Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Sixth Angel Delivers the Four Angels that had been Bound at the River Euphrates; an Altar Appears in the Heavens as the Enthroned Christ Raises His Hand in Blessing

Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Sixth Angel Delivers the Four Angels that had been Bound at the River Euphrates; an Altar Appears in the Heavens as the Enthroned Christ Raises His Hand in Blessing

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Illustrated Beatus manuscripts bring to life an extraordinary vision of the end of the world, as recorded by Saint John in the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation) and filtered through the lens of Beatus of Liébana, an eighth-century Asturian monk. These manuscripts are unique to medieval Spain and a testament to the pervasive artistry and intellectual milieu of monastic culture there. The leaf shown here comes from a manuscript disassembled in the 1870s. The Christ figure, offering a blessing, is framed by a celestial arch in the upper left corner of the miniature. Below him, four angels have been freed from their bindings. The Euphrates River, complete with swimming fish, divides these angels from the golden altar and the trumpeting sixth angel.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Sixth Angel Delivers the Four Angels that had been Bound at the River Euphrates; an Altar Appears in the Heavens as the Enthroned Christ Raises His Hand in BlessingLeaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Sixth Angel Delivers the Four Angels that had been Bound at the River Euphrates; an Altar Appears in the Heavens as the Enthroned Christ Raises His Hand in BlessingLeaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Sixth Angel Delivers the Four Angels that had been Bound at the River Euphrates; an Altar Appears in the Heavens as the Enthroned Christ Raises His Hand in BlessingLeaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Sixth Angel Delivers the Four Angels that had been Bound at the River Euphrates; an Altar Appears in the Heavens as the Enthroned Christ Raises His Hand in BlessingLeaf from a Beatus Manuscript: the Sixth Angel Delivers the Four Angels that had been Bound at the River Euphrates; an Altar Appears in the Heavens as the Enthroned Christ Raises His Hand in Blessing

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.