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 this illustration, the trumpeting angel heralds the cataclysm described in Apoc. 8.7: "And the first angel sounded the trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and it was cast on the earth, and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up."
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Title:Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the First Angel Sounds the Trumpet; Fire, Hail-stones, and Blood are Cast Upon the Earth
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:1991.232.8
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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