![]() ![]() The author convincingly leads us through the routes by which these influences may have reached the shores of Northumbria. Influences from as far afield as The Holy Land, Coptic Egypt and Ethiopia somehow reached a scribe-artist on tiny Holy Island at the turn of the eighth century. This book does give us insights into this era and does entertain, in a profound way, but these achievements are incidental to its primary purpose - unravelling the complex multi-cultural strands that have influenced the creation of the art of Lindisfarne. ![]() ![]() This literary ‘faction’ is not light entertainment, neither does it set out to give us a simplified evocation of the period, some sort of leisurely ‘time-travelogue’ or period soap-opera. “This is the story of the extraordinary making of one of the greatest, most beautiful books the world has ever known.” Thus begins the prologue to ‘Eadfrith – Scribe of Lindisfarne’ and this book ‘does exactly what it says on the tin.’ The Lindisfarne Gospels is not just one of the world’s greatest and most beautiful books, it is also an incredibly complex work of art and telling its story is an equally complex challenge. ![]()
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