Valcavado Beatus facts for kids

The Valcavado Beatus is a very old and special book. It is a handwritten copy of a famous book called the Commentary on the Apocalypse of Saint John. This original book was written by a monk named Beatus of Liébana a long, long time ago. The Valcavado Beatus was copied by another monk named Oveco in the year 970. He worked in a monastery called Our Lady of Valcavado, which doesn't exist anymore, in a place called Palencia. Today, you can find this amazing book in the Santa Cruz Palace.

History of the Valcavado Beatus

In the year 970, when Ramiro III was king of León, a monk named Oveco worked at the Valcavado monastery. He carefully copied and added beautiful pictures to a book for the abbot (the head monk) named Sempronio. This book was a commentary, or explanation, of the Book of Revelation by Saint Beatus. Saint Beatus had written his original commentary between 765 and 775 AD.

The Valcavado Beatus is one of only 32 copies of this work that still exist today. Many of these copies are known for their amazing and colorful pictures.

Oveco's handwritten book stayed at the Valcavado monastery for a long time, until the 1500s. A writer named Ambrosio de Morales saw it there in 1572. But by 1590, the book was gone from the monastery. It traveled to León and then to Madrid. In Madrid, it was owned by a secretary who worked for King Philip II of Spain.

Later, in the 1600s, the book belonged to a Jesuit school in Valladolid. When King Charles III of Spain ordered the Jesuits to leave the country, their library books, including the Valcavado Beatus, went to the University of Valladolid.

What the Valcavado Beatus Looks Like

This special book is also sometimes called the Beatus of Valladolid. It has 230 pages, called folios, which are still in good condition. About fourteen pages are missing from the original book. Each page measures about 35.5 by 24.5 centimeters.

The book contains 87 detailed pictures, called miniatures, and many large, decorated first letters of paragraphs, called drop capitals. The bright colors in the pictures come from special natural materials. These include azurite (for blue), malachite (for green), and cinnabar (for red). These colors were mixed with things like egg, honey, or glue. Then, they were covered with a layer of wax to make them shiny.

The people in the pictures are drawn with simple lines. Their feelings are shown through their large, almond-shaped eyes. On the edges of many pages, there are notes. Some of these notes were probably added by Oveco himself while he was working. Others were added by different people over hundreds of years.

Monk Oveco made this book very quickly! He started on June 8th and finished on September 9th in the year 970. A note on page 3 of the book confirms these dates. It says: "This book of the Apocalypse of John began on the 8th of June and was finished on the 8th of September in the year 970."

One of the first sentences in the book also tells us about its creation. It says: "Abbot Sempronius strongly pushed for this work to be done. I, Oveco, an unworthy servant, obediently painted it for him." It then adds the date: "Anno Domini 970" (which means "in the year of the Lord 970").

Gallery

See also

In Spanish: Beato de Valcavado para niños

• Saint-Sever Beatus
• Monasterio de Valcavado [es]

Sources

• Martínez and Pérez, Lucrecio (20 July 1967). The monastery of Valcavado and Saint Beato of Liébana. Voices of inside and of out.