Illustrated Beatus manuscripts bring to life an extraordinary vision of the end of the world, as recorded by Saint John in the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation) and filtered through the lens of Beatus of Liébana, an eighth-century Asturian monk. These manuscripts are unique to medieval Spain and a testament to the pervasive artistry and intellectual milieu of monastic culture there. The leaf shown here comes from a manuscript disassembled in the 1870s.
Saint John counsels the angel of the church of Sardis, after the church had been rebuked for being spiritually lifeless: "Be watchful…observe, and do penance…He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." (Apoc. 3.3-6)
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Title:Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Angel of the Church of Sardis with Saint John
Date:ca. 1180
Culture:Spanish
Medium:Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment
Dimensions:Overall (folio): 17 1/2 x 11 13/16 in. (44.4 x 30 cm) Mat: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)
Classification:Manuscripts and Illuminations
Credit Line:Purchase, The Cloisters Collection, Rogers and Harris Brisbane Dick Funds, and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1991
Object Number:1991.232.4
From the Benedictine monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña, Burgos.; Victor Martin Le Roy 1842–1918, Neuilly-sur-Seine ; by descent, Jean-Joseph Marquet de Vasselot 1871–1946, Paris ; [ Alain Moatti, Paris (sold 1991)]
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Leprieur, Paul, André Pératé, and P. André Lemoisne. Catalogue Raisonné de la Collection Martin le Roy: Volume 5, Peintures; Miniatures et dessins. Paris: Imprimerie Durand, 1909. no. 33, pp. 131–40, fig. 31–34.
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