Introduction

This is the Life of the saint and evangelist Luke. Luke was a Christian who lived during the first century AD and he was one of the four evangelists who recorded the story of Christ in the New Testament. ‘The Gospel according to Luke’ and ‘Acts of the Apostles’ are attributed to him (see further ODCC3 1010–11).

The Welsh version of Luke’s Life is very short. The author provides the most recognized facts about him: that he was a doctor (2, 4), a friend and disciple of Paul the Apostle (1–3) and that he was associated with Antioch in Syria (see 7n). Luke’s readiness to advise and encourage those who were not followers of the Catholic faith is emphasized, and he is called a doctor in the spiritual sense as well (7). In the latter part of the Life the author reveals that Luke did not die a martyr but ‘as if he were falling asleep’ (10–11), and he was buried in a place called Bethany. Seemingly, his body was later translated to Constantinople (12). This detail is the most significant information in the Life as various traditions exist about Luke’s death and his place of burial (see 11n).

Compared to other hagiographical works about Luke, this Life is brief and concise and seems to be a summary of the saint’s life. No detail is given of the origin of his name, that he was an artist, or regarding the traditional symbol associated with him, the ox (although the poets were quite familiar with these traditions, see GLGC poem 4 and GMD ii, poem 14). Visual images of the medieval period depicted him with an ox; the earliest with a Welsh connection occurs in the Book of St Chad, c.730 (Lord 2003: 27). He became the patron saint of doctors because of his profession, and, based on the tradition that he painted at least one picture of the Virgin Mary, he also became the patron saint of painters. Llywelyn ap Hywel ab Ieuan ap Gronw in his poem to the relics of Rome maintains that he saw a picture of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus in Santa Maria Maggiore church in Rome, in a picture ‘that Luke once did with his hand’ (Cartwright 2008: 56; Scourfield 1993:45 [12.56]). There is also a tradition that Luke was responsible for the original effigy of the Black Virgin in Montserrat, Catalonia. His feast day is celebrated on 18 October.