{{Short description|Spanish manuscript illuminator}} [[File:Ende (Meisterin der Schule von Távara) 002.jpg|thumb|''The Last Judgment,'' painted by Ende, from the Gerona Beatus ]] '''Ende''' (or En) is the first known Spanish female manuscript illuminator to have her work documented through inscription: ENDE PINTRIX ET D(E)I AIUTRIX in the colophon of the ''Gerona Beatus''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of women artists|first=Delia|last=Gaze|date=1997|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|isbn=1884964214|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofwome01gaze/page/498 498-499]|oclc=185867951|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofwome01gaze/page/498}}</ref> Most information about her comes down to the inscription in her artwork as there was no other record.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1163/9789004228320_002 |chapter=Exceptions and Assumptions: Women in Medieval Art History |title=Reassessing the Roles of Women as 'Makers' of Medieval Art and Architecture |year=2012 |pages=1–33 |isbn=978-90-04-22832-0 |last1=Martin |first1=Therese }}</ref> Her lifetime is not known but can be assumed based on the inscription era in the Gerona Beatus: AD 975.<ref>{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|1297915754}} |last1=McGovern |first1=James Owen |year=2004 |title=Monumental ceremonial architecture and political autonomy at the ancient Maya city of Actuncan, Belize }}</ref> The appellation of “dei aiutrix” alludes to the fact that she was probably a nun however it has been found what her foundation was.<ref name=":0" /> There are a number of hands discernible in the manuscripts. The chief scribe was a priest called Senior. Historians have also attributed elements of the manuscripts to Emetrius, whose style is attributable in comparison to an earlier signed work.<ref name=":0" /> However, based on painting style attributes, some theorists conclude that nearly all of the manuscript illustrations were completed by Ende.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Anastaise and her sisters : women manuscript illuminators of the Middle Ages : a twentieth anniversary keepsake, the Baltimore Bibliophiles, 12 November 1974|author=Miner, Dorothy E.|date=1974|publisher=Walters Art Gallery|oclc=609732758}}</ref>
== Gerona Beatus == Ende worked on the 10th-century codex known as the Gerona Beatus,<ref name="Zing Tsjeng">{{cite book |last1=Tsjeng |first1=Zing |title=Forgotten Women The Artists |year=2018 |publisher=Octopus Publishing Ltd |isbn=9781788400176 |pages=158–160}}</ref> along with the monk Emeterius. The codex features the ''Commentary on the Apocalypse'' by the Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana, of which 26 illustrated copies are known to exist, paired with Jerome's commentary on the Book of Daniel.<ref name=":0" /> The Gerona Beatus was probably created at the monastery of Tabara in northwest Spain,<ref name="Zing Tsjeng"/><ref name=":0" /> being completed on July 6, 975.
The illuminations illustrate the Apocalyptic Vision of St. John the Divine in the Book of Revelation in the Mozarabic style.<ref name=Dodwell>{{cite book|last=Dodwell|first=C. R.|title=The pictorial arts of the West, 800-1200|year=1993|publisher=Yale Univ. Press|location=New Haven|isbn=0300053487|page=247|edition=1. publ.}}</ref> This style developed in Spain after the Muslim invasions, blending elements of Islamic art and decorative traditions, particularly the emphasis on geometry, rich colors, ornamented grounds, and stylized figures.<ref name=Dodwell />
There is debate over whether Ende did most of the work, or if she was there to help Emeterius with what was considered “womanly” skills, such as decoration and delicate images.<ref name=":0" /> Emeterius is known to have worked on a previous version of Beatus' commentary known as the Tabara Beatus. However, comparisons between the illustration styles of the two codices show consistent differences that suggest Ende.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |title=Illuminated manuscripts of medieval Spain |journal=Choice Reviews Online |date=1 May 1997 |volume=34 |issue=9 |pages=34–4878–34-4878 |doi=10.5860/choice.34-4878 |doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 }}</ref> Notably, Ende appears to have made frequent use of stratified backgrounds. This is the technique seen in art where the image is split into three areas. In Ende's case, she split the background into heaven, a horizon of the human world, and the ground level of the world. In addition, the colors in the Gerona Beatus are more intense than those in the Tabara Beatus, with significant use of yellow, dark blue, and orange.<ref name=":1" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{Commons category|Ende (artist)}} *Chadwick, Whitney, ''Women, Art, and Society,'' Thames and Hudson, London, 1990 *Harris, Anne Sutherland and Linda Nochlin, ''Women Artists: 1550-1950'', Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Knopf, New York, 1976
{{ACArt|country=ES}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ende}} Category:Manuscript illuminators Category:Spanish women illustrators Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Year of death unknown Category:10th-century artists Category:Medieval Spanish artists Category:10th-century Spanish women Category:10th-century people from the Kingdom of León Category:Medieval Spanish women artists Category:10th-century women artists