The article deals with the medieval book miniatures illustrating the invasion of Batu's armies in Europe in 1236–1242. Bearing in mind the postulated high symbolism of Medieval fine art, the author is interested in the figurative code of miniatures, in which the attitude of Europeans to the Mongol conquerors should be encoded. In this regard, a study of the related manuscripts, executed in different centuries, from the mid–13th to the mid–16th centuries, in the different lands of Western, Central Europe and Rus’. Somehow, despite the fact that, at first glance, these traditions are not genetically related to each other in any way, they demonstrate the same patterns of development.