Celtic Art

Celtic Art

      Celtic art dates back from at least 700 B.C. in Central Europe, the earliest recorded settlements with Celtic cultures were Halstatt in what today is Austria, and in the 5th century B.C. centered around Lake Neuchatel in what today is Switzerland, the home of the early La Tène Style of Celtic art, with its curviness and spirals.     Sometimes it is combined with cross-hatching, mainly produced on metalwork. The Celtic tribes gradually spread all over Europe, taking their art style and culture with them.

            As the Roman Empire expanded and conquered the Celtic Lands of Europe, continental tribes migrated to the isles of the Britons to join the residents of those safe havens, and took their artwork skills to those lands. In the isles of the ancient Britons and Irish, at the end of the known world of that time, Celtic artwork and culture survived and developed far better.

     The ancient Celts were attached to nature and the elements, and worshipped the sun, moon, the stars and the Earth Mother, with a wide range of goddesses and gods. They celebrated their deities, ancestors, life, the natural world and its creatures, and the changing of the seasons through their music, poetry, story-telling and art. Their poets and musicians which were the Bards and their wise holy men the Druids, were very high up in the social ladder of the tribe. Their artisans were also well respected, and were stone carvers, wood and metal workers. 

Maui Celtic - Celtic Art, Celtic Art History, Celtic Tattoo History, Maui Celtic Art resource on Maui, Hawaii. 2013. Maui Celtic - Celtic Art, Celtic Art History, Celtic Tattoo History, Maui Celtic Art resource on Maui, Hawaii. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mauiceltic.com/celtic-art.htm. [Accessed 20 May 2013].