Book of Kells (60th Anniversary) - Hardcover

Bernard Meehan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500600228 ISBN 13: 9780500600221

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 2009

Synopsis

"The Book of Kells" is a masterpiece of medieval art a brilliantly decorated copy of the four Gospels with full-page depictions of Christ, the Virgin and the Evangelists as well as a wealth of smaller decorative painting that does not always relate to the sacred text. The strange imagination displayed in the pages, the impeccable technique and the very fine state of preservation make "The Book of Kells" an object of endless fascination. This edition reproduces the most important of the fully decorated pages plus a series of enlargements showing the almost unbelievable minuteness of the detail; spiral and interlaced patterns, human and animal ornament a combination of high seriousness and humor. Accompanying the illustrations is a text by Bernard Meehan, the Keeper of Manuscripts at Trinity College, Dublin.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The Book of Kells is the most spectacular of a group of manuscripts created in Ireland and northern Britain between the seventh and tenth centuries, a period when Irish monasticism was in the vanguard of Christian culture. Its earliest history remains controversial but it was in the keeping of the monastery of Kells, Co. Meath, for most of the Middle Ages - hence its name - and has been in the library of Trinity College Dublin, since the mid-seventeenth century. It is a masterpiece of medieval art - a brilliantly decorated copy of the four Gospels with full-page illustrations of Christ, the Virgin and Child and the Evangelists, and a wealth of smaller decorative painting that does not always relate to the sacred text. The strange imagination displayed in the pages, the impeccable technique and the very fine state of its preservation make it an object of endless fascination. This edition includes the most important of the fully decorated pages plus a series of enlargements showing the almost unbelievable minuteness of the detail - spiral and interlace patterns, human and animal ornament - a combination of high seriousness and humor. Accompanying the illustrations is a new, up-to-date text by Bernard Meehan, the current Keeper of Manuscripts at Trinity College Dublin. It provides a scholarly analysis of these exuberant inventions, the artists, the text and the writing, and a full account of the historical background to the miraculous world of the Book of Kells.

About the Author:

Bernard Meehan is Keeper of Manuscripts at Trinity College Library, Dublin, owners of the Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow, two outstanding survivals from the early Scottish–Irish Christian world.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0500600228
• ISBN 13: 9780500600221
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 96