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The style is most commonly associated with the Celtic lands, but it was also practiced extensively in England and was exported to Europe by Irish and Northumbrian monastic activities on the continent. J. Romilly Allen has identified "eight elementary knots which form the basis of nearly all the interlaced patterns in Celtic decorative art". [4] [5]
Interlace and knotwork are often found in Byzantine art, continuing Roman usage, but they are not given great prominence. One notable example of a widespread local usage of interlace is the three-ribbon interlace found in the early medieval Croatia on stone carvings from the 9th to 11th centuries.
Most Insular art originates from the Irish monastic movement of Celtic Christianity, or metalwork for the secular elite, and the period begins around 600 with the combining of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon styles. One major distinctive feature is interlace decoration, in particular the interlace decoration as found at Sutton Hoo, in East Anglia.
Interlace, which is still seen as a "Celtic" form of decoration—somewhat ignoring its Germanic origins and equally prominent place in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian medieval art—has remained a motif in many forms of popular design, especially in Celtic countries, and above all Ireland, where it remains a national style signature.
Lacertines, most commonly found in Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Insular art, are interlaces created by zoomorphic forms. [1] [2] [3] While the term "lacertine" itself means "lizard-like," [4] its use to describe interlace is a 19th-century neologism and not limited to interlace of reptilian forms.
The interlace is the best-known motif of Insular art. This decoration, however, is not limited to Celtic art of Insular illumination. It is also seen in some Egyptian papyrus, Byzantine and Italian works and some Anglo-Saxon works of art, like those found in the tomb at Sutton Hoo. But the use of this pattern in Insular manuscripts is almost ...
The form gained new popularity during the Celtic Revival of the 19th century; the name "Celtic cross" is a convention dating from that time. The shape, usually decorated with interlace and other motifs from Insular art, became popular for funerary monuments and other uses, and has remained so, spreading well beyond Ireland.
The striking Cross of Conbelin is the most celebrated example. From around 1000 AD, it is a huge disc cross with Celtic interlace and plaitwork patterns, figurative scenes including a hunting scene, and inscriptions telling us who made it and who erected it. There are 17 early Christian stones, plus 11 memorials and other stones from the post ...