Saint Luke
One of the Four Evangelists, whose symbol is a bull or ox (often with wings). St. Luke’s bull is sacrificial, as he was thought to deal with the sacrificial aspects of Jesus’ life, but also because his gospel begins with Zechariah, father of St. John the Baptists, making an offering to God. (Taylor, 2003) Photo from St. Dominic’s Roman Catholic Church, Oyster Bay, New York, 2022.
The marble relief sculpture you see is of Saint Luke the Evangelist and is located in the cloister of the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, Italy. The relief depicts Saint Luke holding an open book, accompanied by his traditional symbol, a small winged ox (partially visible at the bottom right). He is one of the four Evangelists and is credited with writing the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. This and similar reliefs are preserved in the porticoes of the medieval cloister, a peaceful oasis attached to the basilica, which houses various ancient marble fragments and artworks that once adorned the original church buildings. The cloister itself is a masterpiece of Cosmatesque art, built by the Vassalletto family in the 13th century. The partial inscription visible at the bottom (“WINCAS VIRGIS HANTUITO”) may be remnants of earlier, older inscriptions that were part of various architectural elements or tomb slabs found and collected within the cloister over the centuries. (Kremer, 2025) Photo from Rome, Italy, 2025.