This is a past event
"The Earliest Portrait of St Columba"
Professor Jane Geddes (History of Art, Aberdeen)
This simple sketch of St Columba, the bringer of Christianity from Ireland to Scotland, is found in a 9th-century manuscript at St Gallen in Switzerland. Why is it there, and what does it mean? A close scrutiny of its very sparse composition reveals that the image is loaded with meaning, not so much about Columba’s life on Iona but about his mystical presence at the monastery of St Gallen. It will be shown that these simple pen strokes intend to bring the viewer directly into the presence of the saint himself, inviting a contemporary conversation with the holy helper.
Image: St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 555, p. 166 – Vita sancti Columbae (https://www.e-codices.ch/en/list/one/csg/0555)