The monks were seeking to convey Christ’s message through illustration and integrated those illustrations with words to tell the complete story. In fact, some of the more elaborate illustrations are actually extremely ornate calligraphy spelling out the opening phrases of the Gospels that follow them. A fine example of this is The Incarnation Initial (also known as the Chi Rho page). At first glance, it appears to be a decorative design of Celtic knotwork and figures, but is, in fact, a composition of letters that spell out the phrase XPI B GENERATIO (“Now the birth of Jesus Christ”), which are the opening words of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. (1)

This unusual use of text as graphic adornment is a common theme throughout the manuscript; however, the monks were equally adept at using imagery to convey the complex messages of the Bible. An example of this is found in an illustration of the capital letter “N” in one section of the text. The letter is constructed of two intertwined men facing each other while tugging on each other’s beards. Their expressions are angry and the little picture is an expressive visual of a struggle. The “N” begins the sentence “No man can serve two masters,” so the illustration serves the dual purpose of being part of the text as well as visually explaining the meaning of the text. (2)

(1) George Otto Simms, Exploring The Book of Kells, The O’Brien Press Ltd., Dublin, Ireland, 1988 pages 48-50.

(2) Carl Nordenfalk, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Painting, Chatto & Windus Ltd., London, England, UK, 1977, pages 16-19.