The monastery continuously fell victim to Viking raids.

It is thought that it was made by brilliant monks in the Sottish monastery of St. A Masterwork Steeped in Legendĭisagreement continues to rule over the origins of the Book of Kells to this day. Practically every page of the text is furnished with elaborately colored and symbolic illustrations. The splendid illumination of the book represents an incomparable highpoint of Irish artistic work. It contains the four Gospels, a compiled canon written by Eusebius of Caesarea concerning the concordance directories and possessory documents of the Abbey of Kells. The mystical masterpiece, wrapped in legends, is one of the oldest books in the world and was selected to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011. The field of research has unanimously identified the 8th century Book of Kells as a textbook example of insular illumination. This painting style is described as insular illumination and developed in Ireland and in surrounding missionary regions since Christianization in the 6th century. At the same time, an unmistakable, independent style of illustration developed at the periphery of Europe – far removed from the turmoil of the Migration Period and outside of earlier Roman civilization. In the 6th century, illumination in the center of the foundering Western Roman Empire lived on at a modest standard and merged into Merovingian art. The Most Beautiful Books of Hours and Prayer Books The Most Beautiful Facsimiles Under 1,000€

Book of kells