Other artists are equally emphatic in their praises of the work of Irish artists during the period under consideration.
Westwood writes: “Ireland may justly be proud of the _Book of Kells_.... At a period when the fine arts may be said to be almost extinct in Italy and other parts of the Continent, nearly from the fifth to the end of the eighth century, the art of ornamenting MSS. had a perfection almost miraculous in Ireland.... The invention and skill displayed, the neatness, precision, and delicacy far surpass all that is found in MSS. executed by Continental artists.”[447]
Referring to the interlaced style of ornament introduced in the seventh and eighth century Coffey[448] informs us that this new style with all its intricacy was brought to a marvellous perfection in the Irish monastic schools. The same writer further assures us that the Irish MSS. (with which he would class the Hiberno-Saxon MSS. in the production of which the Irish scribes took such important a part) admittedly stand in quite the first place among early MSS. for the excellence of their penmanship and illustrations.
As showing that the Irish style of art had more than a local influence the testimony of another art critic, Mr. Digby Wyatt, is worth quoting. He says: “In close connection with the Irish church existed a school of art remarkable for its sense of the graceful and grotesque, and for its superiority in point of ornamental design to any other style of the same period. That its influence extended much farther than is generally supposed would appear certain, and not only did Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the North of England and Scandinavia adopt its peculiar system of ornament, but some of the MSS. in the libraries of Europe are now discovered to have emanated from this school.”[449]
The colours of the _Book of Kells_ are remarkably well preserved after a lapse of one thousand years. Professor Hartley[450] a few years ago submitted the pigments to a careful examination and discovered the materials of which the colours are most probably compounded. He reported as follows: “The black is lampblack, or possibly fishbone black; the bright red is realgar (arsenic disulphide As_{ 2}S_{ 2}) the yellow, orpiment (arsenic tersulphide As_{ 2}S_{ 3}); the emerald green, malachite; the deep blue possibly lapis lazuli, but owing to its transparency when overlying green more likely not so. The reddish purple is either finely ground glass obtained from a solution of gold, or a preparation which was obtained by the action of a solution of tin and was very expensive. The other colours are neutral green like burnt sienna, a pale blue, and lilac.”[451]