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Which are depicted on the Chi Rho page in the Book of Kells?

(Select all that apply.)
the Virgin Mary
animals
winged angels
the Holy Ghost
interlacing patterns
numbers

Answer :

cafa1988

Answer:

the Virgin Mary

animals

winged angels

Explanation:

  • The most glorious illumination in this manuscript is the page in Matthew's Gospel that begins with a description of the birth of Jesus.
  • At first glance, the page appears to be an entirely abstract embroidery of lines and colors, but to more "observant" observers many human and animal forms are revealed in a dense web of spiral and intertwined gold-plated patterns.
  • At the very top of the letter Chi (X) is an easily recognizable human face, while its lower arm has three winged angels, and the curved letter Rho (P) ends with a head believed to represent the face of Christ himself.
  • Almost lost in decoration, as if playing hide and seek, there are butterfly figures and even otters fishing for fish. It is obvious that they played a symbolic role for the medieval reader, but their meaning is lost today.
  • A particularly interesting display is at the very end of the tail of the Greek letter Chi, where two cats are lurking by two mice biting the Eucharist, while another mouse tortures them on their backs. This account can be linked to the problem of medieval monasteries of that time, which had trouble preserving food and holy host from harmful rodents, but it could also be interpreted as a metaphor for the eternal struggle between good (cats) and evil (mice).

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