978-1-889814-09-4
 Stephen L Harris, Understanding the Bible, (Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1985), 355
 Ehrman, Bart D. (2004). The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford. p. 468. ISBN 0-19-515462-2.
 "Evangelist Johannes". lib.ugent.be. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
 Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition). Chapter 2. Christian sources about Jesus.
 Acts 12:2
 Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition)
 Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "John" p. 302-310
 In Encyclopaedia Britannica, Britannica concise encyclopedia. Chicago IL: Britannica Digital Learning. 2017.
 Bauckham, Richard (2007)) The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple.
 F. L. Cross, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 45
 Brown, Raymond E. (1997). Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Anchor Bible. p. 334. ISBN 0-385-24767-2.
 Ehrman, pp. 178–9.
 Nunn, Rev Henry Preston Vaughan (H.P.V.) (1 January 1946). The Fourth Gospel: An Outline of the Problem and Evidence. London The Tyndale Press. pp. 10–13, 14–18, 19, 21–35, 37–39. ASIN B002NRY6G2.
 Aslan, Reza (16 July 2013). ZEALOT: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Random House; Illustrated Edition, New York Times Press. p. XX. ISBN 978-2523470201.
 Ehrman, Bart (May 2001). Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the Millennium. Oxford University Press Press. pp. 41–44, 90–93. ISBN 978-0195124743.
 "Although ancient traditions attributed to the Apostle John the Fourth Gospel, the Book of Revelation, and the three Epistles of John, modern scholars believe that he wrote none of them." Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible (Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1985) p. 355
 Kelly, Joseph F. (1 October 2012). History and Heresy: How Historical Forces Can Create Doctrinal Conflicts. Liturgical Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-8146-5999-1.
 Hengel, Martin (2000). Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ, 1st edition. Trinity Press International. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-56338-300-7.
 Morris, Leon (1995) The Gospel According to John Volume 4 of The new international commentary on the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8028-2504-9, pp. 4–5, 24, 35–7. "Continental scholars have [...] abandoned the idea that this gospel was written by the apostle John, whereas in Great Britain and America scholarship has been much more open to the idea." Abandonment is due to changing opinion rather "than to any new evidence." "Werner, Colson, and I have been joined, among others, by I. Howard Marshall and J.A.T. Robinson in seeing the evidence as pointing to John the son of Zebedee as the author of this Gospel." The view that John's history is substandard "is becoming increasingly hard to sustain. Many recent writers have shown that there is good reason for regarding this or that story in John as authentic. [...] It is difficult to [...] regard John as having little concern for history. The fact is John is concerned with historical information. [...] John apparently records this kind of information because he believes it to be accurate. [...] He has some reliable information and has recorded it carefully. [...] The evidence is that where he can be tested John proves to be remarkably accurate."
Bruce 1981 pp. 52–4, 58. "The evidence [...] favor[s] the apostolicity of the gospel. [...] John knew the other gospels and [...] supplements them. [...] The synoptic narrative becomes more intelligible if we follow John." John's style is different so Jesus' "abiding truth might be presented to men and women who were quite unfamiliar with the original setting. [...] He does not yield to any temptation to restate Christianity. [...] It is the story of events that happened in history. [...] John does not divorce the story from its Palestinian context."
Dodd p. 444. "Revelation is distinctly, and nowhere more clearly than in the Fourth Gospel, a historical revelation. It follows that it is important for the evangelist that what he narrates happened."
Temple, William. "Readings in St. John's Gospel". MacMillan and Co, 1952. "The synoptists give us something more like the perfect photograph; St. John gives us the more perfect portrait".
Edwards, R. A. "The Gospel According to St. John" 1954, p 9. One reason he accepts John's authorship is because "the alternative solutions seem far too complicated to be possible in a world where living men met and talked".
Hunter, A. M. "Interpreting the New Testament" P 86. "After all the conjectures have been heard, the likeliest view is that which identifies the Beloved Disciple with the Apostle John.
 Dr. Craig Blomberg, cited in Lee Strobel The Case for Christ, 1998, Chapter 2.
Marshall, Howard. "The Illustrated Bible Dictionary", ed J. D. Douglas et al. Leicester 1980. II, p 804
Robinson, J. A. T. "The Priority of John" P 122
Cf. Marsh, "John seems to have believed that theology was not something which could be used to read a meaning into events but rather something that was to be discovered in them. His story is what it is because his theology is what it is; but his theology is what it is because the story happened so" (p 580–581).
 Hart, David Bentley (2023). The New Testament: A Translation. Yale University Press. p. 575. ISBN 978-0-300-27146-1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
 Hodgkins, Christopher (2019). "15.2". Literary Study of the Bible: An Introduction. Wiley. p. unpaginated. ISBN 978-1-118-60449-6. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
 Fletcher, Michelle (2017). Reading Revelation as Pastiche: Imitating the Past. The Library of New Testament Studies. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-567-67271-1. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
 Frandsen, Mary E. (4 April 2006). Crossing Confessional Boundaries : The Patronage of Italian Sacred Music in Seventeenth-Century Dresden. Oxford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780195346367. On the Feast of St. John the Evangelist (the third day of Christmas) in 1665, for example, peranda presented two concertos in the morning service, his O Jesu mi dulcissime and Verbum caro factum est, and presented his Jesus dulcis, Jesu pie and Atendite fideles at Vespers.
 General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII
 "Today in Masonic History – Feast of St. John the Evangelist". www.masonrytoday.com. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
 Sources:
James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), 129, 174-75.
Carolyn S. Jerousek, "Christ and St. John the Evangelist as a Model of Medieval Mysticism", Cleveland Studies in the History of Art, Vol. 6 (2001), 16.
 "Saint John the Apostle". Encyclop;dia Britannica Online. Chicago. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
 Jadranka Prolovi;, "Socrates and St. John the Apostle: the interchangеable similarity of their portraits" Zograf, vol. 35 (2011), 9: "It is difficult to locate when and where this iconography of John originated and what the prototype was, yet it is clearly visible that this iconography of John contains all of the main characteristics of well-known antique images of Socrates. This fact leads to the conclusion that Byzantine artists used depictions of Socrates as a model for the portrait of John."
James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), 129, 174-75.
Jeffrey F. Hamburger, St. John the Divine: The Deified Evangelist in Medieval Art and Theology. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), xxi-xxii; ibidem, 159-160.
Carolyn S. Jerousek, "Christ and St. John the Evangelist as a Model of Medieval Mysticism", Cleveland Studies in the History of Art, Vol. 6 (2001), 16.
Annette Volfing, John the Evangelist and Medieval Writing: Imitating the Inimitable. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 139.
Jeffrey F. Hamburger, St. John the Divine: The Deified Evangelist in Medieval Art and Theology. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), xxi-xxii.
Carolyn S. Jerousek, "Christ and St. John the Evangelist as a Model of Medieval Mysticism" Cleveland Studies in the History of Art, Vol. 6 (2001), 20.
Sarah McNamer, Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 142-148.
Annette Volfing, John the Evangelist and Medieval Writing: Imitating the Inimitable. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 139.
Carolyn S. Jerousek, "Christ and St. John the Evangelist as a Model of Medieval Mysticism" Cleveland Studies in the History of Art, Vol. 6 (2001), 20.
Annette Volfing, John the Evangelist and Medieval Writing: Imitating the Inimitable. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 139.
 Sarah McNamer, Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 142.
 Sarah McNamer, Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 145.
 Sarah McNamer, Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 142-148.
 James Hall, "John the Evangelist", Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, rev. ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1979)
 J.K. Elliot (ed.), A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation Based on M.R. James (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993/2005), 343-345.
 J K Elliott, "Graphic Versions: Did non-biblical stories about Jesus and the saints originate more in art than text?", Times Literary Supplement, 14 December 2018, pp. 15-16, referring to the El Greco painting.
 Matthew 20:23
 Fonck, L. (1910). St. John the Evangelist. In The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: Robert Appleton Company). Retrieved 14 August 2017 from New Advent.
 J K Elliott, "Graphic Versions: Did non-biblical stories about Jesus and the saints originate more in art than text?", Times Literary Supplement, 14 December 2018, pp. 15-16, referring to a thirteenth-century manuscript in Cambridge known as the Trinity College Apocalypse.
 Ezekiel 1:10
 Revelation 4:7
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint John the Evangelist.

Wikiquote has quotations related to John the Evangelist.
Wikisource logo
Wikisource has the text of the 1879 American Cyclop;dia article John the Evangelist.
"Saint John the Apostle." Encyclop;dia Britannica Online.
St. John the Evangelist at the Christian Iconography web site
Caxton's translations of the Golden Legend's two chapters on St. John: Of St. John the Evangelist and The History of St. John Port Latin
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