Bibles with silver clasps have been known since the 16th century. A number of early examples are still preserved in museums or private collections.
They are mainly simple closures without any decoration. In the 17th century and certainly also in the 18th century, people increasingly valued crafted silver locks.
In this blog we want to zoom in specifically on silver locks from the 18th century on which the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are depicted.
The evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the first 4 books of the New Testament. They described the life story of Jesus during his time on earth. The 4 evangelists are perhaps the most depicted figures in church history. In almost all old churches where there are murals or woodwork, we encounter the 4 evangelists.
Now the question, how can we recognize the different evangelists and why are they depicted this way?
Matthew is depicted with a human or angel figure. He begins his gospel with the family tree (genealogy) of Jesus, because of this human beginning, the evangelist was assigned this symbol.
Marcus is depicted with a lion. The evangelist writes about John the Baptist at the beginning of his gospel. He lived and stayed in the desert. Jesus was also tempted in the wilderness. That is why Mark has been assigned the lion as a symbol. The lion also symbolizes Jesus as the lion from the tribe of Judah.
Luke is depicted with an ox or bull. Luke begins his Gospel with the priest Zacharias offering a sacrifice. Because an ox represented a valuable sacrifice at that time, it was given the symbol of an ox. A second explanation is that Luke writes that Jesus was crucified / sacrificed as penance for humanity and that is why the cattle or bull was given to him as a traditional sacrificial animal.
John is depicted with an eagle. This bird flies at a great height and sees with its sharp eyes what is happening below. John takes off in his gospel and explains much about God's presence and the effect it has. This symbol suits this evangelist.
Finally, in the last Bible book of Revelation, the four winged animals are also described in a vision of heaven:
And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast was like an ox, and the third beast had a face like a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures had six wings each, and were full of eyes all around and within, and they had no rest day or night (Revelation 4:6b-8a).
The silversmiths have beautifully worked out the evangelists on the silver clasps and thus embellished the Bibles as you can see in the photos below.
