ABSTRACT
The Introduction presents an overview of critical debates in relation to mysticism and medieval aesthetics, before offering a short case study of medieval and modern representation of the mystery of the Incarnation intended to highlight key themes and tensions addressed over the volume as a whole. An examination of the ‘Incarnation Initials’ of Insular Gospel Books and Gerald of Wales’s discussion of the Gospels of Kildare highlights the importance of craft, materiality and the transcendent to these medieval works of art. Padraic Colum’s mid-twentieth-century poem responds to the Book of Kells with a meditation on the practice of its creator. Finally, the paradox of worldly art being able both to facilitate and to hinder access to the divine is addressed in relation to some Middle English lyrics.
