Celtic knots (Irish:snaidhm Cheilteach,Welsh:cwlwm Celtaidd,Cornish:kolm Keltek,Scottish Gaelic:snaidhm Ceilteach) are a variety ofknots andstylizedgraphical representations of knots used for decoration, used extensively in theCeltic andNorthumbrian styles ofInsular art. These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in theornamentation of Christianmonuments andmanuscripts, such as the 8th-centurySt. Teilo Gospels, theBook of Kells and theLindisfarne Gospels. Most areendless knots, and many are varieties ofbasket weave knots.
The use ofinterlace patterns had its origins in the late Roman Empire.[1] Knot patterns first appeared in the third and fourth centuries AD and can be seen in Roman floormosaics of that time. Interesting developments in the artistic use of interlaced knot patterns are found inByzantine architecture andbook illumination,Coptic art, Celtic art,Islamic art, Kievan Rus' book illumination,Ethiopian art, and European architecture and book illumination.
Spirals, step patterns, andkey 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 asanimals,plants and evenhumans. In the beginning, thepatterns were intricate interwoven cords, calledplaits, which can also be found in other areas ofEurope, such asItaly, in the 6th century. Afragment of a Gospel Book, now in theDurham Cathedral library and created in northernBritain in the 7th century, contains the earliest example of true knotted designs in the Celtic manner.
Examples of plait work (a woven, unbroken[clarification needed] cord design) predate knotwork designs in several cultures around the world,[2] but the broken and reconnected[clarification needed] plait work that is characteristic of true knotwork began in northern Italy and southern Gaul and spread toIreland by the 7th century.[3] The style is most commonly associated with the Celtic lands and England (particularly the Kingdom of Northumbria) and was then 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]
The Celtic knot as a tattoo design became popular in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.[6]
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