Beatus of Liébana - Tábara Codex

Beatus of Liébana - Tábara Codex

The famous depiction of the scriptorium in the tower makes the Tábara Codex a unique specimen of the northern Spanish Beatus tradition. Yet the manuscript, dated the 27th of July, 970, rests on other laurels, e.g. with the naming of the famous miniaturist Maius and his pupil Emeterius. The famous scriptorium of San Salvador de Tábara produced a true masterpiece with this Beatus codex, which in turn served as a template for other magnificent manuscripts. Today the Tábara Codex is stored in the Spanish National Archive in Madrid.

A Plundered Treasure

The Beatus manuscripts of the 10th–12th centuries altogether comprise great highpoints of northern Spanish illumination. Yet there are a few specimens that distinguish themselves through their particular characteristics or outstanding quality. Most certainly belonging among these is the Tábara Codex. The 366 pages of the codex are unfortunately only adorned with eight miniatures. Yet this fact – the remaining pictures were cut out and probably stored separately – indicates the high esteem that the artistic furnishings of the manuscript enjoyed in earlier centuries. The original splendor of the pictorial content of the famous Tábara Codex can still be comprehended in spite of everything because the Beatus of Los Huelgas (found today in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York) was copied from the Tábara Codex ca. 1220.

The Famous Tower Scriptorium

A particularly well-known and groundbreaking miniature is nonetheless still contained in the codex: the famous miniature with the depiction of the monastery’s tower, in which the famous scriptorium was found. This depiction of the famous tower scriptorium of Tábara is simultaneously the oldest and sui generis of its type in European art. The monastery of San Salvador de Tábara in León was a center of book production of great and important proportions in the 10th and 11th centuries. It was in this very scriptorium that the Tábara Codex was finished in the year 970, which can be understood by the dating of the manuscript to the 27th of July, 970.

The Master Maius and his Pupil

A famous monk and miniaturist from the scriptorium of Tábara was responsible for the artistic furnishing of the codex. In the manuscript, a certain Emeterius records the death of his teacher Maius on the 30th of October, 968. This Maius is generally believed to be the Maius, the famous miniaturist. Alongside Maius and Emeterius, who continued the work of his teacher, the names of two other scribes, Monnius and Senior, are mentioned. These detailed notes in the manuscript make the Tábara Codex something truly special. Furthermore, the text contains marginal notes in Arabic. This can be an indication of the manuscript’s use in a “Mozarabic” context, so from a Christian of Andalusian origin, and represents a further special feature. As a result, the Tábara Codex, which is housed today in the Spanish National Archives in Madrid, is an exceptional piece of art history and an important witness to the great Beatus tradition of northern Spain!