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Before the 14th century, the Bible was only produced in separate Gospel volumes, which Monastery Librarian s had to collect until they completed a full copy of the Bible; as such, there was far more room for ornamentation than in the small Bibles we are familiar with today. Though the amount of ornamentation varies widely, evangelist portraits are a constant in the aesthetic make up of ancient Bibles. They are akin to the title pages of modern Book s; the portraits served to identify which book of the Bible was being read, and sometimes to remind the reader of the paraphenelia (important events, evangelical animals) associated with a particular author- Saint . Evangelist portraits range from modest and humble to completely overwhelming, full-page illustrations of the saint and often depict the saint in the garb of a Philosopher or wise-man, a tradition taken from artistic trends of the late Roman Empire , when Latin Christianity was beginning to flourish.