An early version of Methods of Construction (7)

This fabulous drawing of spirals shows how a disc of spirals from the Book of Kells was created. Down the left side this is developed by celebrating the work of one of George Bain’s school pupils. Here there are two different disc designs linked in a single panel by interlaced knotwork. It is just as sophisticated as any in the illuminated manuscripts of 650AD to 800AD.

It is intriguing to wonder why Bain didn’t re-use the illustrations that he had painstakingly assembled in 1935. Perhaps he felt that there were better ways of teaching how to draw these designs. The change from portrait to landscape booklets meant that layouts had to change. Possibly this led to using different examples of early medieval objects.