Page 15 - IRISH HISTOEY - CHAPT 1_Neat

A Bare Bones History of Ireland Chap 1

in the history of West European culture.
The former dates from the dawn of that rich flowering of Christian art in Ireland, the
influence of which was to spread so far into continental Europe during the next two
centuries; the latter, from the time at which this art had attained its fullest and most
idiosyncratic development.

The Book of Kells: is celebrated for its lavish decoration. The manuscript contains the
four Gospels in Latin based on a Vulgate text, written on vellum (prepared calfskin),
in a bold and expert version of the script known as "insular majuscule". It must have
been close to the year 800 that the Book of Kells was written, although there is no way
of knowing if the book was produced wholly at Iona or at Kells, or partially at each
location.

The Long Library, Trinity College Dublin, home of the Book of Kells

Illuminated Pages from the Bool of Kells

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