This evangelist is the only one of the series of which it forms part whose Gospel is not depicted on the canvas and, instead, he carries a chalice that evokes an episode in his life, from a 2nd century apocryphal known as the The Acts of Johnaccording to which the high priest of a temple in Ephesus invited him to drink a poisoned cup, telling him that if he did so and did not die, he would believe in his God and the agitation against converts to Christianity would cease. St. John took the cup and, after invoking God to draw out its deadly poison, crossed himself and drank it in one gulp without harm. The artist captures the moment when, as soon as the evangelist's invocation is finished, the poison comes out of the cup in the form of a dragon.
For more information, please see the file of the ensemble to which it belongs by clicking on the image below.
