TOPIC ESSAY QUESTION V

Essay 5c

Compare & Contrast – Time Travel

Instruction: Find and post the images of the artwork(s) mentioned in the Topic Essay Question.

Question: Find examples and describe the similarities and connections between Scythians, Celtic and Viking iconography. Can you name one other example between three other distinct cultures, time periods and geographic locations? Describe what other connections you made in your research.

Part 1:

Summary: While answering this question, I was able to research these three culture more in depth. I learned how much these cultures influenced and were influenced by the other.

Reason: The reason this question was asked was so that we can see how different cultures have influenced each other.

Purpose: The purpose this question was asked was so that we can look beyond just the similarities between these cultures’ iconography and gain a better understanding of how these cultures are connected to each other.

Direction: This is one of the questions that greatly interested me. I knew as soon as I read it, that I wanted to answer it, because I knew next to nothing about these cultures and I always like to learn new things. Before I began researching the similarities between the iconography, I first wanted to see how exactly these cultures are connected to one another. Afterwards, I started to look at their art and began to see the similarities.

Impressions: I was surprised by how it was for me to find information on Celtic art. Although there is little information on the Scythians, I was able to find information on this culture more easier and faster than on the Celts. I had an 'aha' moment when I read that the Scythians dispersed into Danube, which connected them with the Celts beyond their trade with the Greeks.

Part 2:

        Throughout history, we have noticed how different cultures have many similarities with regards to their art. This is due to the fact that these cultures have, in some way, influenced each other. The Scythians, Celtics, and Vikings have several elements in common in their iconography. More specifically, all three cultures share zoomorphic motifs, or what is known as animal style.

        Not much is known about the Scythians, but is known is due to the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus. “The Scythians were members of a nomadic people originally of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to Southern Russia in the 8^th and 7^th centuries BC” (http://history-world.org/scythians.htm). The Scythians migrated across Asia until they settled into the plains north of the Black Sea (http://history-world.org/scythians.htm). “The Greek historian Strabo, wrote that, at the sunset of their empire, some Scythians migrated to the mouth of the Danube and dispersed with other people in that vicinity, which would have been the coincidentally emerging Celts” (http://hal_macgregor.tripod.com/gregor/Scythia.html). “The Celts are the earliest identifiable northern European civilization” (Celtic Beasts, D. O’Neill/C. Davis, p.8). Coincidentally, Herodotus also writes about the Celts, “[pointing] out that in his time the ‘Keltoi’ lived along the Danube River” (Celtic Beasts, D. O’Neill/C. Davis, p.8). In the first millennium BCE, the Celts inhabited a major part of central and western Europe (Art History, M. Stokstad/M.W. Cothren, p.152). The Vikings, or Norse, were seafaring people that descended into Europe in the 18^th century and had colonized a large area by the 9^th and 10^th centuries (Art History, M. Stokstad/M.W. Cothren, p.435). “Norwegian and Danish Vikings raided a vast territory stretching from Iceland and Greenland, where they settled in 870 and 958 respectively, to Ireland, England, Scotland, and France” (Art History, M. Stokstad/M.W. Cothren, p.435).

        The term Animal style is used to describe the use of animal motifs of ancient peoples who considered animals to have magical powers for protection. The zoomorphic use was not just a decoration, but a way or turning the objects into amulets. “Certain underlying principles govern works with animal style design: The compositions are generally symmetrical, and artists depict animals in their entirety either in profile or from above. Ribs and spinal columns are exposed as if they had been x-rayed; hip and shoulder joints are pear-shape; tongues and jaws extend and curl; and legs end in large claws” (Art History, M. Stokstad/M.W. Cothren, p.427).

Source Link Shield Emblem, Scythian - Plaque forming a stag

 

        Scythians used zoomorphic motifs in different objects, including weapons, clothing, ornaments, and jewelry. “Scythian jewelry features various animals including stags, cats, birds, horses, bears, wolves and mythical beasts” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythian_art). What is fascinating about the Scythians is that they didn’t portray the animal exactly as it was, instead they were able to accurately transmit the essence of the animal they portrayed without actually copying its natural form. The animals are highly stylized and certain attributes of the animal are greatly exaggerated. In addition to this, the animals are also depicted in contorted forms and with contrasting positions of the body.

Source Link Plaque with the scene of fighting animals

 

Source Link Golden Deer from tomb near Filippovka

        Animals were a constant part of the Celts, who were deeply connected with creation. They deeply valued animals, respecting and honoring by integrating them into their art (Celtic Beasts, D. O’Neill/C/ Davis, p.9). Celtic art is very abstract and consists mostly of animal style, incorporating weaving and knot-work, spirals, and plant and human forms. Additionally, pattern seems to play a large role in Celtic art as it “becomes an integral part of the object itself, not an applied decoration” (Art History, M. Stokstad/M.W. Cothren, p.152).

Source Link An example of an Insular-style animal pattern from the Book of Kells

 

        Viking art is divided into several styles: Oseberg, Borre, Jelling, Mammen, Ringerike, and Urnes. “Generally, Viking art is based on the abstract animal forms…The animal style consisted of contorted, writhing snakes and beasts whose actual shape is often barely recognizable. Such designs were almost entirely devoid of plant ornament and were most frequently applied to objects in daily use” (http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/ancient-art/viking.htm). Viking art contains pattern and weaving, and contorted and distorted animals, betraying how Celtic and Scythian art influenced them.

Source Link Oseberg ship head post

Source Link Oseberg bow detail

Source Link Bronze ornament from Denmark

 

        It is clear that these three cultures are connected to each other. The Scythians and Celts indirectly influenced each other through their common trade with the Greeks. Furthermore, the Scythians mixed with the Celts in the Danube River, which influenced Celtic art. The Vikings, also, influenced and were influenced by the Celts, when they settled into Ireland, indirectly being influenced by the Scythians as well.

        These three are not the only triad of cultures. I have found that the Egyptians, Mayans, and Babylonians also share some similarities. The Egyptians depict the human figure showing both hands and feet with the head at a profile. I noticed that the Mayans and Babylonians share some of the qualities of Egyptian art, showing the human figure at a profile with both legs and arms visible.

Source Link Egyptian papyrus

Source Link "War" - panel of the Standard of Ur, ca. 2600 BC, showing parading men, animals and chariots

Source Link Mayan pottery

 

        It is amazing to see that cultures that span over different parts of the world and different timelines share many similarities. Maybe all cultures are connected in some way, I don’t really know. But what I do know is that art transcends time and space.