A masterpiece of early Irish art, this illuminated manuscript is thought to have been started in a monastery on Iona, in Scotland, or in Kells itself around AD 804, where it was completed. The book is a richly coloured, minutely decorated version of the Gospels, written on vellum. For a while the book lay in Kells church. It was stolen from there in 1007 and found two and a half months later in a bog, without it's jewel-encrusted cover. The book was returned to Kells, but in the 17th century it was given to Trinity College, Dublin, where it remains today.

 

The Arrest of Christ, from the Book of Kells.
A dramatic scene of this kind is unusual in an art
favouring abstract decoration and the representation
of formally posed single figures. The relationship
between captors and victim is vividly conveyed.

 

Gospel according to St Matthew.
Unsurpassed for beauty, variety and intricacy of decorative detail,
this wonderful page from the Book of Kells is the single most celebrated
feature of the work. The text consists of the opening words of the Gospel
according to St Matthew, 'Now the birth of Christ…'
Yet the riot of ornamentation hides a number of images that seem
included for purposes of pure amusement: cats and rats, human
heads, three angels, and two moths!

 

Canon Table.
From the book of Kells.The Book of Kells is the finest
illuminated manuscript from the "golden age" of Ireland,
and the finest surviving example of manuscripts in the majuscule
script saved for luxurious books to be used on the altar for
important occasions. It contains a latin text of the four gospels,
with prefaces, summaries of the narrative, and canon tables
or concordances of gospel passages.