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.
In the seventh chapter of the Apocalypse text, Saint John describes an angel commanding the winds to hold back their fury and protect the earth until God's people have been identified. He cried, "Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we sign the servants of our God in their foreheads." (Apoc. 7.3)
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Title:Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: Angels Restrain the Four Winds; the Angel Ascends from the Rising Sun
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
Accession Number:1991.232.7
From the Benedictine monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña, Burgos.; Victor Martin Le Roy, Neuilly-sur-Seine ; Jean-Joseph Marquet de Vasselot, Paris ; [ Alain Moatti, Paris (sold 1991)]
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