From Durrow to Kells: The Insular Gospel-Books, 650–800. 2009, cited under Technical Studies: Pigments, Vellum, Drawing Techniques, and Fox 1990, cited under Complete Facsimiles. The section on pigments, however, is outdated (see Bioletti, et al. NNNIndispensable to scholarly study, this volume provides authoritative studies of prefatory and gospel texts, later additions, vellum, bindings, scripts, illuminations, later history, and comprehensive bibliography to 1990. Lucerne: Fine Art Facsimile Publishers of Switzerland, 1990. The Book of Kells: MS 58, Trinity College Library Dublin: Commentary. Engages with current scholarship across multiple disciplines.įox, Peter, ed. The chapter on symbolic representations of space in particular provides some original and fruitful interpretations. NNNAt times ranging uncritically and too broadly (for instance in drawing upon prehistoric material), this lengthy survey nonetheless presents some insights that deserve further consideration. L’Enluminure et le sacré: Irlande et Grande-Bretagne VIIe-VIIIe siècles. See also Facsimiles.īarbet-Massin, Dominique. Masai 1947, notorious for its racism, intensified and widened the controversy on origin, to the effect of further undermining assumptions of Irish origin. Barbet-Massin 2013 gives a rich contextual and iconographic survey of Insular manuscripts. O’Mahony 1994 provides a wide range of specialist studies in several disciplines (history, textual study, art history, paleography, archaeology). Fox 1990 provides detailed analysis and discussions of all physical aspects of the manuscript. Henderson 1987 gives an excellent overview of the larger artistic context and is appropriate for advanced students as well as specialists. Deluxe format books of color facsimiles, Henry 1974 and Meehan 2012 have detailed commentaries written by leading scholars. Meehan 1994 presents the best text and pictures in a low-priced modern overview directed at the general public. Nevertheless, it has been the subject of specialist attention and popular cultural interest for two centuries, creating a demand for high-quality general overviews. Despite the knowledge gaps, the Book of Kells remains one of the most discussed works of the early Middle Ages.Ī vast number of general books have been published on the Book of Kells, many of them inexpensive souvenirs for the tourist market. Other questions, such as the number of artists and scribes who contributed to the manuscript and how often and by whom it was viewed, also remain without definitive answers. Date and origin remain, however, unresolved important questions, with the absence of conclusive argument frustrating detailed contextual studies. Efforts to determine the date of origin have receded from the contentious debates of the 20th century, as to a lesser extent have the arguments over its place of origin, with recognition of the general cultural unity of Ireland and the British Isles in the early Middle Ages and the fading of modern prejudices. Modern scholarship is mainly art-historical, with concentration on “word and image” and other interpretative studies. It contains all types of Insular manuscript art: “beast” canon tables, four-symbols pages, full-page initials, an evangelist portrait, full-page pictures, one “cross-carpet” page, and thousands of decorated minor initials. One of Ireland’s most precious treasures, its visual art and historical aura are part of the modern Irish national self-image. Today, as Manuscript 58, it remains at Trinity. The manuscript was removed from Kells during the religious and political turmoil of the 17th century and eventually sent to Dublin, where it was given to Trinity College Library. Some scholars attribute all or part of it to Kells, founded in the early 9th century after Viking attacks on Iona. Documents relating to lands of the Columban monastery at Kells were written on blank sides of several of these prefatory folios in the 11th and 12th centuries, providing evidence of its later medieval location. It opens with accessory texts introducing the whole gospel book and prefatory texts proper to each gospel. Written in bold Insular style scripts, it has a mixed Vulgate and Old Latin text typical of gospels associated with early medieval Ireland, but with some notable unique variants. Columba on the island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland. Generally accepted to have been made in the late 8th or early 9th century, it is usually attributed to the monastery founded in 563 by the Irish holy man St. One of the most renowned medieval manuscripts, its exact date and place of origin are unknown. The Book of Kells is a large format manuscript of the gospels, famed for the beauty and ingenuity of its decoration.
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