The Book of Kells is not simply a religious manuscript. True, it contains the four gospels of Mark, Mathew, Luke and John and that was the sole original purpose of the book. But its age and its design, although damaged, allow us a glorious glimpse into the art and style of ancient Ireland. The book is, quite simply, considered a crowning glory of the Celtic art form, and possibly one of the most important treasures of Western Europe.

The history of the Book of Kells stretches back more than 1500 years to the 6th century AD. Some claim that none other than St. Columba himself had a hand in its production, but most ascribe it to others that followed in his footsteps. The book was the work of at least two distinguishable hands according to experts who place its origin slightly later than the life of St. Columba.

Experts are uncertain where the Book of Kells was first begun, but evidence points to the Isle of Iona, which was the center of St. Columba's influence and the home of his church. Later, during the Viking raids of the 9th century, it was moved for its protection to Kells Monastery, County Meath, Ireland. Here it remained for almost two hundred years, until it was stolen in 1007. Its golden cover, which was probably encrusted with gems, was ripped from the book, and the remainder was thrown in a ditch. The book was soon recovered, but not before it received some water damage to the front and back pages. Unfortunately, its cover was forever lost.

The Book of Kells remained in the monastery at Kells until 1541, when the Roman Catholic Church took it for protection. In 1661, it was returned to Ireland and given to Trinity College of Dublin by Archbishop Ussher. It has remained at the college since then and is the most important work that the university library contains.

Over the years, approximately 30 of its pages have been lost, the remaining 340 contains the four gospels, a list of Hebrew names, and the Eusebian cannons. But these are not the hallmarks of the book, as it is the artwork contained on the remaining leaves of calfskin pages that are its major achievement.

The Book of Kells Contains nearly one thousand pages of text and images, all drawn by hand. The book is resplendent with artwork, covering almost all the styles known at the time. It is estimated that this artwork took a team of illustrators thirty years to complete. All of it meticulously done by hand and in amazing intricacy and color. The most resplendent of the pages open the four chapters with illustrations of the saints along with individual pages that depict events in the life of Christ.

The detail in the Book of Kells is amazing, with no one symbol duplicated elsewhere in the book. In one spot there are over 158 lacings of a white ribbon contained in a square inch and nowhere can there be found an error by the artist, even after searching with a magnifying glass. It is no wonder that for many years, it was believed that only angels could only have written the Book of Kells.

FastCounter by LinkExchange