The Escorial Beatus (

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up ...

, Biblioteca Monasterio, Cod. & II. 5) is a 10th-century illuminated manuscript 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 ...

. The illuminations of the manuscript show similarities in style to those produced by Florentius, the artist responsible for a copy of the Moralia in Job of

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregor ...

(Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, Cod. 80). The manuscript was probably created at the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

at San Millán de la Cogolla. There are 151 extant folios which measure 395mm by 225mm. The manuscript is illustrated with 52 surviving miniatures.

References

*Walther, Ingo F. and Norbert Wolf. ''Codices Illustres: The world's most famous illuminated manuscripts, 400 to 1600''. Köln, TASCHEN, 2005.

External links

The Art of medieval Spain, A.D. 500-1200
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Escorial Beatus (no. 81) Illuminated beatus manuscripts Mozarabic art and architecture 10th-century illuminated manuscripts Spanish manuscripts {{Commons category, Beatus Escorial