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135-605: The Stowe Missal (sometimes known as the Lorrha Missal ), which is, strictly speaking, a sacramentary rather than a missal , is a small Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin with some Old Irish in the late eighth or early ninth century, probably after 792. In the mid-11th century, it was annotated and some pages rewritten at Lorrha Monastery in County Tipperary , Ireland. Between 1026 and 1033

270-448: A bishop on the anniversary of his consecration could only be used by the pope of Rome: "Lord God ... who, although Thou dost not cease to enrich with many gifts Thy Church spread throughout the world, nevertheless dost look more favourably upon the see of Thy blessed Apostle Peter, as Thou hast desired that it should be most exalted, etc." The Preface for St John and St Paul remembers that they are buried within "the boundaries of this city";

405-531: A common English translation reads "I came not to send peace, but a sword". However, the manuscript reads gaudium ("joy") where it should read gladium ("sword"), thus translating as "I came not (only) to send peace, but joy." The lavishly decorated opening page of the Gospel according to John had been deciphered by George Bain as: "In principio erat verbum verum" (In the beginning was the True Word). Therefore,

540-575: A comparable device. Five pages (folios 200r-202v) give an organized decoration of Luke's genealogy of Christ, just before the Temptation narrative. Another three pages contain large illuminated elements not extending throughout the entire page. Folio 40v contains text of the Beatitudes in Matthew (Matthew 5:3 –10 ) where the letters B beginning each line are linked into an ornate chain along

675-756: A continuous preliminary. In other insular manuscripts, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Book of Armagh, and the Echternach Gospels, each Gospel is treated as a separate work and has its preliminaries immediately preceding it. The slavish repetition in Kells of the order of the Breves causae and Argumenta found in Durrow led scholar T. K. Abbott to conclude that the scribes of Kells had either

810-402: A folio is not part of a bifolium but is instead a single sheet inserted within a quire. The extant folios are gathered into 38 quires. There are between four and twelve folios (two to six bifolia) per quire; the folios are commonly, but not invariably, bound in groups of ten. Some folios are single sheets, as is frequently the case with the important decorated pages. The folios had lines drawn for

945-404: A fourth of the list for Luke. The list for Luke would require an additional three folios. The structure of the quire in which folio 26 occurs is such that it is unlikely that there are three folios missing between folios 26 and 27, so that it is almost certain that folio 26 is not now in its original location. There is no trace of the lists for Mark and John. The first list fragment is followed by

1080-537: A great Gospel Book in Kildare which many have since assumed was the Book of Kells. The description certainly matches Kells: This book contains the harmony of the Four Evangelists according to Jerome , where for almost every page there are different designs... and other forms almost infinite... Fine craftsmanship is all about you, but you might not notice it. Look more keenly at it and you will penetrate to

1215-522: A miniature of Christ enthroned, flanked by peacocks . Peacocks function as symbols of Christ throughout the book. According to earlier accounts given by Isidore of Seville and Augustine in The City of God , the peacocks' flesh does not putrefy ; the animals therefore became associated with Christ via the Resurrection . Facing the portrait of Christ on folio 33r is the only carpet page in

1350-409: A pointed pen. The dating to before 1033 for the later phase is assumed as that was the year Find Ua Dungalaig, the presumed commissioner of the shrine of the missal, died. A few initials are decorated, notably on f 1, where extracts from John contain a "crude" full page evangelist portrait of the saint with his symbol of the eagle, decorated with Insular interlace. The lower end of the page contains

1485-601: A portrait of the Virgin and Child , three pages of evangelist symbols informed by the tetramorphs described in Ezekiel and Revelation , two evangelist portraits , a portrait of Christ enthroned, a carpet page , and scenes of the Arrest of Jesus and Temptation of Christ . Twelve fully decorated text pages embellish the book's verses, of which the most extreme examples are the four incipits beginning each Gospel, together with

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1620-525: A prayer for Pilib Ó Ceinnéidigh, 'king of Ormond' and his wife Áine, both of whom died in 1381. It also refers to Giolla Ruadhán Ó Macáin, abbot of the Augustinian priory of Lorrha and the maker, Domhnall Ó Tolairi". Black niello is used to bring out the engraved lines of the inscription and figures, and the technique is very similar to that of the later work on the Shrine of St Patrick's Tooth (also in

1755-411: A pulsating rhythm. The kinetic energy of their contours escapes into freely drawn appendices, a spiral line which in turn generates new curvilinear motifs...". The illustrations feature a broad range of colours, with purple, lilac, red, pink, green, and yellow being the colours most often used. Earlier manuscripts tend toward more narrow palettes: the Book of Durrow, for example, uses only four colours. As

1890-399: A recent deliverance from enemies. This allusion he understands to refer to the raising of the siege of Rome by Vitiges and his Goths at Easter-time, 538. Another writer attributed the allusion to Alaric 's invasion in 402, and held that the compilation was made between 366 and 461. Another considered that the book was composed under Pope Felix III (483-492). Yet another suggests that the book

2025-582: A scriptorium for the reproduction of books in both genres. Later, the Carolingian period introduced the innovation of copying texts onto vellum, a material much more durable than the papyrus to which many ancient writings had been committed. Gradually, these traditions spread throughout the European continent and finally to the British Isles. Kells Abbey was pillaged by Vikings many times at

2160-437: A single page (folio 334v): in 1568 one Geralde Plunket noted his annotations of the Gospel's chapter numbers throughout the book. A second note from 1588 gave a folio count, and a third note by James Ussher reported 344 folios in the book as of 1621. The bifolium 335-336 was lost and subsequently restored in 1741, recorded in two notes on folio 337r. Plunket's accretions were varied and significant. He inscribed transcriptions in

2295-465: A strange order: first, come the Breves causae and Argumenta for Matthew, followed by the Breves and Argumenta for Mark, then, quite oddly, come the Argumenta of both Luke and John, followed by their Breves causae . This anomalous order mirrors that found in the Book of Durrow, although in the latter instance, the misplaced sections appear at the very end of the manuscript rather than as part of

2430-582: A stylistic similarity to the carved image on the lid of St. Cuthbert's coffin of 698. The iconography of the miniature seems to derive from Byzantine, Armenian or Coptic art. The miniature of the Virgin and Child faces the first page of the text, which begins the Breves causae of Matthew with the phrase Nativitas Christi in Bethlem (the birth of Christ in Bethlehem). The beginning page ( folio 8r ) of

2565-524: A wooden core of oak . The metalwork is elaborately decorated, with some animal and human figures, and one face and the sides probably date to between 1026 and 1033, based on inscriptions recording its donation and making, while the other face is later, and can be dated to about 1375, again from its inscriptions. The 11th-century dating makes it one of the oldest known cumdachs, after the Soiscél Molaisse of 1001–1011. The older "lower" face, which

2700-755: Is a black figure of Satan . Above him hover two angels. Throughout the body of the Gospels, six fully decorated text pages receive treatment comparable to that of the page which began the Breves causae of Matthew. Of these, five correspond to episodes in the Passion story, and one refers to the Temptation. The verso of the folio containing the Arrest of Christ ( 114v ) has a full page of decorated text which reads "Tunc dicit illis Iesus omnes vos scan(dalum)" (Matthew 26:31 ), where Jesus addresses his disciples immediately before his arrest. A few pages later ( folio 124r )

2835-561: Is a compilation of Roman Masses made in the sixth or seventh century for use in Gaul, so that the composers of Roman books who were at that time introducing the Roman Rite into Gaul might have a source from which to draw their material. He suggests Gregory of Tours (died 594) as possibly the compiler. The " Gelasian Sacramentary " contains everything needed by a priest in charge of a Roman titular or parish church. The archetype, now lost,

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2970-677: Is a meticulous re-working of material from the Old Gelasian Sacramentary and certain other sacramentaries of the Gregorian type usually called Type 2 Gregorian (known today only from a single extant manuscript, the Paduense Sacramentary , Padua, Bibl. Cap., cod. D.47). The Gellone Sacramentary is divided into two parts. The first part includes the Temporal and Sanctoral in one continuous series, following

3105-466: Is accompanied by many full-page miniature illustrations, while smaller painted decorations appear throughout the text in unprecedented quantities. The decoration of the book is famous for combining intricate detail with bold and energetic compositions. The characteristics of the insular manuscript initial, as described by Carl Nordenfalk, here reach their most extreme realisation: "the initials ... are conceived as elastic forms expanding and contracting with

3240-414: Is again centred on a cross with a large oval rock crystal stone at the centre and lobed surrounds, and other gems. The inscription, engraved on plain silver plaques, runs round the border and the spaces between the cross and border have four engraved figures of the crucified Christ, Virgin and Child, a bishop making a blessing gesture, and a cleric holding a book (possibly St John). The inscription "invokes

3375-481: Is always on display at Trinity, opened at either a major decorated page or a text page with smaller decorations. In 2000, the volume containing the Gospel of Mark was sent to Canberra , Australia, for an exhibition of illuminated manuscripts. This was only the fourth time the Book of Kells had been sent abroad for exhibition. The volume suffered what has been called "minor pigment damage" while en route to Canberra. It

3510-463: Is found a very similar decoration of the phrase "Tunc crucifixerant Xpi cum eo duos latrones" (Matthew 27:38 ), Christ's crucifixion together with two thieves. In the Gospel of Mark, another decorated page ( folio 183r ) gives a description of the Crucifixion (Mark 15:25 ), while the final (and decorated) page of Mark (folio 187v) describes Christ's Resurrection and Ascension (Mark 16:19 –20 ). In

3645-489: Is found on folios 1 through 19v, folios 276 through 289, and folios 307 through the end of the manuscript. Hand A, for the most part, writes eighteen or nineteen lines per page in the brown gall ink common throughout the West. Hand B is found on folios 19r through 26 and folios 124 through 128. Hand B has a somewhat greater tendency to use minuscule and uses red, purple and black ink and a variable number of lines per page. Hand C

3780-503: Is found throughout the majority of the text. Hand C also has a greater tendency to use minuscule than Hand A. Hand C uses the same brownish gall ink used by hand A and wrote, almost always, seventeen lines per page. Additionally a fourth scribe named Hand D has been hypothesized, to whom folio 104r was attributed. There are several differences between the text and the accepted Gospels. In the genealogy of Jesus , which starts at Luke 3:23, Kells names an extra ancestor. At Matthew 10:34 ,

3915-443: Is likewise awash in a mass of swirling and knotted decoration. Within this mass of decoration are hidden animals and insects. Three angels arise from one of the cross arms of the chi. This miniature is the largest and most lavish extant Chi Rho monogram in any Insular Gospel book, the culmination of a tradition that started with the Book of Durrow. The Book of Kells contains two other full-page illustrations, which depict episodes from

4050-528: Is missing the Evangelist portrait but retains its Evangelist symbols page ( folio 129v ). The Gospel of Luke is missing both the portrait and the Evangelist symbols page. The Gospel of John, like the Gospel of Matthew, retains both its portrait (folio 291v, see at right) and its Evangelist symbols page ( folio 290v ). It can be assumed that the portraits for Mark and Luke and the symbols page for Luke at one time existed but have been lost. The ornamentation of

4185-549: Is mostly written in Latin; only the last three folios are in old Irish . These contain a short treatise on the Mass and, on the last page, folio 67v, three spells "against injury to the eye, thorns, and disease of the urine". The Latin sections contain extracts from the Gospel of John (opening with f 1), which were probably from another manuscript and are the most heavily illuminated, then the order of Mass and some special Masses (f 12),

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4320-448: Is presented as an interlaced ornament within the b of the lib monogram. Generationis is broken into three lines and contained within an elaborate frame in the right lower quadrant of the page. The entire assemblage is contained within an elaborate border, further decorated with elaborate spirals and knot work , many of which are zoomorphic. The opening words of the gospel of Mark, Initium evangelii Iesu Christi ("The beginning of

4455-611: Is sometimes called the Sacrementary of King Pepin . The family of manuscripts copied from it are generally called Frankish Gelasian or Eighth-Century Gelasian sacramentaries. The most faithful copy is considered to be the Sacramentary of Gellone , Bibliothèque nationale de France MS Latin 12048, copied around 780. About a dozen other manuscripts of the Frankish Gelasian type are extant. The Frankish Gelasian

4590-547: Is thought that the vibrations from the aeroplane's engines during the long flight may have caused the damage. The Book of Kells contains the four Gospels of the Christian scriptures written in black, red, purple, and yellow ink in an insular majuscule script, preceded by prefaces, summaries, and concordances of Gospel passages. Today, it consists of 340 vellum leaves, or folios, totalling 680 pages. Almost all folios are numbered at recto, bottom left. One folio number, 36,

4725-529: Is today detached from the case, is in silver-gilt copper alloy, with a large cross inside a border that carries the inscription in Irish, which also runs along the arms of the cross. The centre of the cross was later replaced ("severely embellished" as the National Museum put it), probably at the same time as the later face, by a setting for a large stone (now missing) with four lobed sections, similar to

4860-482: Is usual with insular work, there was no use of gold or silver leaf in the manuscript. The pigments for the illustrations included red and yellow ochre, green copper pigment (sometimes called verdigris ), indigo, and possibly lapis lazuli . These would have been imported from the Mediterranean region and, in the case of the lapis lazuli (also known as ultramarine ), from northeast Afghanistan . Though

4995-981: The Cathach of St. Columba , the Ambrosiana Orosius , fragmentary Gospel in the Durham Dean and Chapter Library (all from the early 7th century), and the Book of Durrow (from the second half of the 7th century). From the early 8th century come the Durham Gospels , the Echternach Gospels , the Lindisfarne Gospels (see illustration at right), and the Lichfield Gospels . Among others, the St. Gall Gospel Book belongs to

5130-538: The Old Library at Trinity since the 19th century. The manuscript's rise to worldwide fame began in the 19th century. The association with St. Columba, who died the same year Augustine brought Christianity and literacy to Canterbury from Rome, was used to demonstrate Ireland's cultural primacy, seemingly providing "irrefutable precedence in the debate on the relative authority of the Irish and Roman churches". Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were invited to sign

5265-880: The Roman Missal , particularly those that, like earlier sacramentaries, omitted parts of the Mass not said by the priest. Other books used in the celebration of Mass included the Graduale (texts mainly from the Psalms , with musical notes added), the Evangeliarium or Gospel Book , and the Epistolary with texts from other parts of the New Testament , mainly the Epistles (letters) of Saint Paul . In late mediaeval times, these books began to be combined, for

5400-493: The St Cuthbert Gospel , both with Saint Cuthbert , it may have been produced to mark the "translation" or moving of Columba's remains into a shrine reliquary, which probably had taken place by the 750s. There are at least four competing theories about the manuscript's place of origin and time of completion. First, the book, or perhaps just the text, may have been created at Iona and then completed in Kells. Second,

5535-589: The Stowe manuscripts collection formed by George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham at Stowe House . When the collection was bought by the nation in 1883, it and the other Irish manuscripts were handed over to the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, where it remains, catalogued as MS D II 3. The cumdach, which up to this point had survived together with the book, was later transferred, with

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5670-481: The four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created in a Columban monastery in either Ireland or Scotland, and may have had contributions from various Columban institutions from each of these areas. It is believed to have been created c.  800 AD. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the Vulgate , although it also includes several passages drawn from

5805-415: The recto and verso of each leaf total 680 pages. Since 1953, it has been bound in four volumes, 330 mm by 250 mm (13 inches by 9.8 inches). The leaves are high-quality calf vellum ; the unprecedentedly elaborate ornamentation that covers them includes ten full-page illustrations and text pages that are vibrant with decorated initials and interlinear miniatures, marking the furthest extension of

5940-516: The 9th century coincides with Viking raids on Lindisfarne and Iona, which began c. 793-794 and eventually dispersed the monks and their holy relics into Ireland and Scotland. There is another tradition, with some traction among Irish scholars, that suggests the manuscript was created for the 200th anniversary of the saint's death. Alternatively, as is thought possible for the Northumbrian Lindisfarne Gospels and also

6075-480: The Abbey of Kells; recording charters in important books was a common custom in the medieval period. James Ussher transcribed the charters in his collected works, and they were later translated into English. A blank page at the end of Luke (folio 289v) contains a poem complaining of taxation upon church land, dated to the 14th or 15th century. In the early 17th century one Richardus Whit recorded several recent events on

6210-485: The Book of Durrow or a common model in hand. The Book of Kells contains the text of the four Gospels based on the Vulgate . It does not, however, contain a pure copy of the Vulgate. There are numerous differences from the Vulgate, where Old Latin translations are used in lieu of Jerome's text. Although such variants are common in all the insular Gospels, there does not seem to be a consistent pattern of variation amongst

6345-444: The Book of Kells, which is rather anomalous; the Lindisfarne Gospels have five extant carpet pages and the Book of Durrow has six. The blank verso of folio 33 faces the single most lavish miniature of the early medieval period, the Book of Kells Chi Rho monogram, which serves as incipit for the narrative of the life of Christ. At Matthew 1:18 (folio 34r), the actual narrative of Christ's life starts . This "second beginning" to Matthew

6480-487: The Book of Kells. The description in the Annals of the book as "of Columkille"—that is, having belonged to, and perhaps being made by Columba—suggests that the book was believed at that time to have been made on Iona. Regardless, the book was certainly at Kells in the 12th century, when land charters pertaining to the Abbey of Kells were copied onto some of its blank pages. The practice of copying charters into important books

6615-568: The Canon of the Mass, what would today be called votive masses (e.g., for travellers, in time of trouble, for kings, and so on), masses for the dead, some blessings (of holy water, fruits, trees and so on), and various prayers for special occasions. The Gelasian Sacramentary was revised in the 8th century at the prompting of Pepin the Short , work that was likely undertaken at Flavigny Abbey and completed between 760 and 770. The sacramentary, now lost,

6750-677: The Chi Rho monogram, a page receiving comparable treatment which heralds a "second beginning" of Matthew, the narrative of Christ's life following his genealogy. Another six fully decorated text pages emphasize various points in the Passion story, while a seventh corresponds to the Temptation. The first eleven pages of the extant manuscript begin with a decorated list of Hebrew names, followed by ten pages of Eusebian canon tables framed by architectural elements. Additionally, fourteen pages feature large decorative elements which do not extend throughout

6885-548: The Evangelists), and Eusebian canon tables . It is probable that, like the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Books of Durrow and Armagh, part of the lost preliminary material included the letter of Jerome to Pope Damasus I beginning Novum opus , in which Jerome explains the purpose of his translation. It is also possible, though less likely, that the lost material included the letter of Eusebius to Carpianus, in which he explains

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7020-495: The Gospel of Jesus Christ"), Luke, Quoniam ("Forasmuch"), and John, In principio erat verbum verum ("In the beginning was the True Word"), are all given similar treatments. Although the decoration of these pages was most extensive in the Book of Kells, they are all decorated in the other Insular Gospel books. The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus , followed by his portrait. Folio 32v (top of article) has

7155-550: The Gospel of Luke, folio 203r faces the illustration of the Temptation, itself an illumination of the text (Luke 4:1 ) beginning the Temptation narrative. Finally, folio 285r is a fully decorated page corresponding to another moment of the Passion, (Luke 23:56 -Luke 24:1 ) between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Since the missing folios of John contain another Passion narrative, it is likely that John contained full pages of decorated text that have been lost. Apart from

7290-510: The Gospels is further emphasised by the decoration of the Eusebian canon tables. The canon tables illustrate the unity of the Gospels by organising corresponding passages from the Gospels. The Eusebian canon tables normally require twelve pages. In the Book of Kells, the makers of the manuscript planned for twelve pages (folios 1v through 7r) but for unknown reasons, condensed them into ten, leaving folios 6v and 7r blank. This condensation rendered

7425-463: The Latin language after the fall of the Roman Empire and the establishment of monastic life which entailed the production of texts. Cassiodorus in particular advocated both practices, having founded the monastery Vivarium in the sixth century and having written Institutiones , a work which describes and recommends several texts—both religious and secular—for study by monks. Vivarium included

7560-666: The Masses of the Patrons of Rome, St Peter and St Paul, continually allude to the city. Louis Duchesne concluded that the Leonine book is a private collection of prayers copied without much intelligence from the official books at Rome about the year 538. He arrives at this date especially through an allusion in the Secret of a Mass placed in June (but really an Easter Mass), which refers to

7695-583: The NMI), which was also given a makeover in the 1370s, for a patron some 50 km from Lorrha. They were probably added to by the same artist, something that can only rarely be seen in the few survivals of medieval goldsmith 's work. Sacramentary In the late 20th century, the word sacramentary was used in the United States and some other English-speaking countries for the English translation of

7830-630: The Order of Baptism and of Communion for the newly baptised (f 46v), and the Order for the Visitation of the Sick and Last Rites (f 60). The original manuscript is dated to before 800 based on the inclusion of prayers for St. Ruain (d. 792); his monastery in Tallaght , in today's County Dublin is the most likely place where it was first copied. The version of the mass used is thought to be older than

7965-463: The Passion story. The text of Matthew is illustrated with a full-page illumination of the Arrest of Christ ( folio 114r ). Jesus is shown beneath a stylised arcade while being held by two much smaller figures. In the text of Luke, there is a full-sized miniature of the Temptation of Christ ( folio 202v ). Christ is shown from the waist up on top of the Temple. To his right is a crowd of people, perhaps representing his disciples. To his left and below him

8100-405: The Vulgate text of the Gospels. The tables in the Book of Kells are however unusable, first because the scribe condensed the tables in such a way as to make them confused. Second and more importantly, the corresponding chapter numbers were never inserted into the margins of the text, making it impossible to find the sections to which the canon tables refer. The reason for the omission remains unclear:

8235-441: The addition of his own feast as well as other feasts that had not been celebrated before the seventh century. The book sent by Pope Adrian to Charlemagne has gone through inevitable development over the centuries since Gregory finished it. It represents the Roman Rite of the time when it was sent - the eighth century. In the Frankish kingdom, copies were made for churches and additions of other Masses and prayers were added according to

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8370-427: The amount of Sacred Scripture read at Mass and, to a lesser extent, the prayer formulas. This necessitated a return to having the readings in a separate book, known as the Lectionary . A separate Book of the Gospels , with texts extracted from the Lectionary, is recommended, but is not obligatory. The Roman Missal continues to include elaborate rubrics, as well as antiphons etc., which were not in sacramentaries. Of

8505-399: The anniversary of a bishop's consecration, and so on. Evidently the writer has compiled as many alternative Masses for each occasion as he could find. In many cases he shows carelessness. Many of his Masses in natali episcoporum have nothing at all to do with that anniversary, and are really Masses for Sundays after Pentecost ; in the middle of a Mass of St Cornelius and St Cyprian he has put

8640-479: The anti-classical and energetic qualities of Insular art. The Insular majuscule script of the text appears to be the work of at least three different scribes. The lettering is in iron gall ink , and the colours used were derived from a wide range of substances, some of which were imported from distant lands. The manuscript is on display to visitors in Trinity College Library, Dublin , and shows two pages at any one time, rotated every 12 weeks. A digitised version of

8775-426: The artist Helen Campbell D'Olier in the 19th century. She used vellum and reproduced the pigments used in the original manuscript. Photographs of her drawings were included in Sullivan's study of the Book of Kells, first printed in 1913. In 1951, the Swiss publisher Urs Graf Verlag Bern produced the first facsimile of the Book of Kells. The majority of the pages were reproduced in black-and-white photographs, but

8910-570: The beginning of the Breves causae of Matthew. The book was designed so that each of the Gospels would have an elaborate introductory decorative programme. Each Gospel was originally prefaced by a full-page miniature containing the four evangelist symbols, followed by a blank page. Then came a portrait of the evangelist which faced the opening text of the Gospel, itself given an elaborate decorative treatment. The Gospel of Matthew retains both its Evangelist portrait ( folio 28v ) and its page of Evangelist symbols (folio 27v, see above). The Gospel of Mark

9045-485: The beginning of the 9th century, and how the book survived is not known. The earliest historical reference to the book, and indeed to the book's presence at Kells, can be found in a 1007 entry in the Annals of Ulster . This entry records that "the great Gospel of Columkille [Columba], the chief relic of the Western World, was wickedly stolen during the night from the western sacristy of the great stone church at Cenannas on account of its wrought shrine ". The manuscript

9180-457: The body of an elongated animal. Apart from the eagle, it is rather similar to the portrait of John in the Book of Mulling , and its style has been compared to the 8th century Lindisfarne Gospels . Other folio initials are of the "knotted wire" type (f 48r & 51r). Two folios show human faces within the letters O (f 12v) and D, with the latter resembling anthropomorphic designs in the Book of Kells . The manuscript's small size indicates that it

9315-456: The body of the text, after folios 177, 239, and 330. The missing bifolium 335-36 was found and restored in 1741. The extant book contains preliminary matter, the complete text of the Gospels of Matthew , Mark and Luke , and the Gospel of John through John 17:13. The remaining preliminary matter consists of two fragmentary lists of Hebrew names contained in the Gospels, Breves causae (Gospel summaries), Argumenta (short biographies of

9450-405: The book in 1849. The book's artistry was influential on the Celtic Revival ; several Victorian picture books of medieval illuminations featured designs from the book which were in turn extensively copied and adapted, patterns appearing in metalwork, embroidery, furniture and pottery among other crafts. Over the centuries, the book has been rebound several times. During a 19th-century rebinding,

9585-408: The book may have been produced entirely at Iona. Third, the manuscript may have been produced entirely in the scriptorium at Kells. Finally, it may have been the product of Dunkeld or another monastery in Pictish Scotland, though there is no actual evidence for this theory, especially considering the absence of any surviving manuscript from Pictland. Although the question of the exact location of

9720-482: The book to Charlemagne, said that it was composed "by our holy predecessor, the divinely speaking Pope Gregory". The fact that the essential foundation of this sacramentary goes back to St Gregory, indeed to long before his time, is certain. We do not doubt that he made such changes as those that are acclaimed to him by his biographer, and that these changes stand in this book. But his work has not remained untouched, additions have been made to it since his time. For example,

9855-408: The book's production will probably never be answered conclusively, the first theory, that it was begun at Iona and continued at Kells, is widely accepted. Regardless of which theory is true, it is certain that the Book of Kells was produced by Columban monks closely associated with the community at Iona. The historical circumstances which informed the Book of Kells' production were the preservation of

9990-416: The canon tables of Eusebius of Caesarea . These tables, which predate the text of the Vulgate, were developed to cross-reference the Gospels. Eusebius divided the Gospel into chapters and then created tables that allowed readers to find where a given episode in the life of Christ was located in each of the Gospels. The canon tables were traditionally included in the prefatory material in most medieval copies of

10125-562: The canon tables unusable. The decoration of the first eight pages of the canon tables is heavily influenced by early Gospel Books from the Mediterranean, where it was traditional to enclose the tables within an arcade (as seen in the London Canon Tables ). The Kells manuscript presents this motif in an Insular spirit, where the arcades are not seen as architectural elements but rather become stylised geometric patterns with Insular ornamentation. The four evangelist symbols occupy

10260-543: The centre of the later face. The inscription has missing sections because of this, but can mostly be reconstructed: "It asks for a prayer for the abbot of Lorrha, Mathgamain Ua Cathail (+1037) and for Find Ua Dúngalaigh , king of Múscraige Tíre (+1033). It also mentions Donnchadh mac Briain , son of Brian Boru , styled 'king of Ireland', Mac Raith Ua Donnchada , king of the Eoganacht of Cashel (+1052) as well as

10395-442: The civil year. It begins in the middle of the sixth Mass for April, and ends with a blessing for the font "In ieiunio mensis decimi" (i. e. the winter Ember days ). In each month groups of Masses are given, often very large groups, for each feast and occasion. Thus, for instance, in June we find twenty-eight Masses for St Peter and St Paul, one after another, each headed: "Item alia"; there are fourteen for St Lawrence, twenty-three for

10530-461: The consecration of the church in 814. The manuscript's date and place of production have been subjects of considerable debate. Traditionally, the book was thought to have been created in the time of Columba , possibly even as the work of his own hands. This tradition has long been discredited on paleographic and stylistic grounds: most evidence points to a composition date c.  800, long after St. Columba's death in 597. The proposed dating in

10665-630: The earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina . It is regarded as a masterwork of Western calligraphy and the pinnacle of Insular illumination . The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells , County Meath , which was its home for centuries. The illustrations and ornamentation of the Book of Kells surpass those of other Insular Gospel books in extravagance and complexity. The decoration combines traditional Christian iconography with

10800-470: The edition also featured forty-eight colour reproductions, including all the full-page decorations. Under licence from the Board of Trinity College Dublin, Thames and Hudson produced a partial facsimile edition in 1974, which included a scholarly treatment of the work by Françoise Henry. This edition included all the full-page illustrations in the manuscript and a representative selection of the ornamentation of

10935-520: The entire manuscript may also be seen online. The Book of Kells is one of the finest and most famous, and also one of the latest, of a group of manuscripts in what is known as the Insular style , produced from the late 6th through the early 9th centuries in monasteries in Britain and Ireland and in continental monasteries with Hiberno-Scottish or Anglo-Saxon foundations. These manuscripts include

11070-408: The entire page. It is highly probable that there were other pages of miniature and decorated text that are now lost. Henry identified at least three distinct artists. The "Goldsmith" was responsible for the Chi Rho page, using colour to convey metallic hues. The "Illustrator" was given to idiosyncratic portraits, having produced the Temptation and the Arrest of Christ. The "Portrait Painter" executed

11205-586: The first part, down to this note, as being the book sent by Hadrian. However, its attribution to Pope Gregory I (590-604) shows us that Gregory did much to reform the liturgy. A constant tradition ascribes such a work to him, as to Gelasius. John the Deacon (eighth century) in his Life of Gregory expresses this tradition: "He collected the Sacramentary of Gelasius in one book, leaving out much, changing little, adding something." Pope Adrian himself, in sending

11340-441: The folios were of no standard size, but they were cropped to the current size during a 19th-century rebinding. The text area is approximately 250 by 170 mm. Each text page has 16 to 18 lines of text. The manuscript is in remarkably good condition considering its age, though many pages have suffered some damage to the delicate artwork due to rubbing. The book must have been the product of a major scriptorium over several years, yet

11475-737: The form of the decorated letters found in the incipit pages for the Gospels is surprisingly consistent in Insular Gospels. Compare, for example, the incipit pages of the Gospel of Matthew in the Lindisfarne Gospels and in the Book of Kells , both of which feature intricate decorative knotwork patterns inside the outlines formed by the enlarged initial letters of the text. (For a more complete list of related manuscripts, see: List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts ). The Abbey of Kells in Kells, County Meath , had been founded, or refounded, from Iona Abbey , construction taking from 807 until

11610-471: The foundation of the Roman Missal . A non-comprehensive list of significant sacramentaries from the 7th to the 13th centuries. In addition: The benedictional is a related type of book containing a collection of benedictions or blessings in use in the Roman Catholic Church , essentially collected from those in sacramentaries. The Anglo-Saxon Benedictional of St. Æthelwold is

11745-577: The incipit is a free translation into Latin of the Greek original λογος rather than a mere copy of the Roman version. Over the centuries multiple annotations have been written in the book, recording page information and historical events. During the 19th century, former Trinity Librarian J.H. Todd numbered the book's folios at recto, bottom left. On several of the blank pages among the preliminaries (folios 5v-7r and 27r) are found land charters pertaining to

11880-481: The late 8th century and the Book of Armagh (dated to 807–809) to the early 9th century. Scholars place these manuscripts together based on similarities in artistic style, script, and textual traditions. The fully developed style of the ornamentation of the Book of Kells places it late in this series, either from the late 8th or early 9th century. The Book of Kells follows many of the iconographic and stylistic traditions found in these earlier manuscripts. For example,

12015-476: The left margin of the page. Folio 127v has an embellished line beginning the final chapter of Matthew, which gives an account of the Resurrection. A similar treatment is given to a line in folio 188v (Luke 1:5 ), which begins an account of the Nativity. The book had a sacramental rather than educational purpose. Such a large, lavish Gospel would have been left on the high altar of the church and removed only for

12150-420: The left-hand column of folio 1r. A miniature of the four evangelist symbols, now much abraded, occupies the right-hand column. The miniature is oriented so that the volume must be turned ninety degrees to view it properly. The four evangelist symbols are a visual theme that runs throughout the book. They are almost always shown together to emphasise the doctrine of the four Gospels' unity of message. The unity of

12285-399: The manuscript was encased within a protective cumdach (a reliquary book-shrine), which was refurbished and embellished a number of times in the late medieval period, in particular before 1381, the year of death of Pilib O'Ceinneidigh (Philip O'Kennedy), Lord of Ormond , who then had possession of the shrine. It is known as the "Stowe" Missal as it reappeared in the 18th century as part of

12420-497: The manuscript, and reflects the early usage of Celtic Christianity . The five original scribes of the Missal wrote in an angular majuscule script. A more cursive hand was used by a scribe signing himself Moél Caích (f 37) who revised several pages and added to the mixture of Gallican and Roman elements found in the text of the prayers. A later scribe, working before 1033, decorated the plain initials with heads and other designs using

12555-415: The margins of the major illuminated folios 8r, 29r, 203r and 292r. On folio 32v, he added the annotation "Jesus Christus" in the spandrels of the composition's architecture, identifying the portrait's subject as Christ; in the 19th century, this annotation was covered by white paint, altering the composition. Plunket also wrote his name on multiple pages, and added small animal embellishments. The text

12690-399: The most famous of the relatively infrequent illuminated manuscript examples, which are mostly Early Medieval. Book of Kells The Book of Kells ( Latin : Codex Cenannensis ; Irish : Leabhar Cheanannais ; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. [58], sometimes known as the Book of Columba ) is an illustrated manuscript and Celtic Gospel book in Latin , containing

12825-493: The name of the maker, Donnchadh Ua Taccáin a monk 'of the community of Cluain ( Clonmacnoise )'." The four spaces between cross and border have panels of geometric openwork decoration, and there are small panels with knotwork decoration at the corners of the border and inside the curved ends of the cross members. The sides have unsilvered copper alloy plaques with figures of angels, animals, clergy and warriors, set in decorative backgrounds. The newer "upper" face, of silver-gilt,

12960-490: The numbers for the canon tables, are not used on the text pages of the Gospels. It is unlikely that these numbers would have been used, even if the manuscript had been completed, because the chapter numbers corresponded to old Latin translations and would have been difficult to harmonise with the Vulgate text. The Argumenta are collections of legends about the Evangelists. The Breves causae and Argumenta are arranged in

13095-696: The octave of Pentecost (there were at the time no special masses for the season after Pentecost), together with ordinations, prayers for all the rites of the catechumenate, blessing of the font and oil at the Easter Vigil, dedication of churches, and reception of nuns. Book II includes the Proper of Saints throughout the year, the Common of Saints , and the Advent Masses. Book III includes a great number of masses marked simply "For Sunday" (i.e., any Sunday),

13230-410: The opening few words of each Gospel is lavish; their decoration is so elaborate that the text itself is almost illegible. The opening page (folio 29r) of Matthew may stand as an example. (See illustration at left.) The page consists of only two words: Liber generationis ("The book of the generation"). The lib of Liber is turned into a giant monogram which dominates the entire page. The er of Liber

13365-405: The ornate swirling motifs typical of Insular art. Figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts, together with Celtic knots and interlacing patterns in vibrant colours, enliven the manuscript's pages. Many of these minor decorative elements are imbued with Christian symbolism and so further emphasise the themes of the major illustrations. The manuscript today comprises 340 leaves or folios ;

13500-399: The pages were badly cropped, with small parts of some illustrations being lost. The book was also rebound in 1895, but that rebinding broke down quickly. By the late 1920s, several folios had detached completely and were kept separate from the main volume. In 1953, bookbinder Roger Powell rebound the manuscript in four volumes and stretched several pages that had developed bulges. One volume

13635-450: The portraits of Christ and the Evangelists. Almost every page contains a decorative element incorporating colour; throughout the text pages, these are commonly stylized capitals. Only two pages—folios 29v and 301v—are devoid of pigment colouration or overt pictorial elements, but even they contain trace decorations in ink. The extant folios of the manuscript start with the fragment of the glossary of Hebrew names. This fragment occupies

13770-471: The preface of a Mass of St Euphemia, a Mass for the new civil year is inserted among those for martyrs; Masses for St Stephen's day (26 December) with evident allusions to Christmas are put in August, obviously through a confusion with the feast of the finding of his relics (3 August). That the collection is Roman is obvious. It is full of local allusions to Rome. For instance, one of the collects to be said by

13905-441: The presence of lapis lazuli has long been considered evidence of the great cost required to create the manuscript, recent examination of the pigments has shown that lapis lazuli was not used. The lavish illumination programme is far greater than any other surviving Insular Gospel book. Thirty-three of the surviving pages contain decorative elements which dominate the entire page. These include ten full-page miniature illustrations:

14040-599: The reading of the Gospel during Mass, with the reader probably reciting from memory more than reading the text. It is significant that the Chronicles of Ulster state the book was stolen from the sacristy , where the vessels and other accoutrements of the Mass were stored, rather than from the monastic library. Its design seems to take this purpose in mind; that is, the book was produced with appearance taking precedence over practicality. There are numerous uncorrected mistakes in

14175-683: The rest of the academy's collection of antiquities, to the National Museum of Ireland (museum number 1883, 614a). The old story was that the manuscript and shrine left Ireland after about 1375, as they were collected on the Continent in the 18th century, but this appears to be incorrect, and they were found inside a stone wall at Lackeen Castle near Lorrha in the 18th century, where they had been hidden for centuries from Norman and later Protestant attackers, as well as Irish looters. There are 67 folios , measuring 15 cm x 12 cm. It

14310-594: The sacramentary, a book now often called the Old Gelasian Sacramentary , Vatican Reg. lat. 316, was made in the 7th or early 8th century for use in the abbey of St Denis at Paris. It includes five interpolated sections that introduce liturgical practices of Gaul from the time the manuscript was copied, but the interpolations are easily distinguished from the Roman sections of the text. The Old Gelasian Sacramentary consists of three books. Book I includes masses for feasts and Sundays from Christmas Eve to

14445-517: The sacraments and prayers, but Gelasius did not compile the later sacramentary that bears his name. Alongside the sacramentaries of the Gelasian type, all of them hybrids of Roman and Frankish practices, several older Gallican sacramentaries survive from the Merovingian period, all based on a mix of Gallican and some Irish traditions with little emphasis on Roman practices. We know most about

14580-457: The same page in "clumsy" Latin, including a famine in 1586, the accession of James I , and plague in Ireland during 1604. The signature of Thomas Ridgeway , 17th century Treasurer of Ireland , is extant on folio 31v, and the 1853 monogram of John O. Westwood , author of an early modern account of the book, is found on 339r. Three notes concerning the book's pagination are found together on

14715-464: The scribe may have planned to add the references upon the manuscript's completion, or he may have deliberately left them out so as not to spoil the appearance of pages. The Breves causae and Argumenta belong to a pre-Vulgate tradition of manuscripts. The Breves causae are summaries of the Old Latin translations of the Gospels and are divided into numbered chapters. These chapter numbers, like

14850-507: The spaces under and above the arches. The last two canon tables are presented within a grid. This presentation is limited to Insular manuscripts and was first seen in the Book of Durrow. The preliminary matter is introduced by an iconic image of the Virgin and Child (folio 7v), the first representation of the Virgin Mary in a Western manuscript. Mary is shown in an odd mixture of frontal and three-quarter pose. This miniature also bears

14985-399: The specific church's requests. These additions were taken partly from the Gelasian book, partly from Gallican sources. Though at first the additions were carefully distinguished from the original book, they were eventually incorporated in it. Between the ninth and eleventh centuries the book, including the additions, returned to Rome, took the place of the original pure Roman Rite, and so became

15120-428: The text of the Breves causae is decorated and contained within an elaborate frame. The two-page spread of the miniature and the text makes a vivid introductory statement for the prefatory material. The opening lines of six of the other seven pieces of preliminary matter are enlarged and decorated (see above for the Breves causae of Luke), but no other section of the preliminaries is given the same full-page treatment as

15255-399: The text pages, together with some enlarged details of the illustrations. The reproductions were all in full colour, with photography by John Kennedy, Green Studio, Dublin. In 1979, Swiss publisher Faksimile-Verlag Luzern requested permission to produce a full-colour facsimile of the book. Permission was initially denied because Trinity College officials felt that the risk of damage to the book

15390-503: The text, sometimes on both sides, after the bifolia were folded. Prick marks and guidelines can still be seen on some pages. The vellum is of high quality, although the folios have an uneven thickness, with some being close to leather while others are so thin as to be almost translucent. As many as twelve individuals may have collaborated on the book's production, of whom four scribes and three painters have been distinguished. The book's current dimensions are 330 by 250 mm. Originally,

15525-400: The text. Lines were often completed in a blank space in the line above. The chapter headings that were necessary to make the canon tables usable were not inserted into the margins of the page. In general, nothing was done to disrupt the look of the page: aesthetics were given priority over utility. Some of the first faithful reproductions made of pages and elements of the Book of Kells were by

15660-478: The textual groups of sacramentaries of the Roman Rite still extant, either complete or in part, the most important are the three known by the names Leonine, Gelasian, and Gregorian. The "Leonine Sacramentary" is the oldest. Only one manuscript of it is known, written in the seventh century. This manuscript was found in the library of the cathedral chapter of Verona, was published by Joseph Bianchini in 1735, and

15795-601: The third of these books, the so-called "Gregorian Sacramentary", which is in three parts: Charlemagne, anxious to introduce the Roman Rite into his kingdom, wrote to Pope Hadrian I between the years 781 and 791 asking him to send him the service-book of the Roman Church. The book sent by the pope is the nucleus of the Gregorian Sacramentary. It was then copied a great number of times, so that there are many versions of it, all containing additions made by

15930-490: The thirty-three fully illuminated pages, fourteen receive substantial decoration not extending over the entire page. Among the Preliminaries and apart from the fully decorated page beginning the Breves causae of Matthew, six pages begin six of the eight sections of Breves causae and Argumenta with embellished names. The exception is folio 24v which introduces the final section of the Breves causae of John without

16065-554: The use of priests saying Mass without the assistance of a choir and other ministers. This led to the appearance of the Missale plenum ("full or complete Missal ") containing all the texts of the Mass (without the music of the choir parts). Pope Pius V published in 1570 an official version of such a Missal, known as the Roman Missal . At the behest of the Second Vatican Council , Pope Paul VI greatly increased

16200-572: The use of the canon tables. Of all the insular Gospels, only the Lindisfarne manuscript contains this letter. There are two fragments of the lists of Hebrew names; one on the recto of the first surviving folio and one on folio 26, which is currently inserted at the end of the prefatory matter for John. The first list fragment contains the end of the list for the Gospel of Matthew. The missing names from Matthew would require an additional two folios. The second list fragment, on folio 26, contains about

16335-550: The usual Gregorian structure, with the canon of the mass given at Easter. The second part includes the episcopal blessings and other episcopal material, prayers for monastic use, the ordo of baptism, and a summary of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum . The attribution to Pope Gelasius (r. 492–496) likely derives from the Liber Pontificalis , which states that Gelasius wrote various prefaces to

16470-459: The various insular texts. Evidence suggests that when the scribes were writing the text they often depended on memory rather than on their exemplar. The manuscript is written primarily in insular majuscule with some occurrences of minuscule letters (usually e or s ). The text is usually written in one long line across the page. Françoise Henry identified at least three scribes in the manuscript, whom she named Hand A, Hand B, and Hand C. Hand A

16605-405: The various scribes. The original book sent by Hadrian to Charlemagne is easily distinguished from the different editions because the first to supplement Hadrian's book from other sources was a conscientious person who carefully noted where his additions begin, adding a note: "So far the preceding book of Sacraments is certainly that edited by the holy Pope Gregory." In the earlier versions we may take

16740-556: The very shrine of art. You will make out intricacies, so delicate and subtle, so exact and compact, so full of knots and links, with colours so fresh and vivid, that you might say that all this was the work of an angel, and not of a man. Since Gerald claims to have seen this book in Kildare, he may have seen another, now lost, book equal in quality to the Book of Kells, or he may have misstated his location. The Book of Kells remained in Kells until 1654. In that year, Cromwell 's cavalry

16875-491: Was apparently never finished, the projected decoration of some pages appearing only in outline. It is believed that the original manuscript consisted of about 370 folios, based on gaps in the text and the absence of key illustrations. The bulk of the missing material (or, about 30 folios) was perhaps lost when the book was stolen in the early 11th century. In 1621 the prominent Anglican clergyman James Ussher counted just 344 folios; presently another four or five are missing from

17010-516: Was by him attributed arbitrarily to Pope Leo I (440-61). On the strength of this attribution the book still bears the name Leonine. It represents a pure Roman use with no Gallican elements. But it is not a book compiled for use at the altar. The confusion of its parts shows this. It is a fragment, containing no Canon nor Ordinary of the Mass, but a collection of Propers (Collects, Secrets, Prefaces, Postcommunions, and Orationes super populum), of various Masses with ordination forms, arranged according to

17145-402: Was given a decorative programme equal to those prefacing the Gospels, its Chi Rho monogram having grown to consume the entire page. The letter chi dominates the page with one arm swooping across the majority of the page. The letter rho is snuggled underneath the arms of the chi. Both letters are divided into compartments which are lavishly decorated with knotwork and other patterns. The background

17280-407: Was given emphasis in many early Gospel Books, so much so that the two sections were often treated as separate works. The second beginning starts with the word Christ . The Greek letters chi and rho were normally used in medieval manuscripts to abbreviate the word Christ . In Insular Gospel books, the initial Chi Rho monogram was enlarged and decorated. In the Book of Kells, this second beginning

17415-415: Was intended to be a portable "pocket book" that could be carried by a cleric for mass in nearby towns and villages, or used at baptisms or for last rites. The manuscript retains its cumdach or book-shrine, a distinctively Irish form of reliquary case for books associated with an important religious figure; this is one of only five early examples. It is a box with metalwork plaques attached with nails to

17550-823: Was likely written in the mid-7th century, possibly for the Church of St Peter in Chains in Rome. It features modifications introduced by Gregory the Great (590–604) in the canon of the Mass (notably the insertion of the prayer Hanc igitur ), but does not yet contain either the Agnus Dei made official by Pope Sergius I (r. 687–701) or the Masses for the Thursdays in Lent added by Pope Gregory II (r. 715–731). The oldest extant copy of

17685-400: Was mistakenly double-counted. As a result, the pagination of the entire book is reckoned thus: folio 1r — 36v, 36*r — 36*v (the double-counted folio), and 37r — 339v. The majority of the folios are part of larger sheets, called bifolia , which are folded in half to form two folios. The bifolia are nested inside of each other and sewn together to form gatherings called quires . On occasion,

17820-458: Was quartered in the church at Kells, and the governor of the town sent the book to Dublin for safekeeping. Henry Jones , then Bishop of Clogher and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dublin , presented the manuscript to Trinity College in Dublin in 1661, and it has remained there ever since, except for brief loans to other libraries and museums. It has been on display to the public in

17955-421: Was recovered a few months later—minus its golden and bejewelled cover—"under a sod ". It is generally assumed that the "great Gospel of Columkille" is the Book of Kells. If this is correct, then the book was in Kells by 1007 and had been there long enough for thieves to learn of its presence. The force of ripping the manuscript free from its cover may account for the folios missing from the beginning and end of

18090-400: Was too high. By 1986, Faksimile-Verlag had developed a process that used gentle suction to straighten a page so that it could be photographed without touching it and so won permission to publish a new facsimile. After each page was photographed, a single-page facsimile was prepared so the colours could be carefully compared to the original and adjustments made where necessary. The completed work

18225-415: Was widespread in the medieval period, and such inscriptions in the Book of Kells provide concrete evidence about its location at the time. The Abbey of Kells was dissolved because of the ecclesiastical reforms of the 12th century. The abbey church was converted to a parish church in which the Book of Kells remained. The 12th-century writer Gerald of Wales , in his Topographia Hibernica , described seeing

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