Friday, March 28, 2008

Tracy_Celtic manuscript



The Book Of Kells






The 'Book of Kells' is a manuscript which was written in silence in a monastery and then sent to be illuminated (decorated) by Celtic artist. It has been described as the most beautiful book in the world. It's Summaries of gospel narratives and concordances were compiled by Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century. Written around the year 800AD, it has 680 pages written in quill and ink and made of vellum, a material sourced from under the skin of an animal. These pages contain a copy of St Jerome's Latin 

Bible TextBible Text

version of the four gospels and are decorated with ornate drawings and extremely embellished letters. The Book of Kells was named after its home, Kells in County Meath near Dublin. 

The book remained at Kells throughout the Middle Ages; venerated as a relic it survived Viking plunderings, arsons, and regicides, although it was lost and recovered, and stripped of its ornamented treasure binding by thieves in 1007 (The Book of Kells. Luzerne: Faksimile Verlag, 1990). 

The Book of Kells is now held in exhibition at The Trinity College in Dublin and attracts over 500000 visitors yearly.
























































































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