An eighth century illuminated manuscript of the Gospels, the Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the oldest surviving translations of the Gospels in Old English. Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne (698-721) copied the four Gospels from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate and masterfully decorated its pages beginning in circa 710. In the 950s-960s, Aldred inserted a gloss that translated the Latin into Old English and added a colophon to identify the contributors. Its significance to both the study of aesthetics and medieval history remains. Adding to the research of Michelle P. Brown and Richard Gameson, this paper highlights the theological message as displayed through both the art and content of the Lindisfarne Gospels. This paper will argue that the Lindisfarne Gospels, while displaying impressive artistic skill, emphasizes a robust spirituality that clearly magnifies the Triune God and is devoted to the proclamation of the Word.
Both in motif and in content, the Lindisfarne Gospels proclaims the character and acts of God. The Lindisfarne Gospels desires to reflect the riches and depth of the Scriptures in verbal faithfulness but also aesthetic expression. The introductions to each Gospel includes a fully painted incipit page, composed of the introductory words of each Gospel. Symbolism is rampant, even in the smallest of details, intentional geometric patterns, and usage of numbering. The visual imagery of the cross, the fundamental and most recognized motif of Christianity, reaches a pinnacle in the cross carpet pages. These pages are not merely reflections of the artwork of the time but are poignant testimonies of the glory of the crucified and risen Christ. The pages become a living embodiment of the power and awe of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The elaborate nature of the work is only surpassed by the incipit pages, which further highlights the sacredness of the message the text proclaims. Theses illustrations call for the reader to grapple with the words of the Gospel. The Lindisfarne Gospels anticipate and proclaim the completed work of Christ.
The Lindisfarne Gospels asserts a transformative spirituality of the individual and community resulting from its theocentricity. Though Eadfrith completed the work alone, a larger community directly contributed to the composition of this manuscript. Monks, artisans, and merchants made or procured the vellum, mixed the pigments sourced from a global market, and shipped or prepared the inks. Through skilled artistry and devoted inscriptions, the Lindisfarne Gospels display the Word, reflecting a deeply personal and intrinsically communal spirituality while remaining centered upon a Triune God and the proclamation of the Gospel message. This paper highlights this document and advance the discussion as it pertains both to aesthetics and medieval studies.