BEATO DI LIÉBANA

BEATO of LIÉBANA. – Born in Liébana in the Asturias, he was master and confessor to Queen Adosinda, a Benedictine abbot of Valcavado (diocese of León), and died on 19 February 798. He is venerated under the name of St Biego in Spain. Together with Etherius, bishop of Osma, he opposed adoptionism (v.).

The two epistles Contra Elipandum are published, along with a life of Beato, in PL 96, 890–1030.

He is best known for his Commentary on the Apocalypse, published by Flórez in 1770 in an edition now extremely rare, and reprinted in 1930 by Henry A. Sanders in vol. VII of the Papers and Monographs of the American Academy in Rome. This commentary, very important for the history of ancient Latin exegesis and for the text of the Apocalypse itself, differs from the usual catenae of patristic quotations because the passages are so ingeniously and harmoniously linked as to form a continuous whole without interruption. Beato himself names nine authors whose works he used, but the substance of the work consists of the commentaries of Arpingius (v.) of Beja, Tyconius (v.) Afer (v.). Beato’s work thus makes it possible to reconstruct, through the transcribed passages, the original text of Victorinus’s commentary and the most important and valuable part of that of the Donatist Tyconius, whose text is lost. Beato’s Apocalypse is also important for a world map and for its many manuscript codices rich in miniatures, which Neuss believed derived from a single source of the 5th century of African origin; they instead clearly reveal stylistic affinities with the art of the regions on both sides of the Pyrenees from the 10th to the 12th centuries. Moreover, the architectural forms adhere to Arab types, while the figures show Celtic and Merovingian influences.

Very singular, moreover, is the stylization—and hence the iconographic substance—of certain celestial personages (e.g., the angels), which contrasts with the realism of other figures. The liveliness of movement, which links the imagery with Carolingian art, and especially some bold perspectival arrangements, give the codices of Beato great importance from the standpoint of art history.