The Book of Kells (the Book of Columba)
The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus. At Matthew 1:18, the actual narrative of Christ’s life starts. This “second beginning” to Matthew was given emphasis in many early Gospel Books, so much so that the two sections were often treated as separate works. The second beginning begins with the word Christ. The Greek letters chi and rho were often used in mediaeval 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 was given a decorative programme equal to those that preface the individual Gospels. Folio 32 verso has a miniature of Christ enthroned. (It has been argued that this miniature is one of the lost evangelist portraits. However, the iconography is quite different from the extant portraits, and current scholarship accepts this identification and placement for this miniature.) Facing this miniature, on folio 33 recto, is the only carpet page in the Book of Kells, which is rather anomalous; the Lindisfarne Gospels has 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 mediaeval period, the Book of Kells Chi Rho monogram, which serves as incipit for the narrative of the life of Christ.
In the Book of Kells, the Chi Rho monogram has 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 knot work and other patterns. The background 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 Books and is the culmination of a tradition that started with the Book of Durrow.
The Book of Kells contains two other full-page miniatures, which illustrate episodes from 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 is a black figure of Satan. Above him hover two angels.
The verso of the folio containing the Arrest of Christ contains a full page of decorated text which begins “Tunc dicit illis”. Facing the miniature of the Temptation is another full page of decorated text (folio 203r “Iesus autem plenus”). In addition to this page, five other full pages also receive elaborate treatment. In Matthew, there is one other full-page treatment (folio 124r, “Tunc crucifixerant Xpi cum eo duos latrones”). In the Gospel of Mark, there are also two pages of decorated text (folio 183r, “Erat autem hora tercia”, and folio 187v, “[Et Dominus] quidem [Iesus] postquam”). The Gospel of Luke contains two pages of fully decorated text (folio 188v, “Fuit in diebus Herodis “, and folio 285r, “Una autem sabbati valde”). Although these texts do not have miniatures associated with them, it is probable that miniatures were planned to accompany each of these texts and have either been lost or were never completed. There is no surviving full page of text in the Gospel of John other than the Incipit. However, in the other three Gospels, all of the full pages of decorated text, except for folio 188c, which begins the Nativity narration, occur within the Passion narrative. However, since the missing folios of John contain the Passion narrative, it is likely that John contained full pages of decorated text that have been lost.
Almost all of the folios of the Book of Kells contain small illuminations like this decorated initial. The decoration of the book is not limited to the major pages. Scattered through the text are decorated initials and small figures of animals and humans often twisted and tied into complicated knots. Many significant texts, such as the Pater Noster have decorated initials. The page containing text of the Beatitudes in Matthew (folio 40v) has a large miniature along the left margin of the page in which the letter B which begins each line is linked into an ornate chain. The genealogy of Christ found in the Gospel of Luke (folio 200r) contains a similar miniature in which the word qui is repeatedly linked along the left margin. Many of the small animals scattered throughout the text serve to mark a “turn-in-the-path” (that is, a place where a line is finished in a space above or below the original line). Many other animals serve to fill spaces left at the end of lines. No two of these designs are the same. No earlier surviving manuscript has this massive amount of decoration.
The decorations are all high quality and often highly complex. In one decoration, which occupies a one-inch square piece of a page, there are 158 complex interlacements of white ribbon with a black border on either side. Some decorations can only be fully seen with magnifying glasses, although lenses of the required power are not known to have been available until hundreds of years after the book’s completion. The complicated knot work and interweaving found in Kells and related manuscripts have many parallels in the metalwork and stone carving of the period. Since their gradual rediscovery from the 19th century on, these designs have also had an enduring popularity. Indeed many of these motifs are used today in popular art including jewellery and tattoos.
Taken from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells