Everything about The Book Of Kells totally explained
The
Book of Kells (Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. (58), sometimes known as the
Book of Columba) is an
illuminated manuscript that's a masterwork of
Western calligraphy and represents the pinnacle of
Insular illumination. It is also widely regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure. Transcribed by
Celtic monks ca. 800, it contains the
four Gospels of the
New Testament in
Latin, together with various prefatory texts and tables. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the
Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the
Vetus Latina.
The illustrations and ornamentation of the Book of Kells surpass that of other Insular Gospels in extravagance and complexity. The decoration combines traditional Christian iconography with the ornate swirling motifs typical of Insular art. Figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts together with intricate
knotwork and interlacing patterns in vibrant colours enliven the manuscript's pages. Many of these minor decorative elements are imbued with Christian symbolism and so further emphasize the themes of the major illustrations.
The manuscript today comprises 340
folios and since 1953 has been bound in four volumes. The leaves are on high quality calf
vellum, and the unprecedentedly elaborate ornamentation that covers them includes ten full-page illustrations and text pages that are vibrant with
historiated initials and interlinear miniatures, and mark the furthest extension of the anti-classical and energetic qualities of Insular art. The
Insular majuscule script of the text itself appears to be the work of at least three different scribes. The lettering is in iron-gall ink, and the colors used were derived from a wide range of substances, many of which were imports from distant lands.
The manuscript takes its name from the
abbey in
Kells that was its home for centuries. Today it's on permanent display at the
library of
Trinity College in
Dublin,
Ireland. The library usually displays two of the current four volumes at a time, one showing a major illustration and the other showing typical text pages.
History
Origin
), especially the form of the "Lib" monogram.]]
The Book of Kells is the finest example from a group of manuscripts in what is known as the
Insular style produced from the late 6th through the early 9th centuries in
monasteries in
Ireland,
Scotland and
England and in continental monasteries with Irish or English foundations. These manuscripts include the
Cathach of St. Columba, the
Ambrosiana Orosius, a
fragmentary Gospel in the Durham cathedral library (all from the early 7th century), and the
Book of Durrow (from the second half of the 7th century). From the early 8th century come the
Durham Gospels, the
Echternach Gospels, the
Lindisfarne Gospels (see illustration at right), and the
Lichfield Gospels. The
St. Gall Gospel Book and the
Macregal Gospels belong to the late 8th century. The
Book of Armagh (dated to 807–809), the
Turin Gospel Book Fragment, the
Leiden Priscian, the
St. Gall Priscian and the
Macdurnan Gospel all date from the early 9th century. Scholars place these manuscripts together based on similarities in artistic style, script, and textual traditions. The fully developed style of the ornamentation of the Book of Kells places it late in this series, either from the late eighth or early ninth century. The Book of Kells follows many of the iconographic and stylistic traditions found in these earlier manuscripts. For example, the form of the decorated letters found in the
incipit pages for the Gospels is surprisingly consistent in Insular Gospels. Compare, for example, the incipit pages of the
Gospel of Matthew and both of which feature intricate decorative knotwork inside the outlines formed by the enlarged initial letters of the text. (For a more complete list of related manuscripts see:
List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts).
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. The date and place of production of the manuscript have been the subject of considerable debate. Traditionally, the book was thought to have been created in the time of
Columba, possibly even as the work of his own hands. This tradition has long been discredited on
palaeographic and stylistic grounds: most evidence points to a composition date ca. 800, long after St. Columba’s death in 597. There is another tradition with some traction among Irish scholars that suggests the manuscript was created for the 200th anniversary of the saint's death.
The manuscript was never finished. There are at least five competing theories about the manuscript's place of origin and time of completion. First, the book may have been created entirely at
Iona, then brought to Kells and never finished. Second, the book may have been begun at Iona and continued at Kells, but never finished. Third, the manuscript may have been produced entirely in the
scriptorium at Kells. Fourth, it may have been produced in the north of
England, perhaps at
Lindisfarne, then brought to Iona and from there to Kells. Finally, it may have been the product of an unknown monastery in Scotland. Although the question of the exact location of the book's production will probably never be answered conclusively, the second theory, that it was begun at Iona and finished at Kells, is currently the most widely accepted. the chief relic of the Western World, was wickedly stolen during the night from the western sacristy of the great stone church at Cenannas on account of its wrought shrine". The manuscript was recovered a few months later — minus its golden and bejewelled cover - "under a
sod". It is generally assumed that the "great Gospel of Columkille" is the Book of Kells. If this is correct, then the book was in Kells by 1007 and had been there long enough for thieves to learn of its presence. The force of ripping the manuscript free from its cover may account for the
folios missing from the beginning and end of the Book of Kells.
Regardless, the book was certainly at Kells in the 12th century, when land
charters pertaining to the Abbey of Kells were copied onto some of its blank pages. The practice of copying of charters into important books was wide-spread in the mediaeval period, and such inscriptions in the Book of Kells provide concrete evidence about its location at the time.
Modern period
The Book of Kells remained in Kells until 1654. In that year
Cromwell's cavalry was quartered in the church at Kells, and the governor of the town sent the book to
Dublin for safekeeping.
Henry Jones, who later became
bishop of Meath after the
Restoration, presented the manuscript to
Trinity College in Dublin in 1661, where it has remained ever since, except for brief loans to other libraries and museums. It has been on display to the public in the Old Library at Trinity since the 19th century.
Over the years, the Book of Kells received several additions to its text. In the 16th century, one Gerald Plunkett of Dublin added a series of
Roman numerals numbering the chapters of the Gospels according to the division created by 13th century
Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton. The prominent Anglican clergyman
James Ussher counted and numbered its folios in 1621, shortly after
James I named him
Bishop of Meath. however they in fact signed a modern flyleaf which was erroneously believed to have been one of the original folios. The page bearing their signatures was removed when the book was rebound in 1953.
Over the centuries the book has been
rebound several times. During an 18th century rebinding, the pages were rather unsympathetically cropped, with small parts of some illustrations being lost. The book was also rebound in 1895, but that rebinding broke down quickly. By the late 1920s several folios had detached completely and were kept separate from the main volume. In 1953, bookbinder Roger Powell rebound the manuscript in four volumes and stretched several of pages that had developed bulges. Two volumes can normally be seen displayed at Trinity, one opened at a major decorated page, and one to show two text pages with smaller decorations..
In 2000, the volume containing the
Gospel of Mark was sent to
Canberra,
Australia for an exhibition of illuminated manuscripts. This was only the fourth time the Book of Kells had been sent abroad for exhibition. Unfortunately, the volume suffered what has been called "minor pigment damage" while en route to Canberra. It is thought that the vibrations from the
aeroplane's engines during the long flight may have caused the damage.
Reproductions
In 1951, the
Swiss publisher, Urs Graf-verlag Bern, produced the first
facsimile. of the Book of Kells. The majority of the pages were reproduced in black and white
photographs, but the edition also featured forty-eight colour reproductions, including all of the full page decorations. Under license from the Board of Trinity College Dublin,
Thames and Hudson produced a second facsimile edition in 1974. This edition included all the full page illustrations in the manuscript and a representative section of the ornamentation of the text pages, together with some enlarged details of the illustrations. The reproductions were all in full colour, with photography by John Kennedy, Green Studio, Dublin.
In 1979, Swiss publisher Faksimile-Verlag Luzern requested permission to produce a full colour facsimile of the book. Permission was initially denied because Trinity College officials felt that the risk of damage to the book was too high. By 1986, Faksimile-Verlag had developed a process that used gentle suction to straighten a page so that it could be photographed without touching it and so won permission to publish a new facsimile. After each page was photographed, a single page facsimile was prepared so the colours could be carefully compared to the original and adjustments made where necessary. The completed work was published in 1990 in a two-volume set containing the full facsimile and scholarly commentary. One copy is held by the
Anglican Church in Kells, on the site of the original monastery.
Description
The Book of Kells contains the four Gospels of the
Christian scriptures written in black, red, purple, and yellow ink in an
insular majuscule script, preceded by prefaces, summaries, and concordances of Gospel passages. Today it consists of 340
vellum leaves or
folios. The majority of the folios are part of larger sheets, called
bifolios, which are folded in half to form two folios. The bifolios are nested inside of each other and sewn together to form gatherings called
quires. On occasion, a folio isn't part of a bifolio but is instead a single sheet inserted within a quire. The extant folios are gathered into 38 quires. There are between four and twelve folios (two to six bifolios) per quire; the folios are commonly but not invariably bound in groups of ten. Some folios are single sheets, as is frequently the case with the important decorated pages. The folios had lines drawn for the text, sometimes on both sides, after the bifolios were folded. Prick marks and guide lines can still be seen on some pages. Of all the insular Gospels, only the Lindisfarne manuscript contains this letter.
There are two fragments of the lists of Hebrew names; one on the recto of the first surviving folio and one on folio 26, which is currently inserted at the end of the prefatory matter for John. The first list fragment contains the end of the list for the Gospel of Matthew. The missing names from Matthew would require an additional two folios. The second list fragment, on folio 26, contains about a fourth of the list for Luke. The list for Luke would require an additional three folios. The structure of the quire in which folio 26 occurs is such that it's unlikely that there are three folios missing between folios 26 and 27, so that it's almost certain that folio 26 isn't now in its original location. There is no trace of the lists for Mark and John.
The first list fragment is followed by the canon tables of
Eusebius of
Caesarea. These tables, which predate the text of the Vulgate, were developed to cross reference the Gospels. Eusebius divided the Gospel into chapters and then created tables that allowed readers to find where a given episode in the life of Christ was located in each of the Gospels. The canon tables were traditionally included in the prefatory material in most mediaeval copies of the Vulgate text of the Gospels. The tables in the Book of Kells, however, are almost unusable because the scribe condensed the tables into in such a way as to make them confused. In addition, the corresponding chapter numbers were never inserted into the margins of the text, making it impossible to find the sections to which the canon tables refer. The reason for the omission remains unclear: the scribe may have planned to add the references upon the manuscript’s completion, or he may have deliberately left them out so as not to spoil the appearance of pages. The slavish repetition in Kells of the order of the
Breves causae and
Argumenta found in Durrow led scholar T. K. Abbot to the conclusion that the scribe of Kells had either the Book of Durrow, or a common model in hand.
Text and script
The Book of Kells contains the text of the four Gospels based on the Vulgate. It does not, however, contain a pure copy of the Vulgate. There are numerous variants from the Vulgate, where Old Latin translations are used in lieu of Jerome's text. Although these variants are common in all of the insular Gospels, there doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern of variation amongst the various insular texts. Evidence suggests that when the scribes were writing the text they often depended on memory rather than on their exemplar.
The manuscript is written primarily in
insular majuscule, with some occurrences of
minuscule letters (usually "e" or "s"). The text is usually written in one long line across the page.
Françoise Henry identified at least three scribes in this manuscript, whom she named Hand A, Hand B, and Hand C. Hand A is found on folios 1 through 19v, folios 276 through 289, and folios 307 through the end of the manuscript. Hand A for the most part writes eighteen or nineteen lines per page in the brown gall-ink common throughout the west.
Errors
There are a number of
differences between the text and the accepted Gospels. In the
genealogy of Jesus, which starts at
Luke 3:23, Kells erroneously names an extra ancestor. Elsewhere,
Matthew 10:34b should read "I came not to send peace, but the sword", but the manuscript reads
gaudium (joy) where it should read
gladium (sword), and so translates as "I came not
[only
] to send peace, but joy".
Decoration
The text is accompanied many full-page
miniatures, while smaller painted decorations appear throughout the text in unprecedented quantities. The decoration of the book is famous for combining intricate detail with bold and energetic compositions. The characteristics of the Insular manuscript initial, as described by Carl Nordenfalk, here reach their most extreme realization: "the initials ... are conceived as elastic forms expanding and contracting with a pulsating rhythm. The kinetic energy of their contours escapes into freely drawn appendices, a spiral line which in turn generates new curvilinear motifs...". The illustrations feature a broad range of colours, with purple, lilac, red, pink, green, and yellow being the colours most often used. Earlier manuscripts tend toward more narrow palettes: the Book of Durrow, for example, uses only four colours. As is usual with Insular work, there was no use of
gold or
silver leaf in the manuscript. The
pigments for the illustrations, which included red and yellow ochre, green copper pigment (sometimes called
verdigris), indigo and
lapis lazuli, would have been imported from the Mediterranean region and, in the case of the lapis lazuli, from north-east Afghanistan.
The lavish illumination programme is far greater than any other surviving Insular Gospel book. There are ten surviving full page illuminations including two
evangelist portraits, three pages with the four
evangelist symbols, a
carpet page, a miniature of the
Virgin and Child, a miniature of Christ enthroned, and miniatures of the
Arrest of Jesus and the
Temptation of Christ. There are thirteen surviving full pages of decorated text including pages for the first few words of each of the Gospels. Eight of the ten pages of the canon tables have extensive decoration. It is highly probable that there were other pages of miniature and decorated text that are now lost. In addition to these major pages there are a host of smaller decorations and decorated initials throughout the text; in fact only two pages have no decoration.
The extant folios of the manuscript start with the fragment of the glossary of Hebrew names. This fragment occupies the left-hand column of folio 1r. A miniature of the four evangelist symbols, now much abraded, make up the right-hand column. The miniature is oriented so that the volume must be turned ninety degrees in order to view it properly. The four evangelist symbols are a visual theme that runs throughout the book. They are almost always shown together to emphasise the doctrine of the four Gospels' unity of message.
The unity of the Gospels is further emphasized by the decoration of the Eusebian canon tables. The canon tables themselves inherently illustrate the unity of the Gospels by organising corresponding passages from the Gospels. The Eusebian canon tables normally require twelve pages. In the Book of Kells the makers of the manuscript planned for twelve pages (folios 1v through 7r) but for unknown reasons condensed them into ten, leaving folios 6v and 7r blank. This condensation rendered the canon tables unusable. The decoration of the first eight pages of the canon tables is heavily influenced by early Gospel Books from the Mediterranean, where it was traditional to enclose the tables within an
arcade (as seen in the
London Canon Tables).
The remainder of the book is broken into sections with the divisions set off by miniatures and full pages of decorated text. Each of the Gospels is introduced by a consistent decorative programme. The preliminary matter is treated as one section and introduced by a lavish decorative spread. In addition to the preliminaries and the Gospels, the "second beginning" of the Gospel of Matthew is also given its own introductory decoration.
The preliminary matter is introduced by an
iconic image of the
Virgin and
Child (folio 7v). This miniature is the first representation of the Virgin in a western manuscript. Mary is shown in an odd mixture of frontal and three-quarter pose. This miniature also bears a stylistic similarity to the carvings on the lid of St.
Cuthbert's coffin. The iconography of the miniature may ultimately derive from an Eastern or Coptic icon.
The miniature of the Virgin and Child faces the first page of text and is an appropriate preface to the beginning of the
Breves Causae of Matthew, which begins
Nativitas Christi in Bethlem (the birth of Christ in Bethlehem). The beginning page of the text of the
Breves Causae is decorated and contained within an elaborate frame. The two page spread of the miniature and the text make a vivid introductory statement for the prefatory material. The opening line of each of the sections of the preliminary matter is enlarged and decorated (see above for the
Breves causae of Luke), but no other section of the preliminaries is given the same level of treatment as the beginning of the
Breves Causae of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew retains both its Evangelist portrait and its page of Evangelist symbols (folio 27r, see above). The Gospel of Mark is missing the Evangelist portrait, but retains its Evangelist symbols page . The Gospel of Luke is missing both the portrait and the Evangelist symbols page. The Gospel of John, like the Matthew retains both its portrait (folio 291v, see at right) and its Evangelist symbols page . It can be assumed that the portraits for Mark and Luke, and the symbols page for Luke at one time existed, but have been lost. The use of all four of the Evangelist symbols in front of each Gospel is striking and was intended to reinforce the message of the unity of the Gospels.
The decoration of the opening few words of each Gospel was lavish. These pages were, in effect turned into carpet pages. The decoration of these texts is so elaborate that the text itself is almost illegible. The opening page (folio 28r) of Matthew may stand as an example. (See illustration at left.) The page consists of only two words
Liber generationis ("The book of the generation"). The "lib" of
Liber is turned in to a giant monogram which dominates the entire page. The "er" of
Liber is presented as interlaced ornament within the "b" of the "lib" monogram.
Generationis is broken into three lines and contained within an elaborate frame in the right lower quadrant of the page. The entire assemblage is contained within an elaborate border.
The border and the letters themselves are further decorated with elaborate spirals and
knot work, many of them zoomorphic. The opening words of Mark, ("The beginning of the Gospel"), Luke,, and John ("In the beginning was the Word") are all given similar treatments. Although the decoration of these pages was most extensive in the Book of Kells, these pages were decorated in all of the other Insular Gospel Books.
The Gospel of Matthew begins with a
genealogy of Jesus. At, the actual narrative of
Christ's life starts. This "second beginning" to Matthew was given emphasis in many early Gospel Books, so much so that the two sections were often treated as separate works. The "second beginning" begins with the word "Christ". The Greek letters "
Chi" and "
Rho" were often used in mediaeval manuscripts to abbreviate the word "Christ". In Insular Gospel Books the initial "
Chi Rho monogram" was enlarged and decorated. In the Book of Kells, this second beginning was given a decorative programme equal to the those that preface the individual Gospels.
Chi and
Rho are the first two letters of the word "
Christ" in
Greek.]]
In the Book of Kells, the Chi Rho monogram has grown to consume the entire page. The letter "Chi" dominates the page with one arm swooping across the majority of the page. The letter "Rho" is snuggled underneath the arms of the Chi. Both letters are divided into compartment which are lavishly decorated with knot work and other patterns. The background is likewise awash in mass of swirling and knotted decoration. Within this mass of decoration are hidden animals and insects. Three angels arise from one of the cross arms of the Chi. This miniature is the largest and most lavish extant Chi Rho monogram in any Insular Gospel Books and is the culmination of a tradition that started with the
Book of Durrow. In the text of Luke there's a full sized miniature of the
Temptation of Christ . Christ is shown from the waist up on top of the Temple. To his a right is a crowd of people, perhaps representing his disciples. To his left and below him is a black figure of
Satan. Above him hover two
angels.
The verso of the folio containing the
Arrest of Christ contains a full page of decorated text which begins "". Facing the miniature of the Temptation is another full page of decorated text (folio 203r "Iesus autem plenus"). In addition to this page five other full pages also receive elaborate treatment. In Matthew there's one other full page treatment of ("Tunc crucifixerant Xpi cum eo duos latrones"). In the Gospel of Mark, there are also two pages of decorated text ("Erat autem hora tercia", and folio 187v "[EtDominus] quidem [Iesus] postquam"). The Gospel of Luke contains two pages of fully decorated text. (folio 188v "Fuit in diebus Herodis ", and "Una autem sabbati valde"). Although these texts don't have miniatures associated with them it's probable that miniatures were planned to accompany each of these texts and have either been lost, or were never completed. There is no surviving full page of text in the Gospel of John other than the Incipit. However, in the other three Gospels all of the full pages of decorated text, except for folio 188c which begins the Nativity narration, occur within the Passion narrative. However, since the missing folios of John contain the Passion narrative, it's likely that John contained full pages of decorated text that have been lost.
The decoration of the book isn't limited to the major pages. Scattered through the text are decorated initials and small figures of animals and humans often twisted and tied into complicated knots. Many significant texts, such as the
Pater Noster have decorated initials. The page containing text of the
Beatitudes in Matthew has a large miniature along the left margin of the page in which the letter "B" which begins each line is linked into an ornate chain. The genealogy of Christ found in the Gospel of Luke contains a similar miniature in which the word "qui" is repeatedly linked along the left margin. Many of the small animals scattered throughout the text serve to mark a "turn-in-the-path" (that is, a place where a line is finished in a space above or below the original line). Many other animals serve to fill spaces left at the end of lines. No two of these designs are the same. No earlier surviving manuscript has this massive amount of decoration.
The decorations are all high quality and often highly complex. In one decoration, which occupies one inch square piece of a page, there are 158 complex interlacements of white ribbon with a black border on either side. Some decorations can only be fully seen with magnifying glasses, although lenses of the required power are not known to have been available until hundreds of years after the book's completion. The complicated knot work and interweaving found in Kells and related manuscripts have many parallels in the metalwork and stone carving of the period. Since their gradual rediscovery from the 19th century on, these design have also had an enduring popularity. Indeed many of these motifs are used today in popular art including jewellery and
tattoos.
Purpose
The book had a sacramental, rather than educational purpose. A large, lavish Gospel, such as the Book of Kells would have been left on the high altar of the church, and taken off only for the reading of the Gospel during Mass. However, it's probable that the reader wouldn't actually read the text from the book, but rather recite from memory. It is significant that the
Chronicles of Ulster state that the book was stolen from the
sacristy (where the vessels and other accoutrements of the
mass were stored) rather than from the monastic library. The design of the book seems to take this purpose in mind, that's the book was produced with appearance taking precedence over practicality. There are numerous uncorrected mistakes in the text. Lines were often completed in a blank space in the line above. The chapter headings that were necessary to make the canon tables usable were not inserted into the margins of the page. In general, nothing was done to disrupt the aesthetic look of the page: aesthetics were given a priority over utility.
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