The Book of Kells is to Ireland what the Sistine Chapel is to Italy. Images from this Eighth Century illuminated manuscript containing the Four Gospels of the New Testament are plastered all over Dublin. By the time you get to the real thing you have already seen it hundreds of times on posters, on socks, on ties etc. Really good facsimiles of the entire book can be purchased for less than $100 and you can download an app for your iphone for $7. Each day two pages from the original book, which is at the Library at Trinity College in Dublin, are on display. Is it worth going to see the original when the images are so accessible? Yes. Very much so. First of all there is the accompanying exhibit that places the manuscript in its historic context and explains its iconography as well as its execution, from preparing the animal skin for the vellum to the selection and grinding of plants and minerals to make the inks. There is also a video showing how the figures and text may have been executed. In a darkened chapel lies the opened book under glass in a carved wood display case. It is carefully lit from above and visitors are allowed to take their time and examine the two pages being shown. The day we were there, the book was open to the image of Christ as a Lion and its opposite page of text. It is remarkable how vibrant and fresh the colors are. Today we often describe colors as “popping,” This goes way beyond “pop.” The colors shimmer and reflect with great depth and richness. Although small (330×250 mm) it is as monumental as Michaelangelo’s masterpiece. Below is a reproduction.

Christ as Lion

Not to be ignored is the fabulous Trinity Library where we were allowed to take photographs.