This exquisite example of a 'carpet' page with a cross is folio
26 verso of the ______ from Northumbria, England. Made of
tempera on vellum in ca. 698-721 CE, the page features
serpentine interlacements of fantastic animals devouring
each other, curling over, and retaining their writhing, elastic
shapes. As do most Hiberno-Saxons artworks, this page
painted in various colors displays the illuminator's preference
for small, infinitely complex, and painstaking designs.
According to a later colophon, the bishop from 698 to 721
named ______ wrote it \"for God and Saint Cuthbert\" whose
relics had been deposited in the church he served.