Design principles in the Gorgeous Book of Kells

For this assignment I looked primarily at the Book of Kells Monogram page. I remembered it fondly from my art history class and loved its images and the meaning behind them. My first impression of the page was its heavy lines and the balance of weight to each item on the page. Although the giant shape that resembles a P is larger and beholds more prominence than the other smaller letters on the right side of the page the page remains balanced. You can see contrast throughout the piece with the thick lines surrounding the letters and pictures. This is almost like a black outline that sets these elements apart in the picture. There is also a great deal of contrasting color such as the red and blue and the use of gold and black. The very stylized artistic elements such as the style of text, the Celtic circle designs and the general filling in of pattern is very repetitious and gives this page a great flow. The alignment of the heavy long line (in the P) on the left side aligns the elements to give right side a more even presence. The proximity of each picture is important in this piece especially since they larger characters are more important. For example Christ's head is much larger than the small mouse. I like in this manuscript how they embellished everything with heavy design. The purpose of such books was not only to teach about Christ but to also entertain people who could not read. They learned through the symbolic imagery. Smart!