In Celtic Art we have both concealment and
revelation through the symbols employed by the artist. Our word ‘symbol’
comes from the Greek, meaning to bring together and to see
something with something else. To the ancient mind (whether Greek,
Roman or Celtic) a symbol was not an object detached from the invisible
reality it represents (as we often understand the word today), but was a
true re-presentation of an invisible reality in a visible form. It was
for this reason that art was a window into the invisible and the
unknown; and the artist was an explorer into the unknown, the invisible,
and the divine. The artist was a seeker, a revealer, a saint, a shaman,
a holy man or woman. Symbolic art brought human beings together with the
image it re-presented; it allowed our ancestors to see something with
something else.
How far are we from this today?
With ancient Celtic art it is important to
understand that the symbolic image created by the artist is not seen as
being a concept that is worthy or original; but the symbolic image is
rooted in the material substance of the art. To the pre-Enlightenment
artist, spirituality and truth were not separate from the material (as
it was to Descartes for example), but were found in the material substance of the
world. Art was about shaping the material substance to reveal the truth
that was hidden within.
The distinction between ‘art’ (thinking) and ‘craft’ (doing) would not make sense to
an ancient Celt ... or to any one today who rejects the Platonic dualism
inherent in much of modern art.
In our postmodern world, a symbol in art
generally represents an image or concept which connects us to our inner
subjective self, or to a subjective reality or truth. A symbol,
therefore, is something which is meaningful to us or to the artist, or
to us both. Moreover, inherent in most art today, is the notion that the
symbol or the concept is somehow separate from the material of which it
is made. In our modern times symbolic significance is not considered to
be inherent in the materials.
I contrast Celtic art and craft to postmodern art
because we need to understand where we are today, and begin to realise
how our perspective on art differs radically from the monks’ who created
the Book of Kells.
Once we are aware of our
own modern preconceptions of what we call art and craft, we can begin to
understand ancient Celtic art and craft more fully, and increasingly enjoy modern
Celtic art and craft of today.
Celtic
Art and Craft - Decorative and Spiritual
The Early Celts
Celtic art and craft displays a richness
of colour, an intricacy of detail and the intensity of symbolism equal
to the finest art found anywhere and at anytime. While the ancient
Celtic tribes lived throughout much of what we call 'Europe' today, we
shall focus upon the art and the craft of the Celts and the peoples of
the British Isles from the 7th Century BC and continuing for the next
900 to 1,000 years.
... or were they?
Before anything can be said about Celtic
art and craft, we need to be clear that many designs and styles of art
and craft which we now call 'Celtic' may have been the work of Saxons,
as well as by the Vikings, Picts, and even Romans.
Let us consider one of the most popular
examples ... such as 'Celtic knotwork', as it is sometimes called today.
Was it 'Celtic'? Not entirely. This complicated and elaborate style of
design and decoration was probably brought to Britain and Ireland in the
5th, 6th and 7th Centuries AD by Saxon Christian monks to be used to
illuminate the hand-written Christian Gospels, such as in the Book
of Kells. Of course, it was later used extensively by the Celts.
Did the Celts use knotwork for jewellery?
Yes, but ... again, it was more generally the Saxon people who used such
art for jewellery and body decoration. Moreover, most of the knotwork
that has animal shapes incorporated into their design shows an influence
from the Vikings.
And, of course, much of what we call
Celtic art in the form of carved giant standing stones in fact comes
from the Picts in Scotland and from other native pre-Celtic peoples of
Britain.
It seems likely that the origin of
knotwork may be from Syrian and Egyptian Christian
manuscripts, which could have been brought here by the Romans.
Therefore, because there is an interaction
between the Celtic, the Saxon and to a lesser extent the Viking, as well
as all these other influences, we must realise that our modern idea of
what constitutes being called Celtic art and craft may not be
historically accurate. However that does not mean that we cannot call
such art and craft 'Celtic' because it is Celtic to us today.
How did they do it?
The Celts worked with stone, wood, metals
and naturally produced paints, in an abstract style: in which we see
balance of form, delicacy in application, brightness of colour,
interlacings and spirals, flow, movement and humour.
Before Christianity arrived in the 1st
Century AD, their art and craft style was applied in three main areas.
Stone monuments were carved and decorated
(possibly even painted) for religious and magic ceremonies and to ward
off evil, disasters and strangers.
Fine metal jewellery and armour were
fired, and often brightly enamelled, to adorn the warriors and their
horses and chariots.
Warpaint and make-up which featured
symbols, employing their love for blue woad.
Art and craft was inspired by the world in
which they lived. In the Celtic world there were seven orders of created
beings: plants, fishes, birds, insects, reptiles, mammals and man. All
these are featured in their art and craft.
The Druids
The Druids clearly used art and craft as
sacred representations of their gods and ancestors. The gods or
ancestors are portrayed as birds, animals and human beings, though
rarely in a realistic sense. The Druids themselves are thought to have
had shape-changing experiences and hallucinations in their shamanic
rituals, in which they became other sorts of animals, imaginary beasts
and their ancestors, and these experiences may have influenced their art
and craft. This could explain why their bodies in their art and craft,
and their hands, legs, arms, heads, beards and so on, are intertwined
with other body parts of other people and with those of different
animals'.
The Christian Celts
With the coming of Christianity, which
forbade the worshipping and the creating of graven images which are of
God and of his Creation (because they belong to Him), Celtic art became
increasingly stylised and abstract. But because they believed that there
is a life force or spirit in all living things, and that all things are
held together in the Body of Christ by God's own Spirit, their own art
and craft could flourish as it always had, though with a new
understanding.
Their new understanding of themselves and
their world was such that it allowed their art and craft to be employed
to celebrate the glory of God and the diversity and interconnectedness
of His Creation. The Evangelists, the saints and martyrs, and even
Christ himself, are presented as all being within this flow and movement
and continuity of Life.
Materials
All the art and crafts materials used by
the Celts were natural pigments and extracts. Colours such as
ultramarine came from the foothills of the Himalayas, and kermes (red)
was gained from insects living in the evergreen trees of the warm lands
around the Mediterranean. All the colours were ground by the artists and
bound with egg white (albumen), fish extract or natural gum from trees.
Gold and silver were used, though rarely.
It is far from clear what sorts of pens
and brushes were used. Moreover, how was the artists' eyesight improved
to be able to see to work with such unerring accuracy? In the Book
of Kells, there are many examples where within a square inch of
work, you can count as many as 800 interlacements of slender ribbon-like
patterns formed of white lines edged with black ones. How could they do
this without magnification? Tradition has it that the lines were traced
by the pens of angels.
Humility
But within all this astonishing
complexity, there was humility. For Celtic artists and craftsmen and
women, while inspired to represent the beauty and perfection of God and
of His Creation, would always deliberately leave part of their own work
unfinished. This was to keep their spirits humble. Moreover, it was to
avoid the possibility that they themselves were seeking to create
something equal to their own Creator and His Creation.
"If you take the
trouble to look very closely, and penetrate with your eyes to the
secrets of the artistry, you will notice such intricacies, so delicate
and subtle, so close together and well knitted, so involved and bound
together, and so fresh that you will not hesitate to declare that all
these things must have been the result of the work, not of men, but of
angels."
Gerald of Wales - late 12th Century
Celtic
Art and Craft Designs
Celtic Designs
The Celts produced art and craft in
several classic designs. While interrelated and employed together, each
may have had its own special meanings and significance. However, the
Celts never worked exclusively within one style or fashion: there are
always areas where one style overlaps another. For everything is
related; and nothing exists all by itself.
Knot Work
Knot work appears to signify the
interconnectedness of everything, and the thread of life running through
all things. The unbroken lines symbolise the continuous journey of our
spirits flowing throughout our lives, while linked and entwined with the
spirits of others. The regularity, symmetry and order of the designs
suggests a well-designed and well-ordered universe.
Key & Step Patterns
Key and step patterns are similar to knot
work, thought they suggest twists and turns, rather than flow. There is
still movement, but this time it is repetitive, rather like steps of a
dance or the movement of the body on its spiritual pilgrimage.
The Sacred Dance is an ancient idea that
permeates many cultures, through which the earth's powers could be
absorbed through the soles of the worshippers' feet. This suggests a
physical, communal experience of movement, journey and pilgrimage. The
early Christians would have had no trouble seeing the journey as a
symbol of their souls travelling toward God. Labyrinths, like the
one upon Glastonbury Tor, were primarily religious architecture, a
processional path, upon which people could journey toward their goal of
reaching the centre (known as the omphalos in Greek) or
the point where heaven and earth meet.
All things may perhaps find their meeting
point at the centre; and once things meet, they come to rest. This is
based upon the ancient idea that all things have a hidden destiny, an
inner urge or compulsion to seek unity. Movement itself can be
understood as an imperfect state of being, for movement separates. If,
in the beginning, all things shared a perfect cosmic harmony, then
movement can suggest a fall from this original state of perfection and
grace. Though they must have longed for perfection, the Celts understood
that the world was not perfect as it is now. So they sought the
original unity, and expressed this desire in their art. Bus, alas, it
was from this original unity that all things are now separated. And yet,
as all things seek unity, therefore all things move in search of it.
When they find it, the original order of the cosmos will be recreated.
At the centre, there is Unity, stillness, rest, and peace.
Christian Celts would have understood
these ideas well. From what little knowledge we have of them, it seems
that they understood God the Father as being the Unity, the Son
as being in all things guiding them towards Unity, and the
movement towards Unity as being by the power of the Holy Spirit. The
beauty of this idea is that it means that all things are being drawn
together through the only power which truly unites separate things - the
power of Love.
Spirals
The spiral is a symbol of eternity and
eternal life. It is like a rolling wave and a crashing surf. The Celtic
monks must have been aware of this, living as they often did close to
the sea. Then there is the flow of life through the universe, the
movements of the star, and the pulse of blood through the veins of all
living things. A spiral is a part-circle which suggests the circle of
life, and yet that is not all. For the circle runs into another circle,
and yet another. Life moving forward, ever onward.
The spiral is also the cosmic symbol:
suggesting the circle of birth-death-rebirth encompassing all things:
from the stars in the heavens to the blades of corn in their fields.
Each is born, then dies, and is reborn anew. There is something
reminiscent of the baby in the womb in the spiral, with the line coming
out being the umbilical cord.
There is also the sense of balance in the
spiral, for as the line goes in to the centre, so from the line from the
centre goes out. The rotation or gyration suggests a journey inward, but
also an outward journey.
Many spirals express three-in-one in their
design. If two is a symbol of balance, and four is a symbol of
stability, then three is a symbol of movement. Movement meant life.
Energy suggested consciousness. Three was a significant number to the
Celts, and, of course, it is also a symbol of the Holy Trinity to
Christians. God the Father, the Son of God and the Spirit of God are
Three Persons in One Essence.
Zoomorphic Designs
Animals and birds were sacred to the Celts
and many of their gods and ancestors were represented in the form of
birds or animals. Shape-changing was understood by the Druids to be at
the heart of knowledge, and was practised and experienced in their
rituals.
Zoomorphic designs show us that there is
an interconnectedness running through all creatures, and that nothing is
as it seems. These intricate patterns first appeared in the Bronze Age,
and continued and were developed for more than a thousand years. In the
Book of Kells, it is the Four Evangelists -Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John- who are depicted in part-animal and part-human form. In this
great work, Matthew is a man, Mark is a lion, Luke a calf; and John an
eagle.
The Cross
The Celtic Cross is one of the best known
of all Christian symbols. The cross symbolises the four roads or four
winds, or four directions. It is derived by quartering the circle
through the omphalos at the very centre. The cross in the
wheel or circle suggests Christ's rule over the length, breadth, height
and depth of all things.
The Celtic Cross may have also been based
upon an earlier navigation aid.
Crosses were also a symbol of the Celtic
peoples before the arrival of Christianity. The oldest examples known
(come from well before the Celts) are those engraved or painted on small
pebbles, dating from perhaps 10,000 BC, found in a cave in the Pyrenees.
These are thought to be ancestor stones - stones that retain the spirits
of the dead.
Celtic
