Art That Inspires Me · Celtic and Irish Art · Manuscripts

What’s So Special About the Book of Kells?

I got a lot of confused questions yesterday while unboxing my deluxe The Book of Kells by Bernard Meehan. I thought that everybody was familiar with the Book of Kells, but I see that's not true, so let me explain what the Book of Kells is and why it's so special.

31 Days of Medieval Manuscripts

The Book of Durrow – Day Seventeen of Medieval Manuscripts

The Book of Durrow has always been fascinating to me, probably because it was the first medieval manuscript I studied in college. The Book of Durrow is stylistically related to the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels, both of which I've previously discussed, but the Book of Durrow pre-dates the other two. In fact, it is the earliest-known… Continue reading The Book of Durrow – Day Seventeen of Medieval Manuscripts

Celtic and Irish Art · Gargoyles

An Unusual Take on Gargoyles

By Colin (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons I recently finished reading Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization, The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. My prior training in medieval art history had addressed the importance of the medieval Irish and Scottish… Continue reading An Unusual Take on Gargoyles

Art Guides · Celtic and Irish Art · Medieval Art and Architecture

A Guide to Medieval Irish Art

Most people are familiar with Irish art through the famous Book of Kells and through Celtic Revival motifs popular today. In this article, you’ll learn about medieval Irish artistic motifs, the types of art most likely to survive from the period, key historical context (including why Irish and Celtic aren’t synonyms), and more.

Celtic and Irish Art

Art O’Murnaghan and the Book of Resurrection

As I'm pretty sure I've mentioned several times before, I am a big fan of medieval illuminated manuscripts. I've always found it a bit sad that the tradition has very little place in the modern world, which is why I was quite intrigued to read about this manuscript in a book about Celtic art. I've… Continue reading Art O’Murnaghan and the Book of Resurrection