Maelbrigte MacDurnan, Illuminator

(d. 927)

Illuminator

From A Dictionary of Irish Artists 1913

He succeeded St. Columba as nineteenth abbot of Iona in 891, and was also bishop or abbot of Armagh. A book containing the Four Gospels in Latin written by him was presented to Canterbury by King Athelstan, and is now in the Lambeth Library. It contains figures of the Evangelists and graceful initial letters in the style of the Book of Kells. It is a gem of caligraphy, and the figures, though rude, are extremely interesting remains of early Irish art.

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