Chi-rho-iota is a folio recto of an Irish book, The Book of Kell's. The book is from Iona, Scotland, late eighth century or early ninth century. It depicts the nativity of Jesus in the gospel of Saint Matthew. The initial letters of Christ are in Greek, which takes up the whole page. The words autem and generatio reads “Now this shows the birth of Christ came about “. The page ties to the passage on Matthew, which is what is usually read on Christmas Eve. The illuminator transformed the holy words into script and abstract
