León Bible of 960


The León Bible of 960 or Codex Biblicus Legionensis is a Bible manuscript copied and illuminated in 960 at the monastery of Valeránica in Tordómar. It is now held in the library of the Basílica de San Isidoro, León - why it moved there is unknown, though the monastery in which it was produced disappeared at the end of the 10th century and so it could have been given to the Basilica during the 11th century by Ferdinand I of Leon and his wife Sancha, the main patrons of the basilica.
Its colophon shows it was completed in the monastery of Valeránica on 19 June 960, copied and illuminated by a copyist named Sanctus and his master Florentinus, though it is difficult to distinguish between the two men's work. They are shown together toasting its completion beneath a large omega, which may have been influenced by Islamic scenes of the heavenly banquet in Islamic art.
Its text is in two columns of Visigothic minuscule, usually used in Spanish manuscripts between the 8th and 12th centuries. It contains a high number of glosses in Latin and Arabic. It begins with a large full-page image showing Christ and the four symbols of the evangelists in medallions. This is followed by ten pages of tables showing Christ's descent from Adam and Eve. The Old Testament is decorated with 80 images within the columns, illustrating the passages immediately above them. The New Testament is less decorated, with ten pages of canon tables and small miniatures of saint Paul at the start of the epistles. The illuminations' style is close to that of Beatus manuscripts of the same era and of Spanish High Medieval illuminated manuscripts.

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