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Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Lindisfarne Gospels Incipit Page Mark |
Object ID# |
MC 1045 |
Artist (original) |
Scribe Eadfrith became Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698 |
Date |
c. 698 AD |
Description |
The Lindisfarne Gospels is a Celtic masterpiece of early medieval book painting (illuminated manuscript). Each of the four Gospels opens with a miniature depicting its evangelist, accompanied by his symbol, a decorative 'carpet' page (so called because of their intricate, woven patterns) and 'incipit' page (beginning the text with a major initial, followed by lines of decorated capitals). It is one of the few early gospel books to have survived complete, comprising 258 folios. The Lindisfarne Gospels was written and illuminated in the Northumbrian island monastery from which it takes its name at the end of the seventh century. A colophon added to the manuscript 250 years after its completion but generally accepted as reliable, tells us that it was written in honour of God and St. Cuthbert and gives the names of the four craftsmen involved. The scribe was Eadfrith, who became Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698, the binder was Aethilwald, and ornaments of gems and precious metals were applied to the binding by Billfrith the Anchorite. The fourth contributor was Aldred who added a translation into Old English between the lines of the original Latin text and also provided the colophon. Modern study has shown the Eadfrith was responsible for both the text and decoration of the whole manuscript, apart from a very few minor details. The book must therefore have been completed before his death in 721. It seems most likely that it was in fact made to honour the elevation of St. Cuthbert's relics in March 698. The manuscript's history can be traced almost without interruption from its production to the present day. One of the proudest treasures of Durham Cathedral from the tenth century until the Reformation, it later belonged to Sir Robert Cotton, passing with his library into the newly founded British Library upon its foundation in 1973. |
Place of Origin |
Britain |
Medium |
Page |
Metzger Location |
Christian History |
Location of Original |
The British Library London. Cotton MS Nero D IV |
Dimensions Details |
Height: 300 mm Weight: 230 mm |