The Lindisfarne Gospels: ‘everyone should see this show at least once’
This is a ‘landmark’ exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle
The Lindisfarne Gospels are “a masterpiece of early medieval European book painting”, said Laura Freeman in The Times. Created in the early 700s by Eadfrith, bishop of Lindisfarne island in Northumbria, they retell the gospels in Latin on 518 pages of calfskin vellum. As many as 130 calves “would have been sacrificed” to make the book; only the finest skins were used.
Artistically, the gospels are “glorious”.Gorgeous motifs and illustrations accompany the text. Each gospel starts with a symbolic picture of the author: lion for Mark, ox for Luke, and so on. Its pages are “woven with knots, steps, plaits, fretwork, laces and labyrinths that lead you on a dizzying dance”.
It is a miracle that they have survived: in 793, the Vikings sacked Lindisfarne, somehow sparing the Gospels; during the dissolution of the monasteries, they were “looted” and taken to London, where they now live in the British Library. This “landmark” exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle is a rare opportunity to see them back in the northeast. “The Lindisfarne Gospels are more than a work of art, they are a matter of national pride: the Parthenon marbles of the North.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“What an artist Eadfrith was,” said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. One page here “resembles an eastern rug”, its design incorporating “a many-layered pattern in delicate yet acid-sharp green, pink and gold”. He treats words as treasures, accompanying them with “coiling serpents, tail-eating monsters and latticed interwoven shapes”; though the book can only be displayed one double page at a time, a digital display provides an overview of its contents.
Other exhibits from the era are delightful, speaking of the “terrors and marvels” of a lost world: one fragment of a monument discovered near the River Tees shows “dogs and birds chewing their own bodies”. However, the show provides little in terms of historical context: we learn little about Lindisfarne itself, less still about early Christianity.
The show’s final room contains contemporary art, supposedly demonstrating how the Gospels remain relevant to the modern world, said Lucy Davies in The Daily Telegraph. Sadly, most of the works don’t “add up to anything”. Better is an adjoining display by Scottish artist Ruth Ewan, who has gathered together the treasured possessions of people from the northeast – “shells foraged from the sea, tailor’s shears, a wooden ironing board that saved a life in a bombing raid”.
Overall, the show is an involving experience which should not be missed. “Everyone should see the Lindisfarne Gospels at least once.”
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle (laingartgallery.org.uk). Until 3 December
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Pentagon faces an uncertain future with Trump
Talking Point The president-elect has nominated conservative commentator Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
This is what you should know about State Department travel advisories and warnings
In Depth Stay safe on your international adventures
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
'All Tyson-Paul promised was spectacle and, in the end, that's all we got'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Drawing the Italian Renaissance: a 'relentlessly impressive' exhibition
The Week Recommends Show at the King's Gallery features an 'enormous cache' of works by the likes of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael
By The Week UK Published
-
Niall Williams shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The Irish novelist chooses works by Charles Dickens, Seamus Heaney and Wendell Berry
By The Week UK Published
-
Patriot: Alexei Navalny's memoir is as 'compelling as it is painful'
The Week Recommends The anti-corruption campaigner's harrowing book was published posthumously after his death in a remote Arctic prison
By The Week UK Published
-
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: a 'magical' show with 'an electrifying emotional charge'
The Week Recommends The 'vivacious' Fitzgerald adaptation has a 'shimmering, soaring' score
By The Week UK Published
-
Bird: Andrea Arnold's 'strange, beguiling and quietly moving' drama
The Week Recommends Barry Keoghan stars in 'fearless' film combining social and magical realism
By The Week UK Published
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 elegant homes in the Mediterranean style
Feature Featuring an award-winning mansion in Colorado and an Alhambra palace-inspired home in Washington
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Juror #2: Clint Eastwood's 'cleverly constructed' courtroom drama is 'rock solid'
The Week Recommends Nicholas Hoult stars in 'morally complex' film about a juror on a high-profile murder case
By The Week UK Published