Image Credits

Decoding the Gospel of John

Every image on the course page, with its source, license, and the reason it was chosen. The artwork is public-domain and freely-licensed material from Wikimedia Commons: Old Master paintings of the signs and scenes of John’s Gospel, early-Christian and Byzantine images of Christ, and the ancient manuscript that first carried the text. Creative Commons works are noted below.

Image Work & Attribution License Where it appears Why it’s included
The Light of the World light-of-the-world.jpg The Light of the World William Holman Hunt c. 1900–1904 (after his 1851–1853 original) Source ↗ Public domain Hero background · “Light and Darkness” movement Christ standing in the dark with a lantern, knocking at a long-shut door: the perfect emblem for John’s “the light shines in the darkness,” and for a gospel that hides its meaning until you learn to see it.
Book of Kells, folio 292r — incipit to the Gospel of John (“In principio erat verbum”) logos-initial.jpg Book of Kells, folio 292r — incipit to the Gospel of John (“In principio erat verbum”) Insular monastic scriptorium (the Book of Kells master) c. 800 Source ↗ Public domain Hero ornament · Instructor backdrop The illuminated opening words of John’s Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word,” turned into an object of beauty. The words revealing the Word, quite literally.
Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist, mosaic, Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna eagle.jpg Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist, mosaic, Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna Photo: Roger Culos (6th-century mosaic) Mosaic 6th century (photographed 2015) Source ↗ CC BY-SA 3.0 Hero ornament · Assumptions backdrop · FAQ backdrop The eagle is John’s traditional symbol among the four evangelists, said to gaze straight into the sun: the emblem of the gospel that soars highest in its vision of Christ.
The Raising of Lazarus raising-lazarus.jpg The Raising of Lazarus Rembrandt van Rijn c. 1630–1632 Source ↗ Public domain Origin section figure · Highlights image card The last and greatest of John’s seven signs (John 11): a dead man called from the tomb, the sign that sets the “hour” of Jesus’ own death in motion.
The Wedding at Cana (from the Maestà) wedding-cana.jpg The Wedding at Cana (from the Maestà) Duccio di Buoninsegna 1308–1311 Source ↗ Public domain “The Book of Signs” movement Water into wine at Cana, which John calls “the first of his signs”: the opening of the Book of Signs the course works through.
Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well samaritan-well.jpg Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well Duccio di Buoninsegna 1310–1311 Source ↗ Public domain Stats backdrop · Schedule backdrop The “living water” of John 4: a conversation at a well that turns, in typical Johannine fashion, from ordinary thirst to something far larger.
The Good Shepherd, mosaic, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna good-shepherd.jpg The Good Shepherd, mosaic, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna Unknown (early-Christian mosaicist) c. 425–450 Source ↗ Public domain “The Seven ‘I Am’ Sayings” movement · Bonuses backdrop “I am the good shepherd” (John 10) in gold-ground mosaic: the face of the lecture on John’s seven “I am” sayings.
Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples washing-feet.jpg Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples Jacopo Tintoretto c. 1575–1580 Source ↗ Public domain Highlights image card (“The hour of glory”) The footwashing that opens John’s Book of Glory (John 13): the divine Word kneeling before his own disciples on the eve of the “hour.”
Crucifixion (Strasbourg) crucifixion.jpg Crucifixion (Strasbourg) Giotto (workshop/circle) early 14th century Source ↗ Public domain “The Hour of Glory” movement In John, the cross is not defeat but exaltation, the moment Jesus is “lifted up” and glorified. The central image of the course’s turn from signs to glory.
Christ Pantocrator (Sinai icon), Saint Catherine’s Monastery pantocrator.jpg Christ Pantocrator (Sinai icon), Saint Catherine’s Monastery Unknown (Byzantine encaustic icon) 6th century Source ↗ Public domain Hero ornament · “Sharing the Glory” movement · Highlights backdrop The oldest surviving icon of Christ Pantocrator, its two differing halves already hinting at a Jesus both human and divine: John’s high Christology in a single face.
Rylands Library Papyrus 𝔓52 (recto), the earliest fragment of the Gospel of John p52.jpg Rylands Library Papyrus 𝔓52 (recto), the earliest fragment of the Gospel of John Unknown scribe (John Rylands Library) papyrus, 2nd century CE Source ↗ Public domain At-a-Glance backdrop · Highlights image card A scrap of John 18 and the earliest surviving fragment of any gospel: the physical text at the root of everything the course reads.
Saint John the Evangelist, Grandes Heures d’Anne de Bretagne st-john-writing.jpg Saint John the Evangelist, Grandes Heures d’Anne de Bretagne Jean Bourdichon 1503–1508 Source ↗ Public domain “The Word Made Flesh” movement The evangelist at work on his gospel: the face of the opening movement on John’s prologue, where the Word is “in the beginning.”

Public-domain works are reproduced freely. CC BY / CC BY-SA images are credited to their photographers as required; follow each Source link for the full license text.