The Book of Kells

A detailed Summary of The Book of Kells

"... you might believe that it is the work of an angel rather than a human being."

-thirteenth century biblical scholar Giraldus Cambrensis

The book of Kells is a beautiful translation of the four gospels based upon the Vulgate, the original latin translation from the original Hebrew. The book also contains the Eusipian canons and fragments of early Hebrew geneaology. It was presented to the Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland in the year 1661 by the archbishop Henry Jones. It is generally regarded as one of the most beautifull illuminated texts in the world. An Illuminated text are ancient books ussualy done on animal skin, Vellum. They were done by hand and contain marvelous illustrations often done in gold leaf and various other pigments. These pictures are designs that have pretty much spawned and defined what would come to be known as classical celtic art. These illustrations are pictorials of man and beasts, fanciful beings, gargoyles,dragons, birds, dogs, and horses are all woven together in elaborate patterns. What really strikes the viewer is not only the ornate detail of all this ornamentation, but the precision of the illustrator's hand.

The Book of Kells, is also called The book of

It is really a marvel that this artifact of early humanity and artistic endeavor is still with us today, especially considering the long history and hardships it has endured. The majestic beauty of this entire work has long left viewers in awe, still does so today. It has survived through all these years of tumult to stand for the celtic legacy and the artistic talent of these early people. One thing still puzzles us today, as it did Giraldus Cambrensis in the thirteenth century, was this the work of human beings, or angels?

The book suffered the ravages of time. At one point an attempt was made to rebind the book. This attempt was horribly botched. Not realizing that the illustrations varied in size, the binder cut away some of the illuminations to standardize the size of the work. After numerous attempts at restoration a major project was undertook in 1953 to restore the book into its original splendor. It was rebound into four separate volumes. Two of these are displayed in Dublin, and two are available to only a handful of privledged scholars. Pages are turned daily in the displayed volumes to allow the public to view different sections of the book. Thousands of people flock to Dublin every year to view this display. In an effort to make this manuscript more accesable to the general public officials at Trinity College decided to allow a Swiss publisher to

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 927
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts