Domenichino, 'Saint John the Evangelist', late 1620s

Saint John the Evangelist, author of the fourth gospel, is seen during a profound moment of revelation. He lifts up his head towards a source of light, which represents divine inspiration. Mesmerised, he stops writing and holds up his quill. Two winged angels support two heavy tomes, and he is also accompanied by a large eagle, his traditional attribute.

The symbol derives from biblical passages in Ezekiel (1:10) and the Book of Revelation (4:7) describing four winged beasts that became associated with the four evangelists: an angel with Saint Matthew, a lion with Saint Mark, a bull with Saint Luke and an eagle with Saint John. Since the eagle flies to great heights in the sky, it was considered fitting for an author whose visions lifted him into the heavenly realms of thought.

Saint John’s lips are parted, and locks of fine, golden hair cascade around his shoulders. Described as Christ’s most beloved disciple, he is traditionally depicted as youthful and beautiful. Domenichino has slightly exaggerated the size of his eyes to add to the feeling of wonderment as John contemplates the vision above.

John was originally a fisherman and one of Christ’s earliest disciples. He played an important role in the early Christian community in Jerusalem as a missionary, a preacher and a prolific writer. He is also thought to have composed the Book of Revelation, describing the events leading up to the Apocalypse. This is said to have been written while he was living on the Greek island of Patmos, sent into exile there by the Roman Emperor Domitian. The landscape on the right in the picture may represent this mountainous location. Domenichino was a leading figure in the development of the idealised classical landscape, and this poetic detail is a fine example.

Saint John sits on a grey stone plinth, the eagle serving as a makeshift footrest rather than the bearer of much weight. The base of a column and cornice are just visible at the top right of the painting and the weighty, sculptural robes worn by John add to the air of classical grandeur. Domenichino had trained in Bologna but moved to Rome in 1602. His works were inspired by the art of the antique and the Renaissance: Saint John reminds us of Michelangelo’s dynamic figures in the Sistine Chapel and captures the power and clarity of Raphael’s late works made in Rome.

Domenichino was a brilliant draughtsman whose paintings would have started with meticulous studies drawn from life. Two preparatory drawings for Saint John are in the Royal Collection, of which one is a finished drawing showing all the main figures squared up, ready to be transferred to canvas.

The painting was commissioned by one of the aristocratic Giustiniani brothers, Marchese Vincenzo and Cardinal Benedetto. Two of the most important private collectors in seventeenth-century Rome, they owned many works by Caravaggio, as well as Gerrit van Honthorst’s Christ before the High Priest.