to the material culture of the Insular tradition. I disagree, because I think that Insular Insularity includes aspects of culture, religion, and politics; however, I do think her narrower vision of the Insular tradition focusing on the material culture provides an appropriate frame of reference for better understanding the complicated term. Due to definition held as well by other historians who have struggled with Cramp’s narrow — the term Insular, I maintain that approaching the definition through the lens of illuminated manuscripts, and noting the important history associated with the selected works, places the Insular tradition within a broader historical discourse. The Manuscripts My method to explore the broader understanding of the Insular tradition is to analyze stylistically six manuscripts. The Insular tradition exhibits a blended nature because of many influences involved in the of the material. Due to artists’ interpretation this blending, I have divided the manuscripts into three artistic traditions: the tradition, the Mediterranean tradition, and the The manuscripts I Insular tradition. have chosen in the Insular tradition contain ninth-century works that draw on the other two distinct styles. The six core manuscripts are: The Echternach Gospels, The Durham Gospels, British Library M.S. 40618, The Codex Amiatinus, The Homilies of St. Gregory from the Vercelli Capitulary Library, and the Book of Cerne. Echternach Gospels A few important scholars Michelle Brown, François Henry, George — Henderson, Carl Nordenfalk, and Robert Stevick have extensively researched the —
Insular to the material culture of the Insular tradition. I disagree, because I think that Insularity includes aspects of culture, religion, and politics; however, I do think her narrower vision of the Insular tradition focusing on the material culture provides an appropriate frame of reference for better understanding the complicated term. Due to Cramp’s narrow definition — held as well by other historians who have struggled with the term Insular, I maintain that approaching the definition through the lens of illuminated manuscripts, and noting the important history associated with the selected works, places the Insular tradition within a broader historical discourse. The Manuscripts My method to explore the broader understanding of the Insular tradition is to analyze stylistically six manuscripts. The Insular tradition exhibits a blended nature because of many influences involved in the artists’ interpretation of the material. Due to this blending, I have divided the manuscripts into three artistic traditions: the tradition, the Mediterranean tradition, and the Insular tradition. The manuscripts I have chosen in the Insular tradition contain ninth-century works that draw on the other two distinct styles. The six core manuscripts are: The Echternach Gospels, The Durham Gospels, British Library M.S. 40618, The Codex Amiatinus, The Homilies of St. Gregory from the Vercelli Capitulary Library, and the Book of Cerne. Echternach Gospels A few important scholars — Michelle Brown, François Henry, George Henderson, Carl Nordenfalk, and Robert Stevick — have extensively researched the
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