Book of Kells Pages on Display

Gospel of Mark folio 183v

Mark’s gospel opens with the preaching of John the Baptist and the baptism of Christ. We are presented with a description of the Crucifixion while the final pages describe Christ’s Ressurection and Ascension.

The decorative scheme is rich with animal imagery, used throughout the Book of Kells as symbols of Christ to assert his divinity: lions, fish, snakes and peacocks. Lions, for example, sometimes appear in the Book of Kells exhaling a colourful breath. This is connected to the medieval belief that lion cubs are born dead and that following birth, the male lion returns after three days to breathe upon the cub to bring them to life.There are parallels here between the lion cub and Jesus Christ, who is thought to been resurrected three days after his death.

Similarly, snakes within the book also have a double meaning. The creatures are usually thought of as representing evil in the world – as in the Garden of Eden – and are synonymous with the devil. However, an alternative meaning can be gleaned from the book’s serpents also, as they shed their skins and renew themselves, which could again represent the resurrection of Christ.

Peacocks, too, carry a Christian message within the Book of Kells. The beautiful birds are integral to the decoration of most of the major pages in the manuscript. They appear at the end of text lines and in prime positions next to images of Christ. They are thought to represent Christ’s incorruptibility or immortality, due to the ancient belief that peacock flesh does not decay.

Gospel of Mark folio 184r

The word Et (‘And’), formed by a mass of contorted biting creatures, is repeated twice and spans lines 3-6 of folio 183v, recounting the crucifixion of Jesus between two thieves.

The frenzy of decoration appears at the most dramatic part of the text: Et cum eo crucifigunt duos latrones unum a dextris et alium a sinistris eius ‘And with him they crucify two thieves: the one on his right hand, and the other on his left’. A small lion sits beneath line 6 on folio 183v and points to the text but looks in the opposite direction – as if he cannot bear to gaze upon the words describing the fate of Christ. The scheme of decoration echoes the tenor of the text: on line 11 a large cross of yellow outlined in red fills the E of Et praetereuntes blasphemabant eum ‘And they that passed by blasphemed him’. The scribe has split praetereuntes into two words.

The colour palette of the decoration changes on the facing folio (184r) to a sombre purple and red as Jesus reaches the final hours of his suffering. Interlaced snakes form the word Et (And) repeated on lines 6, 8 and 11, drawing the reader’s attention to the text describing Christ’s final hours of life. The decorative flourish on the final line of this folio, the peacock, is a symbol of hope. The bird directs his gaze (and the reader) towards the unfolding story of Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension to heaven which is recounted in the following pages.