Celtic Illuminated Manuscripts:

Romanesque / Protogothic manuscripts:

Gospel Book MS 40618

Late 8th century illuminated Irish Gospel Book with 10th century Anglo-Saxon additions. The manuscript contains a portion of the Gospel of Matthew, the majority of the Gospel of Mark and the entirety of the Gospels of Luke and John. There are three surviving Evangelist portraits, one original and two 10th century replacements, along with 10th century decorated initials. The manuscript has 66 surviving vellum folios. The pages are 130 by 105 mm. The text occupies an area of 101 by 73 mm. There are gatherings of 16 or 20 folios. The oak board used as the back cover survives along with a vellum cover from another book that was used as a wrapper starting in the 17th century.

The manuscript is missing several folios. The first 18 folios are missing from Matthew so the text begins at Matthew 21:32. There are two folios missing that contained the end of Matthew and the beginning of Mark. The remainder of Mark and the other two Gospels are complete. The original final page of John has been lost, but was replaced by a folio written in by a 10th century Anglo-Saxon scribe. The original Evangelist portraits of Matthew, Mark and John have also been lost. In the 10th century Evangelist portraits were added to either replace or to supplement the originals. Of these the portraits of Luke and John survive.

The portrait of Luke, which is the only surviving original miniature, strongly resembles the Evangelist portraits of the Book of Mulling. The Anglo-Saxon miniatures are done in an early version of the Winchester Style and were influenced by Carolingian illumination. The manuscript originally contained decorated initials. These were erased in the 10th century and new zoomorphic initials were repainted in an Anglo-Saxon style. The placement of the initials is unusual because lines are rarely broken to start a new paragraph. The text usually continues and the initial is omitted from its proper place and is instead inserted into the margin. This system is used in some Greek manuscripts including the Codex Alexandrinus. There are gold crosses, which were probably also added in the 10th century, in the margins of John.

Gospel Book MS 40618 Illustrations

	Page (Folio): 21v Portrait of Luke the Evangelist (8th century)
	Vector Clipart See also vector image "Gospel Book MS 40618 - Portrait of Luke the Evangelist (8th century)"

	Page (Folio): 22v Portrait of the Evangelist Luke (10th century)