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Book of Kells
Information - A lot of Celtic Jewelry is based on the designs from this
Manuscript
Detail in the orna-
mental text of the
opening words of
St Mark's Gospel
f. 130R |
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The
"Book of Kells" is a group of manuscripts created
in approximately the 9th century A.D. in Ireland and the
northern of the British Isles. It is known for the extraordinary
array of pictures, interlaced shapes and oranamental details.
It is a copy of the four Gospels in Latin and along with
The Lindisfarne
Gospels, truly amazing
examples of early western art and the finest surviving illuminated
manuscripts in the whole of Europe. The attention to detail in lettering
and illumination, largely the handiwork of Irish monks, is nothing less
than astonishing.
The strange, half-Surrealist imagination displayed in the pages, the
impeccable technique and the very fine state of preservation make it an
object of endless fascination. It possesses colorful and complex
decoration that would take a life-time to properly study it. The designs
are very complex and ornate. They consist of strange little animals,
plants, spirals, mazes, and swirls. Only two of its 680 pages do not
have any decoration. The almost unbelievable minuteness of the details,
the arabesque, interlaced patterns, the weird and witty monsters and
grotesqueries are still a source of inspiration to modern artists.
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Illustration of the
Arrest. Ch. XXVI:30
f. 114R
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Certainly, examples as in the Book of Kells present such a gleeful and
unselfconscious blurring of the dividing line between the Christian
world and the slowly fading pagan world.
The book consists of a Latin text of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John. It also contains the canon-tables, the breves causae
(summaries of the gospel), argumenta (strange collections of lore and
legend concerning the evangelist), lists of Hebrew names with
interpretations and genealogy in the Gosple of St. Matthew.
The book is incomplete.
It is missing several pages either from getting loose or
from thievery. It is a large-sized book which shows that it was probably
intended to
be an altar-book. The book does not have any gold decoration but a
generous use
of yellow makes up for the lack of gold. Some other colors in the book
are red, black, purple and indigo. Decorated initials are a very common
feature of the book. Many
of the letters fit into the shape of animals. Some examples of animals
are: lion,
calf, eagle, snake, moths, otters, cats and mice. The designs in the
book have
an almost perfect symmetry. |
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The books are bound and sewn by hand, following a medieval process that
requires great skill. What do we know about the artists and craftsmen
who made
this book, almost 1200 years ago? Not very much. No records have come
down to
us. There is no list of credits, not even an account book. There are
some visual
clues, however. Experts who have studied the manuscripts have been able
to
identify only four "hands" in the calligraphy.
The manuscript was held at Kells until 1661 when it was moved to Dublin
where
it remains as the chief treasure of Trinity College Library.
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| Enlarged detail of f. 124R |
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