Carolina Vega
Mr. Moya
English IV
27 March 2018
Start of the European Tribes
Celtic art characterized the people from the earliest of times and still continues today. The inspirational work of the Celts has impacted many of the minds in a multitude of cultures surrounding them. The word Celt was originated from the Greeks meaning barbarians, which are members of a division of the early Indo-European peoples distributed from the British isles and Spain to the Asia Minor, and the pronunciation is Kelt as supposed to popular belief. The Celts took great pride in their appearance, as is shown in their collections of artistic grooming equipment. Celts in the past, today, and even Celts who never existed continued to appear unabated because they left behind no written tradition, but left more myth and legend.
The devotion of the Celts had advanced them to produce innovative art that represented their emotion and qualities; the elements caused them to have intricately patterned helmet designs, jewelry, lively music, sewers, baths, toilets, roads, weapons, and the flowing tunics they wore. All these are just some examples of the way the Celts used art in their culture as an important form of expression. The most notable features of the Celts were the scale on which their artists often worked. “Intricacy and the small scale of manuscript or metalwork” surprisingly their function of such art was not at public display.
The bronze chariot mount found near Paris, third century B.C. has “a feature that seems to have caused the Celts endless fascination is known as transformation”. This particular chariot mount is a “design that appears totally abstract from one angle can be alone a face when viewed from another”. This bronze chariot is one of the early forms of artworks created within the Celtic culture.
The start of Celtic’s conceptual art is found in the vibrant book Art of the Celts demonstrated from the art throughout Iron Age Europe to the Dark Ages; then, to the revivals carry the story to the present. The tremendous mystery of the Celts to this day is a myth and a legend. They were ahead of their time because they were an innovative and creative tribal society. The Celts did not leave a written tradition behind. The Celts left behind their distinctive, varied, and sophisticated masterpieces, which is worth more than words can describe. Their art depicts an original and powerful entity. Ironically, according to the article written on Is.muni.cz, Julius Ceaser was always at war with the Celts and "In the first century B.C., J. Caesar noticed that the peoples known to the Romans as the Gauls called themselves Celts. This means that the name Celts was received by all the Celtic tribes of the Roman Gallia." The twelfth century BC the Celts extended across the continent and dominated most of central, western, and northwestern Europe. The foundation of the Celts started rising and conquering many European Lands. They were constructed before the romans got the chance to reach the isles.The Celts culture bloomed as they settled into an advanced agricultural lifestyle dependent on hunting and gathering as a primary means of survival, Transcending to the Urnfield culture and starting to speak an early form of Celtic language. The Celts Emerged from this descent between 1200 to 700 BC. The traditional Celts formed a bloodline with a variety of spiritual practices and cultures. Then the development of the Celtic culture rose to be diverse and flexible. Their lack of unity made the Romans defeat them, although they were very vicious and hard to defeat. Also, the Roman empires took credit for the roads and for utilizing iron into swords, but the Celts were the first to bring these forms of innovation into the world.
It should be discussed as well that head hunting played a huge role in the religion. They believed that when one collected skulls you gain skills of knowledge of the soul the skull had belonged to. The Celtic religions goes in many directions, mainly Polytheism and Christianity, but also allows the liberty of believing in any other diverse religion. According to the book The Art of Celts the “Revival of Christian Celtic art as a form of ornament (19th and 20th century specifically).”
Celts originated in the 1st century from the Eastern Europe, central, western, and Asia Minor. Many of the Celts lived in the Western Europe region. When looking at the Celtic religion, one must consider their different aspects and ceremonies of their religion. Celtic religious took till 5 BC to “emerge in such of Iron work De La Tene culture, which was named by the Switzerland site,” which shares the qualities and ideas of the Celts religion through their art (Laing 8). The congregation of the Celts influenced Christian art, as evident in the book of Kells, “a manuscript created in the late eight or early ninth century, now regarded as one of the finest achievements of the Celtic art [contains] the symbolism [as] extremely complex and subtle”
It was evident that the Celts were a very devoted Christian society due to the respect they put on their religious artifacts. The Celts were a very widespread culture, which influenced many parts of Europe. The British isles was were the Celtic originated but it does not mean it was confined to only them. Particularly, the professional The Cross of Cong, made in 1123, found in Spain but is evident to have Irish artistic styles. The Cross of Cong “… was not intended to be held by human hands” (Laing 191). It was said that the cross would be “desecrated by human touch” (Laing 191). This form of respect put on their religion reflects today’s view of the sanctity in societies standard of religion.
Our generation lives in the right time even if it does not always feel like it does. This is a great time for art because is being used in a more positive way than it was in the past. Our society is given the right resources to be inspired of the skills and endurance that the Celtic culture left behind. The Celts legacy is our backbone of the civilization to this day as it is a major influence in our society in many ways that society expresses itself in everyday life. Modern humanity restores their beautiful works and beliefs and their complex designs in order to feel connected and united to our ancestors and to be able to express ideals to upcoming generations. The Celtic culture invented numerous varieties of styles, forms, beliefs, iron work, trading networks, mining, and farming which are all basic presences throughout history.
The Celts devotion advanced them to produce innovative art that represents their emotion and qualities; intricately patterned helmet designs, jewelry, lively music, sewers, baths, toilets, roads, weapons, and the flowing tunics they wore. They were a more advanced culture compared to the ones around them in their era. Our minds generate an eternal and internal meaning to experiences, which create an association and connection to the mind. Things are forgotten or misinterpreted easily in writings, but the Celtic art cannot be forgotten or misinterpreted because it is a visual representation of the feelings of the past. Human existence can be wrong about everything, uncertainty is a positive factor to innovation. The creativity expressed through the artistic feats by the Celts had boosted the creativity within the young minds affiliated with the culture, therefore leading to more motivation and inspiration to create medical practices and services that can help the ones around them. The Celts also made a vast network of roads throughout Europe for trade and expansion, before the Romans, demonstrating their art of creating these road networks made them far more innovative by also improving the living standards for the people around them. The systems of roads created by the Celts also played a huge factor in spreading the ideals created by them and helping build the creativity in the bright minds of other cultures. Celts using art made them appeal less certain of themselves because they did not want to be wrong. Our brains are immune to meaning and see things by the association of the past making two or more experiences. Human emotion can be conveyed through its visual, whether it was anger, love, or sadness; theoretical, historical, or methodological framework being used.
The Celtic culture was a very inspirational culture that had various effects on society. Many of their ideals were spread throughout nations and had played a huge role in the development of the cultures around them. There ideals are even able to affect the minds of today’s individuals and should not be a forgotten culture. The effects that creativity has on a mind is inexplicable and should be explored in every manner from every culture. As stated previously in this essay, “The traditions of Celtic art run deep, and must surely run into future generations.” (Laing 208). The Celtic culture will be a major influence in society for many years to come along with many different cultures in their forms of creativity.
Work Cited
10 Interesting Facts About The Celts, www.celtic-weddingrings.com/celtic-history/10- interesting-facts-about-the-celts.
Jacobsthal, Paul. “Early Celtic Art.” Jstor , www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/866191.pdf?refreqid
Leeds, E.T. Celtic Art in Britain. www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2790275.pdf? refreqid=excelsior%3A52a91cfb1becbda87c989fb 217ee9361.
McCartney, George. Celts: Skills and Art, geomacc.com/articles/celts_skills.shtml.
“The Celts and Their Language .” is.muni.cz/El/1421/podzim2017/OJ323/Um/Theory/ The_Celts_and_their_languages_note s.Pdf?Lang=Cs, is.muni.cz/el/1421/podzim2017/ OJ323/um/theory/The_Celts_and_their_languages_notes. pdf?lang=cs
“The History of Celtic Medicine.” Celtic Life International – Celebrating the Celtic Life for over 30 Years, celticlife.com/the-history-of-celtic-medicine/.