Painted Labyrinth

The World of the Lindisfarne Gospels

Plot

The Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the world's greatest works of art in book form. It is an 8th-century Latin Gospelbook, with a 10th-century gloss, which is the earliest surviving translation of the Gospels into the English language. Its maker was one of the greatest artists of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic worlds, receptive to new influences and prepared to experiment with new techniques. The book is thought to have been made around 715-720 in the island monastery of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in north-eastern England. It is without doubt one of the great landmarks of human cultural achievement: the attempt of a gifted individual to express a whole society's identity and belief with an energy and passion that still inspire. Painted Labyrinth is a general introduction to the background and history of this breathtaking artwork and symbol of Christian faith. Highly illustrated and very readable, the book is divided into short sections, each examining an aspect of the Anglo-Saxon world, the heritage of the people who lived and ruled at this time, and how and why this great book was created. There is a list of suggested further reading, and a complete list of artefacts and manuscripts in the 2003 British Library exhibition of the same name.