How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

George Bain drew large posters like this to illustrate his Celtic art classes and lectures after he retired. He’d made simpler posters for his art students in Kirkcaldy. They remember his classroom being decorated with numerous large-scale designs. Bain has increased the size of both illustrations by around 20 times. He carefully records this alongside his drawings. Magnifying the size of the designs allowed him to understand their complexity. It also meant he could see the scribe’s inconsistencies. At the bottom right corner, Bain notes that one of the four figures has a white, rather than a blue thigh in the original. He corrects this in his version, interpreting the blue as trousers. These two small panels are from different pages in the Book of Kells.