Early Medieval Text and Image Volume 2: The Codex Amiatinus, the Book of Kells and Anglo-Saxon Art (Variorum Collected Studies 1080)

When she died in 2016, Dr Jennifer O'Reilly left behind a body of published and unpublished work in three areas of medieval studies: the iconography of the Gospel Books produced in early medieval Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England; the writings of Bede and his older Irish contemporary, Adomnán of Iona; and the early lives of Thomas Becket. In these three areas she explored the connections between historical texts, artistic images and biblical exegesis. This volume brings together seventeen essays, published between 1984 and 2013, on the interplay of texts and images in medieval art. Most focus on the manuscript art of early medieval Ireland and England. The first section includes four studies of the Codex Amiatinus, produced in Northumbria in the monastic community of Bede. The second section contains seven essays on the iconography and text of the Book of Kells. In the third section there are five studies of Anglo-Saxon Art, examined in the context of the Benedictine Reform. A concluding essay, on the medieval iconography of the two trees in Eden, traces the development of a motif from Late Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages.(CS1080) Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title 6 Copyright 9 CONTENTS 10 List of illustrations 13 Preface 19 Introduction 20 The Codex Amiatinus 30 1 The library of Scripture: views from Vivarium and Wearmouth-Jarrow 32 2 Celtic art and the gospel 70 3 The art of authority 79 4 ‘All that Peter stands for’: the Romanitas of the Codex Amiatinus reconsidered 121 The Book of Kells 146 5 The Book of Kells, folio 114r: a mystery revealed yet concealed 148 6 The Book of Kells and two Breton gospel books 164 7 Exegesis and the Book of Kells: the Lucan genealogy 180 8 The Book of Kells, folios 29 and 34 225 9 Two pages from the Book of Kells 229 10 The Book of Kells, folio 114 232 11 The body of Christ in the Book of Kells 234 The Anglo-Saxon and later English traditions 244 12 An Anglo-Saxon portable altar: inscription and iconography 246 13 St John as a figure of the contemplative life: text and image in the art of the Anglo-Saxon Benedictine reform 272 14 The rough-hewn cross in Anglo-Saxon art 305 15 Text and image in the Anglo-Saxon Benedictine reform 317 16 Signs of the Cross : Medieval religious images and the interpretation of Scripture 335 17 The trees of Eden in medieval iconography 369 Index of Manuscripts 400 Index 404 When she died in 2016, Dr Jennifer O'Reilly left behind a body of published and unpublished work in three areas of medieval studies: the iconography of the Gospel Books produced in early medieval Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England; the writings of Bede and his older Irish contemporary, Adomnaan of Iona; and the early lives of Thomas Becket. In these three areas she explored the connections between historical texts, artistic images and biblical exegesis. This volume brings together seventeen essays, published between 1984 and 2013, on the interplay of texts and images in medieval art. Most focus on the manuscript art of early medieval Ireland and England. The first section includes four studies of the Codex Amiatinus, produced in Northumbria in the monastic community of Bede. The second section contains seven essays on the iconography and text of the Book of Kells. In the third section there are five studies of Anglo-Saxon Art, examined in the context of the Benedictine Reform. A concluding essay, on the medieval iconography of the two trees in Eden, traces the development of a motif from Late Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages