# Book of Kells [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MINIATURIST, Irish]() - Date: 0751-0800 - Technique: Manuscript \(Ms. A. I. 6 \[58\]\), 330 x 241 mm ## Commentary Book of Kells c. 800 Manuscript \(Ms. A. I. 6 \[58\]\), 330 x 241 mm Trinity College Library, Dublin The Book of Kells contains the four gospels in a Latin translation. There are 340 folios \(678 pages\) in colour decorated with miniatures, initials and symbols. It is likely that each gospel was intended to be headed by a page with a full-size miniature of the evangelist symbol, an evangelist portrait and a decorative rendering of the initial of the first word of the text. Scholars differentiate between three main miniaturists: the "goldsmith", who decorated the introductory pages of the individual gospels with a degree of freedom reminiscent of the metal work of the day; the "illustrator", to whom miniatures can be assigned; and finally the "portraitist", who painted the evangelist portraits. The picture shows two facing pages from the Book of Kells \(folios 7v-8r\). On the left is a full-page miniature of the Virgin Mary with the Child. Mary is sitting on a throne shown in side view and is surrounded by four angels. This portrayal is probably based on a model from the East. On the right is the beginning of the Gospel of St Matthew, with a particularly beautifully decorated text page. ## Related artworks - [Book of Durrow]() - [Book of Durrow]() - [Book of Durrow]() - [Book of Durrow]() - [Book of Durrow]() - [Book of Durrow]() - [Book of Kells]() - [Book of Kells]() - [Book of Kells]() - [Book of Kells]() - [Book of Kells]() - [Book of Kells]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()