Tea at Trianon: An Exploration of the Ancient Celts’ Art History and Styles

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, November 6, 2021

An Exploration of the Ancient Celts’ Art History and Styles

From Art in Context:

The most prominent perception of Celtic styles usually depicts Irish Celtic art or Gaelic art, but Celtic art history stems further back than this popular misconception in both time and location. What most of the English-speaking world imagines when they think of the term “Celtic Artwork” actually stems from the artwork of the early Middle Ages of Britain and Ireland, which is known as “Insular Art”.
There has been much discussion about the earlier influence from the Bronze Age amongst artistic scholars, but most archeologists prefer to use the term “Celtic” when talking about the cultures deriving from the European Iron age, from approximately 1000 BC onwards. Art historians generally only start referring to “Celtic Art” somewhere between the 5th and 1st centuries BC, known as the La Tène period.
The huge influences derived from interactions with countless previous cultures have resulted in the incorporation of stylistic elements from spirals to key patterns, knotwork, and zoomorphism. The common thread to be found throughout the expansive timeframe and geographical span is the development of a sense of balance in the layout of these patterns. Through the application of curvilinear forms, the use of both positive and negative space result in a harmonious whole. (Read more.)