27612111 visions of the apocalypse beatus manuscripts and 13th century apocalypse manuscrips
Post on 14-Apr-2018
238 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
1/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
Vision and the Medieval
Apocalypse
The Book of Revelation contains some of the most vivid images in the Bible, and
provided illuminators with rich subject material to create vibrant manuscripts.
This may be a factor which explains the popularity of illustrated apocalypse
manuscripts during the Middle Ages.
In this essay I will explore the idea of seeing and vision, and different concepts of
the role of the image and illustration.
The Book of Revelation is excellent material for examining textual and visual
representations of the same concept, since during the Middle Ages apocalypse
manuscripts frequently included both a commentary and illustrations. The
collection of manuscripts which have come to be known the Beatus manuscripts
contain a commentary assembled by Beatus of Libana, and most 13th century
English apocalypses contain a version of the Berengaudus commentary.
Similarly, most examples of the above manuscripts also carry a set ofaccompanying illustrations. This demonstrates how far the illuminations were
considered an integral part of the manuscript as a whole just as much as the
commentaries. Like the commentaries, the illustrations were there to advance
the readers understanding of the text of the Book of Revelation, and yet the use
of images has proved far more contentious than that of the commentary. Both
during the Middle Ages and today, the role of images is controversial; the very
fact that the role of the image was such a significant point of debate indicates its
importance and the value accorded to the image.
The relationship between text and image is not a straightforward one. A modern
suspicion of the image may stem from a vague conception of the image as an
area of resistance to meaning1, whereas words are considered to impart
meaning. Similarly, those who argued against the use of images during the many
heated debates over the role of image in the Middle Ages proposed that they
confused the viewer, suggesting that they caused idol worship because the
1 Roland Barthes, Image Music Text, trans. Stephen Heath (Fontana, 1977), p. 32
1
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
2/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
viewer misunderstood the meaning behind the image and worshiped the image
rather than what it represented.
The concept of representation is particularly crucial to an understanding of the
role of the image, and this can be seen in regard to images in apocalypsemanuscripts. Barthes has put it that the image is re-presentation, which is to say
resurrection.2 This implies that it is a copy of a real original, however medieval
understanding of image was linked with entomology; image was understood in
terms of the Latin similitude as being a species or likeness.3 In the Middle
Ages, popular theories of vision suggested that everything which was seen was a
copy of a real original, as intromission theories of vision suggested that seeing
occurred when a ray or species (likeness) was transmitted from an object to the
eye.
If what is seen is merely a likeness of the original object that it represents,
images in manuscripts arguably played a similar role to text. Foucault writes that
when it was given to men by God himself, language was an absolutely certain
and transparent sign for things, because it resembled them.4 Images in the
Middle Ages are like language following the fall of Babel and the loss of this
original transparent language: both are a species or likeness and not an exact
representation of the original.
The original text was the literary creation of the scripture which was created
by God and passed to man. Creative representation of the originals such as that
seen in the apocalypse commentaries or illustrations were secondary creations.
Both re-present an original which cannot be replicated exactly and therefore
seek to express its essence to the reader; only God had the ability to create,
man could merely imitate. The Book of Revelation even contains the warning
that if anyone adds anything to [the words in this book], God will add to himevery plague in the book; if anyone cuts anything out of the prophecies in this
book, God will cut off his share of the tree of life and of the holy city.5
2 Roland Barthes, Image Music Text, trans. Stephen Heath (Fontana, 1977), p. 32
3 Bernard McGinn, Johns Apocalypse and the Apocalyptic Mentality, Reading images :narrative discourse and reception in the thirteenth-century illuminated Apocalypse, Ed.Suzanne Lewis (Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 6
4 Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: an Archaeology of the Human Sciences(Routledge, 2002), p. 40
5 Revelation 22: 18-19
2
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
3/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
The Beatus Apocalypses and the 13th Century English Apocalypses both utilise an
unrealistic image style, but the medieval attitude towards images as suggested
in the concept ofspecies may help to explain why colours in the Beatus
manuscripts have no relationship to the natural world6 and why perspective is
not important in 13th century apocalypse images; it is not important for the
image to be realistic, only that it expresses the likeness of what is described.
Since Revelation does not depict a world which resembles the natural world, but
instead one filled with monsters and miracles and fantastical occurrences, the
vivid colours and the sizing of characters by importance and not perspective are
perhaps more suitable than any attempts at realism in the representation of
something dramatic and almost beyond the imagination.
During the Middle Ages, sight was considered to be the most important of the
senses, following from Aristotelian thinking that it provided the greatest
understanding of the world: sight is per se more valuable [in terms of the
senses] so far as the needs of life are concerned.7 It would follow, therefore, that
the image is used as an aid to understanding of the Book of Revelation.
The Beatus Apocalypses generally contain around 90 images which vary only a
little from book to book in terms of what they depict, and often take up whole
pages. The images almost act as cartoon strips do today in terms of conveyingthe narrative, for instance in the Morgan Beatus the Revelation to Saint John is
depicted in two stages, first with Christ talking to the angels and then with John
approached to write (see Fig. 1). The Beatus manuscripts are written in an older
style of Latin and perhaps the images closely following the narrative aided
translation. It has been suggested that in northern Spain the Beatus Apocalypse
text was memorised by monks and nuns, and so the images could have acted as
a mnemonic device. Although not illiterate, the reader would then no longer
require the text in order to elucidate the meaning of the Book of Revelation.
Elizabeth Bolman suggests that colour changes in images of the plague bearing
angels are one example of images being
6 MireilleMentr and Peter Klein as quoted in Elizabeth S. Bolman, De coloribus: TheMeanings of Color in Beatus Manuscripts, Gesta (International Center of Medieval Art,1999), p.26
7 Aristotle, De Sensu and De Memoria: Text and Translation with Introduction andCommentary, Edited by G. R. T. Ross (Cambridge University Press, 1906), p. 48
3
Figure 1 God sends the Angel with theBook to John, Morgan Beatus, MS M.429(Fol. 19v)
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
4/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
used as a mnemonic device, by variation
in the colouring of the angels clothes.8
This adherence to a conventional
organisation of images also occurred inthe 13th century English Apocalypses, to
the extent that by the time the Angers
Tapestries were being produced in 1373,
the images became autonomous from
text or commentary.
The Apocalypse manuscript images
perhaps suggest therefore that images
could be used autonomously from the
text as aids to spiritual reflection or meditation. Boethius Consolation of
Philosophy, which was extremely popular and influential in the Middle Ages,
argued the importance of cultivating the interior through piousness and spiritual
reflection or meditation, as this was the only route to true happiness. Since most
medieval readers would not be able to make a physical pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
they are in the Apocalypse manuscripts provided with the opportunity to make a
spiritual pilgrimage to the New Jerusalem by following the textual and pictorialjourney of St. John.
Both Beatus and English manuscripts
refer to St. Johns presence on Patmos
before the vision occurs; in presenting
this the images demonstrate that
although Johns physical comfort has
been lost and his earthly statusdiminished with his exile from society,
he grows spiritually and develops his
interior life by becoming close to God.
The images in the Apocalypse
manuscripts depict John on an island,
which is almost cartographic in
8 Elizabeth S. Bolman , De coloribus: The Meanings of Color in Beatus Manuscripts,Gesta (International Center of Medieval Art, 1999), p. 25
4
Figure 2 The angel appears to St. John onthe Island of Patmos, The AbingdonApocaylpse, MS 42555 (Fol. 5r)
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
5/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
representation, emphasising distance from society and physical comfort which
suggests that the central life is the interior, spiritual life not the physical
existence. It is because of his piousness that St. John is chosen to receive Gods
vision.
There were considered to have been three types of vision: corporeal, spiritual
(ghostly) and intellectual. St. Johns vision is corporeal in that he perceives with
his senses, and spiritual in that it is holy and issuing from God, and thus external,
as seen in both the original text and the accompanying images. However, it is
also internal in that it issued from the intellect of a visionary9, hence
intellectual.
John experiences his vision in a form of vision not accessible to most mortal men,
and so the way in which this should be depicted is not immediately obvious. The
Book of Revelation states that the Spirit possessed [St. John],10 but how John
achieves this spiritual form of vision is represented in very different ways by
different illustrators and over different times. For instance, in the Beatus
manuscripts this has been suggested through the use of a line rising from the
figure of John which lies prostrated at the base of the image, which culminates in
a bird within the mandorla containing Christ.
Since the author of the Book of
Revelation was often
considered to be the same
John as John the Evangelist of
the Gospel of John, this bird is
perhaps the eagle which was
the symbol used to represent
John. An eagle is thought to beused because of the elevated
style of St. Johns gospel which
differs from the synoptic
gospels in its discussion of the
9 Michael Camille, Visionary Perception and Images of the Apocalypse in the LaterMiddle Ages, Reading images : narrative discourse and reception in the thirteenth-century illuminated Apocalypse, Ed. Suzanne Lewis, (Cambridge University Press, 1995)p. 287
10 Revelation 4: 2
5
Figure 3 In the Spirit, Gerona Beatus, Archivo de lacatedral I (Fol. 107) Highlighting added by me to
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
6/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
nature of Christ, for instance as the word;11 St. John is able to see more highly
than the other evangelists. In the visual representation of the Book of Revelation
this symbol works both because of the original assumptions about authorship but
also because it deals with the exalted theme of the last events on earth,
judgement and the afterlife.
John is told in the Book of Revelation Come up here: I will show you what is to
come in the future.12 In the later manuscripts, including the Las Huelgas
Apocalypse (dated 1220), St. Johns movement from earthly to spiritual vision is
demonstrated through a physical movement from Patmos to the celestial court.
In the Selden Supra Apocalypse, this is achieved by climbing a
ladder up to an angel in the clouds. In the Douce Apocalypse,
this is shown by an angel carrying St. John upon his back up
some stairs towards the
turreted celestial kingdom. In
both of these examples St. Johns eyes
are focussed closely upon his
destination and the angel points towards
it, indicating its importance and the
emphasising the move from terrestrial to
heavenly.
By suggesting the
spiritual nature of the
vision in this way, the
later English manuscripts express a
physical boundary between heaven and
earth. St. John physically traverses this
boundary and thus continues to be bodily
represented in the majority of images from
the English Apocalypses. In the Beatus
Manuscripts, by contrast, St. John no longer
appears after he has been represented moving from his bodily form to the
11 John 1:1
12 Revelation 4:1
6
ure 4 John receiving bookd entering celestial vision, Huelgas Apocalypse, MS
429 (Fol. 146v)
Figure 5 John ascending to witnesscelestial vision, MS Selden Supra 38(Fol. 49r)
Figure 6 - John ascending to witnesscelestial vision, Douce Apocalypse, MSDouce 180 (p. 92)
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
7/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
celestial. The earlier manuscripts represent what St. John saw, the later depcit St.
John seeing what he saw.
In English Apocalypses, the frequency of representations of St. John may have
been because of the popularity of the hagiographical libellus, which hadincreased since they were introduced with the reformation of Benedictine abbeys
in the 12th Century. Alternatively, St. Johns presence indicates not only that it is
a vision, but that it is his vision and his intellect which has made the
supernatural attainable to the readers humble human perception. His role is
shown to be primarily that of visionary who has been selected by God, not
merely a storyteller, imbuing him with a greater authority. St. John is then able to
direct the vision of the reader to the important aspects of the text.
This is instead done by the gaze of
the angels and other characters in
the Beatus Apocalypses. Their eyes
are particularly noticeable, as the
stark white of the eyes contrasts
with the bold, bright colours used
for the rest of the image. Because
of this, the reader cannot help butbe drawn to these contrasting
areas and visually engage with the
eyes of the characters depicted.
This allows the image to be used as
a mnemonic or aid to meditation,
as it allows the viewer to connect
with each character described in
turn. For instance, in images of
Christ in majesty, the Christ figure
is usually central, staring out at the
viewer and the first thing to be considered, worthy oflatria, and following that
the figures of the 24 Elders (the Prophets of the Old Testament and the Apostles
of the New Testament) who only warrant dulia. This is sometimes indicated by
the Elders eyes all being focussed upon Christ, as in the Saint-Sever Beatus (BN
lat. 8878, fol. 121v-122r).
7
Figure 7 - Facundus Beatus, Biblioteca Nacional,MS Vit. 14-2 (Fol. 117v)
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
8/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
In the Beatus of Libana, Christs importance is further demonstrated as he is
placed beneath a horseshoe arch on a throne, with two angels brightly adorned
in red at either side. Their gaze is directed outwards, thus the reader of the
image connects first with Christ and only then moves to the angels, indicating
the order of precedence. Vision is similarly used elsewhere to direct meditation.
The four Living Beings, which are commonly
represented as a man or angel, an ox, an eagle
and a lion (the symbols of the four evangelists),
are described as with many eyes, in front and
behind.13 In many images in Beatus
Apocalypses, they are depicted as covered in
eyes all over their bodies or wings, which stare
out at the reader, which focus attention on the
characters of the four evangelists. In the case
of the locust creatures sent to torture those
without the mark of God, the victims are
depicted with their eyes closed or averted,
perhaps in order that the reader does not
imagine a person but themselves in the place
of the figure, and also in order to emphasise the pain being experienced.
The gaze was considered extremely powerful in the Middle Ages, and this can be
seen in the depiction of St. John reacting to seeing the Whore of Babylon. He
collects his robes
about him as closely
as possible and even
pulls up his cloak to
form a hood to protect
his eyes further from
the sight of her, an
action which is not
taken elsewhere even
in the face of the
beasts. Women were
considered to be
13 Revelations 4: 7
8
Figure 8 - The Army Of HorsemenOver Lion-Headed Horses, LasHuelgas Apocalypse, MS M.429(Fol. 94)
Figure 9 - The Great Harlot of Babylon, Dyson Perrins Apocalypse,
MS. Ludwig III 1, (Fol. 35v)
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
9/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
objects of temptation, like Eve to Adam, and thus very dangerous to look upon,
therefore St. John demonstrates his piousness and the correct way to avoid the
temptation of lust in averting his eyes. The gaze of the woman is depicted as
focussed upon her mirror, thus demonstrating her vanity and lust, which are
commented upon in both text and commentary.
There are instances of the defacing of Satan in the Beatus Apocalypses, which
Williams suggests indicate the individuals close contact with the book and the
power of the image as a pictorial gloss or commentary.14 But I would argue that
an alternative theory is that the fear of the power of the image caused the
reader to deface it. Intromission theories of vision imply that seeing an object
involves a part of or likeness of that image being transmitted to the viewer.
Suzanne Lewis suggests that this may contribute an explanation as to why
religious images were so important in the Middle Ages; the icon of a saint
created a visible species, the power of which could influence the viewer, such as
the icon of St. Christopher giving the viewer protection. 15 It follows,
therefore, that images of Satan would be erased or defaced in order
to reduce their power over the viewer.
Lewis suggests that the move from oral tradition to visual created a
privacy which engendered mind wandering and speculation... nolonger controlled by instant correction and that this caused the need
to insulate the reader from such temptations to independently
interpret the text by providing an accompanying textual and pictorial
gloss.16 This glossing would be especially important in the 13th
Century English Apocalypses, since they are thought to have been
more a creation for the lay nobility (although some later Apocalypses
belonged to nuns17). St. Johns journey through his apocalyptic vision
to the end of the world and the triumph of God is accompanied by
14 John Williams, Purpose and Imagery in the Apocalypse Commentary of Beatus ofLibana, The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages (Cornell University Press, 1992), p. 225
15 Suzanne Lewis, Reading images : narrative discourse and reception in the thirteenth-century illuminated Apocalypse (Cambridge University Press, 1995) p. 8
16 Suzanne Lewis, Reading images : narrative discourse and reception in the thirteenth-century illuminated Apocalypse (Cambridge University Press, 1995) p. 3
17 Neil Morgan, Illustrated Apocalypses of Mid-thirteenth-century England: Historical
Context, Patronage and Readership, The Trinity Apocalypse, Ed. David McKitterick(British Library, 2005) p. 13
9
ure 10 St.n with Staff,m The HarvestGrapes MS.dwig III 1, (Fol.v)
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
10/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
commentaries adapted from the Berengaudus commentary, which provides the
reader with a textual spiritual guide. The pictorial gloss, I would argue, is often
provided in St. Johns reaction to his sights. He acts as a guiding figure, not only
leading the reader through a spiritual pilgrimage of the journey to the New
Jerusalem, but also guiding them on the route in life that they must take to
achieve a place in the New Jerusalem at the end of time. In some images, St.
John carries a pilgrims staff to demonstrate this aspect of his role.
In the image of the Whore of Babylon above, for instance, St. John demonstrates
how to prevent the mind wandering to lustful thoughts when looking upon
women, one should avert the eyes.
The only real example of this in the Beatus
Apocalypses is when St. John prostrates himself when
in the presence of the Lamb of God, demonstrating
the suitable way to worship him. God, and therefore
the Trinity which represents God including the Lamb,
is accorded the highest form of worship, called latria.
This is demonstrated by St. John in his bowing down
before God in this image. This is possibly because the
Beatus manuscripts are thought to be a monasticartefact, created to stimulate the intellect for the
spiritual development of the reader. They contain
extensive glosses, demonstrative of the seriousness
attributed to the texts. The reader would already
therefore be accustomed to the correct way to
worship, but perhaps desire more close analysis of
the meaning behind the analogous text. In many of
the Beatus manuscripts, the images take up whole pages or even double page
spreads (such as in the case of the miniature 47 in the Beatus of La Seu
d'Urgell18), perhaps in order to provide pictorial glosses or focuses for meditation.
Just as the British Library MS Egerton 1821 provided the reader with visual cues
to contemplating the Passion, the Beatus apocalypse provided the reader with
visual cues to contemplate the end of the world.
18 The Seven Headed Beast pursuing the Woman Clothed in the Sun and then beinglocked away.
10
Figure 11 Detail ofFacundus Beatus, BibliotecaNacional, MS Vit. 14-2 (Fol.
http://casal.upc.es/~ramon25/beatus/beat_47.jpghttp://casal.upc.es/~ramon25/beatus/beat_47.jpg -
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
11/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
Evidence of depictions of how to worship can be seen more frequently in English
apocalypses, where St. John, the four creatures and the angels and Elders are
depicted performing gestures and acts of reverence towards Christ, such as
bowing or raising their hands. This reflects the text in which reference is made to
such reverence as well as verbal expressions such as signing praises of God,
which cannot easily be visually depicted. Text and image work together in such
representations to reinforce the devotion which should be shown to God by
suggesting the many forms in which it can be expressed.
As well as being
shown bowed before
God, in the English
Apocalypses, St.
John is also depicted
being corrected for
wrongly worshiping
an angel who is not
due the same
reverence as God.
The angel here
raises St. Johns
bowed head and
indicates towards
the mandorla containing Christ in order to demonstrate where his worship should
be directed instead. This provides a pictorial representation of the concept that
there are different levels of worship; latria and dulia, and that only God is
deserving of the true devotion expressed by latria. Furthermore, it is suggestive
of the concern that worship may be directed towards idols and visual
representatives of God such as images of saints in churches, rather than to the
divine figure who has imbued them with their power: God. The image acts as a
corrective to any tendency to worship the image or one of Gods representatives
instead of the Lord himself, which may even arise as a result of the images
included in the book. The images thus provide the reader with a guide of how to
read and interpret them.
Another example of St. John providing a guide to suitably pious behaviour can be
seen in the image of St. John in which he is depicted with his fingers in his ears
11
Figure 12 - The angel refuses St. John's homage and tells him toworship God, MS. Auct. D. 4. 17 (Fol. 22r)
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
12/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
because of the beasts blaspheming.19 He demonstrates to the reader the
appropriate response to blasphemy, and also makes the text more pronounced
in demonstrating how awful the things said by the beast are in his shocked
reaction. The illustrator furthermore demonstrates how terrible the beast is, and
similarly his followers must be in order to listen to him, reaffirming the
boundaries of acceptable behaviour with those who listen to the beast and deny
Christianity located outside.
The reason that St. John guides the reader on a spiritual pilgrimage is to help
them ensure their place in Heaven at the time of judgement. With the short life
expectancy and high possibility of violent death during the Middle Ages, people
were encouraged to think on their physical demise in order to secure a place in
Heaven at Judgement. The illustrated Apocalypse acted as a way to reinforce
church teachings via powerful iconography such as the weighing of souls, an
image which is frequently found in medieval church images.20 Christ or St.
Michael are usually depicted at the weighing of souls as gazing directly out at the
reader, this gaze suggesting that they too look to themselves and ensure that
when their judgement comes that they will have done enough to ensure their
place in the New Jerusalem. The meaning of the text is delivered immediately
through the medium of image, and the suggestion of judgement is in the
readers mind throughout their consideration of the text.
St. John occupies a place in
many manuscripts which lies
between text and image,
outside the frame but an
image himself nonetheless. As
the author of the work and a
figure of the text he is both
real and imagined. As Gods
chosen messenger to the
mortal world, he acts as an
intermediary between heaven and earth. The images themselves from all of the
19 Suzanne Lewis, Reading images : narrative discourse and reception in the thirteenth-century illuminated Apocalypse (Cambridge University Press, 1995) p. 136
20 Ann Marshall, The Doom, or Last Judgement, and the Weighing of Souls: an
Introduction, (2000) accessed10/12/2009
12
Figure 13 John watches through border as theTwenty-Four Elders Pay Homage to the Throne ofGod MS. Ludwig III 1, (Fol. 4v)
http://www.paintedchurch.org/doomcon.htmhttp://www.paintedchurch.org/doomcon.htm -
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
13/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
Apocalypse manuscripts are similarly between heaven and earth, depicting
spiritual visions from one but actually extant in the other. Because of this, they
are suggestive of many different possibilities of vision and image, more than
could be considered in this essay. In conveying a likeness of the text, I would
argue that the images provide the reader far more information, from how to
worship to ideas to focus meditation upon, as well as suggesting the route to the
spiritual true happiness that Boethius propounds. They even advise the reader
on how to read them, and the danger of misinterpreting the deified
representatives and representations of God for the deity. Since the original
wisdom of the Book of Revelation had been passed down by God, and God is the
highest being, no human interpretation be it textual or image can present the
same thing, but merely re-present in order to convey meaning derived from the
original. Both text and image thus provide the reader with glosses for this highly
allegorical text, and the value of the image in relation to the Book of Revelation
in medieval manuscripts must not be underestimated.
13
-
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
14/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
Bibliography
Aristotle, De Sensu and De Memoria: Text and Translation with Introduction and
Commentary, Edited by G. R. T. Ross (Cambridge University Press, 1906)
Roland Barthes, Image Music Text, trans. Stephen Heath (Fontana, 1977)
Elizabeth S. Bolman, De coloribus: The Meanings of Color in Beatus
Manuscripts, Gesta (International Center of Medieval Art, 1999)
Camille, Michael, Image on the Edge; The Margins of Medieval Art(Reaktion
Books, 1992)
Emmerson, Richard K., and McGinn, Bernard ed., The Apocalypse in the MiddleAges (Cornell University Press, 1992)
Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: an Archaeology of the Human Sciences
(Routledge, 2002)
Harrington, W.J., The Apocalypse of St John: A Commentary(Chapman 1969)
Jones, Alexander, Ed. The Jerusalem Bible: New Testament with abridged
introductions and notes (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1967)
Lewis, Suzanne ed. Reading images : narrative discourse and reception in thethirteenth-century illuminated Apocalypse (Cambridge University Press, 1995)
Ann Marshall, The Doom, or Last Judgement, and the Weighing of Souls: an
Introduction, (2000) accessed
10/12/2009
McKitterick, David, Ed. The Trinity Apocalypse, (British Library, 2005)
Meer, F. van der,Apocalypse, Visions for the Book of Revelation, (Thames &
Hudson, 1978)
Williams, John, The illustrated Beatus : a corpus of the illustrations of theCommentary on the Apocalypse, (Harvey Miller, 1994 2003
The British Library Online, accessed 01/12/2009
The Beatus of La Seu dUrgell
accessed 01/12/2009
Dyson Perrins Apocalypse at the Getty Museum
accessed
01/12/2009
14
http://www.paintedchurch.org/doomcon.htmhttp://www.bl.uk/http://casal.upc.es/~ramon25/beatus/index_eg.htmhttp://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=1574http://www.paintedchurch.org/doomcon.htmhttp://www.bl.uk/http://casal.upc.es/~ramon25/beatus/index_eg.htmhttp://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=1574 -
7/30/2019 27612111 Visions of the Apocalypse Beatus Manuscripts and 13th Century Apocalypse Manuscrips
15/15
Alice White EN646: Image, Vision & Dream Seminar Leader: Sarah James
The Morgan Beatus,MSM.644, Pierpont Morgan Library.
accessed 01/12/2009
The Tapestries of the Apocalypse,
accessed 01/12/2009
15
http://utu.morganlibrary.org/medren/pass_page_through_images_initial.cfm?ms_letter=msm&ms_number=0644&totalcount=1http://utu.morganlibrary.org/medren/pass_page_through_images_initial.cfm?ms_letter=msm&ms_number=0644&totalcount=1http://sourcebook.fsc.edu/history/apocalypse.htmlhttp://utu.morganlibrary.org/medren/pass_page_through_images_initial.cfm?ms_letter=msm&ms_number=0644&totalcount=1http://utu.morganlibrary.org/medren/pass_page_through_images_initial.cfm?ms_letter=msm&ms_number=0644&totalcount=1http://sourcebook.fsc.edu/history/apocalypse.html
top related