Boston Celtics, Celtic pride, Celtic crosses, Celtic tattoos. St. Patrick's Day is far from the only time we remind ourselves that being Irish has something to do with the Celts. Today, the word Celtic conjures up the aforementioned items and perhaps some vague notions of Druids and art featuring complicated, interwoven lines. In reality, the Celtic history is far older, richer, and more significant than most realize. A new book from Phaidon, Celtic Art, by Venceslas Kruta, takes a deep dive into the impressive artistic history of a people who, as the books notes, in Greek and Roman times "were the largest known family of European peoples outside the Mediterranean." At its peak, the people who spoke Celtic languages and practiced Celtic culture stretched from the Atlantic to Asia Minor. While that is impressive, what is more impressive is the artwork left behind—the impossibly detailed jewelry, weaponry, and decorative items that show an extraordinary mastery of craft.
To the left is the famous illuminated "Chi-Rho" page of the Book of Kells from about 700–900. While Celtic religion forbade the writing down of pretty much anything, Christianity's spread ensured that traditional Celtic imagery survived in stunning manuscripts.
Richly illuminated manuscript on parchment, dimensions: 33 x 25 cm, Dublin, Trinity College Library.
The Board of Trinity College Dublin
The image to the left is of an enameled harness plate that was found in Paillart, Oise, France. The harness is beautiful in its own right, but it also an example of just how much detail went into Celtic artwork that escapes the casual glance. As the next slide shows, the plate was made with compasses from circles of three different sizes.
Musée Archéologique de la Région de Breteuil.
Courtesy Dario Bertuzzi
The three circles are made up of a large one, a second one that is a third the size of the first, and a small one that is one quarter the size of the largest. The drawing to the left is emblematic of the sort of mind-blowing details and work that went into the work.
This trippy ornamental disc dated to 380-350 BC is made up of dizzying S-motifs that also can be interpreted as animal, human, or plant forms.
Discovered by accident in 1882 in Auvers-sur-Oise, Val-d’Oise, France. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Cabinet des Médailles.
Courtesy AKG images/Pietro Baguzzi
This ceremonial helmet that was discovered in 1981 in Les Perrats cave, Agris, Charente, France, is estimated to be from about 380–340 BC. Its decoration is impressive and involves gold leaf, coral, and repoussé work.
Angouléme, Musée de la Société Archéologique et Historique de la Charente.
Courtesy Centaure, le MusÃÂÃÂÃÂée d'AngoulÃÂÃÂÃÂéme
This head that formed the pommel of a sword handle shows the human features characteristic of Celtic art. Kruta points specifically to "the slanting almond eyes ... the hair is formed of S-motifs in relief at the front, then flat triangular strands, which meet at the back to form a sort of plait or pigtail." This hairstyle, he says, is redolent of the Irish Fianna, which were roving warrior band.
Stradonice, Bohemia, Czech Republic about 150–50 BC, bronze lost-wax casting, height: 2.5 cm, Prague, Národní Muzeum.
Courtesy Dario Bertuzzi
The image to the left is the handle from a ceremonial wooden jug found in the Czech Republic. Much of the Celtic art that has sruvived is art that decorates everyday objects, so the artistic feats are more subtle. As the drawing in the next slide shows, the jug was far more daring in design than meets the eye.
Found in an isolated ditch (probably a votive deposit) on the burial site of Brno-Maloměřice, Moravia, Czech Republic about 290–280 BC, bronze lost-wax casting, total height of the restored vessel: 48 cm, Brno, Moravské Zemské Muzeum.
Courtesy Dario Bertuzzi
The belly of the jug is encased in a seemingly random bronze decoration. Except it is far from random, and instead is a representation of the constellations visible over Brno at the night of Beltane, a major Celtic festival. On the other side was a similar representation, but of the sky during Samhain, the new-year festival.
The Irish cross that dots many an American cemetery carries on many of the traditions found in Celtic art. As Kruta notes, the Irish cross design reflects the Celtic concept of space being broken into four parts that "meet in the circle with a common enter, and which is still the place where the world of humans and the vault of heaven unite." This could be represented by a tree, sun, or even dragons. Celtic art's influence in the Middle Ages would even find its way into Romanesque art on the continent.
The image to the left is of a monumental cross of Muiredach, Monasterboice, County Louth, Ireland about 920, carved stone, height: 550 cm.
Courtesy John Donnellan
Celtic Art, by Venceslas Kruta, is available through Phaidon.
Courtesy Phaidon
