Beatus of Liébana was a Spanish monk, theologian, and author of the Commentary on the Apocalypse, mostly a compendium of previous authorities' views on the biblical Book of Revelation or Apocalypse of John. This had a local influence, mostly in the Iberian Peninsula, up to about the 13th century, but is today remembered mainly for the 27 surviving manuscript copies that are heavily illustrated in an often spectacular series of miniatures that are outstanding monuments of Mozarabic art. Examples include the Morgan Beatus and Saint-Sever Beatus; these are covered further at the article on the book. Most unusually for a work of Christian theology, it appears that Beatus always intended his book to be illustrated, and he is attributed with the original designs, and possibly the execution, of the first illustrations, which have not survived.
The Saint-Sever Beatus, also known as the Apocalypse of Saint-Sever, is a Romanesque Illuminated manuscript from the 11th century. The manuscript was made at Saint-Sever Abbey, then in the Duchy of Gascony, under the direction of Gregory of Montaner, abbot between 1028 and 1072. It is believed that the primary artist-scribe who illustrated the manuscript was Stephanus Garsia, working alongside other unnamed individuals.
Beatus, meaning blessed in Medieval Latin, may mean:
Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Santo Domingo de Silos in the southern part of Burgos Province in northern Spain. The monastery is named after the eleventh-century saint Dominic of Silos.
The Bamberg Apocalypse is an 11th-century richly illuminated manuscript containing the pictorial cycle of the Book of Revelation and a Gospel Lectionary of the books of pericopes. This medieval illuminated manuscript was created during the Ottonian dynasty; it is unknown whether it was commissioned by Otto III or Henry II. It was completed sometime between 1000 and 1020. There is proof that Henry II donated this illuminated manuscript in 1020 to Collegiate Abbey of St. Stephan, on the occasion of its inauguration. The Bamberg Apocalypse is now located in the Bamberg State Library.
The Missal of Silos is the oldest known document on paper created in Europe; it dates to before 1080 AD. The manuscript was written on quarto; it comprises 157 folios, of which folios 1 to 37 are on paper and the rest are on parchment. Strictly speaking, it is not a missal: It has been described as a breviary-missal. It can also be described as a Liber Mysticus or Breviarum gothicum.
Ende is the first Spanish female manuscript illuminator to have her work documented through inscription: ENDE PINTRIX ET D(E)I AIUTRIX in the colophon of the Gerona Beatus. Most information about her comes down to the inscription in her artwork as there was no other record. Her lifetime is not known but can be assumed based on the inscription era in the Gerona Beatus: AD 975. The appellation of “dei aiutrix” alludes to the fact that she was probably a nun however it has been found what her foundation was. There are a number of hands discernible in the manuscripts. The chief scribe was a priest called Senior. Historians have also attributed elements of the manuscripts to Emetrius, whose style is attributable in comparison to an earlier signed work. However, based on painting style attributes, some theorists conclude that nearly all of the manuscript illustrations were completed by Ende.
The Escorial Beatus is a 10th-century illuminated manuscript of the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. The manuscript was probably created at the monastery at San Millán de la Cogolla. There are 151 extant folios which measure 395mm by 225mm. The manuscript is illustrated with 52 surviving miniatures. Of the original illustrations within the commentary, twenty-seven of the original illustrations are left. Compared to other illuminated manuscripts, including other illuminated manuscripts at the time, the Escorial Beatus is slightly smaller in comparison. The Escorial Beatus is one of the most well-known illuminated manuscripts that make use of the Mozarabic style of art. This would later lead to influence other well known artistic styles, including styles like Romanesque and Carolingian.
Mozarabic art is an early medieval artistic style that is part of the pre-Romanesque style and is linked to the kingdom of León. It was developed by the Hispanic Christians who lived in Arab-Muslim territory and in the expansion territories of the León crown, in the period from the Arab-Islamic Conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (711) to the end of the 11th century. During this period, disciplines such as painting, goldsmithing and architecture with marked Caliphate influences were cultivated in a context of medieval coexistence - Christian, Hebrew and Muslim - in which the territories were constantly changing in size and status. Other names for this artistic style are Leonese art or repopulation art.
The Commentary on the Apocalypse is a Latin commentary on the biblical Book of Revelation written around 776 by the Spanish monk and theologian Beatus of Liébana. The surviving texts differ somewhat, and the work is mainly famous for the spectacular illustrations in a group of illustrated manuscripts, mostly produced on the Iberian Peninsula over the following five centuries. There are 29 surviving illustrated manuscripts dating from the 9th to the 13th centuries, as well as other unillustrated and later manuscripts. Significant copies include the Morgan, Saint-Sever, Gerona, Osma, Madrid, and Tábara Beatus codices.
The Gerona Beatus is a 10th-century illuminated manuscript in the museum of Girona Cathedral, Catalonia, Spain.
M. Moleiro Editor is a publishing house specialising in high-quality facsimile reproductions of codices, maps and illuminated manuscripts. Founded in Barcelona in 1991, the firm has reproduced many masterpieces from the history of illumination.
The Urgell Beatus, Beatus d'Urgell or Beatus la Seu d'Urgell is a 10th-century illuminated manuscript of the Commentary on the Apocalypse by the 8th-century monk Beatus of Liebana, now in the Musei Diocesá de La Seu d'Urgell, at La Seu d'Urgell, Spain.
The Theodore Psalter is an illustrated manuscript and compilation of the Psalms and the canticles, or Odes from the Old Testament. "This Psalter has been held in the British Library since 1853 as Additional 19.352," wrote Princeton Art History professor Charles Barber in his first essay that is a companion to the Theodore Psalter E-Facsimile. Barber called the Psalter, "One of the richest illuminated manuscripts to survive from Byzantium."
The Apocalypse of Lorvão is an illuminated manuscript from Lorvão, Portugal containing the Commentary on the Apocalypse of Beatus of Liébana Monastery, Spain.
The Beato of Valcavado is an illuminated manuscript—copies of the Commentary on the Apocalypse of Saint John of Beatus of Liébana—copied by a monk called Oveco in the year 970, in the now-vanished Our Lady of Valcavado monastery in Palencia. It is held in the collection of the Santa Cruz Palace, University of Valladolid.
The San Millán Beatus is an illuminated manuscript now held in the Royal Academy of History in Madrid as Cod. Emil. 33. It measures 35.5 cm by 23 cm and is a copy of the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. Its illuminations are incomplete, but its text is one of the most complete surviving copies of the commentary. As well as Beatus' commentary, it contains saint Jerome's prologue on the Apocalypse and commentary on the Book of Daniel and extracts from Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae. It is made up of 282 bound folios - there are 48 miniatures on the first 228 pages and 1 miniature on the remaining 54 pages.
The Tábara Beatus or Beatus of Tábara is a 10th-century illuminated manuscript, containing the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. It originated in the San Salvador de Tábara Monastery and is now held in Spain's National Historical Archive in Madrid under the catalogue number L.1097B. Only eight of its original hundred miniatures survive.
The Cloisters Apocalypse, MS 68.174 is a French illuminated manuscript dated c. 1330. The text is the Book of Revelation, thought in the Middle Ages to be by John the Evangelist, part of the New Testament, containing visions and apocalyptic revelation. According to Christian legend John was exiled c. 95 CE to the Aegean island of Patmos, where he wrote. The book evokes John's despair and isolation while exiled, and his prophecy of events and terrors of the last days. Today the book is in The Cloisters in New York.
The Spanish illumination of the Early Middle Ages is the art of decorating books that developed in Spain from the 8th to the 11th. The country was marked by the Muslim occupation from 711, which tended to isolate it from the rest of Europe. In the regions that remained Christian, first in the Kingdom of Asturias and then in León, an original art was invented in monasteries, mixing Visigothic, Carolingian, and also Moorish influences.
