The San Millán Beatus is an illuminated manuscript now held in the

Real Academia de la Historia The Real Academia de la Historia (RAH, 'Royal Academy of History') is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the diff ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

as Cod. Emil. 33. It measures 35.5 cm by 23 cm and is a copy of the

Commentary on the Apocalypse ''Commentary on the Apocalypse'' (''Commentaria in Apocalypsin'') is a book written in the eighth century by the Spanish monk and theologian Beatus of Liébana (730–785) and copied and illustrated in manuscript in works called "Beati" during t ...

Beatus of Liébana Saint Beatus of Liébana ( es, Beato; 730 – c. 800) was a monk, theologian, and geographer from the former Duchy of Cantabria and Kingdom of Asturias, in modern Cantabria, northern Spain, who worked and lived in the Picos de Europa mountains ...

. 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 Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

's prologue on the Apocalypse and commentary on the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology (a ...

and extracts from

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

's ''

Etymologiae ''Etymologiae'' (Latin for "The Etymologies"), also known as the ''Origines'' ("Origins") and usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) towards the end of his life. Isidore was ...

''. 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. It was produced in two phases. The first seems to have been in the Province of Leon at the end of the 10th century - this created the core of the text and most of the miniatures. The second phase occurred at the

Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes ...

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N� ...

, probably at the end of the 11th century - this added colour to the existing miniatures and produced one new miniature.

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

argues that the second phase miniatures show influences from the

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

and 12th-century French illumination and so date to the start of the first quarter of the 12th century.John W. Williams, ''The illustrated Beatus. A corpus of the illustrations of the commentary on the Apocalypse'', volume III, ''The 10th and 11th centuries'', Harvey Miller Publisher, 1998, 386 pages, p.21-34

External links

*
Catalogue entry
*
Encyclopædia Universalis
* {{in lang, fr}

References

category:10th-century illuminated manuscripts Spanish manuscripts Illuminated beatus manuscripts