Tétramorphe

The tétramorphe , or four Alive , represents the four winged animals drawing the tank from the vision of Ezéchiel (Ez 1; 1-14. ) One finds them in the Apocalypse of Jean (4; 7-8). Later the Fathers of the Church made the emblem with the four evangelists of it: the lion for Marc, the bull for Luc, the man for Matthieu and the eagle for Jean. They often accompany the representations of the Christ in majesty.

the man is Matthieu: its Gospel begin with the human genealogy from Jesus.
the lion is Marc: In the first lines of his Gospel, Jean-Baptiste shouts in the desert (" a cry emerges in the désert").
the ox is Luc: with the first verses of its Gospel, it refers to Zacharie which offers a sacrifice to God, but in the bestiary - traditional, the ox is sign of sacrifice.
the eagle is Jean: its Gospel starts with the celestial mystery.

The biblical origin of the tétramorphe

Vision of Ézéchiel

As of the first lines of its prophecy, Ézéchiel (Ez 1,1-14) described a vision: " the sky opened and I was pilot aimed divines" (Ez 1,1). " In the center, I distinguished something which resembled four beings vivants" (Ez 1,5).

" They had each one four faces and each one four wings (...) their shoes were like shoes of bœuf" (Ez 1,6-7). " As for the shape of their faces, they had a face of man, and all the four had a face of lion on the right, and all the four had a face of bull on the left, and all the four had a face of eagle (Ez 1,10).

They are four identical animals equipped each of four legs of bull, of four wings of eagle, four human hands and four faces different of man, lion, bull and eagle. These four animals have their place with the foot of the throne of Glory of God.

Apocalypse

The apostle Jean has a vision which he reports in the book of the Apocalypse (4, 7-8). The relationship with that of Ézéchiel is obvious. The Alive ones are in the middle of the throne and around him. but they are not identical any more and they are much less hybrid: it is, in the order, a lion, a bull, a man and an eagle. They have each one six wings and they are covered with a multitude of eyes.

They do not cease repeating day and night: " Saint, Saint, Saint, Lord, Main God of All, which was which is and which vient".

Babylon

The figures of the four alive ones go back to mists of time. In Babylon, they represented 4 secondary divinities and in fact probably the Babylonian legends inspired the vision of Ezéchiel. They represented the 4 cardinal points and in astrology, science invented by civilizations mésopotamiennes, they symbolize the four fixed signs of the zodiac. The Apocalypse would have taken again itself these symbols of the vision of Ezéchiel. It is Saint Irenee of Lyon, at the 2nd century, that is to say many centuries after their first appearances, which it first identified these four alive with the four evangelists.

The tétramorphe and four Gospels

First words of each Gospel

Saint Jerome de Stridon gives us the key of the attribution of the one of the four Alive ones with each of the four Gospels. It is the first page of the text which is determining and it presents to IVe century this attribution like an acquired tradition of long time.

Matthieu opens its Gospel by the legal genealogy of Jesus, that which includes/understands Joseph, but by specifying biological filiation by Marie:

"Deliver genesis of Jesus-Christ, wire of David, wire of Abraham: Abraham generated Isaac… (MT 1,1-2).

the Homme represents the Gospel according to Matthieu.

Marc begins his Gospel thus:

"Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus, Christ, sons of God. According to whether he is written in Isaïe the prophet: " Here that I send my messenger in front of you to prepare your road. Voice of that which shouts in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord… " (Mc 1,1-3).

the voice which shouts in the desert is that of a Lion, symbol of the Gospel according to Marc.

Luc , after a dedication with Theophilus (LLC 1-4), thus begins the body of its Gospel:

"There was at the days of Hérode, king de Judée, a priest of the name of Zacharie, class of Abia… (LLC 1,5).

the priest sacrifices to the Temple and the Taureau, or the calf, is the animal emblematic of the sacrifice. It became the symbol of the Gospel according to Luc.

Jean opens his Gospel by a prolog (Jn 1-18) on the Verb, the voice come from the sky.

the symbol allotted to the Gospel according to Jean is the eagle.

The summary of the mission of Christ

Saint Jerome de Stridon also teaches us that the four Alive ones gathered have another significance to represent the four Gospels: they summarize with them the four four essential moments of the life of Christ.

The Verb of God was incarnated (the man), it was tried with the desert (the lion), it was immolé (the bull) and it is assembled to the sky (the eagle).

When they symbolize the history of the hello, the four Alive ones are precisely placed in the order which was retained for the gun of the Writings. This coincidence must lead us to ask to us whether there is not a bond between the attribution of the symbols to each evangelist and the choices operated by the incipient Church to draw aside certain texts like apocryphal books and to retain others like canonical of them.

The fixing of the gun of the Gospels

One is unaware of all the fixing of this gun: the date, methods, authors. Since the Acts of the Apostles do not speak about it, one can suppose that it was done later on with the facts that they pay, therefore after the death of the majority of the apostles.

Was it done by a council or a restricted group people having been disciples of Christ or the apostles? Whatever it is, this authority was to make authority because the history did not keep trace of a controversy.

The canonical choice of four texts seems well inspired of the four Alive ones of Ézéchiel and the Apocalypse, as well as symbolic system of figure 4 in the Hebraic and biblical tradition.

The pages which open each of the four texts had to guide those which had to decide. The possible difficulty to attach a text to the one of the four Alive ones of the Apocalypse could be a reason to draw aside it.

Obviously in any case, it is extremely probable that the canonical order of the books selected took as a starting point the symbolic system reported by holy Jerome.

In this precise case in any case, the Tradition is not opposed to the Writing. It is with the source of the fixing of the gun scripturaire, the Writing of it is tributary.

List elements presenting a tétramorphe

Oldest tétramorphe known in France comes from the sarcophagus mérovingien of the Abbaye Our-Lady-to-Jouarre.

Monuments

Jouarre tomb mérovingien
Holy Toulouse Sernin Christ in majesty in front of furnace bridge

Tympanums

Abbey Notre Dame de Ganagobie
Bosost
Cervon
Condom
Charlieu. Fortunat saint.
Dijon, tympanum of holy Benign, with the archaeological museum
Holy Trophime of Arles
Saint Pierre of Angouleme
Notre Dame of Chartres
Notre-Dame of the Port to Clermont-Ferrand
Mans
Lassouts
Maguelonne

Mareuil-Caubert
Mars on Combining to
Nogaro
Valcabrère
Holy Aventin
Holy Savin
holy Luz Saver
Saulieu
Notre-Dame of Chartres

Liturgical texts

Four Alive the, resulting ones from a vision symbolic system, lend themselves badly to a use by the liturgical Hymnographie which privileges usually the facts and the images materials. The Byzantine liturgy, in its eucharistic celebrations, however mentions the four Alive ones while taking as a starting point the text of the Apocalypse (4, 8). One of the formulas introducing the " Sanctus " is the following one:

" The celestial angels sing, mugissent, howl and shout the triumphal anthem while saying: Saint, Saint, Saint are the Sabaoth Lord… "

Manuscripts

Bible of Leon, Colegiata of san Isidoro Cod. 2, fol. 2 r.
Béatus de Gerone, Cathedral of Gerone, Ms.7, fol 2 r.
Béatus of Escorial, Cod. Vigilanus, fol 16v
Béatus de Burgo de Osma
Moralia in Iob, Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, Cod. 80, fol 2r,
Béatus of san Milan, Madrid, Academia de Historia, Cod. aemil. 33, fol. 92 r

Reliquaries

Reliquary out of gold with the cross, Oviedo, cathedral Camara Santa

Frescos

the fresco of Panteon of los Reyes with Christ in alive majesty and the four
the fresco of the Church Sant Climent de Taüll
the fresco of Lavaudieu
the fresco of Saint EP Of ardet

Mosaics

Major Sainte-Marie, Rome (432-440), with the top of the triumphal arch, four winged busts with book framing with Pierre and Paul Hétimasie.
Saint-Vital of Ravenne, of the animals to the naturalness (without wing) accompagent the evangelists ESA. On four high walls. Each evangelist is accompanied by a prophet.
Saint-Apollinaire in Class, Ravenne (549), with the top of the triumphal arch, four winged busts allignés on both sides of Christ in medallion. They have a book.

eagle, man, Christ, lion, bull.

Vault archiépiscopale, cathedral of Ravenne, on a vault carried by four arcs, winged busts holding one red book, alternating with angels.
Mausoleum of Official reception winged Placida, Ravenne, busts without book, with the four corners of a vault carried by four arcs.

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