Art in Context 1 Group Project Research

As I researched the construction techniques of Celtic Art, I discovered some very interesting things. If you look at an illustrated manuscript from the Middle Ages, like the famous Book of Kells, and marvel at all of the fancy lettering and markings, you might think it to be impossible, or at least, very time-consuming to duplicate or attempt to create any design as intricate and detailed at these. In my research, I have found rather simple techniques in making very complicated-looking markings that appear as if they could be of Celtic origins.

Celtic art was used as sacred embellishments as in the Book of Kells. Recreation of the kind contained in the Celtic methods of construction will be beneficial to most artists whose works are creative. The great Celtic artists must have had the power of visualizing beforehand a completed work in its final composition. That ability, as in all art forms, must be acquired through much experience. The term Pictish refers to the Cruithne, the ancient British whose art owed much of its perfection and beauty to the uses of mathematical formulas for construction. The finest examples of ornamented stone monuments, jewelry, and metal sculpture have been found in the areas of Britain and Ireland that where once inhabited by these Cruithne. These treasures show perfect renditions of Celtic or Pictish designs. The nickname Pict was given to these northern British peoples by the Romans; it referred to their love of color and to their amazing skill of firing enamel colors on metal ornaments for warriors and their chariots. In battle even, the British would sometimes discard all of their clothing and decorate their bodies in lavish colors with tribal symbols, charms and patterns.

The ornaments in the Books of Durrow, Kells, Lindesfarne, St. Chad, MacRegol, and MacDurnan are similar to those of the Pictish ornamented stones of the east coast of Britain and in the Pictish area of Northern Ireland. There are few important rules in the development of a Celtic design. The most important rule is that each stage of the design must be carried through completely before moving to the next stage. If not, there will be confusion. With practice, original designs using the same techniques can be created and then applied to other materials. Mere copying of ancient work is impossible, but by understanding the methods of construction, new designs and maybe even new methods can be attempted.

These great intellectual artists and craftsmen produced the great cross slab0-stones of East Pictland, the similar designs in the illuminated manuscripts of the time, the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Chalice and other masterpieces of Celtic jewelry art. It is obvious that much of the contents of these designs are not recognizable to the human eye. These artists were not trying to impress people with the intricacy of their craft. They lived with the idea that God could see every imperfection, so they strove to please Him. Referring to a page of the “Book of Armagh,” Professor J. O. Westwood wrote, “In a space of about a quarter of an inch superficial, I counted with a magnifying glass no less than one hundred and fifty-eight interlacements of a slender ribbon pattern formed of white lines edged with black ones on a black ground. No wonder that tradition should allege that these unerring lines should have been traced by angels.”

The order of the ornamental symbols begins with spirals, and then moves to chevrons and step patterns along with key patterns that are really spirals in straight lines. Then, interlacing is added later and knot work interlacing follows them. This order is duplicated in the three-dimensional arts of weaving, plaiting, and basketry. The last phase of design is the adding of the third dimension with painted outlines and dark backgrounds. The stage of constructing key patterns requires much mathematical and geometrical skill, but traces of these cab be found as far back as 20,000 B.C. in the Ukraine and Yugoslavia.

The imitation of the works of God was forbidden to many races and until the Christian era, even vegetation was not allowed as a motif for ornamentation in Pictish art. Therefore, the Pictish artists concentrated mainly on geometry, mathematics and abstractions that were not copies of created life. As a symbol of continuity, interlacing knot work is found on ornamental cross slab-stones. The “St. Andrew’s Cross” is the beginning of the most circular knot work of the Scottish and Irish Pictish interlacing panels.