John the Apostle

==In art==
[[File:Helsinki Cathedral John the Evangelist.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Statue of John the Evangelist by August Wredow on [[Helsinki Cathedral]]]]
[[File:St John the Apostle by Jacques Bellange.jpg|thumb|upright|St. John the Apostle by [[Jacques Bellange]], c. 1600]]

As he was traditionally identified with the beloved apostle, the evangelist, and the author of the Revelation and several Epistles, John played an extremely prominent role in art from the early Christian period onward.<ref name="Hall1979">James Hall, "John the Evangelist", ''Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art'', rev. ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1979)</ref> He 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.<ref name="HallJerousek">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.
</ref><ref name="BritannicaOnline">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |title=Saint John the Apostle |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-the-Apostle |access-date=4 August 2017 |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |location=Chicago, Illinois}}</ref> The first way of depicting him was more common in [[Byzantine art]], where it was possibly influenced by antique depictions of [[Socrates]];<ref>
Jadranka Prolović, "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."</ref> the second was more common in the art of [[Medieval art|Medieval Western Europe]], and can be dated back as far as 4th century Rome.<ref name="BritannicaOnline" />

Legends from the [[Acts of John]], an apocryphal text attributed to John, contributed much to Medieval iconography; it is the source of the idea that John became an apostle at a young age.<ref name="BritannicaOnline" /> One of John's familiar attributes is the chalice, often with a serpent emerging from it.<ref name="Hall1979" /> This symbol is interpreted as a reference to a legend from the Acts of John,<ref>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.</ref> in which John was challenged to drink a cup of poison to demonstrate the power of his faith (the poison being symbolized by the serpent).<ref name="Hall1979" /> Other common attributes include a book or scroll, in reference to the writings traditionally attributed to him, and an eagle,<ref name="BritannicaOnline" /> which is argued to symbolize the high-soaring, inspirational quality of these writings.<ref name="Hall1979" />

In Medieval and through to Renaissance works of painting, sculpture and literature, Saint John is often presented in an androgynous or feminized manner.<ref>*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.
</ref> Historians have related such portrayals to the circumstances of the believers for whom they were intended.<ref>*[[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.
</ref> For instance, John's feminine features are argued to have helped to make him more relatable to women.<ref>*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.
</ref> Likewise, Sarah McNamer argues that because of his status as an androgynous saint, John could function as an "image of a [[Third gender|third or mixed gender]]"<ref>
Sarah McNamer, ''Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion'', (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 142.
</ref> and "a crucial figure with whom to identify"<ref>
Sarah McNamer, ''Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion'', (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 145.
</ref> 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.<ref>
Sarah McNamer, ''Affective Meditation and the Invention of Medieval Compassion'', (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 142–148.</ref> After the Middle Ages, feminizing portrayals of Saint John continued to be made; a case in point is an etching by [[Jacques Bellange]], shown to the right, described by art critic [[Richard Dorment]] as depicting "a softly androgynous creature with a corona of frizzy hair, small breasts like a teenage girl, and the round belly of a mature woman."<ref name="dorment">{{cite web| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4707511/The-sacred-and-the-sensual.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160226074022/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4707511/The-sacred-and-the-sensual.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=26 February 2016| title=The Sacred and the Sensual| author=Richard Dorment| author-link=Richard Dorment| date=15 February 1997| work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref>

In the realm of popular media, this latter phenomenon was brought to notice in [[Dan Brown]]'s novel ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' (2003), where one of the book's characters suggests that the feminine-looking person to Jesus' right in [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'' is actually [[Mary Magdalene]] rather than St. John.