Saint John on Patmos

According to the text of the Apocalypse, an angel visited John on Patmos. Leaning in towards him with one hand stretched out and the other grasping the apostle's shoulder, the angel tells him that he should record his visions in a book. John lies with his eyes closed and his head resting on a book, perhaps the book in which he will write. The illuminator labeled the island of Patmos as well as some of the surrounding Greek islands.