what did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John look like?

Question

i have to sketch the authors of the Gospels and i need to know a physical description of them. What color was their skin? Was it leathery from sun exposure? Any idea what colors their eyes may have been? Hair colors? The clothes they wore? How they carried themselves? Their builds? if you have any links to an artist's rendering (a credible artist, please) i'd love it if you put those up here for me =]

Answer 1

John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Answer 2

The authors of Matthew and Mark were probably Middle-Eastern Jews, the authors of Luke and John probably weren't Jewish, but came from the Eastern Mediterranean. So, a touch of the tar-brush all round. Monobrows maybe.

Answer 3

Jewish dudes with beards methinks.

Answer 4

Your guess is as good as anyone else's

Answer 5

LUKE a Syrian from Antioch, was the inspired author of the third Gospel. A physician by profession, a man of culture with perfect Greek, he was a disciple of Paul and was an early Gentile convert, from about the year 40. He accompanied Paul on his second journey (49-53) from Troas to Philippi (Acts 16:10-37), remaining there for some years, until he again joined Paul toward the end of his third journey (53-58). He stayed with the apostle when he was imprisoned in Caesarea; he was with him on his adventurous trip from Caesarea to Rome and during his first Roman captivity (Col. 4:14, Phil. 1:24).

We can be sure that Luke wrote his Gospel after the Aramaic original of Matthew and definitely after Mark [for the view that Luke wrote before Mark, but was published later, see Bernard Orchard's essay in this issue--editor], but it is not so easy to establish the precise date.

According to the Pontifical Biblical Commission (June 26, 1912) it must have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. Since it was written before Acts, and since Acts finishes with a description of Paul's ministry toward the end of his first captivity in Rome (the year 63), this Gospel can be dated at the latest at the end of 62 or the beginning of 63. The same Commission confirmed the inspiration and canonicity of the third Gospel and its authenticity. As regards some particular points: It also said that it was not "lawful to doubt the inspiration and authenticity of Luke's narrative of Christ's infancy (Luke 1 and 2) or of the appearance of the angel to comfort him, or the fact that he sweated blood (Luke 22:43-44), nor are there solid reasons to indicate--as some early heresies, supported by certain modern critics, try to make out--that these narratives do not belong to the authentic Gospel of Luke."

Luke was not an eyewitness of our Lord's life. Therefore, when he refers in his introduction to the sources he has used, he includes those "who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word" (1:2), among the most outstanding of whom was the Blessed Virgin Mary. It must have been she who provided most of the information Luke gives in the first chapters of his Gospel. Luke liked to get order and chronology right--not just to satisfy his own or anyone else's curiosity, but to pass on to others precisely what the Lord wanted him to write, that is, "the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed"(1:4), the true history of our salvation. That is what his Gospel contains--and the same is true<:f> of Acts; although these two books are independent they do form a perfect doctrinal and literary unity.

With reference to his literary style we can notice (Jerome, for example, points it out) that Luke has a much better grammatical grasp of the Greek language than any of the other Evangelists. Conscious that he is addressing people with a Gentile background, he usually avoids expressions which they might find jarring, and whenever possible he uses Greek equivalents for Aramaic terms. This is one reason why he is silent on some subjects which might have sounded indelicate to his readers.

We know that Matthew was a tax collector, a "publican." He was, it would seem, quite well-to-do and popular among the people of Capernaum, where, Luke tells us, he had many friends (Luke 5:29). This was all the more significant in view of the fact that the Jews had a very low opinion of tax collectors in general; they regarded them as extortionists, in addition to being collaborators with the Roman regime.

Matthew was a warm-hearted person; he responded quickly and generously when Jesus called him the day he passed by his office (Mark 9:9). He immediately left everything and followed him. He was later chosen to become one of the Twelve (Mark 10:14), and to the very end of his life he was a faithful witness to the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord.

According to the Fathers of the Church, the Gospel according to Matthew was written in Palestine, almost certainly in Aramaic, and was addressed mainly to Jews living in that region. It is thought that it was first written around the year 50, but that this version disappeared soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. Immediately after this a Greek translation of Matthew--the one we now possess--began to be used; this is regarded by the Church as canonical, authentic, and substantially the same as the original Aramaic.

We know that Mark was born in Jerusalem and that his mother's name was Mary. The first Christians used her house as a meeting place. It was there Peter sought refuge after being miraculously freed from prison (Acts 12:12). Quite probably the apostle himself baptised Mark in his own home; he refers to Mark as his son (1Pet. 5:1), and some authorities identify Mark's house with the cenacle.

Mark accompanied Paul on his first apostolic journey, around the year 45, but after reaching Perga in Pamphylia he headed back to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). At the time of Paul's second journey Barnabas took Mark, his cousin, on a separate journey. A few years later Mark joined Peter, who gave him a first-hand account of "all that Jesus said and did." The Holy Spirit used this to inspire him to write the Gospel which bears his name; it was probably written about the year 60.

Mark addressed his Gospel to Christians of Gentile origin living in Rome, but, of course, being a Gospel it had a universal purpose--the spread of the good news of salvation to all the nations. Within the framework of the gift of inspiration, Mark's aim was not so much to show that Jesus was the promised Messiah (which was Matthew's approach in writing for Jews, because he wanted to show how the Old Testament promises had been fulfilled in Jesus); his aim, rather, was to give an account of Christ's life based on what he had heard directly from Peter. Therefore he lays the emphasis on those events or miracles which will help the Roman Christians to see more clearly the divinity of Jesus, in whom they already believed.

I do not have much more on John other than what you would find in the Gospels and New Test.

I welcome you to explore more Renissance Art and frescos as they often depict specific saints. Further, find a Catholic Cathedral in your area, as most Cathedraels have artistic depictions of all the apostles and gospel writers either in fresco, mural, or stain glass medium.

Good luck in you quest.