PICTURES: Persuasive connection to world-famous Book of Kells explored by artist after finds at Portmahomack
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Was the Book of Kells made in Easter Ross?
It’s an intriguing question and lots of evidence to back it up.
Recent research has suggested a possible Pictish origin for the world famous medieval manuscript that has resided in Ireland since at least the 11th century – but its place of origin remains a mystery.
Much of the lavish detail in the manuscript containing the four gospels has elements also found on Pictish stones such as distinctive animal motifs, key patterns and spirals.
Medieval books were written on parchment, animal hide stretched, dried and carefully prepared to provide a smooth writing surface.
Only one medieval parchment-making workshop has ever been discovered, on the site of a Pictish monastery in the Highland village of Portmahomack.
Archaeologists also found a writing stylus, high quality metalwork and fragments of ornate Pictish sculpture with spirals and animal motifs.
After the excavations it was discovered that the whole site was laid out in a complex geometric arrangement, just like the artwork in the Book of Kells.
But how do you go about proving if such a thing could be true?
Black Isle artist and parchment maker Thomas Keyes is aiming to find out by making a new Book of Kells based on the evidence.
The archaeological finds at Portmahomack were so rich that it is possible to reconstruct the entire parchment-making process unique to the site.
Even the original lunellum was found – a special curved blade for scraping hides and a parchment makers most important tool.
Thomas will make the parchment and all the pigments needed for the artwork. This includes growing woad for blue, collecting lichen for purple and processing lead to create bright red lead tetroxide.
Then he will try and recreate one of the iconic pages from the original Book of Kells that has a particularly Pictish style. Folio 27.v, depicting the symbols of the four evangelists, with key patterns, spirals and knotwork panels. The reproduction will be produced to the exact specification of the original including the minute scale, the whole image being 220mm across with a level of detail going down to a double row of key pattern sitting within 1mm.
This project will be funded through crowdfunding on the platform Kickstarter, and if successful the results will be on display at Tarbat Discovery Centre next year.
Thomas’s work, including videos of making insular manuscripts can be viewed here www.scribalstyles.net
More information can also be found on the Tarbat Discovery Centre website at https://www.tarbat-discovery.co.uk/
You can follow progress and get involved here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scribalstyles/making-the-book-of-kells
