About a year ago, Rocket Man and I traveled to Dublin, Ireland. We were there in the middle of August. As Spain is so hot in the summer (though not humid like Houston), we chose to go north in the hopes of experiencing cooler climes.
On Saturday, August 11, 2007, we began our day by visiting Trinity College. TC has an interesting history, complete with the fact that at one time, if I recall correctly, catholics who wanted to study there had to get special permission from the Pope in order to do so. Additionally, TC houses one of the most amazing versions of the gospels I've ever seen: The Book of Kells.
Ireland is a wet place, and in this it did not disappoint our first day. Rain drizzled down on us that morning, and the effect on the college buildings was grand. I love the look of wet gray stone; it reminds me of my own alma mater, Virginia Tech. Hokie stone is full of depth when wet, and TC's buildings are the same.
Our main reason for visiting the college was to take in the Turning Darkness Into Light exhibit housed in the building that also contains the library, known as the Long Room. The exhibit describes the Book of Kells, its origins and creators as well as the methods involved.
Rocket Man and I bought this small book so that we would be able to remember what we learned at the college. We decided to do that because of the sheer number of people who were there to see the exhibit:
This line appeared in less than five minutes just after we got in line ourselves...and we were already waiting outside of the building. Luckily, the entrance was just inside the door, so we didn't have long to wait. Unfortunately, there wasn't really any timing in place to make sure there weren't a ton of people all in there at once...so looking at everything was easy, but reading the information provided proved to be difficult at times.
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript transcribed by three monks, scribes A, B, and C, around 800 using insular illumination. Insular comes from the Latin for island; this refers to Ireland and Britain, who had common style back then that differed from the rest of the world.
The book contains the four Gospels in Latin written on calf vellum in brown gall ink. There is also use of black, red, purple and yellow hues that were made with substances from all over the world. Although it appears as if gold or silver leaf were used in the illustrations, that is not the case. The pages really light up like precious stones or metals though ink was all that was used.
The book contains canon tables that notate the connections between the four books and therefore establish the unity of the Gospels. Each book itself is preceded by extremely intricate and amazing full-page illustrations. First comes the virgin and child, then an evangelists page, a portrait page, and then an elaboration of the opening words or letters.
There is one other special page that is placed at the "second beginning of Matthew". This is at Matthew 1:18, where the story of Christ's life begins. Chi and Rho, the first two letters of Christ in Greek, were often used to abbreviate Christ in medieval manuscripts. They were considered so important that one full page was used to illustrate them.
Within the pages of the Book of Kells, one can find every single Celtic symbol. The infinite detail of patterns is amazing. The fully illustrated beginning pages of each gospel are literally covered with minute patterns that can also be found in other objects from the same time period. The painstaking work of the monks, and only three of them, is amazing. The text pages contain smaller illustrations that are equally detailed.
We were able to see one portrait page and a couple of text pages while we were there. They only show four pages total at a time. While the informative section of the exhibit was crawling with people, there was someone who made sure that only a certain number of visitors were ogling the four Book of Kells pages at a time. So while we had a hard time reading all that we wanted to, we did get a good look at the real deal.
When you finish your viewing, visitors can go up into the Long Room - the library that holds some of the oldest, largest, and smallest books I've ever seen. They are old enough that all of them are hand bound. This room was actually my favorite part of the experience because I love books and old things in general. Here is a photo of the room from a post card:
Once we exited the exhibit and made a couple of purchases to remember our visit, we took a couple more photos at the college. Here I am in front of the bell tower:
The next photo shows the only building that we saw that was not made of the gray stone. The brick and greenery reminds me of the University of Virginia campus. Completely different from Virginia Tech, but equally beautiful.
Overall, we had a good time at Trinity College viewing one of the oldest and most intricate books ever made. The experience was less than it could have been because of the time of year and number of people present, but I am very glad that we decided to go. Had we not, I definitely would regret it.
What else did we see in Dublin that day? You'll have to check back to find out!
On Saturday, August 11, 2007, we began our day by visiting Trinity College. TC has an interesting history, complete with the fact that at one time, if I recall correctly, catholics who wanted to study there had to get special permission from the Pope in order to do so. Additionally, TC houses one of the most amazing versions of the gospels I've ever seen: The Book of Kells.
Ireland is a wet place, and in this it did not disappoint our first day. Rain drizzled down on us that morning, and the effect on the college buildings was grand. I love the look of wet gray stone; it reminds me of my own alma mater, Virginia Tech. Hokie stone is full of depth when wet, and TC's buildings are the same.
Our main reason for visiting the college was to take in the Turning Darkness Into Light exhibit housed in the building that also contains the library, known as the Long Room. The exhibit describes the Book of Kells, its origins and creators as well as the methods involved.
Rocket Man and I bought this small book so that we would be able to remember what we learned at the college. We decided to do that because of the sheer number of people who were there to see the exhibit:
This line appeared in less than five minutes just after we got in line ourselves...and we were already waiting outside of the building. Luckily, the entrance was just inside the door, so we didn't have long to wait. Unfortunately, there wasn't really any timing in place to make sure there weren't a ton of people all in there at once...so looking at everything was easy, but reading the information provided proved to be difficult at times.
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript transcribed by three monks, scribes A, B, and C, around 800 using insular illumination. Insular comes from the Latin for island; this refers to Ireland and Britain, who had common style back then that differed from the rest of the world.
The book contains the four Gospels in Latin written on calf vellum in brown gall ink. There is also use of black, red, purple and yellow hues that were made with substances from all over the world. Although it appears as if gold or silver leaf were used in the illustrations, that is not the case. The pages really light up like precious stones or metals though ink was all that was used.
Folio 309r; Page of text by scribe A
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 79.
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 79.
The book contains canon tables that notate the connections between the four books and therefore establish the unity of the Gospels. Each book itself is preceded by extremely intricate and amazing full-page illustrations. First comes the virgin and child, then an evangelists page, a portrait page, and then an elaboration of the opening words or letters.
Folio 2r; canon table
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 6
Folio 7v; Virgin and Child with angels
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 12.
Folio 27v; symbols of the four evangelists
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994. p. 8.
Folio 28v; portrait of Matthew
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 37.
Folio 292r; the beginning of John's gospel
In principio erat verbum - 'In the beginning was the Word'
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 31.
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 6
Folio 7v; Virgin and Child with angels
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 12.
Folio 27v; symbols of the four evangelists
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994. p. 8.
Folio 28v; portrait of Matthew
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 37.
Folio 292r; the beginning of John's gospel
In principio erat verbum - 'In the beginning was the Word'
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 31.
There is one other special page that is placed at the "second beginning of Matthew". This is at Matthew 1:18, where the story of Christ's life begins. Chi and Rho, the first two letters of Christ in Greek, were often used to abbreviate Christ in medieval manuscripts. They were considered so important that one full page was used to illustrate them.
Folio 34r; Chi-Rho page
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 25.
Meehan, Bernard; The Book of Kells': an illustrated introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994, p. 25.
Within the pages of the Book of Kells, one can find every single Celtic symbol. The infinite detail of patterns is amazing. The fully illustrated beginning pages of each gospel are literally covered with minute patterns that can also be found in other objects from the same time period. The painstaking work of the monks, and only three of them, is amazing. The text pages contain smaller illustrations that are equally detailed.
We were able to see one portrait page and a couple of text pages while we were there. They only show four pages total at a time. While the informative section of the exhibit was crawling with people, there was someone who made sure that only a certain number of visitors were ogling the four Book of Kells pages at a time. So while we had a hard time reading all that we wanted to, we did get a good look at the real deal.
When you finish your viewing, visitors can go up into the Long Room - the library that holds some of the oldest, largest, and smallest books I've ever seen. They are old enough that all of them are hand bound. This room was actually my favorite part of the experience because I love books and old things in general. Here is a photo of the room from a post card:
Once we exited the exhibit and made a couple of purchases to remember our visit, we took a couple more photos at the college. Here I am in front of the bell tower:
The next photo shows the only building that we saw that was not made of the gray stone. The brick and greenery reminds me of the University of Virginia campus. Completely different from Virginia Tech, but equally beautiful.
Overall, we had a good time at Trinity College viewing one of the oldest and most intricate books ever made. The experience was less than it could have been because of the time of year and number of people present, but I am very glad that we decided to go. Had we not, I definitely would regret it.
What else did we see in Dublin that day? You'll have to check back to find out!
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