About Celtic Art
What Is Celtic Art?
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The Aberlemno stone, Angus, Scotland. |
Celtic art has its origins in the sculpture,
carving and metalwork of the ancient Celtic peoples who dominated Continental
Europe and the British Isles from about 1000BC onwards before becoming
submerged in the growing Roman Empire. Only in Britain, Ireland, Brittany and
parts of Iberia did the Celtic peoples survive as distinct
nations. There are many different styles and traditions within Celtic art, as is to be expected with an art form which has a history of several thousand years and which is found over a huge geographical range, from Ireland to central Turkey. The art of the ancient Celts in Ireland and Britain was deeply affected by the art of the peoples with whom they came into contact, the Picts and the other pre-Celtic inhabitants of the islands, and later Norse and Anglo-Saxon settlers. The Pictish tradition brought animal designs and possibly totemic symbolism, Norse and Germanic art introduced zoomorphic design - fantastic animal interlacings. This fusion brought about the greatest flowering of Celtic art, a style which has been described as the only school of art of world importance which has evolved in the British Isles. However, classical Celtic art as we know it is very much a product of the growth of Christianity in early Britain and Ireland when the native styles combined in a spectacular fashion with Mediterranean influences brought in by Christian missionaries and Roman traders. The knotwork, often thought to be typical of Celtic art above all else, in fact owes its inspiration to Coptic Christian manuscripts from Egypt. Celtic artists began to use new forms while developing and building upon traditional influences. Christianity brought with it the notion of the sacred text, previously lacking in Celtic society, bringing about the glorious explosion of shape and colour which is Celtic calligraphy. The result was masterpieces like the illuminated Gospels such as the Book of Kells and the Book of Lindisfarne. Celtic art entered a long period of stagnation as the Celtic nations lost their political freedoms - and along with loss of political freedom came a loss of Celtic culture and language. Beginning in Ireland in the 1800's there was a revival in Celtic art and culture which has gradually spread throughout the modern Celtic nations. |
Some Frequently Asked Questions About Celtic Art
| What do knotworks
mean? Knotworks don't mean anything in particular. As a general principle, knotworks made up of one continuous line were held to symbolise eternity. However there were no specific meanings attached to individual knotworks. Knotworks came fairly late to Celtic art and were often used as space fillers and borders in manuscripts although there are some fine examples of stone Celtic crosses. |
| Are there Celtic patterns for individual
clans - like clan tartans? Sorry, clan tartans were pretty much an invention of the tourist trade in Victorian times in Scotland. Most clans have badges which often contain Celtic motifs and designs, but this does not imply that that design "belongs" to that clan. Some Pictish animal designs are thought by some to represent totems belonging to particular Pictish families or lineages, but no-one knows for sure. |
| Does Celtic art have a religious
significance? Most of the finest existing examples of Celtic art, such as the Irish illuminated manuscripts, were created for religious purposes. However, Celtic art was also widely used to decorate everyday household objects. |
| Can you design me a
tattoo/zodiac/knotwork? Sure! But you need to pay me.... Celtic art is time consuming. Click here to email me for further details. |
| The Knotwork | |
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Knotworks came surprisingly late to Celtic art, it is believed they were introduced from Coptic Christian manuscripts which were also a major source of inspiration for early Islamic art. Typical features of Celtic knotworks are the use of rounded edges and attempting to make the knotwork one continuous line. Click here to construct a knotwork on your browser. Click here to see the design principles of knotwork construction. Click here to see a comparison of Celtic and Islamic knotworks. |
| The Spiral | |
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Spirals are one of the oldest design elements in Celtic art dating right back to earliest times. Spirals are believed to represent the life-force Very typical of Celtic spirals is the three-pronged spiral or triskele and many more elaborate spirals are based on this fundamental pattern. The number three was of deep significance in Pagan Celtic religion. Click here to see how to construct a simple spiral. |
| The Key Pattern | |
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These have been described as spirals in a straight line. Key patterns are also found in Mediterranean art. Typical of Celtic key patterns is the use of the 45 degree angle so that the pattern is made up of triangle shapes. Click here to see how this pattern is constructed. |
| Calligraphy | |
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Later Celtic art made great use of calligraphy and decorated inital capital letters. The greatest work of art from the Celtic tradition, the Book of Kells, is essentially a masterpiece of calligraphy. Letters were twisted into fantastic shapes, and decorated with designs, colours and patterns. Click here to see more about Celtic calligraphy. |
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Islamic art made great use of knotwork
patterns, and the Islamic artists were masters of geometric design and layout.
Both Celtic and Islamic art share a common influence in the artistic styles of
illuminated manuscripts from Egypt and the Middle East. Also, both Islamic and
pagan Celtic art had restrictions on the depiction of the human form, and both
made great use of ornament and geometric patterns. Typically, Islamic knotworks show sharp angles and straight lines, whereas Celtic knotworks more usually contain rounded corners. Another important difference is that Celtic knots were often constructed to be made up of one continuous line, this is not so often a feature of an Islamic knotwork. The knotwork on the left is based on a 12 pointed star design which was highly regarded in Muslim Spain. |