Art

    The Lindisfarne Gospels is a gospel book which was created at the Northumbrian monastery found on Lindisfarne at  the end of the seventh century or the beginning of the eighth  (Herren and Brown 217). It is stated that the Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the earliest biblical documents in Britain its language is the Latin Vulgate Version, and its pages are decorated with  the finest Anglo-Keltic art  (Boulton 32).

    The Lindisfarne Gospels contains  cross carpet pages, evangelist portrait pages which were based on Mediterranean models  (Herren and Brown 217), and its text is highly decorated with intrinsic designs. While the pages of the Lindisfarne Gospels do not contain a representation of Jesus Christ, they exhibit a very  elaborated devotion  (Herren and Brown 217) to a symbol which signifies Jesus Christ the cross.

The Celtic Design of the Cross
    All the books of the Lindisfarne Gospels are prefaced by a portrait of its evangelist, followed by an intricate page which features a cross, and then the Incipit printed in very elaborate and intricate letters. The Lindisfarne Gospels also has a  great Latin cross with six rectangular expansions floating against a background of band interlace differentially colored to create a pattern of repeated squares two squares with cross centers and step-patterns float about the arms of the cross while two vertical rectangles of similar design stand below the arms  (Herren and Brown 217).

    It is stated that this depiction of the cross  reflects Insular crucifixion compositions  (Herren and Brown 217) which can also be seen on the Athlone plaque wherein two seraphs are hovering over the cross as Stephaton and Longinus stand on either side. The cross also has colored borders, as well as angular decorations which create an image that seemingly floats above the background (Herren and Brown 217). 

    The design of the cross also includes checkered diagonal patterns which cover its body. This design gives the impression that the cross is a jeweled metalwork (Herren and Brown 218). Apart from the cross, it is also stated that the Lindisfarne Gospels is a combination of intricate Celtic scroll designs and  Germanic-derived interlace  (Koch 104) which are all said to appeal to the conflicting and varying aspects of Northumbrias culture.

    Also, it is necessary to note that while the aforementioned cross design can be found on the beginning pages of the Lindisfarne Gospels, this is not the only area where intricate representations of the cross could be found. In fact, the cross could also be found in every carpet page preceding the gospels, all of which were done in different designs. Indeed, it could be said that even though the Lindisfarne Gospels did not symbolically represent Christ, the intricate depictions of the cross could not be lightly stated as something that is merely a decoration (Herren and Brown 218). 

The Lindisfarne Gospels and the Celtic Hanging Bowls
    One of the most prominent Celtic designs which can be found in the Lindisfarne Gospels is the designs of the Celtic hanging bowls (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 37). Hanging bowls are  thin-walled bronze vessels, rendered capable of suspension by the provision of either three or four hooks mounted round the circumference of the bowl at equal intervals  (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 3).

    These Celtic artifacts generate a large interest among scholars because it is unclear how such handsome and rather  extravagantly embellished  (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 3) items are to be utilized. Apart from this, much mystery clouds the origins of the these Celtic hanging bowls although most of the artifacts have been retrieved from Viking or Anglo-Saxon graves, it is established that they are of Celtic origin. It is suggested that these artifacts may have been acquired by the Vikings through trading and even through force (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 3).

    These Celtic hanging bowls are decorated with escutcheons and other motifs such as scrolls, key patterns, leaflets, or perhaps linked loops. These designs eventually evolved into  more elaborate trumpet-spiral pattern designs  (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 4). Also, there are bowls decorated with inlays of various colored glass, or inlays which were cut off from millefiori rods (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 4).

    The Lindisfarne Gospels, along with the Book of Durrow (found in the Trinity College library), is vital in determining the chronology of the Celtic hanging bowls. Since the manuscript of the Lindasfarne Gospels contains the same artistic symbols as those found in the Celtic hanging bowls, it is assumed that the Lindasfarne Gospels can help historians and scholars trace the origins as well as the period when the artifacts were introduced (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 38).

    The manuscript of the Lindasfarne Gospels reflects the various art styles that can be seen in the Celtic hanging bowls such as the Hawnby escutcheons  rambling lines of dots outlining shapes and framing spaces, with clusters of three dots sprinkled about in the middle  (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 38). Since such symbols are found on two different artifacts, scholars have come to the conclusion that there must be an interrelation between two artifacts which, in turn, can be used to enlighten the shrouded origins of the Celtic hanging bowls (Bruce-Mitford and Raven 38).