Book of Kells Part Three

From The Book of Kells
photo via creative commons by Larry Koester

The Tara Brooch
photo via creative commons by Pomax

photo via creative commons by Annie Gormlie

photo via creative commons by fhwrdh

Insular Art is a term that refers to the artistic style of the post Roman British isles. Besides the Book of Kells and other manuscripts, it is found in metalwork and on high crosses. Pictured above is the Derrynaflan Paten. It is dated to the 8th or 9th century. A paten is part of a set used in communion. It's the plate that holds the bread. You can see the detail around the edge. St. Martin's cross (above) on Iona is dated to the 8th century.

The Monymusk Reliquary

At the National Museum of Scotland. photo via creative commons by dun_deagh

As you can see, this insular art shows up in lots of places. It's no wonder that the monks replicated this in the Book of Kells. When you consider that fountain pens had not been invented yet and that there were no electric lights or magnifying glasses, it certainly is a marvel. No wonder it was called the work of angels!

Book of Kells Part Two

Book of Kells facsimile
photo via creative commons by Marius Jennings

Continuing my look at the Book of Kells, an 8th century illuminated manscript.
This illustration is called the Temptation of Christ. There is a lot of subtle symbolism in this piece. The house is Christ church. He is the cornerstone that holds it up (the blond figure in the center.) It is built on the apostles (the heads underneath.) The devil (the black forked handed creature near the top at the right) is outside of the church building. He is capable of tempting, but has still been expelled. There is much more to be explored than this, though. What else do you see?

The Book of Kells explores the four Gospels (New Testament) and the writers are depicted as beasts. These creatures are mentioned in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. From Ezekiel 1:4-10

photo via creative commons by Larry Koester

⁴ I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, ⁵ and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, ⁶ but each of them had four faces and four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. ⁸ Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, ⁹ and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

¹⁰ Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.

I love the fact that the Irish monks told stories in these illustrations. I'll look at more in my next post.