Month: May 2021

The Cathach – The Earliest Irish Manuscript

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St. Columba (521-597) founded a group of several significant monasteries in Ireland and Scotland. The Cathach, a sixth-century copy of the psalms in Latin, is traditionally ascribed to him and is the oldest extant Irish manuscript of the Psalter. The book’s decoration contains many elements of early Christian art but does not contain the interlacing scrollwork that would later become one of the hallmarks of Irish illumination. Many of its elaborated initials are directly related to the La Tène style, while others incorporate crescent-shaped motifs with conjoined spirals reminiscent of the Celtic Neolithic era symbol of the triskelion. An additional ornamental initial depicts a fish bearing a cross, a widely used Coptic motif suggesting a Mediterranean influence.

  • Ornamental initials from the Cathach,
    6th century,
    Royal Irish Academy
  • Ornamental initial from the Cathach,
    6th century,
    Royal Irish Academy

Another embellishment used in the calligraphic decoration is diminuendo. This textual design comprises a large capital letter followed by smaller letters, decreasing in size until equivalent to the lower-case size of the body of the text. This technique would be used to an even greater degree a century later in the Book of Durrow.

  • Folio 48r from the Cathach, 6th century,
    Royal Irish Academy
  • Folio 44v from the Cathach, 6th century,
    Royal Irish Academy

Sources:

  1. “The Cathach / The Psalter of St Columba.” Royal Irish Academy. April 15, 2021. Accessed May 24, 2021. https://www.ria.ie/cathach-psalter-st-columba.
  2. Mitchell, Frank. Treasures of Early Irish Art. New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977.

Portraits of the Evangelists

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There are only two full portraits of the evangelists in the Book of Kells. One of John and one of Matthew at the commencement of their Gospel texts. The remaining Gospels of Mark and Luke begin with intricate illuminations introducing their testaments without the inclusion of author portraits.

At the start of the Gospel of Mark, folio 129v depicts the symbolic representations of the four evangelists, but this should not be confused with an author portrait. Iterations of this imagery also appear in the Gospels of John and Matthew.

Continuing the conversation regarding the symbolic use of color in the Book of Kells, it is interesting to compare the evangelist portraits with the portrait of Christ discussed in the earlier post.

  • Book of Kells, Folio 291v, portrait of John, Trinity College, Dublin
  • Book of Kells, Folio 28v, portrait of Matthew, Trinity College, Dublin
  • Book of Kells, Folio 32v, portrait of Christ, Trinity College, Dublin

As we can see, both John and Matthew gaze out toward the viewer in a similar pose to Christ’s. However, there are key differences that distinguish them from the realm of the Son of God. To begin with, both of the evangelists have halos, where Christ has a cross extending from his head. The garments of the two evangelists consist of a red robe, similar to Christ’s. However, the tunics beneath their robes are muted earth tones rather than the blue of Christ’s tunic, grounding them in humanity (red), distinguishing them from the divine (blue) nature of Christ.

The treatment of the hair and beards in the portraits of John and Matthew is also interesting to examine. Both of the evangelists have fair hair with slightly darker reddish-brown beards. This color combination is also evident in the portrait of Christ but with heightened dramatic contrast. The gold of Christ’s hair is much brighter, and the reddish-brown of the beard strikingly darker. As compelling as this artistic choice is to investigate in terms of symbolic coloring, we must also consider the possibilities of other reasons for its occurrence, such as fading due to age, as well as the probability that several different hands created these images.