"Go your ways:  behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor bag, nor shoes, and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say,  Peace be to this house. And if a man of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him; if not, it shall return to you again."

                                                                    Luke 10: 3-6

With these words, Jesus releases the apostles from his care and sends them out into a hostile world. He knows full well that they may be persecuted, yet he does not speak of arming themselves in case of attack. Rather, his advice is that they should be like the Buddhist monks, carrying little to nothing of value, trusting completely in the inner goodness of their fellow man. Like the Indian greeting "namaste" which means "I recognize in you the spirit and the oneness that connects us",  Jesus' "Peace be to this house" brings forth goodwill and hospitality in both giver and receiver.

PEACE BE TO THIS HOUSE is Celtic artist Michael Carroll's new version of the Luke quote. Done in gouache paint with goose quill pen and brush on calfskin manuscript vellum, this artwork features the combined styles of the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells. The overall open look of the page with its lacy webs of red dot interlace are pure Lindisfarne, while the heavy keylines and framework are closer to Kells. However, PEACE BE TO THIS HOUSE is composed entirely of original art, and is not a reproduction of any ancient work. The peacock interlace in the borders and central panel are Michael's version of a Lindisfarne bird motif, while he puts a new spin on early Pictish patterns in his yellow and blue spiral groups. 

This artwork is available as a fine art giclee print released by the artist in a limited edition of 300. The artwork is professionally converted into a digital image to exactly match the original vellum page.  Each individual print is inspected and then hand numbered and signed by the artist. They are accompanied by a description and a signed certificate of authenticity. Each giclee is printed on heavyweight 100% cotton archival paper using highly lightfast pigmented inks rated to last 80 to 100 years.