Painting the Apocalypse in medieval Iberia : the creation and use of the Beatus IIa
The present study explores the production, illumination and reception of Beatus of LieÌbana's Commentarium in Apocalypsin - one of the most celebrated works of early medieval Iberia - within the wider panorama of illustrated Apocalypses from the early and high Middle Ages. It examines in detail the sub-group of Beatus manuscripts known as family IIa, comprising the Morgan, Valladolid, Urgell, Facundus and Silos examples, which, collectively, constitute the most cohesive and iconographically rich group in the whole Beatus corpus. This thesis addresses the complex questions of how the Beatus illuminations were conceptualised both by their artists and users and, ultimately, what the role of the Beatus as an illustrated text was. Through a systematic analysis of the mechanisms through which the textual was translated into the visual - with particular attention placed on scribal and artistic responses to colour and number in Revelation - this investigation aims to demonstrate that the Beatus visual imagery was not simply a literal illustration of the text it accompanies, but that it performs a role akin to the written medium, inviting and sustaining scriptural exegesis and supporting meditation on (and preparation
Dias, Ana Patricia Cordeiro De
Painting the Apocalypse in medieval Iberia : the creation and use of the Beatus IIa. The present study explores the production, illumination and reception of Beatus of LieÌbana's Commentarium in Apocalypsin - one of the most celebrated works of early medieval Iberia - within the wider panorama of illustrated Apocalypses from the early and high Middle Ages. It examines in detail the sub-group of Beatus manuscripts known as family IIa, comprising the Morgan, Valladolid, Urgell, Facundus and Silos examples, which, collectively, constitute the most cohesive and iconographically rich group in the whole Beatus corpus. This thesis addresses the complex questions of how the Beatus illuminations were conceptualised both by their artists and users and, ultimately, what the role of the Beatus as an illustrated text was. Through a systematic analysis of the mechanisms through which the textual was translated into the visual - with particular attention placed on scribal and artistic responses to colour and number in Revelation - this investigation aims to demonstrate that the Beatus visual imagery was not simply a literal illustration of the text it accompanies, but that it performs a role akin to the written medium, inviting and sustaining scriptural exegesis and supporting meditation on (and preparation
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