Title

Beatus of las Huelgas (Monastery of las Huelgas)

Anonimous

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Object history

Although it is true that this manuscript is a copy of the Beato de Tábara, it has some variations. It has a subscription on folio 184v that reads as follows:

"Explicit liber mense septembris Era M. CC. L. VIII Ego scriptor cum meis collegis gratias inmensis dno Semper a gamas quod ad fines huius nobilissimi voluminis per uenimus. Rogamus ergo et deprecamus cunctos legentes qui in hoc libro legerint ut pro dna que largam manum beate marie et beato iohanne evangeliste et aliis scis in hoc volumine figuratis entendit Et larga munera ylari vultu gavisa mente deo et sco iohanne et scriptoribus suis tribuit. Quesumus dne ut in vita su piissima illa dna largissima deo et hominibus a presentibus tribulacio nibus saluetur et a fututis eripietur et in die magni iudicci audire mereatur Veni filie dilecta mea sede a dexteram dei patris cum scis et electir et orate pro animabus predecessorum suorum. Ego scriptor rogo vos omnes legentes ut suaviter et leniter hoc volumen tractetis ne folia et scripta dampnetur, et pro nobis et vobis uius legentibus dicatur. Oratio Deus qui iustificas impium et non vis mortem peccatorum maiestatem tua suppliciter deprecamur: ut famula tua "N" et fámulos tuos de tuos de tu misericordia confidente celesti protegas benignus auxilio, et assidua protectione conserues: ut tibi iugiter famuletur et nullis temptacionibus ab eis separetur. Per. Et pro defunctis dicatur. Oratio. Deus cui propruim est misereri Semper et parcere: propicia re animabus famulorum famularuncue tuarum et Omnia eorum pecata dimitte, ut mortis vinculis absoluti transire mereantur at vitam".

Therefore, according to the text, the beatification was made in September of the era 1258, a date that would correspond to the year 1220. However, there is no information about its copyist or the place where it was made. Regarding the first question, Raizmann (1980) maintains that three painters were involved in the beatus. These artists were also responsible for the beati of Cardeña, Mánchester and San Andrés del Arroyo. All of these manuscripts were made in the Burgos area at the end of the 12th and 13th centuries (García-Aráez, 1995).

It is also unknown for whom the beato was made. According to the citation, the donor was "N", however, she is not mentioned throughout the beatification. Buchanan (1916) believed that the manuscript was a donation of Alfonso VI and that it came from the Cistercian monastery of San Clemente, in Toledo. However, Raizmann (1980) thought that it might have come from Doña Berenguela, daughter of Alfonso VIII, who had promoted the foundation of the Monastery of Santa María la Real de las Huelgas together with his wife Leonor de Plantagenet. Likewise, the hypothesis that he was executed by Sancha García, abbess of the monastery, is also contemplated.

Be that as it may, the beato was in the Monastery of Santa María la Real de las Huelgas in 1720 when Enrique Flórez consulted it to study it. The manuscript must have remained in the monastery until the time of its disappearance, probably due to the disentailment of Madoz. Subsequently, the beatus was in the hands of Lionel Harris, who had founded The Spanish Art Gallery in London , a business dedicated to the sale of works of art from Spain. In 1910 it was purchased by John Pierpont Morgan, who bequeathed it to The Morgan Library & Museum shortly after acquiring it.

Description

The beato consists of 184 folios and has 46 large-format miniatures, as well as 71 smaller ones. It is written in Latin and according to Raizmann (1980) was made by three different copyists. Its miniatures can be linked to the Romanesque miniatures of Burgos, present in other beati such as those of Cardeña and San Andrés del Arroyo (García-Aráez, 1995).

Locations

• XIII^th c. - Mid XIX^th c.

  monastery

  Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, Burgos (Spain)

• Early XX^th c. - ca. 1910

  dealer/antiquarian

  The Spanish Art Gallery, London, London (United Kingdom) *

• ca. 1910 - Early XX^th c.

  private collection

  John Pierpont Morgan, New York (United States) *

• ca. 1915 - present

  museum

  The Morgan Library, New York (United States)