The designation as Insular derives from the phrase Insular script, first cited by the OED in 1908, and is also used by … See more

The Insular style is most famous for its highly dense, intricate and imaginative decoration, which takes elements from several earlier styles. Late Iron Age Celtic art or "Ultimate La Tène", gave the love of spirals, … See more

Unlike contemporary Byzantine art, and that of most major periods, Insular art does not come from a society where common stylistic influences were spread across a great number of types of object in art, applied art… See more

Christianity discouraged the burial of grave goods so that, at least from the Anglo-Saxons, we have a larger number of pre-Christian survivals than those from later periods. The majority of examples that survive fro… See more

Cathach of St. Columba. An Irish Latin psalter of the early 7th century, this is perhaps the oldest known Irish manuscript of any sort. It contains only decorated letters, at the beginning of each Psalm, but these alrea… See more

Large stone high crosses, usually erected outside monasteries or churches, first appear in the 8th century in Ireland, perhaps at Carndonagh, Donegal, a monastic site with Ionian foundations, apparently … See more

The stone monuments erected by the Picts of Scotland north of the Clyde-Forth line between the 6th–8th centuries are particularly striking in design and construction, carved in the typical Easter Ross style … See more