Book of Kells
Thursday, March 22, 2007, 7:42 AM
You may have heard of the Book of Kells. You may have seen pics of some pages. It is truly an inspiring piece of work that I find difficult to describe. According to wikipedia.com, it is: "an ornately illustrated manuscript, produced by Celtic monks around AD 800 in the style known as Insular art. It is one of the more lavishly illuminated manuscripts to survive from the Middle Ages and has been described as the zenith of Western calligraphy and illumination. It contains the four gospels of the Bible in Latin, along with prefatory and explanatory matter decorated with numerous colourful illustrations and illuminations. Today it is on permanent display at the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland."
I have no pics, not because the pic is corrupted but because no photos are allowed. So, here are a few shots from wikipedia.
This is a very elaborate page. More common was the photo below. An illuminated letter was a way to add emphasis and decoration to a page of script. Bill and I took several classes in calligraphy and one of the hands was called uncial. Our instructor taught us to do illuminated letters. Of course...it does not compare. What's amazing is that just a few hundred years before this was completed....the residents of Ireland were illiterate and barbaric.
The name "Book of Kells" is derived from the Abbey of Kells in Kells, County Meath in Ireland, where it was kept for much of the medieval period. One of the reasons it is so highly regarded is that it contains the complete text of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the Gospel of John through John 17:13, dating from AD 800.
Here is another pic of a sample page:
Folio 309r contains text from the Gospel of John written in Insular majuscule by the scribe known as "Hand B".
Not only were pictures not allowed of the manuscript...but it is in a special "display" and it's very dark in there. I wonder if the security for it is as elaborate as is the security for the American Declaration of Independence?
Is it not amazing the precision of the handwriting? It's so easy to gloss over that particular detail..until you try your hand at calligraphy. This book was sacramental rather than instrumental. Meaning it wasn't meant for use in teaching the scriptures. It was for the altar.
Currently, the Book of Kells resides at Trinity College in Dublin. A stunning bit of property in the middle of Dublin. My favorite part was this place:
An amazing place...an amazing piece of work.
♥Pam
| Permalink | By Pam
I have no pics, not because the pic is corrupted but because no photos are allowed. So, here are a few shots from wikipedia.
This is a very elaborate page. More common was the photo below. An illuminated letter was a way to add emphasis and decoration to a page of script. Bill and I took several classes in calligraphy and one of the hands was called uncial. Our instructor taught us to do illuminated letters. Of course...it does not compare. What's amazing is that just a few hundred years before this was completed....the residents of Ireland were illiterate and barbaric.
The name "Book of Kells" is derived from the Abbey of Kells in Kells, County Meath in Ireland, where it was kept for much of the medieval period. One of the reasons it is so highly regarded is that it contains the complete text of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the Gospel of John through John 17:13, dating from AD 800.
Here is another pic of a sample page:
Folio 309r contains text from the Gospel of John written in Insular majuscule by the scribe known as "Hand B".
Not only were pictures not allowed of the manuscript...but it is in a special "display" and it's very dark in there. I wonder if the security for it is as elaborate as is the security for the American Declaration of Independence?
Is it not amazing the precision of the handwriting? It's so easy to gloss over that particular detail..until you try your hand at calligraphy. This book was sacramental rather than instrumental. Meaning it wasn't meant for use in teaching the scriptures. It was for the altar.
Currently, the Book of Kells resides at Trinity College in Dublin. A stunning bit of property in the middle of Dublin. My favorite part was this place:
An amazing place...an amazing piece of work.
♥Pam
| Permalink | By Pam
I'm Pam.
I am delightfully married to Bill and we are DINKS with DOGS & CATS.
Met on a blind date in October of 1993 and married in August of 1994. We have four dogs and three cats and would have more if the city didn't require a kennel license! We are movie aficionados, a bit technogeeky, and love family. Who am I? I am a 46 year old woman who no longer blogs, intuitive on certain levels and I am also introspective. I am passionate about a few things, and hopefully you will visit regularly and find out what they are.
6 Comments:
Your posts this month have been incredible. I have enjoyed all of them even though I've not had the time to comment on each. (On my broom again flying 'hither and yon' whatever that means.) When I was teaching middle school, I had a Multiple Intelligence lesson plan for March and it included so much about Ireland. The kids absolutely loved it. We usually continued it on into April. Thanks for spending so much time educating us about this. If I knew how to put a **heart** here, I would.
Pam, I have to agree with Swampwitch, this month has been incredible! Thank you for taking the time to educate us! It has been much appreciated from my neck of the woods. :)
This is all just gorgeous, thank you so much for sharing this!
I stayed right next to Trinity College. :) What a great trip down memory lane. Wasn't it great to see and smell all those old books?
I saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College when I was in my early twenties. The work is very ornate, to be sure!
I know my Mum has always be enamored with it and when we were there in 2005, I bought her a little pocketbook about the Book of Kells, as we did not travel to Dublin that year.
Me father has now returned said book to me. It's on my bookshelf now along with another little one I bought meself about the potato famine. You could see where my curiousity was at! I had taken a picture of this house and wondered if it could have been one abandoned from the famine. It turned into a great SPH! LOL
Hi,
Thanks for updating your readers on the Book of Kells but your statement that "just a few hundred years before this was completed....the residents of Ireland were illiterate and barbaric" is a little far off the mark. We had an elaborate legal system from before the birth of Christ, but since we didn't have writing there was a sophisticated system to make sure all of the lawyers had an accurate understanding of it. Around 1500 BC (the time of Ramses II) we had by far the largest variety of musical instruments in the world. We also have the oldest roofed building in the world, Newgrange which is 500 years older than the pyramids.
I hope this doesn't sound like I'm giving out, I just want to give my ancestors credit where credit is due :)
Philip, County Clare, Ireland
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