Origins and History of the Book of Kells

Origins and History of the Book of Kells
The greatest achievement of Irish religious art, the Book of Kells, was formerly held to be earlier than the Lindisfarne Gospels (which are dated approximately from 700 CE) but is now generally assigned to the late eighth or early ninth century. It can only have been made in one of two places: Iona or Kells. It seems probable, though, that due to its resemblances to the Lindisfarne Gospels it was at least begun at Iona (a traditional centre of holy learning and illumination, from where Saint Columba launched his mission to Christianize Scotland and where he was later buried), the base from which Lindisfarne had been colonized about the year 635. Unfortunately, Vikings frequently raided the island, burning the monastery and killing the monks.

In 804, after two Viking raids, the monks of Iona fled from their exposed island monastery to Meath, in Ireland. They obtained a grant of land at Cenannus (Kells) and established there the metropolis of the Columban Order. But they regretted abandoning Iona and made various attempts to resettle there, carrying with them the sacred objects and books of the monastery. Finally in 849 all were brought back to Kells, the great manuscript probably with them.

That the manuscript was at Kells two centuries later we know from an entry in the Annals of Ulster (1007). And as it is hardly probable that such a work should have been begun during the troubled years between 804 and 849 (and since most of its decorative art points to a date within the eighth century) it is reasonable to assume that an important part of it had been produced in the scriptorium of Iona before the Viking raids drove the monks to Meath. In any case the most probable date of the Book of Kells is between 760-804 and 815-20; and it is likely that different painters were working at it for several years. Again, in view of A. M. Friend's evidence that in its Canon Tables and Evangelist portraits it has borrowed motifs from the continental Ada Group, these elements must be dated at the earliest about the close of the eighth century.

The removal of the Book of Kells - along with the relics of Saint Columba - to the Irish mainland, failed to secure its safety. In 1007, it was seized by Vikings who plundered its jewelled cover. It was later unearthed in a ditch, miraculously intact with only a few sections missing.

After the surrender of the monastery of Kells to the Crown by Abbot Richard Plunket in 1539, the manuscript passed into the hands of one Geralde Plunket of Dublin, possibly a relative of the abbot, and from Plunket to James Ussher; a highly versatile and accomplished scholar of the day, and one of the earliest students of Trinity College, Dublin. Finally the manuscript passed with Ussher's library to Trinity College, where it is today.

Who Wrote the Book of Kells? (Scribes, Illustrators)?
At the beginning of the eleventh century the book belonged to the church of Kells and was called "the great gospel of Colum-Cille." This was supposed to be because, the book was written and illuminated during the time of Saint Columba (Saint Columcille) (c.521-97), perhaps even by Columba himself. However, when it is said that the Book of Kells may have been written by Columba it is not meant that he was also the artist from whose pen the elaborate ornamentation of the volume proceeded. Columba was reputed to have been a most industrious, indeed almost fanatical, scribe. But the scribe and the illuminator were seldom the same person. The illuminations were frequently executed much later than the manuscript itself and the original plan of the Book of Kells was apparently so vast that it could not be completed in a short time. The spaces to be decorated were left blank by the scribe. Several painters, possibly at different periods, were employed to fill them; there are, indeed, still to be seen some pages where the ornaments of the framework are unfinished, being only partially sketched in outline.

Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that Columba even wrote the script, since paleographic research shows that the style of Latin script used did not emerge until well after his death. In response, some experts in Irish Art consider it may have been created in 797, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Saint Columba's death.

Four Illuminators or Artists
The scholar Francoise Henry believes that among the several artists who may have worked on the illumination at different periods four are readily identifiable on stylistic grounds. One artist, she feels, was obviously entrusted with the cruciform cover page known as "the page of the eight circles", the great Chi-Rho, and the initial page of each of the gospels, except the Quoniam. She sees in him "the goldsmith", someone familiar with work in precious metals, in enamel and in niello. The delicacy of his work is impressive, as is his interest in asymmetry. Francoise Henry recognizes another individualist in the portraitist of the three Evangelists, the page composed of square frames, and the Quoniam at the beginning of the Gospel of Saint Luke. The third is the "illustrator", the author of the Virgin and Child, the Tunc Crucifixerat, and the Temptation. Finally, a fourth artist is responsible for many less important contributions. For more, see: Irish Art in the early Christian Period (Methuen, London, 1940) by Francoise Henry.