A woman in the team of illuminators: a Beatus manuscript based on the Girona Codex, but with unique miniatures
Beatus of Liébana - Turin Codex
Gerona Cathedral (Gerona, Spain) — 12th century

Beatus of Liébana - Turin Codex
Gerona Cathedral (Gerona, Spain) — 12th century
A magnificent 12th century Beatus that is a copy of the 10th century Girona Codex
The codex features unique illustrations that are found in no other Beatus manuscript
The team of illuminators responsible for the manuscript included a woman - a true rarity!

Beatus of Liébana - San Miguel de Escalada Codex
Christ in Majesty
Seated within an elaborate mandorla, we see Christ enthroned as ruler of the world. In fact, he holds the world, labelled Mundi, between the thumb and ring finger of his right hand while holding a book in his left. Christ’s face is stern, a reflection of the divine wrath described in the Book of Revelation, and looks directly out at the reader as if he were prompting them to examine their own souls. Great attention to detail has been paid to the fall of folds in his dark blue tunic.
Beatus of Liébana - Turin Codex
- Beato de Turín
- Turiner Beatus
Short Description
The so-called Turin Codex is a Beatus manuscript originating in Catalonia ca. 1100. The 106 miniatures in total are of outstanding quality, which present innovative pictorial inventions in some places – e.g. the famous round world map. The Turin Codex is an unmediated copy of the famous Girona Codex, which was made in the year 975 in the groundbreaking scriptorium of the Monastery of San Salvador de Tábara. As such, the Turin codex stands in the tradition of “one of the most important manuscripts of all time”!
Beatus of Liébana - Turin Codex
The so-called Turin Codex is a Beatus manuscript originating in Catalonia ca. 1100. The 106 miniatures in total are of outstanding quality, which present innovative pictorial inventions in some places – e.g. the famous round world map. The Turin Codex is an unmediated copy of the famous Girona Codex, which was made in the year 975 in the groundbreaking scriptorium of the Monastery of San Salvador de Tábara. As such, the Turin codex stands in the tradition of “one of the most important manuscripts of all time”!
The Vision of the End of the World
The Apocalypse Commentary by Beatus of Liébana (deceased after 798) was a bestseller of the High Middle Ages. The monk and theologian from the Monastery of San Martin der Turieno near Liébana wrote his influential work: a commentary to the Apocalypse of John ca. 800. The biblical tale of the end of the world was especially popular and influential throughout the Middle Ages, wherefore the Commentary of Beatus of Liébana enjoyed widespread popularity and dissemination. Beatus composed his clarifying and interpretive commentary on John’s symbolically-charged vision in twelve books. These clarifying texts were recorded in numerous, for the most part wonderfully illustrated, large-format manuscripts, of which over 30 specimens still exist today. These belong among the most significant manuscripts of the Middle Ages in northern Spain and are true treasures of illumination!
The Copy of a Masterpiece
The Turin Codex, named after its modern repository, contains a total of 106 miniatures of outstanding quality across 428 pages. The manuscript probably originates ca. 1100 in Catalonia, presumably in Ripoll in the province of Girona. The scriptorium of Ripoll was a site of outstanding artistic production at this time and developed under the famous Abbot Oliba into a center of scholarship and the arts. A direct copy of the famous Girona codex originated from there.
Groundbreaking Pictorial Inventions in Compelling Quality
This Girona Codex is stored today in the archive of the Girona Cathedral. It originated in the second half of the 10th century, probably in the year 975. The scribes, miniaturists (including one female!), and commissioner of the Girona Codex are all known, they are all mentioned in the codex. The exceedingly valuable and exceptional codex, adorned in splendid gold and silver, contains depictions that are to be found in no other Beatus, e.g. scenes from the life of Christ in the form of an image cycle. At times the artist would work with typical motifs, but nevertheless in outstanding quality, at other times they would employ completely new, unique iconography. The Girona Beatus probably originated from the Monastery of San Salvador de Tábara and is considered to be “one of the most important Spanish manuscripts of all time”, and that very masterpiece was used as a template by the artists of the Turin Codex for their own work of art!
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Beato de Turín
Turiner Beatus - Size / Format
- 428 pages / 36.0 x 27.5 cm
- Date
- 12th century
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Illustrations
- 106 miniatures (93 in the Beatus Commentary and another 13 in the Book of Daniel)
- Artist / School
- Author: Beatus of Liébana (died after 798)

Beatus of Liébana - Turin Codex
The Woman and the Dragon
The Woman of the Apocalypse is one of the most prominent figures of John’s Revelation and is widely considered to be either the Virgin Mary or God’s people as a whole. In this grand double-page miniature, she appears at the far left clothed in the sun, the moon at her feet, and crowned with twelves stars (although the artist appears to have forgotten two) as the red, seven-headed dragon who wants to devour her child stretches across both pages.
God saves the child, who is pictured with him in the upper right, but this provokes the War in Heaven. Spear-wielding angels commanded by the Archangel Michael descend upon the dragon, representing Satan, who is defeated and cast down along with his fallen angels – depicted as being naked, having been stripped of their fair hue.
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Beatus of Liébana - Turin Codex“
Beato de Turín
- Publisher
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial – Madrid, 2000
- Binding
- Full leather with generous tooling and two clasps
- Commentary
-
1 volume by Mauricio Herrero Jimenez
Language: Spanish - More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
Matching Works
Apocalypse of Valenciennes
Magnificently illuminated and a model for the famous Beatus manuscripts: one of the few surviving Apocalypse manuscripts from the Carolingian period
Experience MoreBeatus of Liébana - Huelga Codex
The last and simultaneously the largest Spanish Beatus manuscript: over 100 Gothic miniatures, created for the daughter of King Alfonso III. of Castile
Experience MoreMatching Background Articles
Romanesque
The first international European artistic movement was vigorous, innovative, and yet coherent, seamlessly blending...Experience more12th Century
Are you ready for an age of epic events and flourishing art? The Crusades and Reconquista rage at either end of the...Experience moreBeatus Manuscripts
The Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana wrote one of the most influential commentaries on the Book of Revelation that inspired...Experience moreApocalypses
Known as the Apocalypse during the Middle Ages, the Book of Revelations is one of the most widely read and hotly debated...Experience more
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Aboca Museum
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- De Agostini/UTET
- DIAMM
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Egeria, S.L.
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Helikon
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- La Meta Editore
- Leo S. Olschki
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lumen Artis
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Manuscriptum
- Millennium Liber
- Nova Charta
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Popyläen Verlag
- Prestel Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Salerno Editrice
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- Styria Verlag
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Yushodo