“One of Ireland’s greatest cultural treasures” comments Medievalists.net, “it is set apart from other manuscripts of the same period by the quality of its artwork and the sheer number of illustrations that run throughout the 680 pages of the book.” The work attracts almost a million visitors to Dublin every year.
The ancient masterpiece is a stunning example of Hiberno-Saxon style, thought to have been composed on the Scottish island of Iona in 806, then transferred to the monastery of Kells in County Meath after a Viking raid. Consisting mainly of copies of the four gospels, as well as indexes called 'canon tables', the manuscript is believed to have been made primarily for display, not reading aloud, which is why the images are elaborate and detailed while the text is carelessly copied with entire words missing or long passages being repeated.
The pages, originally captured in 1990, have recently been rescanned using state of the art imaging technology. These new digital images offer the most accurate high resolution images to date.
To view, click here.
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