The Book of Kells

“... you might believe that it is the work of an angel rather than a human being.”

-thirteenth century biblical scholar Giraldus Cambrensis

The book of Kells is a beautiful translation of the four gospels based upon the Vulgate, the original latin translation from the original Hebrew. The book also contains the Eusipian canons and fragments of early Hebrew geneaology. It was presented to the Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland in the year 1661 by the archbishop Henry Jones. It is generally regarded as one of the most beautifull illuminated texts in the world. An Illuminated text are ancient books ussualy done on animal skin, Vellum. They were done by hand and contain marvelous illustrations often done in gold leaf and various other pigments. These pictures are designs that have pretty much spawned and defined what would come to be known as classical celtic art. These illustrations are pictorials of man and beasts, fanciful beings, gargoyles,dragons, birds, dogs, and horses are all woven together in elaborate patterns. What really strikes the viewer is not only the ornate detail of all this ornamentation, but the precision of the illustrator’s hand.

The Book of Kells, is also called The book of

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One of the most amazing pages in the Book of Kells, the famous Chi Rho page is attributed to this artist. Kells is on the irish mainland about seventy kilometers north of Dublin. The book was not to leave Dublin, it could not be unbound (as is customary for reproductions), and its pages were to be left un touched by anything, including a glass photographic plate (also the traditional way such reproduction are usually made). He uses intricately woven wildflowers, berries, dots, and a dynamic line wieght not common to European art of that time. In 1541, during the Cromwellian period, the book was transferred to Dublin as the church in Kells had fallen into ruin. Pages are turned daily in the displayed volumes to allow the public to view different sections of the book. The printing was done in the same ten colors as the original, and the volumes were hand bound and sewn, in an ancient medieval style. They created a masterful copy of the original, right down to the five hundred eighty holes made over time by beetles,weevils, and worms. Columba, after the Irish monk St Collum Cille. One thing still puzzles us today, as it did Giraldus Cambrensis in the thirteenth century, was this the work of human beings, or angels?

. Thousands of people flock to Dublin every year to view this display. Not realizing that the illustrations varied in size, the binder cut away some of the illuminations to standardize the size of the work. He seems to be a student of the Arab and middle eastern, he paints with the boldness of this mediterranean style. In an effort to make this manuscript more accesable to the general public officials at Trinity College decided to allow a Swiss publisher to make a limited number of high quality reproductions.

Approximate Word count = 927
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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