Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is a large-format illuminated manuscript
of the four Gospels in Latin, dated on comparative grounds
to about
A
.
D
. 800. It's impossible to be more precise about its
date because some leaves from the end of the book, where
such information was normally recorded, are missing. It is
the most majestic work of art to survive from the early cen-
turies of Celtic Christianity, and has often been described as
“the most beautiful book in the world.” A team of talented
scribes and artists working in a monastic scriptorium pro-
duced the book.
Its fascination derives from the dignified but elusive char-
acter of its main motifs, and the astonishing variety and
complexity of the linear ornamentation that adorns every
one of its 680 pages. Its creators managed to combine new
artistic influences from Eastern Christendom with the tradi-
tional interlace patterning of Celtic metalwork to produce
what Gerald of Wales, a 13th-century chronicler, called “the
work not of men, but of angels.” The message sometimes
may not be easy to read, but everyone can admire the ele-
gant precision of the standard script, the subtlety of the
color harmonies, and the exuberant vitality of the human
and animal ornamentation.
The book was certainly in the possession of the Columban
monastery of Kells, a town in County Meath, during most of
the Middle Ages. The Annals of Ulster record its theft from
the western sacristy of the stone-built monastic church in
1007, and relate that it was recovered 2 to 3 months later
from “under the sod,” without the jewel-encrusted silver
in the Old Library is the
Dublin Experience
(p. 106), an excellent
multimedia introduction to the history and people of Dublin. The
oldest university in Ireland, Trinity was founded in 1592 by Queen
Elizabeth I. It occupies a beautiful 16-hectare (40-acre) site just
south of the River Liffey, with cobbled squares, gardens, a pictur-
esque quadrangle, and buildings dating from the 17th to the 20th
centuries.
College Green, Dublin 2.
&
01/608-2320.
http://www.tcd.ie/Library/Visitors/kells.
htm. Free admission to college grounds.
€
7.20 ($9) adults,
€
6.50 ($7.85) seniors/
students,
€
11 ($13) families, free for children under 12. Combination tickets for the
