Beatus of Liébana

Created and beautifully illuminated almost 1,100 years ago: one of the oldest surviving Beatus manuscripts

Monastery of Valeránica (Spain) — Ca. 930

The unique treasure of the famous Morgan Library in New York: the oldest and only 2-volume Beatus manuscript, magnificently illuminated and style-forming for the entire genre

San Salvador de Tábara (Spain) — Ca. 940–945

Created at the end of the 1st millennium and preserved today in the famous library of El Escorial: perhaps the most valuable of all surviving Beatus manuscripts

Most probably the scriptorium at San Millán de la Cogolla, Rioja (Spain) — ca. 950

Completed exactly on July 27, 970: a unique Beatus manuscript and milestone in art history with the miniature of the famous tower scriptorium of the Tábara monastery

San Salvador Monastery in Tábara (Spain) — 10th century

Fascinating Mozarabic book art preserved in the monastery of Valcavado until the 16th century: one of the best preserved Beatus manuscripts and "one of the most impressive Spanish works of art" of the High Middle Ages

Monastery of Santa Maria in Valcavado (Spain) — June 8 to September 8, 970

Already very special because the names of the patrons, illuminators, and scribes are known: one of the most beautiful and probably best documented Beatus manuscripts in the world

Scriptorium of the Monastery of San Salvador de Tábara (Spain) — 975

Stolen in 1996 and returned a year later: a great jewel among the Beatus manuscripts

San Millán de Suso, Léon or La Rioja (Spain) — Last quarter of the 10th century

With excerpts from the words of Isidore de Seville (ca. 560–636): a Beatus manuscript in Mozarabic and Romanesque style

Probably Castile (Mozarabic Part) and San Millán de la Cogolla (Romanesque part) (Spain) — First part: Late 10th or early 11th century (Mozarabic); Second part: second half of the 11th century (Romanesque)

A highlight of the 11th century with influences of Insular, African, Islamic, and Oriental art: the only Beatus manuscript produced in France and endowed with no less than 112 impressive miniatures

Saint-Sever Monastery, Saint-Sever (France) — Ca. 1038

The only Beatus manuscript that was not created in a monastery but at the royal court: the impressive work of the scribe Facundus for King Ferdinand I and his wife

León (Spain) — Ca. 1047

Majestic angels and fearsome monsters of the Apocalypse: a Beatus manuscript with a turbulent ownership history and unique painting

Navarra (Spain) — 11th century

The stylistic transition from Mozarabic to Romanesque: the Beatus manuscript with the famous double-page mappa mundi populated by mythical creatures

Spain — 1086

First rediscovered in Geneva in 2007: an Italian Beatus manuscript created in the famous Abbey of Monte Cassino

Probably Montecassino Abbey (Italy) — Late 11th and early 12th century

Sold by Napoleon's brother to the British Library in 1820: a fascinating Beatus manuscript with over 100 gilded miniatures that took 20 years to complete

Scriptorium of the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos (Spain) — April 18th, 1091 – June 30th, 1109

A true rarity as an Italian Beatus manuscript: unique pen and ink drawings with John, the author of the Apocalypse, hidden in each miniature

Italy — Early 12th century

With 123 full-page miniatures in the Romanesque-Byzantine style: a Beatus manuscript with epic scenes such as the Great Flood embellished with gold and silver

Probably Castile (Spain) — 12th century

A woman in the team of illuminators: a Beatus manuscript based on the 10th century Girona Codex and yet with unique miniatures

Gerona Cathedral (Gerona, Spain) — 12th century

Miniatures of haunting beauty: in some respects perhaps the most interesting of the 27 Beatus manuscripts that have survived to the present day

Monastery of Sahagún (Léon, Spain) — 1151–1200

The bridge between Romanesque and Gothic: a Beatus manuscript magnificently illuminated by two masters of their respective styles

Scriptorium of the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña (Burgos, Spain) — Between 1175 and 1185

Furnished with 88 large miniatures: a unique Beatus manuscript and the oldest surviving example of Portuguese illumination

Saint Mamede Monastery of Lorvao (Portugal) — 1189

Made ca. 1220 for the King of Castile: one of the last and most beautiful Beatus manuscripts

Scriptorium of the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña (Burgos, Spanien) — Ca. 1220

The last and at the same time largest manuscript of the famous Spanish Beatus tradition: over 100 Gothic miniatures, some of them double-pages, created for the daughter of King Alfonso III of Castile

Las Huelgas Monastery, Burgos (Spain) — 1220