Celtic knot

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
One very basic form of Celtic or pseudo-Celtic linear knotwork.
Stone Celtic crosses, such as this, are a major source of knowledge regarding Celtic knot design.
Carpet page from Lindisfarne Gospels, showing knotwork detail.
Almost all of the folios of the Book of Kells contain small illuminations like this decorated initial.

Celtic knots (

St. Teilo Gospels, the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels. Most are endless knots, and many are varieties of basket weave knots
.

History

The use of

mosaics of that time. Interesting developments in the artistic use of interlaced knot patterns are found in Byzantine architecture and book illumination, Coptic art, Celtic art, Islamic art, Kievan Rus' book illumination, Ethiopian art
, and European architecture and book illumination.

Spirals, step patterns, and key patterns are dominant motifs in Celtic art before the Christian influence on the Celts, which began around 450. These designs found their way into early Christian manuscripts and artwork with the addition of depictions from life, such as animals, plants and even humans. In the beginning, the patterns were intricate interwoven cords, called plaits, which can also be found in other areas of Europe, such as Italy, in the 6th century. A fragment of a Gospel Book, now in the Durham Cathedral library and created in northern Britain in the 7th century, contains the earliest example of true knotted designs in the Celtic manner.

Examples of plait work (a woven, unbroken[

J. Romilly Allen has identified "eight elementary knots which form the basis of nearly all the interlaced patterns in Celtic decorative art".[4][5]

The Celtic knot as a tattoo design became popular in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.[6]

Examples

See also

References

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  5. ^ Ivan, Drew (10 August 2005). "Eight Basic Knotwork Patterns". Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
  6. ^ Shapiro, Ari (25 November 2014). "The American Origins Of The Not-So-Traditional Celtic Knot Tattoo". NPR. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019.

External links