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Book of Kells

Illuminated manuscript version of the four Gospels, c. late 8th–early 9th century. A masterpiece of the ornate Hiberno-Saxon style, it features geometric design (rather than naturalistic representation), flat areas of colour, and complex interlaced patterns. The illumination was probably begun at the Irish monastery on the Scottish island of Iona; the book was apparently taken to the monastery of Kells in County Meath, Ire., after a Viking raid and may have been completed there. See also Lindisfarne Gospels.

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