The Lindisfarne Gospels and the Early Medieval World
“It is impossible to turn toThe Lindisfarne Gospels and the Early Medieval Worldwithout seeing the synthesis of pagan and Christian on virtually every page of this copiously illustrated book. Michelle Brown hints that this might have been quite deliberate: that ‘the Lindisfarne Gospels display their vision of the Christian present in a manner that was designed to be welcoming to all,’ in the spirit of Gregory the Great who instructed missionaries not to destroy pagan shrines and festivals but to ‘make them Christian’—hence the Lindisfarne Gospels’ enmeshing of animal iconography, runes and carpets of guilloche with fresco-like portraits of the Evangelists.”(Salon 246 ( Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter))