The Book of Kells

8/8/2019 The Book of Kells

1/34

#


2/34

* Books produced during Middle Ages, all hand-writing, called manuscripts,contain miniatures.

* Miniatures, called so not because of their size but rather after the minimum or

orange leadused in their preparation and in the writing ofred-inkheadingsor

rubrics. The miniatures may constitute only a small proportion of the ornament inthe manuscript, for frequently the text also contains decoratedletters and penned

calligraphic flourishes and is surrounded by elaboratedborders.

* All of these elements are presentedin varying proportions in what is calledan

illuminatedmanuscript.

2


3/34

In the narrow sense the

term illumination refersto any ornament to

which gold, silver orbright colours have been

addded.

These illuminations

take on a major

function, whether as

symbolic ornament,

iconic representations

of holly personages,

or pictorial narrationaccompanying and

elaborating the text.

3

PurposeThe book had a sacramental, rather than

educational purpose. A large, lavish Gospel,such as the Book of Kells would have been lefton the high altar of the church, andtakenoff only for the reading of the Gospel during Mass. However, it is probable that thereader would not actually read the text from

the book, but ratherrecite from memory.


4/34

Origin: The name "Book of Kells

is derived

from

the Abbey of Kells in Kells,

County Meath in Ireland,

which was its home for much of

the medieval period.

4


5/34

Other manuscripts include :

* the Cathach of St. Columba,

* the Ambrosina Orosius,* a fragmentary Gospelin, the Durham cathedral library

(all from the early 7th century),

* Book of Durow (from the second half of the 7th century).

From the early 8th century come

* the Durham Gospel,* the Echternach Gospel,

* the Lindisfarne Gospel, and

* the St. Gall Gospel Book and the Macregal Gospel belong to

the late8th century,as wellasthe

BookofKells)

* The Book of Armagh (dated to 807809),* the Turin Gospel Book fragment,

* the Leiden Priscian,

* the St. Gall Priscian and

* the Macduran Gospel

(all date from the early 9th cen

tury). 5


6/34

The Book of Kells (Irish: Leabhar

Cheanannais)sometimes known as the Book of Columba is an

illuminated manuscript that is a masterwork ofW

estern calligraphy and represents thepinnacle ofInsular illumination. Transcribed by Celtic monks ca.800, it contains the four Gospels of the NewTestament in Latin, together with various prefatorytexts and tables. The text of the Gospels is largelydrawn from the Vulgate, although it also includesseveral passage drawn from the earlier versions of theBible known as the Vetus Latina (Old Latin).

6


7/34

Iona village

7


8/34


9/34

The Abbey of Iona

9


10/34

St. Columba (St. Columcille, c.521-597) was an Irish monk who founded the a

monastery o the Iona off the western coast of Scotland in 563 and undertook toconvert the Picts to Christianity.

10


11/34

Written on calf vellum, the Book of Kells isa Latin copy of the four Gospels.

* The text is interspersed with large

illuminated pages, animated initials, beasts,grotesque figures, and brilliantly coloredornaments.

11


12/34

y The Book of Kells is one of the finest examples of

illuminated manuscripts from the era of greatmanuscripts, 650-800 A.D.

y Kells bookwas probably started in the monastery on

the island of Iona in the late 8th century and movedto the monastery at Kells in County Meath in the 11thcentury.

y The move was provoked bya desire to protect themanuscript from the invading Vikings.

12


13/34

It contains the Breves causae (of St. Mathew, Gospel

summeries) and Argumenta (short biographies of theEvangelists) at the beginning

* It is supposed to have contained the Novus opus of St. Jerome(Jerome explains the reason of his translation), the letter of Eusebius, and some preliminary decorations.

Pope Damasuscommisioned St.

Jerome in 382 toundertake a

revision of theLatin text from

Greek.

When revising theGospels, St. Jerome

prefixed the Eusebiancanon tables andincluded his letter to

Pope Damasus beginning Novus opus,explaining his revision

and the use the tables. 13


14/34

Eusebius (of Caesarea)tables

14

Or Eusebian canons, at thestart of the Gospels, is thesystem of dividing the four

Gospels used betweenAntiquity and the Middle Age.


15/34

Therearedecorations at the startofeachparagraph andwithin somesentences.

the beginningof the Breves

causae of

Luke.

15


16/34

* The BookheBook ofKells contain a textbasedupon the Vulgate

translation, but with numerous variants. Therefore, it is not such a

pure rendition of Jerome's translation as theBook of Durrow orthe

Lindisfarne Gospels.

* Itwassaidthatthisbook wasintendedto serve as a magnificent

altar book.

* The book contains portraits of thefour Evangelists,the Virgin

Mary, Jesus Christ, andscenes from the New Testament, such as

the Arrest andTemptation.

16


17/34

Carpet Pages" were purely decorative, and were so named for their resemblance

to eastern carpets. This carpet page from the Book of Kells depicts the symbols

for the four evangelists: Matthew the Man,Mark the Lion, Luke the Calf (or

Bull),and Johnthe Eagle, derived from the vision ofEzekiel.

17

Mathew,

the Man

Luke,the Calf

Mark,

the Lion

John, theEagle


18/34

Giraldus Cambresiss description of the manuscript in 1185:

18


19/34

Leafofmanuscript,

BookofKells

19

Genealogyof Christ


20/34

20

Leafofmanuscript, BookofKells

text from

the Gospel

of John

written inInsular

majuscule

by the

scribe

known as

"Hand B".


21/34

The VirginMary

The decoration combines traditional Christian

iconography with the ornate swirling motifs of typical of

Insular art.

21

The miniature of the

Virgin and Child faces

the first page of textand is an appropriate

preface to the

beginning of the

Breves Causae of

Matthew, whichbegins Nativitas

Christi inBethlem (the

birth of Christ in

Bethlehem).


22/34

Book of Kells

Christ enthroned

22

Figuresofhumans,animalsandmythicalbeasts

togetherwith intricateknotwork andinterlacing

patternsinvibrantcolours .


23/34

* T ks rk lls did not

use old le f, commonly used inmanuscripts of this ki nd, ut they did use

ultramarine, a color which, ecause of its

scarcity, was as costlyas old in the 8th-9thcenturies.

23


24/34

* The manuscript today comprises 340 folios and since 1953 has been bound in

four volumes.

* The leaves are on high quality calf vellum with unprecedentedly elaborate

ornamentation.

The ornamentation includes ten full-page illustrations and text pages that arevibrant with historiated initials and interlinear miniatures;

* it marks the furthest extension of the anti-classical and energetic qualities of

Insular art.

Book of Kells contains

the text "Erat autemhora tercia" ("now itwas the third hour").

24


25/34

Buried within the myriad abstract motifs are some suprisingly well-articulated

animals and figures. Two butterflies or moths appear in the dotted field to theleft of the crossing of the Chi. Below, along the descending arm, are three

angels. At the bottom two cats crouch facing each other with mice perched ontheir backs. The cats have caught by the tail mice that are nibbling a round

objects with a cruciform marking, possibly a wafer of the Eucharist. To the right,

beneath the rho and iota, a black otter has just caught a fish.

Chi Rho,Book of

Kells

Chi Rho arethe first two

Greekletters for

Christmonogram

25


26/34

The f Kells

The I ci it t the s el f atthe

26

The page consists of only twowords Liber generationis ("The

book of the generation"). The "lib"of Liber is turned in to a giantmonogram which dominates theentire page. The " er" of Liber is

presented as interlaced ornamentwithin the "b" of the "lib" monogram. Generationis is brokeninto three lines and contained

within an elaborate frame in theright lower quadrant of the page.The entire assemblage iscontained within an elaborateborder.


27/34

* The Book of ells marks the fullest development of the Insular tradition ofillumination with ornamental frontispieces and illuminated incipits.

* It shows the impact of new ideas, some from the Continent, others perhaps

indigenous, which resulted in an expanded program of decoration and a

meaningful sequence of illuminations.

* There were added extensive zoomorphic decoration ofinitialson most of the

text pages and the introduction of what may have been a programof narrative

miniatures to illustrate what was considered to be liturgicallysignificantpoints

in the text.

* Henceforth Insular illumination became less preoccupied with purely abstract

ornament and developed amore pictorial emphasis.

27


28/34

There are decorations at the start of each paragraph andwithin some sentences.

Scattered through the text are decorated initials and smallfigures ofanimals and humans often twisted and tied intocomplicated knots.

DecoratedInitial, Book

of Kells

28


29/34

Leaf of manuscript Initial Q

Catach of

St.Columba,

is an earlyseventhcentury

Irish

Psalter.

Cathach/battler/talisman in

battle

29


30/34

A portrait of John the Evangelist

30

John : Inprincipio erat

verbum ("In thebeginning was

the Word")


31/34

Leaf of manuscript

The beginning of theGospel of Mark fromthe Book of Durrow

31


32/34

The Lindisfarne Gospel

contains the incipitL

ibe

r gene

ration

isof the Gospel of Mathew

32


33/34

Leaf of manuscript with lion

Ec ter ac s els

33


34/34

Leaf of manuscriptThe Book of Mulling (Dublin,Trinity College Library MS A. I. 15) isan Irish pocket Gospel Book from

the last half of the 8th century. Thebook was probably copied from anautograph manuscript of St.MolingThe text includes the four Gospels, aservice which includes the "Apostles'Creed", and a plan ofSt. Moling's

monastery. The script is a fine Irishminuscule. The decoration includesilluminated initials and threesurviving Evangelist portraits: thoseof Matthew, Mark and John. Itsjeweled shrine is also preserved at

Trinity College. 34

Documents

The Book of Kells