Kathryn 'Missy' Simnacher

About the Book of Kells

The Symbols of the Evangelists
from the Book of Kells
and the Prophets
The four panels are renditions of the symbols of the Evangelists from the
Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels
written c.800, and now in Trinity College, Dublin. It is, perhaps, the richest of
all illuminated manuscripts. A portrait of the Evangelist and his symbol are
at the beginning of each Gospel. The artwork features also the prophet that
parallels the Evangelist.
Matthew was symbolized by an angel, because his Gospel begins with the human
ancestry of Christ. The Prophet Isaiah is shown the heavenly court of myriads
of angels chanting Holy, Holy, Holy. He is humbled by this vision—and is still
alive—and shrinks due to his uncleanliness, but an angel purifies him by
touching his mouth with a lit charcoal.
Mark is symbolized by a lion, because the lion is a creature of the desert,
and his Gospel begins with John the Baptist ’the voice of one crying in the
wilderness’. The Prophet Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den and, of course,
was saved by God from these animals.
Luke is symbolized by an ox, a sacrificial animal, because his Gospel begins with
the story of Zachariah entering the Holy of Holies to sacrifice. The Prophet
Jeremiah portrayed various metaphors of God’s relationship with his people
Israel. One of those metaphors is the yoke; God is yoked to his people. The yoke
is a tool of the ox.
John is symbolized by an eagle, a bird that soars high into the heavens, because
his Gospel begins with the words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God,” words which carry the reader into the heavens. The Prophet
Ezekiel is noted for his celestial image of God on a fiery throne in the heavens.
Although there is not a direct symbolic connection of these two, the heavenly
chariot/throne and the eagle share the same “zone” of the sky.
The symbols in the Book of Kells have always spoken to me because of their
Irish origin, their folk-art and iconographic qualities and the challenge
to paint something so intricate. Not only do we have the symbols in their
glorious magnificence, but we also have the prophets in the retablo style
that speaks to New Mexico. I hope that they are as intriguing to you as they are
to me.
Missy