Celtic Art: The Book of Kells

The Book of Kells

               It is an Irish manuscript containing the Four Gospels, a fragment of Hebrew names and the Eusebian canons also known as the "Book of Columba", probably because it was written in the monastery of Iona in order to honor the saint. It is likely that it’s to this book that the entry in the "Annals of Ulster" under the year 1006 refers; recording that in that year the "Gospel of Columba" was stolen.

         According to tradition, the book is a relic from the time of Columba and even the work of his own hands, but, on palæographic grounds and judging by the characteristics of its decoration, this tradition cannot be sustained, and the date of the composition of this book can hardly be placed earlier than the end of the seventh or beginning of the eighth century. This must be the book which the Welshman, Geraldus Cambrensis, saw at Kildare in the last quarter of the 12th century and which he describes in glowing terms. 

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Book of Kells. 2013. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Book of Kells. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08614b.htm. [Accessed 20 May 2013].