Carpet Page from the Book of Kells.

This brilliantly executed carpet page is from the Book of Kells (folio 33 recto).

The Book of Kells (Irish: Leabhar Cheanannais) (Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. (58), sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book written in Latin, containing the four canonical Gospels together with various prefatory texts and tables.  It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or perhaps slightly earlier.  The text of the Gospel books is largely drawn from St. Jerome’s Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina.  It is a masterwork of Western calligraphy and represents the pinnacle of Insular or Hiberno-Saxon illumination.

Click on the image for a fuller appreciation of the almost super-human skill required to execute such a work of art.