Megan
M. Hitchens
In the last few
decades there has been an increasing interest in
the construction of design pages in Insular
manuscripts from the seventh to the ninth
centuries. Most interest has been focussed on the
Lindisfarne Gospels, with Janet Backhouse drawing
attention to construction marks on the reverse of
some pages in the manuscript, notably ff 26v, 94v
and 211v[
i ], while
several other pages have been analysed by Jacques
Guilmain and Inga Christine Swenson, the latter
concentrating on
symmetry[
ii ].
There has also appeared a new emphasis on the
geometry of page design, resulting in a better
understanding of the methods used. The bulk of the
work in this area has been carried out by the
mathematician, Robert Stevick. Using visible marks
on the front and reverse of pages, Stevick has
attempted to duplicate geometric construction
methods employed by the scribes. To this end, he
has examined pages in the St GalIen Gospels Book,
the cross-carpet pages in the Lindisfarne and
Lichfield Gospels, and the Evangelist pages in the
Book of Durrow and the Echternach Gospels.
[
iii ]
However, all of these
scholars have been wholly concerned with the
physical appearance of the page. None has addressed
the question of why the Insular scribes employed
such geometric methods, which are in some places
extremely complex, nor have they looked at the
meanings and messages implied by the use of
geometry and the numbers associated with this art.
As these manuscripts are all gospels books and were
produced in monastic environments, it seems
reasonable to assume that such constructions were
underpinned by theological considerations. The aim
of this paper is to discuss the possible
theological influences on Insular cross-carpet page
design, with particular attention to f. 33r in
Dublin, Trinity College MS 58, the Book of Kells
(see Fig. 1). The relationship between this page,
with its geometric design, and number theory of the
period will be examined.
Fig 1: Trinity
College Dublin MS 58 (the Book of Kells) f.
33r
Geometry reached the
West through the writings of Plato and the
Pythagoreans. In the Republic, Plato writes that
'what (geometers) really seek is to get sight of
those realities which can be seen only by the
mind.[
iv ] For
the followers of Pythagoras, number and geometric
form were not merely related but direct
equivalents. Pythagorean writings linked geometry
and number theory, and assigned them cosmological
meanings. For instance, the number one (the perfect
number) and the circle (the perfect shape) both
represent the Creator, while manifestation is
symbolised by three and the
triangle.[
v ]
The Church Fathers
adapted the meanings associated with number to meet
their own spiritual requirements. Origen (184-254
AD) wrote that God made the world according
to some definite number, predetermined by
himself.
[
vi ] Philo
of Alexandria, writing in the first century,
stressed the importance of the numbers six and
seven in the account of the worlds creation
as told in Genesis 1:1 to 2:3
[
vii ] The
world was made in seven days, signifying, according
to Augustine, the seven ages of the world and the
subsequent perfection of the number seven.
[
viii ] The
numbers used in the measurements of Noah's Ark, the
Ark of the Covenant and the Temple of Solomon were
all considered significant by the Church Fathers,
particularly those numbers which appeared both in
these contexts and in the events of Christ's life.
Augustine, possibly the best known of the Church
writers, fully analysed the story of Noah's Ark,
relating not simply the Ark' s dimensions but
number components of the entire story as well to
Christ and to the New Testament covenant. His
interpretation uses several procedures to find
meaning, ranging from simple comparisons to a
detailed manipulation of numbers. Examples of the
simple approach are to be found in his statement
that the members of Noah' s family number eight
because the hope of our resurrection has
appeared in Christ, who rose from the dead on the
eighth day, that is on the day after the seventh,
or Sabbath day, and in his comparison of the
Ark s proportions with those of the human
form, his aim being to show that Christ
appeared in a human body. More complicated
analyses involve breaking down numbers into their
factors. So the length of the Ark, three hundred
cubits, is expressed as six times fifty, for
in the fiftieth day after his resurrection, Christ
sent his Spirit to enlarge the hearts of his
disciples
[and] there are six periods
in the history of this
world.[
ix ]
Augustine sanctioned the use of pagan writers to
illuminate Church doctrine, and frequently quoted
the Bible to demonstrate God' s own use of numbers,
[
x ] thus
ensuring number symbolism a privileged position in
Biblical studies. As Augustine wrote in
The City of God:
We should not
underestimate the significance of numbers, since
in many passages of sacred scripture, numbers
have a meaning for the conscientious
interpreter. Not without reason has it been said
to praise God: Thou hast ordered all things in
measure, number, and weight.
[
xi ]
In their
commentary on the Plan of the Carolingian monastery
of St Gall, Horn and Born chose this passage to
introduce their chapter on sacred numbers. [
[
xii ] The
Plan, for the construction of a new monastery and
surrounding buildings, was drawn in the early part
of the ninth
century,[
xiii ]
making it roughly contemporary with the Book of
Kells. [
xiv ]Throughout
their analysis, Horn and Born point to the
importance of numbers in theological and
secular thought, concentrating particularly
on the numbers three, four, seven, ten, twelve and
forty. According to the authors, these numbers and
the patterns they form recur many times within the
Plan, demonstrating the belief that the
created world was held together by a divinely
ordered system of numerical relationships.
[
xv ]
The sacred
number theory on which the Plan is based came from
the writings of the Church Fathers,
[
xvi ]and
there is abundant evidence that the Insular Church
made use of many of these same works.
[
xvii ]However,
simply recognising that the Insular artists had
access to sacred number theory, and that they made
use of this science, does not answer the question
of why an illuminator should have gone to such
lengths in producing a single page of decoration in
a gospels book. Geometry is a relatively simple
means by which one may produce accurate angles and
proportions. It can also he used to build up a
pleasing and ordered design. However, the reasons
for using geometry in Insular page design go beyond
mere practicalities.
It is reasonable to
assume that bibles and gospels books, as the Word
of God, would be produced according to strict,
scripturally-based guidelines. Unfortunately, there
are no known scribes textbooks, no treatises
on the spiritual justification of page
construction, or other texts to reveal what these
may have been. Rather, it is necessary to rely on a
comparison between these pages, with their
elaborate use of geometry and number, and Biblical
passages referring to construction in a general
sense, in order to understand the approach to their
art taken by the Insular scribes.
There are numerous
verses within the Bible, dealing with building and
construction, which may be applied to page design.
These fall into two categories. First, there are
those that use the allegory of buildings and
foundations in dealing with spiritual development.
The second category speaks of Christ as the stone,
rejected by the builders, which is to become the
corner-stone of the entire work.
The first category
includes such verses as Matthew 7:24-27.
[
xviii ]
This is the parable of the wise man who built his
house upon rock and the foolish man who built his
house upon sand. It was only the house on the firm
foundation that survived. The wise man is compared
to the person who hears Gods word and acts
upon it, and the foolish to the person who hears
but does nothing. The association of building with
wisdom, found in this passage, is already present
in the Old Testament:
If the
Lord does not build the house, the work of the
builders is useless. (Psalm 127:1)
As can be seen
in Augustines interpretation of Noahs
Ark, passages in the Old Testament that can be read
as references or parallels to Christs life
are deemed to be of great importance. They are used
to reinforce the New Testament message. This occurs
with the second category of texts, those referring
to the rejected corner-stone:
The stone
which the builders rejected has become the main
comer- stone. (Psalm 118:22; also quoted in
Matthew 21:42, Luke 20:17 and Mark 12:10)
I am laying in
Zion a chosen corner-stone of great worth.
Whoever has faith in it will not be put to
shame. (Isaiah 28:16)
This Jesus is
the stone, rejected by you the builders, which
has become the corner-stone. (Acts
4:11)
Here, Christ is
clearly identified as the corner-stone.
Several passages
contain the two notions of building the soul and of
having Christ as an integral part of any structure,
be it physical or spiritual:
You also,
as living stones, must be built up into a
spiritual temple ... the living stone... chosen
by God and of great worth to him. (1 Peter
2:5)
- You are built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the
comer-stone.
- In him the whole
building is bonded together and grows into a
holy temple in the Lord.
- In him you also
are being built with all the others into a
spiritual dwelling for God. (Ephesians
2:20-22)
These passages contain
implicit instructions addressed to
scribe-illuminators: if they are to follow
God s directives, then they too must ensure
that Christ is the comer-stone of their
designs foundation.
The idea of spiritual
foundations and spiritual building materials is
expanded upon by the Church Fathers, and is linked
by them to sacred numerology, and therefore to
geometry. If the scribe is to use such verses as
guidelines, then the foundations and the
building materials, that is, the lines
and components of the design, must have a strong
scriptural base. The work must be carried out
according to God s instruction, and this can
be achieved through the use of symbolic numbers and
geometry, with the Bible and the Church Fathers
providing guidance.
As stated above,
Origen believed that God constructed the world
according to a number of His choosing. The
significance of numbers in the Creation story was a
point of great interest for writers in the early
Church. According to Wisdom 11:21, God has
arranged all things in number, sequence and
proportion. This statement is reinforced in
other parts of the Bible. In Genesis 6: 15-16, for
instance, God specifies to Noah not only the
measurements of the Ark (three hundred cubits long,
fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high), but also
the dimensions of the only window (one cubit
square). Exodus chapters 25-28 are devoted to the
building of the principal holy objects of the
exiled Israelites. The directions for construction
come directly from God and are carefully laid out
in number and proportion. Exodus 25: 10, 17 and 23
contain the measurements for the Ark of the
Covenant, a mercy seat and a table. The remainder
of the section dictates precisely how many lamps,
bowls, rings, curtains and other accoutrements are
to accompany and cover the Ark, and also gives the
dimensions and numbers associated with the
decorations for an altar. The specifications for
the Temple of Solomon are given in 1 Kings 6-8, and
again the required numbers associated with each of
the decorations, pillars and so on are given. These
instructions are all precisely laid down by God,
thus giving number the ultimate stamp of authority-
The relationship between buildings and number
persists throughout the Bible, up to the last book,
Revelation, where God s own city is
described. Here, an angel gives John a rod and
tells him to measure the temple, the altar and
the court outside. Later, another angel with a
measuring rod approaches him and measures the city,
the gates and the
walls.[
xix ]
Number is clearly given an important place in
descriptions of Gods realm.
If, as the
Pythagoreans wrote, number and geometry equate with
each other at the level of spiritual meaning, then,
in constructing pages using geometric methods, the
Insular scribes are following the instructions of
the Bible and of the Church Fathers, and therefore
of God. They are literally creating spiritual
building blocks through the application of the
sacred arts of geometry and number. As will be
demonstrated, the Insular scribes were able,
through the application of such methods, to build
upon the stone which the builders
rejected.
The analysis of
numbers in Biblical passages and exegetical
readings requires the use of allegory. The most
popular school of exegesis in the medieval church
was the Alexandrine or allegorical school, and
Kathleen Hughes points to evidence in Irish
writings that this was also the favoured form of
exegetical work in the Irish
Church.[
xx ] Philo
also provides us with a link between building and
allegory, saying that allegory is a wise
architect who directs the superstructure built upon
a literal foundation.
[
xxi ]
According to
Augustine, the most hidden meanings are the
sweetest.
[
xxii ]
This may be seen to apply, not only to the literal
foundation of allegory, but also to numbers and
geometry which carry allegorical meaning in Insular
design pages. Just as the different types of
physical building foundations are apparent to
builders but hidden from those unacquainted with
the art, so the geometry and associated number
theory used in Insular design pages also lie hidden
from the lay person but are apparent to the
educated scribe or scholar. Geometry and number
act, therefore, in the same way as the foundation
of a building, as they provide a firm base and to a
large extent dictate, not only the size of the
illuminated portion of the page, but also the
positioning of both major and minor decorative
elements within it.
Each page in Insular
manuscripts, whether for text, decoration or a
mixture of the two, is thought to be based upon the
same form: a square built from a cross and a circle
(see Fig. 2). This is considered a
perfect form, as it evolves from
the circle and the cross, signs of perfection
themselves.[
xxiii ]
Fig 2: the squared
circle
The required
rectangle, whatever its proportions, is then
constructed upon this basic design.
[
xxiv ] The
squared circle, being a shape from which numerous
other geometric figures may easily be derived, was
given special theological significance by the
philosophers and geometers of the early Church. On
the one hand, the circle was considered to
represent God as it is the perfect shape and has no
beginning and no
end.[
xxv ] On
the other, the square derived from this circle,
equating with the four comers of the
earth,[
xxvi ] was
seen to be symbolic of the 'divine order pervading
the created
world'.[
xxvii ]
All pages were therefore constructed, at their most
basic level, upon God and the order He imposed upon
the formless void, that is, in this case, upon the
blank page.
The carpet page of the
Book of Kells is set within a 4 x 3 rectangle. The
proportions of this form, according to sacred
geometry and Christian number theory, have their
own significance beyond that of the squared circle.
If a right-angle triangle is formed by diagonally
bisecting a rectangle of these dimensions, then the
hypotenuse of the triangle will necessarily have
the measurement of five. The triangle created
therefore contains the numbers three, four and
five, all of which were important to the early
Church writers. Three, according to Horn and Born,
was regarded by the early Church as 'the holiest of
all holy
numbers'.[
xxviii ]
Its relation to the Trinity is obvious. It also
symbolises the 'passage between the transcendent
[spiritual] and manifest [physical]
realms',[
xxix ]
that is, God's preparations to send his Son
physically to earth. Four is the number that
represents that actual manifestation. It is also a
number of order and
perfection,[
xxx ] and
is well represented within the Bible. The four
gospels, the basis of Christian belief, and their
authors are represented by the four symbols of the
Tetramorph, described in Ezekial 1: 10. The cross
on which Christ was crucified and his body form
four parts, 'the four extremities of the
cross',[
xxxi ] so
that four is a number strongly associated with the
Crucifixion. That it is also the number of Christ's
physical manifestation sets up an important link
between the two events, his incarnation and his
death. (This link is further emphasised in the Book
of Kells, f 33r, as will be discussed below.) The
number four features in Revelation, notably in the
image of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse who
will destroy the four comers of the world because,
in a world returned to God, and therefore to the
Circle, these corners will no longer be needed to
define order.
Five, the number of
the hypotenuse in a 4 x 3 triangle, is represented,
in the Old Testament, by the Pentateuch, the five
books of Jewish law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy), and in the New, by the
five wounds of Christ. The parallel set up between
the Books of the Law and the wounds indicates the
change brought about by Christ's suffering and the
replacement of the old covenant with the new. Five
also combines the numbers three and two, 'that is,
faith in the Trinity and the twofold command to
love God and one's
neighhour',[
xxxii ]
again indicating a shift in law. Furthermore, the
number five in the triangle represents the world
and its people, as three is considered to be a
particularly masculine number, while two is
particularly
feminine.[
xxxiii ]
The world is the place of manifestation (number
three) and of promise (number two). Their
representation in the number five, which therefore
contains both the male and the female, indicates
that they are for the benefit of all the
world.
As a cross-carpet
page, based on the form of the cross, Kells f 33r
immediately calls to mind the death of Christ. This
may be taken as a general statement for
cross-carpet pages in Insular manuscripts. Crosses
in such pages may be formed in a number of ways.
For instance, in the cross page of the St Gallen
Gospels Book,[
xxxiv ] it
is made by the adjoining borders of four cells. The
Book of Durrow cross-carpet page (f 85v) consists
of fifteen medallions, fourteen of which are
interlaced while the fifteenth, in the centre,
contains a small cross. In spite of this, the cross
is not the dominant feature in this page. The cross
is again dominant, however, in the Lindisfarne
Gospels. The five cross-carpet pages in this
manuscript are formed in a variety of ways. F.210v
is almost a photographic negative of the St Gallen
page mentioned above, the cross being more clearly
defined between the panels, with four 'crooked'
crosses[
xxxv ] set
within squares in the design. Both ff. 94v and 138v
have crosses clearly built upon
squares,[
xxxvi ]
with four as the overt number of the design. In the
first of these, f. 94v, a squared circle is the
main component of the central design, and,
unusually, is highlighted rather than remaining
hidden. In the other two cross-carpet pages, ff. 2v
and 26v, the cross is the dominant design element
and does not rely on other forms, such as
rectangles or circles, to define its shape. Each of
these two crosses is made of six components, based
in f 2v on squares and in f. 26v on circles. The
cross-carpet page in the Lichfield
Gospels[
xxxvii ]
follows a similar model, having a cross consisting
of six square components as its most important
feature.
The use of six
components in these last three pages carries
particular significance. Six is a number with
strong connections to the Crucifixion, because the
event took place on the sixth day of the week and
'from the sixth hour there was darkness all over
the land'.[
xxxviii ]
Six is also the perfect number because 'God
perfected the work in six
days.[
xxxix ]
Thus, as Christ is the perfect Son of God, he is
typically associated with this number. The cross
page on Kells f 33r also utilises six, but the
overt number in its construction is eight. Through
the shared emphasis placed on these two numbers,
this page stands out amongst the other cross-carpet
pages discussed above. For here, the cross is made
of eight connected medallions which, with the
borders, create six decorated areas, so that the
number of the Crucifixion is incorporated into the
design. At the same time, eight is the number of
immortality and of salvation, 'a return to the
original life... but made
eternal'.[
xl ] It is
the number of 'circumcision, baptism and
resurrection [which are] mysteriously
connected'.[
xli ]
Therefore Genesis 17:10-14 stipulates that a male
child shall be circumcised on the eighth day of his
life as a mark of the eternal covenant between God
and his chosen people; baptism represents a
rebirth, 'newness of
life',[
xlii ] and
is a mark of the new covenant; and eight is also
the number of the Resurrection as Christ rose on
the eighth day, or the first day of the second
week,[
xliii ]
marking a return to the beginning but as eternal,
again a form of rebirth. Unlike the perfect numbers
six and seven, eight has a material aspect:
circumcision and baptism are physical acts and
Christ was physically
resurrected.[
xliv ]
Hence these three phenomena, and, by association,
the number eight, sanctify rather than condemn the
physical state. Each represents renewal or rebirth
into a higher state of being, where one is not
severed from God but brought into a closer union
with him. However, in order for a rebirth to take
place, there must first have been a death. It is
this which is acknowledged, through the association
of the numbers six and eight, within f 33r of the
Book of Kells. The six decorative spaces in the
page exist because of the eight medallions, while
they in turn define the medallions, providing a
visual demonstration of the relationship between
the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
The eight circles of
the cross are founded upon a shape known as the
vesica piscis and on the two circles from
which this shape is formed. The two circles are
drawn so that the centre of each is on the
circumference of the other (see Figs 3a and
3b).
|
|
Fig
3a: the vesica piscis
diagram
|
Fig
3b: The positioning of the eight circles
of the cross over the vesica
piscis
|
Throughout the
mediaeval period Christ, and especially the risen
Christ, is often represented within the
vesica.[
xlv ] The
entire diagram of the vesica is imbued with
meaning. The vesica and the diagram of which it
forms the focus, represent visually the results
ensuing from the Incarnation, Death and
Resurrection of
Christ.[
xlvi ] The
upper circle signifies God, the lower, Humanity,
and the vesica, the shape created by the overlap of
the two, represents Christ who physically, through
his presence on earth, and spiritually, through his
victory over death, brings God and Humanity
together, enabling a new, closer relationship
between the two. Thus the form demonstrates not
only Christ's mystical nature, but also the
physical and spiritual effects of his
incarnation.
Kells f 33r further
extends this range of meanings through its
positioning within the gospels book as a
whole.[
xlvii ]
The eight-circle cross page is found just after
Matthew 1: 17, that is, between Matthew's account
of Christ's genealogy and his version of the
Nativity story, beginning in 1: 18. It is the
second of three fully illuminated pages. The first,
on f 32v, shows Christ enthroned, while the third,
which falls on f 34r, facing f 33v which has been
left blank, is the 'Chi-Rho' page. These three
consecutive pages give context to, and are in turn
contextualised by, the surrounding readings. The
genealogy emphasises Christ' s physical existence,
while the story of the events preceding his birth
tells of his physical incarnation and spiritual
beginnings on earth, marking the child as special.
Through the allusions in the second of these pages
to Christ' s suffering and glorification, the
sequence ensures that the story of Easter will be
fully integrated into the celebrations surrounding
Christmas.[
xlviii ]
The reader is reminded that the Birth, Crucifixion
and Resurrection are inextricably
linked.
In using the vesica in
Kells f 33r, the Insular illuminator is fulfilling
scriptural directives. As the vesica symbolises
Christ and is the underlying design element
determining the position of the medallons, the
artist is following the passages quoted above, from
Psalm 118: 22, Matthew 21: 42, Luke 20: 17, Mark
12: 10, Acts 4: 11, 1 Peter 2: 4-8, and Ephesians
2: 20-22, building, in an entirely literal sense,
on Christ as the corner-stone of their
construction. Thus, the following passage too may
be read as referring, quite literally, to the
illuminator' s task:
10. God
gave me the privilege of laying the foundation
like a skiIled master builder; others put up the
building. Let each take care how he
builds.
11. There can be
no other foundation than the one already laid: I
mean Jesus Christ himself. (1 Corinthians 3:
10-1 1)
By utilising the
vesica design, the Insular artist of Kells f 33r
has made Christ the foundation of the design of the
cross page. As the basis of the page, the Son of
God is the reason for its form and existence. He is
the spiritual made physical, and at the same time
the mediator through whom physical human beings are
able to become spiritual. In a similar way, the
geometry and numbers used enable the spiritual to
be expressed in a physical form, while transforming
the same physical form, through symbolic
associations, into a work of God, in accordance
with the instructions laid down in the
Bible.
Kells f. 33r
demonstrates the sophistication of the mind of the
Insular artist in using geometric form and the
theory of number to convey and embed meaning. On
the one hand, this cross page symbolises, through
the use of numbers, the Trinity, the
piritual-made-physical (Christ) and the
physical-made-divine. On the other, through the use
of the vesica, it has as its foundation the changed
relationship between God and his Creation, brought
about by the Son's physical manifestation, death
and resurrection.
The illuminator has
followed the directive of 1 Corinthians 3:11,
building his foundation literally upon
Christ.
That the scribes were
fully aware of the associations between these
passages and the design of their cross-carpet
pages, here and elsewhere in their gospels books,
cannot be proved. However, scriptural support
played such a large role in so many areas that its
application to manuscript production, as a general
principle, cannot be dismissed. It is clear,
however, that the term 'foundation' can be used in
a spiritual as well as a physical sense. Therefore,
as geometry was assigned theological meanings, it
could be used for expressing religious ideas,
allowing meaning to be conveyed through form as
well as through written language. The key to
understanding the cross-carpet pages, and possibly
other pages in this and other manuscripts as
well-such as, for instance, the Chi-Rho page
following the cross-carpet page in the Book of
Kells-may lie, then, in unlocking the symbolism of
the geometric forms and numbers used in their
construction.[
xlix ]
Megan M. Hitchens
Sydney,
1996
Endnotes
[
i ] Janet
Backhouse, The L.indisfarne Gospels, Oxford,
1981, repr 1989, pp. 28-31.
[
ii ]
Jacques Guilmain, On the Layout and
Ornamentation of the Cross-Carpet Page of the
Lindisfarne Gospels, Folio 138v, in Gesta
24.1 (1985), 13-18; and Inga Christine Swenson,
The Symmetry Potentials of the Ornamental
Page of the Lindisfarne Gospels, in
Gesta 17.2 (1978), 9-18, 15-16.
[
iii ]
Robert D. Stevick, .A Geometers Art: The
Full-Page Illuminations in St Gallen
Stiftsbibliothek Cod. Sang. 51, an Insular Gospels
Book of the VIIIth Century, in
Scriptorium 44 (1990), 161-92; The 4 x 3
Crosses in the Lindisfarne and Lichfield
Gospels, in Gesta 25.2 (1986). 171-84;
The Design of Lindisfarne Gospels folio
138v, in Gesta 22.1 (1983), 3-12;
The Shapes of the Book of Durrow Evangelist
Symbol Pages, in The Art Bulletin 68
(1986), 182-94; and The Echternach
Gospels Evangelist Symbol Pages: Forms from
The Two True Measures of Geometry
in Peritia 5 (1986), 284-308.
[
iv ]
Plato, The Republic, translated by Thomas
Taylor, Minneapolis, 1975, VII, 510d-e, quoted in
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and
Practice, London, 1982, p. 9.
[
v ]
Lawlor, ibid, pp. l2-13.
[
vi ]
Origen, De principiis, translated by
Frederick Crombie, The Writings of Origen,
Edinburgh, 1869-72, II, 9, AN X, 127, quoted in
Vincent F Hopper, Medieval Number Symbolism: Its
Sources, Meanings and Influence on Thought and
Expression, New York, 1938, repr 1969
(hereafter, Hopper), p. 74
[
vii ]
Beryl Smalley, The Bible in the Middle Ages,
Oxford, 1952, p. 5.
[
viii ]
Augustine, City of God, in Marcus Dods
(trans.), The Works of Aurelius Augustine,
15 vols, Edinburgh, 1871-76, I, XI, 30, p. 475
(Hopper, p. 78).
[
ix ] These
examples are drawn from Augustine, Contra
Faustum, XII, 14-15, in Dods, The Works of
Aurelius Augustine, V, pp. 215-16 (Hopper, pps
80-81).
[
x ]
Hopper, pp. 78- 79.
[
xi ]
Augustine, City of God, XI, 3O, in Walter
Horn and Ernest Born, The Plan of St Gall: A
Study of the Architecture and Economy of and Life
in a Paradigmatic Carolingian Monastery, 3
vols, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1979
(hereafter, Horn and Born), I, p. 118. The
translation is based on The City of God,
edited and translated by Walsh and Monahan, New
York, 1952, ps 236.
[
xii ] Horn
and Born, I, pp. 118-25.
[
xiii ]
Ibid., p. xxi
[
xiv ]
Francoise Henry, The Book of Kells:
Reproductions from the Manuscript in Trinity
College Dublin, London, 1974, repr. 1988, p.
151.
[
xv ] Horn
and Born, I, p. 125.
[
xvi ]
Loc. cit.
[
xvii ]
Kathleen Hughes, Early Christian Ireland:
Introduction to the Sources, London, 1972, pp.
194-95. There is evidence of a healthy intellectual
exchange, not only between the English Church and
the Continent (see Betty Radice [ed.],
Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and
Other Contemporary Sources, London, 1983, p.
14), but also between the English and Irish Church
(see Kathleen Hughes, Evidence for
contacts between the churches of the Irish and
English from the Synod of Whitby to the Viking
Age, in Peter Clemoes and Kathleen Hughes
[eds], England Before the Conquest:
Studies in primary sources, presented to Dorothy
Whitelock, Cambridge, 1971, pp. 49-67,
especially pp. 59-61). As Hughes writes in this
article (p. 58):
Since
there was frequent contact between Irish and
English it is not surprising to find some
similarity between the accepted ideas and
expressions of both peoples.
This would also apply
in a more limited, but still significant, sense to
the Irish and Continental churches. The commonality
of ideas would also have been fostered through the
establishment of Irish monasteries on the
Continent
[
xviii ]
The Revised English Bible, Oxford, 1989. All
further references will be to this edition.
[
xix ]
Revelation 11:1 2 and 21: 15-21.
[
xx ]
Kathleen Hughes, Early Christian Ireland, p.
198.
[
xxi ]
Philo of Alexandria, quoted without reference in
Smalley, The Bible in the Middle Ages, p.
5.
[
xxii ]
Augustine, Contra Faustum, XII, 38, in Dods,
The Works of Aurelius Augustine, V, p. 230
[Hopper, p. 80].
[
xxiii ]
Stevick, A Geometers Art,
p. 192.
[
xxiv ]
Stevick has demonstrated, in several places, how
the squared circle can be drawn using only a
compass and straight-edge, tools known to be
available to the ninth-century artist. See, for
example, The 4 x 3 Crosses, p. 173.
[
xxv ]
Lawlor, Sacred Geometry, p. 12s
[
xxvi ]
Hopper, p. 8.
[
xxvii ]
Horn and Born, I, p. 1 18s
[
xxviii ]
Loc.cit.
[
xxix ]
Lawlor, Sacred Geometry, p. 12.
[
xxx ]
Christopher Butler, Number Symbolism, London, 1970,
pp. 13 and 34.
[
xxxi ]
Hopper, p. 84.
[
xxxii ]
Annemarie Schimmel, The Mystery of Numbers, New
York, 1993, p. 118.
[
xxxiii ]
Butler, Number Symbolism, p. 34.
[
xxxiv ]
Listed by Stevick as p. 6 in 'A Geometer's Art', p
181.
[
xxxv ]
That is, 'swastikas'.
[
xxxvi ] F.
138v is not, however, as sYlmnetrical as it maY
seem, as the anns of the cross are not equal
despite their appearance to the contrary. The
questions this poses with regard to construction
are discussed by both Guilmain and Stevick in their
articles examining the construction of this page
(see above, nn. 2 and 3).
[
xxxvii ]
This is listed as p. 220 in Backhouse, The
Lindisfarne Gospels, p. 66.
[
xxxviii ]
Matthew 27. 45.
[
xxxix ]
Hopper, p. 98.
[
xl ]
Ibid., p. 77
[
xli ]
Schimmel, The Mystery of Numbers, p. 158.
[
xlii ]
Romans 6: 4.
[
xliii ]
Hopper, p. 77.
[
xliv ]
.This is demonstrated in John 20:24-27, where
Christ appears to the disciple Thomas, the
'doubter', and proves his physicality by allowing
him to touch his wounds.
[
xlv ] For
example, in a marble relief at Saint-Semin,
Toulouse; in an illumination from the Almesbury
Psalter, Oxford, AII Souls College MS 6, f 6r. and
in an illumination from the Carrow Psalter,
Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery MS W 34, f 30v.
[
xlvi ]
Lawlor, Sacred Geometry, pp. 33-35.
[
xlvii ]
Suzanne Lewis, 'Sacred Calligraphy: The Chi-Rho
Page in the Book of Kells', in Traditio 36 (1980),
139 59 (p. 141).
[
xlviii ]
This is further reinforced by the use of the number
four in the basic rectangle on which, as is seen
above, the page is constructed.
[
xlix ]
Acknowledgments to the Revs Roger Ellem and Roger
Kemp for advice on Biblical passages and general
theology, and to Michael Hitchens for advice on
geometry and mathematics.
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