Reply To: Illuminated Manuscripts

[Jessi Willeto]

As we know it, Byzantine art was highly symbolic and was mostly centered around Christianity and the fight against iconoclasm. The symbolism of the manuscripts is reminiscent of that — they are not meant to be worshipped or have a any “graven images’ but are meant to be viewed and support the Christian narrative. The book of Kells shows that representation of christian symbols while still maintaining their main function.