Thanks to the lovely film , large numbers of people who have never taken an art history class or studied paleography now know about The Book Of Kells. For those who haven’t seen the film, go now and watch it. The Book of Kells is a medieval manuscript created by monastics in the ninth century, and presently resides in Trinity College Library, in Dublin. It’s a beautifully illuminated version of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) with the customary additions like the canon tables. The real point of the Book of Kells is not so much the text, as it is the art work, and the embellishments applied to the calligraphic text. The most famous of the pages in Kells is the one at the top of this post; F. 34R (click it for a larger version). The page in the Book of Kells known as F.34R is based on the verse from Matthew 1:18 that in English in the 1611 version begins “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

This passage is often referred to as the second beginning of Matthew. The Latin text, the one used most often in medieval manuscripts, begins “XPI autem generatio . . .” F. 34R is referred to as the Chi Rho page because it features the Greek letters Chi, Rho and Iota. The letters that look like XPI that form the primary page elements are respectively, the Chi, the Rho, and the Iota. These three letters are used as the abbreviated form of Christ’s name in Greek, and open that passage from Matthew in Latin. If you look closely at the image, you’ll see some of the “hidden” images that Kells is so famous for. There’s a cat with rats that seems to be playing with (or eating) a mass wafer. There are moths (symbols of rebirth and rejuvenation) and several winged figures. My favorite is the otter holding a fish (the otter is lying on his back; look for the fish he holds). If you look at the image of F. 34R, you can see the generatio at the bottom right. Here’s another example of a Chi-Rho page, to the right.

This one is from the Book of Lindisfarne, produced in England sometime between 680 and 720. avenged sevenfold hoodie irelandThe Book of Lindisfarne is in the British library now. wholesale sweatshirts 80/20It’s the beginning of the same verse in Matthew as the Kells Chi-Rho page. dub fx hoodieYou can still see the Chi and the Rho, very clearly. zumiez hoodies obeyYou can click the image for a larger view, or see the entire incredible manuscript in a digital facsimile here; led zeppelin hoodie ebayit uses the Silverlight plugin form Microsoft. matryoshka hoodie for sale

There’s a collection of high quality images here. 1. Eornustlice ðá se Haélend ácenned wæs on Iudeiscre Bethleem, on ðæs cyninges dagum Herodes, ðá comon ða tungol-wítegen fram east-dæle to Hierusalem, 2. And cwaédon, Hwær ys se, Iudea cyning ðe ácenned ys? sóþlíce we gesáwon hys steorran on east-daéle, and we comon us him to ge-eadmédenne. 3. Ðá Herodes ðæt gehýrde ðá wearþ he gedréfed, and eal Hierosolim-waru mid him. 4. And ðá gegaderode Herodes ealle ealdras ðæra sacerda, and folces wríteras, and áxode, hwær Crist ácenned waére. 5. Ðá saédon hí him, On Iudeiscere Bethlem; wítodlíce ðus ys áwriten þurh ðone wítegan, 6. And ðú, Bethleem, Iudea land, wítodlíce ne eart ðú læstþ on Iuda ealdrum; of ðé forþ-gaéþ se here-toga, se ðe recþ mín folc Israhel. 7. Herodes ðá clypode on sunder-spraéce ða tungel-wítegan, and befran hí georne hwænne se steorra him æteowde. 8. And he ásende hí to Bethlem, and ðs cwæþ, Faraþ, and áxiaþ geornlíce be ðam cílde, and ðonne ge hyt gemétaþ, cýdaþ eft me, ðæt ic cume and me to him gebidde.

9. Ðá hí ðæt gebod gehýrdon, ðá férdon hí. se steorra, ðe hí on east-daéle gesáwon, him befóran férde, oð he stód ofer, ðær ðæt cíld wæs. 10. Sóþlíce ðá, ða tungel-wítegan ðone steorran gesáwon, [hig] fægenodon swýðe myclum gefean. 11. And ganggende into ðam húse, hí gemétton ðæt cíld midand hi áþénedon hí, and hí to him gebaédon. And hí untýndon hyra gold-hordas, and him lác brohton, ðæt wæs gold, and récela, and myrre. The Christmas story from Matthew 2, c. 995, taken from Joseph Bosworth, (London: John Russell Smith, 1865), p. 6. Posted to the Medtextl list by Jim Marchand, Dec. 20, 2004. Professor Marchand observes: “Bosworth is positive this is translated from the Vetus Latina and not the Vulgate. disambiguation, e.g. Hierosolim-waru “Jerusalemites” for Hierusalem.” Buy Me A Coffee!)submitted by π Rendered by PID 688 on app-11 at 2017-02-10 10:57:32.427616+00:00 running fda76ad country code: SG.

Secret of Kells artwork by Tomm Moore (update) /#!/cartoonsaloon and I found out that there is a Tomm Moore artwork of Aisling for sale on ebay. This is an original watercolour painting of Aisling! Unfortunately there are already a lot of bidders and the bidding has gone up to 602 British pounds. That is $1446.12 Australian dollars! The price is probably going to get higher because there are four more days of bidding. If it was cheaper and I could afford it, I would definately buy this painting.(Oh and just making it clear in case some one asks. I do not own the above image. This is from ebay. I am just putting this up to show you Tomm Moore's artwork. Tomm Moore painted this.)Its a charity auction by The Grand Appeal to raise money for the Bristol Children's Hospital. There are also other animation artworks up for auction on their ebay site.I don't think I could pay more than $1000 for an artwork though!- Jessica --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Update on the artwork for sale:Wednesday 16th November 2011It has been sold to a lucky bidder for 642 British Pounds (approximately $999.95 Australian dollars according to ebay).