The art which emerged in 5th-c BC in S Germany and E France, spread throughout Europe for 500 years, and affected much subsequent mediaeval art, especially decorative gold and bronze-work. Greek motifs such as rosettes and lyre-shapes were combined with arabesques and strongly stylized human and animal forms traceable to the art of nomadic tribes on the E Steppes. Ceremonial metal vessels took their shapes from Etruscan and S Italian models.
Celtic art is art associated with various peoples known as Celts speaking the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the medieval period and beyond, as well as art of ancient peoples whose language is unknown but where cultural and stylistic similarities lead archaeologists to consider it probable that they were predecessors of those known to speak Celtic languages, and Celtic revival art from the 18th century to the modern era which began as a conscious effort by Modern Celts to express self-identification and nationalism.
Celtic art is ornamental, avoiding straight lines and only occasionally using symmetry, without the imitation of nature or ideal of beauty central to the classical tradition, but as far as we can understand it often involves complex symbolism. It includes a variety of styles and often incorporates subtly modified elements from other cultures, an example being the characteristic over-and-under interlacing which only arrived in the 6th century when it was already in use by Germanic artists.
There are three "traditions" of Celtic art, the first being the continental Iron age art mainly associated with La Tène culture which draws on native, classical and (perhaps via the Mediterranean) oriental sources. The third, the Celtic "renaissance" of the early Middle Ages in Ireland and to a lesser extent in parts of Britain, borrows heavily from Roman motifs.
Background
The ancient peoples now called "Celts" spoke a group of languages that had a common origin in the Indo-European language known as Common Celtic or Proto-Celtic. Archaeologists identified various cultural traits of these peoples, including styles of art, and traced the culture to the earlier Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture. More recent studies have indicated that various Celtic groups do not all have shared ancestry, and have suggested a diffusion and spread of the culture without necessarily involving significant movement of peoples.
The term "Celt" was used in classical times as a synonym for the Gauls (Κελτοι, Celtae). In the late 17th century the work of scholars such as Edward Lhuyd brought academic attention to the historic links between Gaulish and the Brythonic- and Goidelic-speaking peoples, from which point the term was applied not just to continental Celts but those in Britain and Ireland. Then in the 18th century the interest in "primitivism" which lead to the idea of the "noble savage" brought a wave of enthusiasm for all things Celtic and Druidic. The "Irish revival" came after the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 as a conscious attempt to demonstrate an Irish national identity, and with its counterpart in other countries subsequently became the "Celtic revival".
Early Middle Ages
Celtic art in the Middle Ages was practiced by the Celtic speaking people of Ireland and Britain in the 800 year period from the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, to the establishment of Romanesque art in the 12th century.
Celtic art is one of the major art periods in Medieval art.
Ireland
In Ireland an unbroken Celtic heritage existed from before and throughout the Roman era of Britain, which had never reached the island, and thus the 5th to 7th centuries were mainly a continuation of late Iron Age La Tène art. In the 7th and 8th centuries Irish art mixed with Germanic traditions through Irish missionary contacts with the Anglo-Saxons, creating what is called the Hiberno-Saxon style. Late in the period Scandinavian influences were added through the Vikings, then original Celtic work came to end with the Norman invasion in 1169-1170 and subsequent introduction of the Romanesque style.
In the 7th and 8th centuries Irish Celtic missionaries traveled to Northumbria in Britain and brought with them the Irish tradition of manuscript illumination, which came in to contact with Anglo-Saxon metalworking knowledge and motifs. The crafts produced from this Celtic and Germanic fusion is called the Hiberno-Saxon style.
In the 9th and 10th century plain silver became a popular medium in Anglo-Saxon England, probably because of the increased amount in circulation due to Viking trading and raiding, and it was during this time a number of magnificent silver brooches were created in Ireland. Sculpture began to flourish in the form of "High cross", a large stone cross that held biblical scenes in carved relief. This art form reached its apex in the early 10th century and has left many fine examples such as Muiredach's Cross at Monasterboice and the Ahenny High Cross.
The impact of the Vikings on Irish art is not seen until the late 11th century when Irish metal work begins to imitate the Scandinavian Ringerike and Urnes styles, for example the Cross of Cong, County Mayo.
Picts
From the 5th to the mid-9th centuries, the art of the Picts is primarily known through stone sculpture, although some metalwork exists.
Pictish stones are assigned by scholars to 3 classes.
Class II stones are shaped cross-slabs carved in relief, or in a combination of incision and relief, with a prominent cross on one, or in rare cases two, faces.
Class III stones are in the Pictish style, but lack the characteristic symbols.
The Book of Kells is most probably an 8th century product of an Iona scriptorium, begun there and transferred to Kells in Ireland during the 9th century in response to Viking raids, where it was completed (for other theories see Book of Kells).
The following museums have important collections of Pictish stones: Meigle (Perthshire), St Vigeans (Angus) and St Andrews Cathedral (Fife) (all Historic Scotland), the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (which also exhibits almost all the major pieces of surviving Pictish metalwork), the Meffan Institute, Forfar (Angus), Inverness Museum, Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie and Tarbat Discovery Centre, Portmahomack (both Easter Ross) and Tankerness House Museum, Kirkwall, Orkney.
Wales
No early metalwork or manuscripts survive from Wales.
The only attestment of a Welsh artistic tradition in any quantity (prior to the Norman Conquest) are stone monuments in the form of cross-slabs and freestanding crosses;
Celtic revival
Since the Romantic era, there has been a substantial revival of interest in all things Celtic, including the visual arts. Many painters, calligraphers, and other artists have worked with the themes drawn from ancient or medieval Celtic art, or else inspired by Celtic literary themes.
Celtic font design has proved popular in the computer era;
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