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Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: Angels Restrain the Four Winds; the Angel Ascends from the Rising Sun

ca. 1180
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 304
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)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 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
  • Object Number: 1991.232.7
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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