St. John the Evangelist as an Eagle

11th century
Manuscript illustration
National and University Library, Zagreb, Croatia

Usually the saint is either shown with an eagle or symbolized by an eagle, but this is one of a smaller number of images in which he is pictured as a human with an eagle's head.

The writing below the seated figure is in Latin and uses alternating red and green ink: first, INICIUM SANCTI EVVANGELII SECUNDUM IOHANNEM ("The beginning of the holy gospel according to John"), then below that, IN PRINCIPIO ("In the beginning," the first words of John's gospel). The first "I" of IN PRINCIPIO is the wolf standing erect in the margin.

Read more about images of St. John the Evangelist.

Source: this page at Wikimedia Commons.