Title

Beatus of Silos

Domingo

Munio

Munius

Petrus

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

The origin of the library of the monastery of San Sebastián de Silos, later called Santo Domingo de Silos, can be found in the reconstruction carried out by the Castilian Count Fernán González in the middle of the 10th century. In the year 954 the count donated numerous lands and possessions to the monastery, as well as some books relevant to the cult (Senra, 2002). However, the peak of the monastery took place with the abbot Domingo Manso, who had been a monk of San Millán de la Cogolla. In 1041 Fernando I put him in charge of San Sebastián de Silos and under his mandate the monastic complex grew considerably. The library increased thanks to the donations received and the productions of the scriptorium itself (Castro, 2020), reaching its peak at the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century (Sánchez Mariana, 1984; Boylan, 1992).

Precisely, this Beatus was one of the volumes that were made between 1091-1109 (Boylan, 2002). According to Williams (1977) this codex is "the swan song of the Mozarabic style, although some influences of the Romanesque style in force at the time can already be appreciated, especially in the tendency to symmetry of the compositions". However, the beauty of the codex was also responsible for its dispersion. The Silensian library suffered great losses with the passage of time. Although the abbot Rodrigo Echevarría had tried to keep hidden the manuscripts that the monastery still treasured after the French occupation (García Gallardo, 1962), his departure in 1857 had disastrous consequences for the bibliographic heritage (Whitehill and Pérez, 1929; Bordona, 1935).

The Beatus had been one of the first codices to leave the monastery. According to Besse (1897), "le comentaire de Beatus sur l'Apocalypse [...] n'était plus à Silos au milieu du XVIIIe siècle". It must have left the monastic complex in the second third of the 17th century, since through indirect documentary references it can be deduced that it belonged to Antonio de Aragón y Córdoba. Later, the manuscript was in the hands of Pascual de Aragón y Córdoba, who had been named archbishop of Toledo (Senra, 2002). During his education, he entered the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé de Salamanca as a collegiate student and later became rector of the University of Salamanca. Thus, it is possible that at that time he became part of the library of the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé de Salamanca. In fact, Bishop Antonio Tavira y Almazán made a catalog (Galende, 2000) entitled Índice de los libros manuscritos de los Colegios Mayores de San Bartolomé, Cuenca, el Arzobispo y Oviedo de Salamanca (B. N. mss. 4404), where the Beato was listed at the end of the 18th century as one more volume in the library of the college.

Charles IV ordered in 1798 the suppression of the colleges and the liquidation of their assets. This decree affected the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé de Salamanca, and its holdings were transferred to the royal collection between 1789-1801 (Sánchez Mariana, 1984). The manuscript was in Madrid when Joseph Bonaparte, Count of Survilliers, took possession of it (Sánchez Mariana, 1984; Besse, 1897; Senra, 2002). In 1813 he fled in terror before the advance of Wellington's army, suffering a crushing defeat in Vitoria. When leaving, Joseph Bonaparte left in his car numerous belongings, being the booty "the most magnificent, the richest and biggest without a doubt that in any battle has been able to remain at the mercy of a furious victor. It was made up of everything: in it there were weapons, war material, provisions, jewels, money and beauty" (Pérez Galdós, 1875). This precious treasure remained in Wellington's hands, however, the Beato was not among these luxurious objects.

At the end of the decade of 1830 Joseph Bonaparte undertook a trip through Europe, where he toured England and Italy. Precisely, on May 9, 1840, he sold it to the British Museum in London (Senra, 2002). In the List of additions to the manuscripts in the British Museum in the years 1836-1840 it is cited as follows:

Anonymi auctoris, ut videtur Hispanici, Commentarius in Apocalypsin, et S. Hieronymi Explanatio in Danielem Prophetam; picturis quamplurimis et mapa seu tabula geographica ornatus. Codez membranaceus, eximiae pulchritudinis et raritatis, año 1109 in coenobio Siliensi, in dioecesi Burgensi Castellae Veteris absolutus.

Finally, in 1973 the Blessed became part of the collection of the British Library (London), where it is still preserved today.

Description

This codex consists of 280 folios and is written in double columns by the copyists Munio and Domingo. Both the first folio and folios 2-4 did not belong to the Beatus, but are fragments of an antiphonary. It was written in the time of Abbot Fortunio and Abbot Nuño, and was completed by Abbot Juan. As for the handwriting, it is Visigothic script with a Carolinian influence (Meyer, 1939). In addition, the illuminations, about one hundred, were executed by Petrus and Munius. The manuscript is profusely decorated and has scenes such as Christ in majesty with the Tetramorph, the Apparition of Christ in the cloud, Noah's ark, the Lamb on Mount Zion or the Dream of Nebuchadnezzar on the tree that reaches heaven (Franco Mata, 2005). It is possible that it was based on the Beato de Valcavado, since it repeats some iconographic conventions (Senra, 2002).

Locations

• Early XII^th c. - XVII^th c.

  monastery

  Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, Santo Domingo de Silos (Spain)

• Second quarter of the XVII^th c. - Mid XVII^th c.

  private collection

  Antonio de Aragón y Córdoba, Salamanca (Spain) *

• Mid XVII^th c. - Third quarter of the XVII^th c.

  private collection

  Pascual de Aragón y Córdoba, Salamanca (Spain) *

• ca. 1770 - ca. 1798

  study center

  San Bartolomé Hall of Residence, Salamanca, Salamanca (Spain)

• ca. 1799

  private collection

  Charles IV, Madrid (Spain) *

• ca. 1808

  private collection

  Joseph Bonaparte *

• ca. 1840 - ca. 1973

  museum

  The British Museum, London (United Kingdom)

• ca. 1973 - present

  study center

  The British Library, London (United Kingdom)