Description
Book SynopsisOne of the most remarkable manuscripts to survive from the early Middle Ages inEurope, the Book of Kells was probably painted around 800 in a monastery at Iona inScotland or Kells in Ireland, or perhaps in both places. Extraordinarily inventive andintricate imagery accompanies the texts of the four Gospels: full-page depictions ofEvangelists and their symbols, lavish honorific openings to the Gospels, extraordinaryinitials, and decoration that combines complex interlace, animals, and human figures.This newly photographed book explores the Book of Kells through its historicalbackground; a display of the elements of the book at their actual size; the spectacularopenings of the texts that precede the Gospels; a study of earlier and comparablemanuscripts; detailed examination of symbols and themes, with special enlargeddetails; a look at the scribes and artists who worked on the manuscript; and aconsideration of technical aspects, illuminated by recent scientific research.The rich illustrations feature more than fifty full-size reproductions of completepages of the manuscript plus enlarged details that allow one to relish the intricacyof elements barely visible to the naked eye. Supplementary images place themanuscript in its setting and provide comparisons for its iconography and style.
Trade Review'A sumptuous volume containing more than 80 pages from the manuscript reproduced full-size and in full, ravishing colour … a triumph of scholarly investigation and interpretation' - Financial Times
'Each reproduction is accompanied by Bernard Meehan’s clear and considered exegesis on one of the most complex artefacts of the Christian tradition … If only all art historians were such illuminating companions' - Marina Vaizey, V&A Magazine
'The value of the new edition of ‘The Book of Kells’ is not merely in the quality of the illustrations but the lucidity of the explanatory texts by Bernard Meehan … I bask in pride that we did not destroy this masterpiece of European art' - Colm Tóibín
'We think we know the Book of Kells, but the plates in this bargain of a book still take your breath away; and its author knows that the unknowns are at least as interesting as the knowns' - Times Literary Supplement
