Illuminated manuscript version of the four Gospels, 0441; late 8thearly 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 .