|
|
Zoomorphic Pictures | Zoomorphic Tattoo Pictures Zoomorphic pictures and zoomorphic ornaments for zoomorphic tattoos and craft projects. Our site is dedicated to providing you with the Celtic tattoo design you want... even if we have to draw it. Celtic tattoo is a great site for Celtic designs and Celtic symbol meanings. | Celtic Tattoo Home | Symbol Meanings | Tattoo Designs | Bibliography | Zoomorphic Ornaments
Zoomorphic Ornaments are based upon the forms of animals, birds and reptiles. Zoomorphic pictures make an appearance in the art of bronze-age Gaulish, La Tene, and in European forms of Celtic art. They are usually in conjunction with Celtic spirals, and the leg-joints and rib-forms of the animals in zoomorphic ornamental rendering have spiral terminal treatments. This manner of Celtic expression can be seen in metal work from 5000 B.C. to 3000 B.C. period in the city of Ur. Sacred animals of the various families (or Clans) of North Britain are carved on the ornamented stones of prehistoric Scotland. These zoomorphic ornaments depict a manner that is intensely realistic and produce a result that cannot be obtained by the imitation of nature.
Zoomorphic pictures of the wolf, the boar, the stag, the horse, the hound, the goose, the fish, the eagle and the reptile stones are all "picked" out with great skill in the same manner that the Egyptians and Assyrians picked their carvings. Other examples of zoomorphic pictures (semi-realistic and mythical animals of Celtic Britain and Ireland) are found in the Book of Kells, including the winged lion and the winged bull. These contain much the same character of Assyrian Art. Every form and example shows that the origins are to be found in the arts of the carver, the metal worker and the embroiderer. Some works are so small that it takes a magnifying glass to see the smallest details that were thoroughly worked out to meet the demands of the carver or worker in three dimensions.
Lacertine, or reptile, ornaments are numerous in the Book of Kells, the Book of Durrow, the Book of Lindisfarne, and the Book of St. Chad's.
The beginnings of zoomorphic pictures are certainly in pagan serpent worship. In the prehistoric Giants Tower at Gozo, Malta, the only representation that can be found of any living thing is a bas-relief of a serpent in the vicinity of the altar. The altar is decorated with Celtic spirals, geometric figures, and serpents. It is decorated in the manner of Pictish art which is neatly cut into the stone. There are numerous stones, each bearing an etched serpent and sometimes other types of symbols that all are among the remains of the zoomorphic pictures of prehistoric Scotland.
There are rumors that these serpents are the serpents that St. Patrick banned from Ireland... but if he is so good at banishment, why did he not banish them from the Manuscripts art, where they have persisted, even today?
In the Book of Kells there are zoomorphic pictures of pairs of birds, animals, and groups of pairs of reptiles (comparable to the artistic abilities of the Assyrian, Persion, Chinese, and Chinese-Turkestan Arts. Zoomorphic pictures such as pairs of interlaced birds with entwined necks are found in native art in Ceylon. Zoomorphic Pictures | Click the links below to view pictures.
Zoomorphic Dragons Zoomorphic Dogs Zoomorphic Animals Help Make Our Site the Best Celtic Reference on the Web!
If you have zoomorphic pictures, Celtic designs or information you would like to contribute, please feel free to contact us. |
|
|