User:Judgesnails/Morgan Beatus M644

Overview
The Morgan Beatus M644, as it is most commonly referred because of its location at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, is a Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus. It exists as one of about thirty illuminated Beatus manuscripts created between the 10th-13th centuries in Spain. The Morgan Beatus M644 was painted, and possibly written, by the monk Maius (sometimes called Magius) between 950 and 960 CE, most likely in the monastery at Tabara. However, at least one of its destinations after completion was the monastery of San Miguel de Escalada near Leon, the residence of Abbot Victor who commissioned the manuscript. The Morgan Beatus M644 is an eschatological work, meaning that since it is a commentary on the Apocalypse, it deals with theological ideas about the end of time, including salvation, damnation, last judgment and resurrection.

Organization
The Morgan Beatus M644 is composed of five different sections. First is the introduction, followed by a short, summarized interpretation of the Apocalypse from the book of Revelation. Next, there are twelve different books of storia, or passages of Apocalyptic text. Each storia is followed by an image representing it. Wheras earlier Beatus manuscripts have only small illuminations, the Morgan Beatus M644 contains full-page and some double-page illustrations. Followed by each of the storia is an explanatio or exegesis, that is, an explanation and interpretation of each storia. Finally, the colophon, a text at the end of the manuscript that contains some biographical information about the scribe and the artist, as well as information regarding the manuscript’s production, includes the explanation by the painter Maius that he had illustrated the Apocalyptic stories “so that the learned may fear the coming of the future judgment and of the world’s end.”

Background Information
The Morgan Beatus M644 is a revised, illustrated copy of the Commentary on the Apocalypse originally written in 776 CE by the monk Beatus of Liebana, in northern Spain, with two revisions by 786 CE. Beatus’ Commentary is a compilation of writings from the “church fathers” including Ambrose, Augustine, Apringius, Gregory, Isidore and Tychonius. The book of Revelation by John had, more than a century earlier, with the Fourth Council of Toledo in 633 CE, finally become accepted into the liturgy of the Spanish church after centuries of doubt regarding its canonicity. The first edition of 776 CE was probably intended only for use in contemplative studies by the monks in Beatus’ monastery, but the third edition was transformed, with certain narrative and illustrative additions, into a critique of the heresy of Adoptionism. Beatus aimed the third revised version at Elipandus, the Archbishop of Toledo, a known follower of the heresy. Instead of believing that Jesus Christ was born both as a man and as the Son of God, making him equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit, Adoptionism held that Jesus was born a man but then “adopted” by God such that he is the Son of God, but the Trinity is invalid because Jesus is secondary to God. It is also important to note that Muslims and Jews, who were all living more or less peacefully together with Christians in Spain after the Moslem conquest in 711 CE, criticized Christians for believing in three gods rather than one God, thus fueling the adoptionist controversy.

The Other Morgan Beatus
There is a second, lesser-known but equally interesting manuscript called the Morgan Beatus M429, also belonging to the Pierpont Morgan Library. It is a thirteenth-century copy of the Tabara Beatus, which was made in the year 970 CE.

Historical and Social Context
Between the middle and end of the tenth century, seven Beatus manuscripts were produced; a large number in such a short time, considering that only three others survive between the original Commentary of 776 CE up to 950 CE. Thus, it was initially believed by scholars that millenarist fears, or, fears that Christ would return at the turn of the millennium, had caused the burst of Beatus manuscripts. However, because the chronology of medieval Spain, or era hispanica, was ahead of the common annus domini (i.e. A.D.) chronology by thirty-eight years, the year 1000 occurred in Spain in 962 CE. It is argued by Peter K. Klein that millenarist fears were not the reason for so many tenth-century copies. There is a sudden stop to Beatus manuscript production after the turn of the millennium in 1000 CE, most likely due to Muslim raids led by general Al-Mansur during the last few decades of the tenth century. However, Klein believes that because the Morgan Beatus M644 was made only a couple of decades before the turn of the millennium according to the chronology of the era hispanica, it may have held implications of millenarist fears. As mentioned above, the Morgan Beatus M644 is a revised copy of the 776 CE original. The painter Maius appears to have embellished many of the images in the Morgan Beatus M644 so as to give them a more eschatological feeling. Two images in particular were reworked by Maius to remind readers of the second advent of Christ: “The Binding of Satan for a Thousand Years,” and “The Last Judgment.” In the latter illustration especially, as opposed to the original image by Beatus, the section portraying souls being judged is made much larger.

The Illuminations and Color
The painted images in the Morgan Beatus M644 display a wealth of colors and designs to entertain the eye. To modern viewers, the use of vibrant colors seems similar to pop art, but it has been suggested that medieval ideas about “varieties of variety,” such as layer upon layer of different colors and patterns was more important than attempting to replicate the natural world. A study by Elizabeth Bolman on the use of color in the Beatus Manuscripts has shown that color choices were not the same between manuscripts despite close localities of production, even when text and iconography were closely copied. Medieval ideas about color were different from our modern conception of the color wheel, and instead of thinking of the various values of a hue, artists simply used a different hue to represent light or shadow, despite the fact that it may not respond at all to what it seen in the natural world. Very often, color use was dependent on words in the text and not on the consistency of the images and their narrative content. Often, the text of the Apocalypse mentions the color of an object once, such as clouds or an angel’s robe. An example is the word alba, which means white. Two or more different illustrations may portray the same scene, such as Revelation 1:7, 10:1, 11:12 and 14:14, but because the text only specifically describes a cloud’s color once (14:14), it is only white in one of the illustrations. For this reason, Bolman argues that differently colored images of the same subject may have helped with memorization of the Apocalyptic text. As mentioned before, light and darkness are not shown with variations in value, but with different hues, such as blue, brown, black and purple for darkness, while brightness and light are generally shown with white, red and yellow. Because color use is so varied in the Morgan Beatus M644, it is hard to assign any symbolic meaning to any particular hue, although white, which is used for cleanliness, brightness, purity and the Lamb of God, is almost exclusively positive, while blue or black is used to color the devil and other negative objects. It is likely that more color symbolism was visible to the illuminators and the first readers, but it has been lost to us now. Many different patterns of colors are used in the Morgan Beatus M644 in order to create variety, especially if the painters’ palettes were limited to a certain number of hues. Additionally, the absence of variety may be an indication of symbolic meaning, for example, in an image of the last judgment, the damned are monochromatically painted, while the saved are densely painted with layers of colors. Thus, polychromatic diversity is often dependent on context.

The Illuminations and Style
The manuscript illuminations of the Morgan Beatus M644 are generally considered to be done in a Mozarabic style. Mozarabic works tend to be rather flat, with stylized drapery folds and vegetation. In addition to Mozarabic influence, the Morgan Beatus M644 also contains illuminations derived from Visigothic, Coptic and ancient Near Eastern imagery, according to M. Jeanne Tasse. For example, the image of the “Enthroned Lamb” is in the form of a cosmic cross, originating from a Babylonian sun-symbol. Interestingly, the painter Maius inserted a strong political message within the illustrations, most notably in the “Feast of Belshazzar.” In this image, the wall surrounding Belshazzar and his guests is in the shape and colors of an Islamic horseshoe arch. By associating Belshazzar, who is ultimately punished by God, with Muslim architecture, Maius states that the Muslims too will soon meet their end.

Conslusion
The Morgan Beatus M644, now located in the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a mid-tenth century revised copy of the late-eighth century Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liebana. The illuminations of the Morgan Beatus M644 are larger and more numerous than those of the original. Maius, the painter, was aware of both the threat of the Muslims as well as a growing fear of the turn of the millennium, which was thought to be the time of the second coming of Christ. The illuminations are very colorful, based on medieval ideas about color that are quite different from the modern color wheel. In addition, the images reflect Mozarabic, ancient Near Eastern, Coptic and Visigothic traditions.