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* 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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).
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Iona village
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The Abbey of Iona
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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Therearedecorations at the startofeachparagraph andwithin somesentences.
the beginningof the Breves
causae of
Luke.
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* 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.
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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.
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Mathew,
the Man
Luke,the Calf
Mark,
the Lion
John, theEagle
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Giraldus Cambresiss description of the manuscript in 1185:
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Leafofmanuscript,
BookofKells
19
Genealogyof Christ
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20
Leafofmanuscript, BookofKells
text from
the Gospel
of John
written inInsular
majuscule
by the
scribe
known as
"Hand B".
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The VirginMary
The decoration combines traditional Christian
iconography with the ornate swirling motifs of typical of
Insular art.
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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).
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Book of Kells
Christ enthroned
22
Figuresofhumans,animalsandmythicalbeasts
togetherwith intricateknotwork andinterlacing
patternsinvibrantcolours .
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* 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.
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* 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").
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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
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The f Kells
The I ci it t the s el f atthe
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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.
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* 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.
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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
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Leaf of manuscript Initial Q
Catach of
St.Columba,
is an earlyseventhcentury
Irish
Psalter.
Cathach/battler/talisman in
battle
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A portrait of John the Evangelist
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John : Inprincipio erat
verbum ("In thebeginning was
the Word")
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Leaf of manuscript
The beginning of theGospel of Mark fromthe Book of Durrow
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The Lindisfarne Gospel
contains the incipitL
ibe
r gene
ration
isof the Gospel of Mathew
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Leaf of manuscript with lion
Ec ter ac s els
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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