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The Book of Kells
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- Me, Myself, and I
- The Book of Kells is an Illuminated Manuscript of great formal complexity, which was probably the work of seventh-century Irish monks, containing the four Gospels, a fragment of Hebrew and the Eusebian canons. 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. The book has, through the ages, elicited from its admirers a response akin to ecstasy. The ornamentation and design is typical of Irish religious art at its peak.
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The Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is a stunningly beautiful manuscript containing the Four Gospels. It is Ireland's most precious medieval artifact, and is generally considered the finest surviving illuminated manuscript to have been produced in medieval Europe.
Origins and History:
The Book of Kells was probably produced in a monastery on the Isle of Iona, Scotland, to honor Saint Columba in the early 8th century. After a Viking raid the book was moved to Kells, Ireland, sometime in the 9th century. It was stolen in the 11th century, at which time its cover was torn off and it was thrown into a ditch. The cover, which most likely included gold and gems, has never been found, and the book suffered some water damage; but otherwise it is extraordinarily well-preserved.
In 1541, at the height of the English Reformation, the book was taken by the Roman Catholic Church for safekeeping. It was returned to Ireland in the 17th century, and Archbishop James Ussher gave it to Trinity College, Dublin, where it resides today.
Construction:
The Book of Kells was written on vellum (calfskin), which was time-consuming to prepare properly but made for an excellent, smooth writing surface. 680 individual pages (340 folios) have survived, and of them only two lack any form of artistic ornamentation. In addition to incidental character illuminations, there are entire pages that are primarily decoration, including portrait pages, "carpet" pages and partially decorated pages with only a line or so of text.
As many as ten different colors were used in the illuminations, some of them rare and expensive dyes that had to be imported from the continent. The workmanship is so fine that some of the details can only be clearly seen with a magnifying glass.0 Comments 141 weeks
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By all means!
![[clover]](http://s.bebo.com/img/smiley/4leafclover.gif)
I'm big on promoting anything of my country's Celtic history and culture!
I love the page, nice pictures!
Indeed good group. Should check out my A Celtic Year group for fun.![[clover]](http://s.bebo.com/img/smiley/4leafclover.gif)
Loving the group, can we have some more like this?
Cool
art at its finest
Hi there, I have been running a website based on Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism now for nearly 2 months, We have 160 registered members and still growing. The site as a Forum where plenty have been posting on interesting things. On the site there is a link to our live chat where at the end of the month we will be running classes in the craft and having guest speakers on specialised subjects. In order to know who is interested in these classses there is a thread in the forum to put your name down for them. Everything on this site is free, all that we ask is for you to take the time to make yourself a member and introduce yourself in the forum part and hopefully gain something for yourself from the site. Look forward to meeting you. Blessed Be Trinity www.whitetrinitywitch.co.uk x x x x
Hi i have just created a website on wicca & paganism. The site as alot of interesting stuff, and lots more to be put on as well. I have done this site based on what i have learnt over the years of being a Pagan. Please pop in and have a look, PLEASE PLEASE show your support by making yourself a member which only takes a min. There is also a forum on there where you can introduce yourself and make suggestions and also comment on anything wiccan or pagan..there is also live chat to hopefully get us all chatting together. In the next week or so i will be adding spells as welI. I hope to see you there if even to say hello Thank you & Blessed Be www.whitetrinitywitch.co.uk Feel free to advertise your group on the websites... i will spread the word too
happy yule
Great Page!
Very good ... the Book itself is a book of important symbols. The front and back covers contained very important symbols which as believed and taught was stolen for its gold instead of its symbology that would change the world as one knows it. The pages are very colorful .. the ink itself is very important as well ... for there is one color that came ONLY from Asia Minor and Afghanistan. If one knows symbols ... one can read this book fully .. otherwise if they do not know symbols they must read the teXt instead. Very good. Dannie Louis TroXel
Some really lovely groups starting up here, thankyou!
Thank you for the invite,I have accepted and cant wait to see what transpires from your group. Love from Guinevere. xxx
"Fantastic!"