________________________________________
1. The Stone Age:
The Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age
Most art in pre – Christian
Ireland is abstract. It reflected the
technical, social and intellectual developments of the time. The pace of change in art and technology was
slow at first; it took 5,000 years from the arrival of the first stone age
people for metal technology to be developed in Ireland
The Stone Age (7000 BC to 2000 BC)
Human settlement began in Ireland Ireland
During the Neolithic or New
Stone age (3700 to 2000 BC), farming and animal rearing people settled in
Ireland, clearing forests to plant crops and fencing off areas of land to
control domestic animals. There is evidence
of permanent communities all over Ireland
and contacts from Britain
and Europe .
These were the people who built the Megalithic structures we can still
see today.
Stone Age Structures (architecture)
The works of art and
construction that survive from the Stone age are generally associated with
ritual sites and places of importance to these first Irish people. Little evidence of their everyday lives or
language survives, but we can find remains of the tombs they built to revere
their dead. These early farmers brought
seeds for crops and domestic animals to Ireland
Stone Age Technology
Wood and stone were the only
materials available for building and making tools and weapons during the stone
age. Some hard stones could be broken
and shaped to produce sharp edges that could be used as knives, scrapers,
chisels, axes spearheads and arrowheads.
Experiments with stone age tools have shown that they were surprisingly
effective in spite of their crude appearance.
An arrowhead embedded in part of a human pelvis was found during
excavations at Poulnabrone in Co.Clare, demonstrating the power of a stone age
bow and the sharpness of a stone arrowhead.
Axes for felling trees and chopping wood were made by tying carefully
shaped and polished stone axe heads onto wooden handles. Wood was used to make tools for digging and
ploughing and some vessles were made of wood.
Clay was dug and built into a variety of simple pots, which were
probably fired on an open fire. Domestic
buildings were generally round in plan and probably made with stone, wood, and
mud with thatched roofs. Stones for
large structures would have been moved by dragging and levering and possibly
using logs as rollers to ease the progress of the largest stones. Beasts of burden and the wheel were not yet
available.
Mesolithic period
- The first human settlers came
to
- They were hunters and depended totally on
hunting for food
- They settled near rivers (catch
fish, water etc).
The Neolithic period
- This was the next period that
followed and a time when many changes took place
Eg: 1) the
development of food- producing methods like harvesting of crops & breeding
animals. 2) the landscape of Ireland
The Megalithic period
- They made amazing huge stone
burial monuments. These were
resting places for the dead but also stood as symbols of power.
- The three types of megalithic
tombs 1) portal dolmens 2) the court cairn 3) passage graves.
1)
Portal Dolmens:
·
Simple
structure
·
Examples
are found in Ardara, Co.Donegal & the Burren, Co.Clare
·
There
are roughly 170 around Ireland
·
Design
is based on a tripod – two large standing stones and a lower back stone support
a large roof stone above the entrance.
Single slabs rest against the side and back stones, forming the side
chamber.
Portal Dolmen
2) Court Cairns
·
The
first ones to be made.
·
Are
recognized for their U shaped courtyard without a roof which is set in front of
stones sticking out like doorjambs.
·
Usually
a long triangular shape with the court occupying one end.
·
Eg’s
found at Creevykeep in Co. Sligo.
·
Their
function was a court for some kind of ritual & a gallery to serve the tomb.
Court Cairn
3) Passage Graves
·
Newgrange
is an example of this
·
There
is art work on it in the form of ornamented stones.
·
There
are designs of whirls and circles and abstract repeating patterns on the stone,
no-one knows what the meaning of this is.
·
These
designs & patterns may have religious meaning or may have acted as a type
of calendar or astrological guide.
Passage Grave
_______________________________________________________________________
Newgrange
The
most famous of the Boyne valley moulds is noted for the roof box over its
entrance, which allows sun to shine down the 18.7 m long passage into the
furthest recesses of the chamber each year on the 21st of
December. The passage is formed by
upright stones with lintels on top, some of which are decorated. Between the first and second roof slabs of
the passage, over the entrance, is a rectangular opening built in stone, which
forms the roof box. The upper lintel
stone of this opening is carved with triangles, which create a pattern of
raised X shapes separated by vertical lines.
The chamber at the end of the passage is roughly 6 m in diameter and 6 m
tall. It has three recesses, which
create a cruciform plan like the east passage of Knowth.
Newgrange
was built around 3200 Bc. It was
excavated from 1967 to 1975, when it was reconstructed into the shape that we
see today. The wall of white quartz came
from Co. Wicklow and the granite beach stones came from Dundalk Bay in
Co.Louth. They were arranged in this way
on the instructions of the Professor Michael J O Kelly, the chief archeologist,
who imagined, based on his research, that the mound had been built like that
when it was first constructed. Ninety –
seven kerbstones surround the base of the mound. Many have fully decorated stones, such as the
curvilinear patterned entrance stone and kerbstone 52 on the opposite side of
the mound. There is a further circle of
monoliths at a distance of about 15 m out from the kerbstones. Only 12 undecorated stones remain standing,
out of the original 32. This ring of
standing stones may not be contemporary with the mound.
Construction
The
building of these large structures was an heroic task for people of the stone
age. Their technology was limited to
what they could carry, pull or lever into place, they had no beasts of burden
and the wheel was not yet invented. They
had to move large stones up to 5 tons in weight across the country, which may
have still been forested. It has been
established that it might have taken up to 80 men three weeks to pull one large
stone the 15km from the quarry at Tullyallen up to Knowth. At this pace, it may have taken 50 years to
build one mound. Construction probably
began with the layout of the passages, as their orientation to the sun or
moonlight was an essential part of the purpose of the structure. The line of the kerb would need to be laid
out early on, as it was the retaining structure for the stones, sod and earth
that made up the body of the mound.
Corbelling
The
corbelled roof over the chamber might have been
constructed as they level of the mound built up, allowing access to
gradually higher levels. These corbelled
chambers are the oldest roofed stuctures still standing in Western Europe. The vaults were built on the standing stones
of the chamber in gradually decreasing circles of large flat stones,
sloping slightly outwards. At Newgrange, grooves were cut in the top
surface of the stones to help shed any water that might have percolated down
into the mound. This outward lean of the
stones would also help to distribute the weight away from the centre,
minimizing the risk of collapse of the completed dome or vault.
Decoration
The
range of designs used by stone age artists is quite limited. They consist of circles, dotes in circles,
spirals, serpentiforms, arcs, radials (star shapes) zigzags, chevrons, lozenges
(diamond shapes) parallel lines and offsets of comb devices. All the shapes are drawn freehand and are
abstract, but they may have held some meaning for the people who made
them. At Knowth, we find the greatest
number of decorated stones, making up about half of all the stone age art in
Ireland. Many of the 127 stones in the
kerb are elaborately patterned.
Kerbstone 15, which looks like a sundial, can be interpreted as a lunar
calendar recording the phases of the moon.
Kerbstone 78, which is also supposed to refer to the phases of the moon,
has a range of designs quite different from kerbstone 15. Wavy lines and circles dominate the pattern,
which flows over the whole surface of the stone. At Newgrange, the entrance stone is covered
in curvilinear pattern which emphasizes the size of the stone. A groove at the top centre lines up with the
entrance and roof box, left of the groove is a triple spiral and beyond this a
wave pattern that connects back to the right hand end of the stone.
Kerbstone
52 on the opposite side of the mound has an even more varied range of patterns
covering most of its surface.
Techniques
(Most
of the stones of Knowth and Newgrange) a hammer driven stone chisel was used to
remove rough areas and to take away a thin layer of stone and improve its
colour. The lines and patterns on the
stones are made by chip carving, cutting into the stone with a sharp flint or
other hand stone tool or by picking or pecking with a stone chisel or point
driven by a hammer. On the surface of
the stones, marks may have been smoothed out by hammering or rubbing with
coarse textured stone.
Interpretation
Passage
mounds seem to be much more than graves for revered ancestors. The sheer scale of commitment from the stone
age people who spend generations constructing them must have made them the most
important endeavour in the lives of the community. They were the largest structures in the country
for thousands of years. In later generations, the mounds were thought to be the
burial places of ancient kings. The
number of cremated remains inside the passage mound is relatively small in
relation to the size of the community and the length of time for which the
mounds were used. However, his might mean that only very special members of the
community were buried there or that they were ritual or sacrificial burials.
There
is a growing body of support for the theory that designs on the stones relate
to movements of the sun, moon and the planets, which would be a way of keeping
track of the seasons and important community events. Kerbstones at Knowth in particular can be
interpreted as recording lunar events and patterns, The passages at Knowth received the light of
the rising and setting sun at the equinoxes in March and October, which are
important seasons for planting and harvesting in a farming community. At Newgrange, the light of sunrise of the
solstice (21 Dec), the shortest day of the year, may have celebrated the death
of the old year and the birth of the new.
Other passage mounds also received the light of the sun or the moon at
significant seasons and are the focus of ongoing research.
Rituals
and ceremonies might have been held in procession around the mounds, stopping
significant stones relevant to the season.
There are areas outside the east and west entrances at Knowth that are
paved with Quartz and granite stones like those on the front of the mound at
Newgrange. These areas may have been the
focus of ceremonies of they might have marked forbidden areas. Whatever their function, these stones had to
be transported by boat of raft from far away.
Conlusion
The
ancient mounds have a long history and their construction speaks of an intelligent
and inventive people, deeply motivated over generations to construct the
largest structures of their time.
Newgrange represents the pinnacle of wood and stone technology and
freehand abstract design. Their art was
the result of carefully planned and often repeated images, which took time and
effort to construct and must have had deep significance for the artists. It seems likely that the imags are more than
random doodles, but we know so little about the lives and language of these
early people that we can only guess at the meaning.
Winter
Solstice (sunlight in the chamber) & the Roof box – This was discovered
during an excavation in 1963. The box is
above the entrance and four minutes after sunrise on 21 December the sun shines
through the gap in the roof box along the passage and reaching the floor of the
chamber, which lights up the inside, showing up the decorations and details
carved into the stones on the walls as well as the roof. The light then narrows and disappears after
about 17minutes.
The Entrance
stone and Kerbstones –
·
A
ring of 97 big kerbstones surround the mound.
Some are decorated, the entrance
stone is the most impressive with its spirals.
·
Nobody
knows the meaning of these spirals.
·
Kerbstone
52 is also richly decorated and is at the back of the mound and lines up
directly with the entrance stone.
Corbelled Roof –
- Chamber is 19metres
long with 22 standing stones along the left and 21 on the right. The stones are decorated.
- The first part of
passage is roofed by 3 large slabs.
After this the roof is Corbelled, which means the slabs are placed
on top of eachother and there is a gradual rise in height.
- The corbelled vault is
one of the finest kind in western Europe.
Basin Stones –
- Found in the chamber
at newgrange they are large stones with a sunken in shape in the centre
and were probably used to hold bones.
- Newgrange was used as
a burial place.
- The art on the stones
still remains a mystery.
Aerial view of Newgrange
Entrance stone & roof box
Corbelled roof
Decoration: Spirals on stones
Newgrange extra notes:
The most famous of the Boyne valley moulds is noted for the roof box over its
entrance, which allows sun to shine down the 18.7 m long passage into the
furthest recesses of the chamber each year on the 21st of
December. The passage is formed by
upright stones with lintels on top, some of which are decorated. Between the first and second roof slabs of
the passage, over the entrance, is a rectangular opening built in stone, which
forms the roof box. The upper lintel
stone of this opening is carved with triangles, which create a pattern of
raised X shapes separated by vertical lines.
The chamber at the end of the passage is roughly 6 m in diameter and 6 m
tall. It has three recesses, which
create a cruciform plan like the east passage of Knowth.
Newgrange was built around
3200 Bc. It was excavated from 1967 to
1975, when it was reconstructed into the shape that we see today. The wall of white quartz came from Co. Wicklow
and the granite beach stones came from Dundalk Bay
Construction
The building of these large
structures was an heroic task for people of the stone age. Their technology was limited to what they
could carry, pull or lever into place, they had no beasts of burden and the
wheel was not yet invented. They had to
move large stones up to 5 tons in weight across the country, which may have
still been forested. It has been
established that it might have taken up to 80 men three weeks to pull one large
stone the 15km from the quarry at Tullyallen up to Knowth. At this pace, it may have taken 50 years to
build one mound. Construction probably
began with the layout of the passages, as their orientation to the sun or
moonlight was an essential part of the purpose of the structure. The line of the kerb would need to be laid
out early on, as it was the retaining structure for the stones, sod and earth
that made up the body of the mound.
Corbelling
The corbelled roof over the
chamber might have been constructed as
they level of the mound built up, allowing access to gradually higher
levels. These corbelled chambers are the
oldest roofed stuctures still standing in Western Europe . The vaults were built on the standing stones
of the chamber in gradually decreasing circles of large flat stones,
sloping slightly outwards. At Newgrange, grooves were cut in the top
surface of the stones to help shed any water that might have percolated down
into the mound. This outward lean of the
stones would also help to distribute the weight away from the centre,
minimizing the risk of collapse of the completed dome or vault.
Decoration
The range of designs used by
stone age artists is quite limited. They
consist of circles, dotes in circles, spirals, serpentiforms, arcs, radials
(star shapes) zigzags, chevrons, lozenges (diamond shapes) parallel lines and
offsets of comb devices. All the shapes
are drawn freehand and are abstract, but they may have held some meaning for
the people who made them. At Knowth, we
find the greatest number of decorated stones, making up about half of all the
stone age art in Ireland
Kerbstone 52 on the opposite
side of the mound has an even more varied range of patterns covering most of
its surface.
Techniques
(Most of the stones of Knowth
and Newgrange) a hammer driven stone chisel was used to remove rough areas and
to take away a thin layer of stone and improve its colour. The lines and patterns on the stones are made
by chip carving, cutting into the stone with a sharp flint or other hand stone
tool or by picking or pecking with a stone chisel or point driven by a
hammer. On the surface of the stones,
marks may have been smoothed out by hammering or rubbing with coarse textured
stone.
Interpretation
Passage mounds seem to be
much more than graves for revered ancestors.
The sheer scale of commitment from the stone age people who spend
generations constructing them must have made them the most important endeavour
in the lives of the community. They were
the largest structures in the country for thousands of years. In later
generations, the mounds were thought to be the burial places of ancient
kings. The number of cremated remains
inside the passage mound is relatively small in relation to the size of the
community and the length of time for which the mounds were used. However, his
might mean that only very special members of the community were buried there or
that they were ritual or sacrificial burials.
There is a growing body of
support for the theory that designs on the stones relate to movements of the
sun, moon and the planets, which would be a way of keeping track of the seasons
and important community events.
Kerbstones at Knowth in particular can be interpreted as recording lunar
events and patterns, The passages at
Knowth received the light of the rising and setting sun at the equinoxes in
March and October, which are important seasons for planting and harvesting in a
farming community. At Newgrange, the
light of sunrise of the solstice (21 Dec), the shortest day of the year, may
have celebrated the death of the old year and the birth of the new. Other passage mounds also received the light
of the sun or the moon at significant seasons and are the focus of ongoing
research.
Rituals and ceremonies might
have been held in procession around the mounds, stopping significant stones
relevant to the season. There are areas
outside the east and west entrances at Knowth that are paved with Quartz and
granite stones like those on the front of the mound at Newgrange. These areas may have been the focus of
ceremonies of they might have marked forbidden areas. Whatever their function, these stones had to
be transported by boat of raft from far away.
Conlusion
The ancient mounds have a
long history and their construction speaks of an intelligent and inventive
people, deeply motivated over generations to construct the largest structures
of their time. Newgrange represents the
pinnacle of wood and stone technology and freehand abstract design. Their art was the result of carefully planned
and often repeated images, which took time and effort to construct and must
have had deep significance for the artists.
It seems likely that the imags are more than random doodles, but we know
so little about the lives and language of these early people that we can only
guess at the meaning.
________________________________________________________________________
2. The Bronze Age
The Bronze Age (2000 BC – 500BC)
The changes that marked the
arrival of a new culture in Ireland
The clear differences
between bronze age and stone age art suggest that the people who developed
metal technology in Ireland Europe and probably came in search of copper and gold
deposits. There is certainly evidence of
Irish gold and copper being traded into Europe and Britain
The nature of the decoration
on bronze age objects is fundamentally different from stone age design; it is
the result of combining basic geometric shapes with the most up to date
technology of the time. Metal was cast,
hammered, twisted and cut to shape to create the range of forms preferred by
the bronze age artists. Forms and
designs were created by mechanical means using a compass and straight edge
rather than the freehand designs found in stone age art.
Bronze Age structures (architecture)
The design of tombs changed
during the bronze age, which again suggests a new type of culture in Irish
society. In the greater part of the
country, the dead were laid to rest in pits of cists. These usually took the form of a small stone
– lined box about a metre in length which contained an upturned pot with
cremated remains underneath. In the west
of Ireland , wedge tombs,
which were related to the court cairns
Ceremonial sites made of
circular earthen banks of standing stones and hilltop forts are now regarded as
bronze age structures that continued to have been little practiced except for a
few examples of rock art found in counties Cork
Metalwork
Mining for gold and copper
was carried out at a number of locations in Ireland Mount Gabriel England
The Beaker people
- During the period up to 2000BC
a style of pottery and metalwork developed in EU and found its way to
- These people were referred to
as the beaker people & they probably had a small number of skilled
craftsmen with them.
Metal in Ireland
- Raw material needed for the new
skill of metalwork was readily available in the hills of
Gold Ornaments – Tools – Pots
- Bronze objects of high artistic
quality have been found. Mainly
tools, shields, weapons & trumpets.
Pottery such as urns were used to contain remains of cremated dead. Some artwork on stone is also dated to
bronze age, mainly dots in circles.
- Ornaments from bronze age have
several features – abstract and the technique used by the worker in copper
and bronze were also used by the goldsmith. Nuggets of gold or metal were beaten
into thin sheets. Gold wire was
made by cutting a narrow strip and twisting it, this was then used to
cover leather to make necklaces, or for stitching 2 pieces together. Wider, thicker pieces were twisted to
make Torcs and earrings.
Bronze age decoration methods
- Repousse – hammering designs on the
reverse of thin gold objects.
- Incision – cutting a design into the
front.
- Twisting and flange twisting.
Twisting & Flange Twisting –
- The period from 1200 BC onwards
was a very prolific time for gold ornaments and many gold hoards are dated
to that period. These include
earrings, armlets, anklets and twisted ornaments called Torcs.
Gold Discs –
Probably
the earliest examples of Irish gold ornaments are thin gold discs of various
sizes. These were decorated using the
repousse method and usually have a cross encircled by concentric bands of
chevrons (zigzags ) and dots.
Decorative Gold objects
Early bronze age objects
were made from a single piece of gold, as the technology for joining pieces
together with gold solder was not yet developed in Ireland Ireland
The sun disc, from the early bronze age is circular in shape
and about 11cm in diameter. It is cut
from a thin sheet of beaten gold. The
surface is patterned with ridges, chevrons and dots created by the repousse
technique. Two holes near the centre
suggest that the discs may have been sewn onto a garment or belt. The discs, which are from Tedavent, Co,
Monaghan, have bands of dots, ridges and chevrons around the perimeter, with a
cross shape in the centre. Triangles are
formed at the centre and the ends of the arms.
Triangles also appear between the arms of the cross shape against the
surrounding circles. These discs from
Tedavent show some of the earliest examples of repousse work. To apply a repousse design, gold sheet would
have been laid face down on a firm surface – in more recent times, a leather
sandbag or a bowl of mastic would have been used by goldsmiths. A pattern could then be created on the
surface using tracers (chisel like tools with a variety of shapes cut into the
tip which were pressed or hammered into the surface) to produce a design. With the work completed, the sheet of gold
was turned face up to reveal the design projecting from the surface. The work required careful craftsmanship, as a
careless stroke could tear the thin gold sheet and the work would have to be
started all over again.
The lunula is the most commonly found
gold artifact form the early bronze age, and are dated back to after
1800BC. A lunula was a neck collar
probably worn as a status or magical item.
It was made of gold hammered into a thin sheet and cut into a crescent moon
shape (hence the name) often with a plain surface but frequently decorated with
incised lines. A lunula from Ross in
Westmeath has a pattern of lines, triangles and chevrons incised into its
surface. The pattern is concentrated in
the narrow ends of the crescent. Four
patterned areas on each side have parallel lines with chevrons inside and
separated by hatched lines. There are
rows of hatched triangles on each side of the parallel lines. The main body of the lunula is plain and is
surrounded by two rows of lines edged in triangles.
A completely new form of
ornament largely replaced sheet gold from about 1400BC.
These new objects, called torcs,
were made by twisting gold into a variety of decorative forms. The ribbon torc was made from a flat strip of
gold twisted into an even spiral shape also known as the bar torc. A variation of the bar torc was made by
hammering flanges out from the angles of square or triangular sectioned bars
before twisting. By varying the size of
the flanges, the length of the bar and the degree of twist that was applied,
craftsmen could make a variety of these flanged torcs.
Cathes and terminals also
ranged in style from simple to elaborate.
Hammering the ends of the torc into the required shape created
catches. All torcs are made of one piece
of gold and were made to fit the neck, waist and arms or to be worn as
earrings.
The repousse technique continued in use at this
time. A pair of armbands from
Derrinaboy, Co. Offaly, is boldly patterned in alternate smooth and rope
patterned rows.
The Broighter Collar:
The luxuriously ornamented Name, describe and discuss
the two objects which are illustrated on the
accompanying sheet,
referring to their form,
function, materials, decoration and the techniques used in their
production.
and
Discuss briefly the periods
in which they were made.
Illustrate
your answer. (torc),
along with the Petrie Crown,
is one of Ireland County Derry,
where it was discovered by Thomas Nicholl in 1896 while ploughing on Joseph
Gibson's field. Its discovery helped to fuel the Celtic Art
Revival Movement in England British Museum
DRESS FASTENER – Bronze age Gold object
The gold dress fastener found in Clones, Co. Monaghan, dates from the 8th century B.C. and is decorated with many small circular shapes engraved into it. It is pure gold and weighs over 1000 grammes it probably was used for ceremonial occasions.
It can be seen in the National Museum of Ireland
It functioned as a double button meant to
slip through two holes in a garment such as a cloak. The largeness and
elaborate decoration on the surface probably meant it was only worn
infrequently.
The connecting bow tapers from the centre
toward each end, and the ends join the bell-shaped terminals
asymmetrically. Three small hatched triangles lie along the crest of the
bow. Three bands of parallel lines, separated by bands with diagonal
hatching, run around the bases of the bow. A hatched chevron design runs
around the margins of this band of decoration, both above and below.
The exterior surfaces of the terminals
are magnificently decorated with small pits surrounded by concentric engraved
circles, scattered freehand and occasionally touching one another.
A triangular area between the end of the
bow and the inner edge of the terminal has been left undecorated, and a similar
interruption of decoration appears on the underside of the bow.
The rims of the terminals carry three
ridges, both inside and outside. A ring of hatched triangles rises from
the highest inner ridge.
This type of fastener is an Irish
adaptation of a northern European clothespin, in which two conjoined circular
plates are furnished with a fastening pin; pins are absent in the Irish
form. Many of these fasteners (all except two are in gold) have been
found in Ireland , where they
have a wide distribution; such ornaments were also exported to Britain
Craftsmanship
The art of
the metalworker reached a very high standard of craftsmanship in the late
bronze age, both in gold and bronze work.
Clay moulds were made of a number of parts were now used to cast more
complicated objects. Bronze was beaten
into sheets and joined with rivets to create large cauldrons and other
vessels. Sophistication in design and workmanship
is a hallmark of late bronze age metalwork.
Conclusion
The abstract
art of the Bronze age was linked to the art of a large part of Western Europe . We
are lucky to have exceptional examples of bronze age design in Ireland
Lizamore Crozier
The Lizamore Crozier was discovered in a blocked-up doorway at
Croziers such as this were symbols of power and authority. Many date to a period of political upheaval, when the
The Broighter Collar
The Broighter Collar is an example of La Tene style metalworking that shows clearly the design skill and extent of detail that La Tene culture represents. Dating from 1st Century BC, the Broighter Collar was found in Broighter, Co.Derry.
This piece is exquisitely made and consists of two gold co-joined half loops with distinctive fasteners, the piece having a diameter of 19.5cm in total. The techinque involved in making the collar begins with 2 ribbons of sheet gold, onto which a design is made along the centre using the repoussé technique. These decorated ribbons were then rolled into tubes and shaped into a ring whereby the tubes would then be soldered together. The terminals are made of cylindrical metal drums, decorated again using the repoussé technique. The left drum carries a 'T' shaped tenon and the right drum contains a socket where the tenon fits. The right drum can then be rotated to secure the collar around the neck. The design of the collar is made up of swirls balanced by leaf motifs and trumpet forms, all in relief. At regular intervals there are raised designs of well-defined spirals which were clipped onto the surface. The remaining surface was etched with fine hatched lines using a compass, with the area underneath being left bare. The collar itself is presumed to have belonged to a very important member of society or a religious community, the person having worn it around the neck.
The broighter Collar
___________________________________
3. IRISH PAINTERS:
Jack B. Yeats
- Jack B Yeats came from an Irish background. His father John Butler Yeats, was a
portrait painter and his brother, William Butler Yeats, became one of
- Jack Yeats always signed his name Jack B. Yeats
to avoid confusion with his father, but to this day one is still mistaken
for the other.
- Most of his childhood was spent apart from his
parents, brother and sisters, with his grandparents at his mothers home in
- He enjoyed the atmosphere of the west with its
rugged coastline, mist, rain, constantly changing weather conditions,
space and colour, were to enrich and inspire his work.
- He said ‘A true painter must be part of the land
and the life he paints’.
- Like other members of his family, he drew
constantly from a young age, and when he rejoined the family in
- He attended various art schools in
- He was unaffected by European art developments
and his travels around Ireland observing horse racing, country fairs,
traveling circuses and the streets of Dublin appear to have satisfied his
own imagination. His art is deeply
personal and cannot easily be defined, but for some time after he returned
to
- He chose small incidents, like three women on a
train deep in conversation.
- Later, his work developed into strong dramatic
painting for which he has become famous.
He drew heavily from memories and sketches of his youth and the
smallest incident could result in dramatic possibilities.
- He was a painter of inner vision and poetry,
capturing a world of landscape and memory, half imaginary, half fact,
caught between reality and fantasy.
- From his traditional period, his painting ‘The Liffey Swim’ captures the
excitement of this annual event in
- He painted with loose brush strokes in his later
works and emotion became a stronger feature in his work.
- He felt that the paintings could speak for
themselves, he said ‘It doesn’t matter who I am or what I am, people may
think what they will of my pictures’.
- Another of Yeats most common images involved
horses, and though he was never a horseman himself, he had a great
affection for them. ‘For the Road’ expresses the
understanding between horse and rider and the light of hope and optimism
at the end of the tunnel.
- He died in March 1957 and has gained widespread
international recognition as
·
The Liffey Swim is an annual race in Dublin's
main river, the Liffey
and is one of Ireland
·
Yeat’s composition has us in the action, a
bystander craning over the other viewer’s heads. It is as direct a statement as
an artist can make- We’re in this together.
·
One
of the earliest Liffey Swims was immortalized in the Jack B. Yeats 1923
painting entitled The Liffey Swim, which was to win him a silver medal at
the 1924 Paris
·
In the painting there were lots of people looking
out on the Liffey watching the Liffey Swim, and there were three people in the water. Some of
the people were on a tram. The river looked dangerous because the water had red
streaks in it and red was a symbol for danger.
·
There is freedom and spontaneity in his use of color and less evidence of
planned drawing in this work.
·
The painting represents the development from his illustrative phase
(where he drew cartoons & caricatures for magazines & newspapers) to
his later use of free flowing color. It
records the annual swim down the river Liffey in the city of Dublin
·
There is a man wearing a brown hat with a black band near the front of
the painting. He is looking away from
the race straight out of the painting.
This is said to be a self portrait of the artist.
The Liffey Swim
For the Road – Jack B Yeats
·
The horse hears its master’s call and gallops towards him
on a road through a dark forest. A
figure silhouetted at a distant tunnel of light beckons, drawing the horse out
of the darkness and into the light. The
darkened wood is evident by touches of red and yellow.
·
The horse, flecked out in different tones of blue with a palette
knife, exudes a magical, almost translucent quality as if a vision or
apparition.
·
The excitement of the horse on being called to undertake
its journey symbolizes Yeats positive attitude to life, which he saw as a
progression towards a goal with a sympathetic companion. For the road seems to be a metaphor for the
uncertainty and confusion of our journey through the darkness of life into the
new light of peace and freedom we can barely glimpse.
·
There is great freedom of the brushwork in this painting,
especially in the horse, conveying the notion of excitement, life, energy &
speed.
For the Road - by Jack B Yeats
Comic Strip - his earlier work
________________________________________
Nathaniel Hone - Irish painter
Irish painter
Nathaniel Hone – 1831 – 1917 – Irish
artist
About him:
1)
Famous
Irish landscape painter
2)
Born
in Dublin
3)
He
started his career as a railway engineer then at 21 he was determined to become
a professional painter.
4)
Began
his art studies in Paris
& stayed in France
5)
He
studied the human figure & drawing & he visited ‘La Louvre’ museum in Paris
6)
He
then went to Barbizon
7)
He
studied composition & how to achieve light on the canvas.
8)
He
developed a deep feeling for the colour of a landscape & the skill to
reproduce it, which made him one of the most famous Irish landscape artists.
9)
He
had a fascination with light and focused
on tone (shading with light & dark) in his paintings.
10)
He
left Barbizon in 1870, traveled to Normandy , Brittany ,
Paris & Italy before finally returning to Ireland
11)
Exhibited
his paintings regularly at the RHA
(royal Hibernian academy) and he made elected professor of painting at the RHA in 1894, a title which he held up
until his death.
12)
He
settled in malahide.
13)
Today
his art work is displayed in ‘The hugh lane gallery’ in Dublin ,
‘The tate gallery’, London , ‘The national
gallery of Ireland’ in Dublin as well as in the
ulster museum in Belfast
Rough sea at Bundoran - Nathaniel Hone
_______________________________________________________________________________
Irish artist –
Roderick O’ Connor – 1860 – 1940
- Roderick O‘Connor left
- He never exhibited his
work in
- Born in Rosscommon to
the well known O’ Connor family of the area. Studied in
- His canvasses from
this time display a surprisingly advanced style of strong, loose impressionist
brushwork and bright colors, capturing the heat & glare of the sunny
French countryside.
- Events in
- Van Goghs profound
effect on him was reflected in his own work over the next 10 years or so
painting in
- He also painted a
series of portraits of Breton women in traditional costume, sitting or
absorbed in their work.
- O’ Connors link to
Gauguin began when he joined a community of artists which had established
itself around Paul Gauguin in Pont Aven in
- One of his best known
works from Pont Aven is ‘The farm
at Lezavan’ featuring a sunlit farmhouse glimpsed against a glowing
sky through dark trees. The field
and wild flowers are painted in harmonious reds, greens, pinks, violets
& oranges.
‘A field of Corn’ – by Roderick O’
Connor
- O'Connor arrived
at the tiny Breton
- The farm at Lezaven had served as an
artists' studio for some years before 1894 when O'Connor painted it. O'Connor
probably worked in this studio but his landscapes were more likely painted
out of doors, using nature as a vehicle for exploring color.
- Strident and very
expressive strokes of the brush, combined with vibrant contrasting colors,
reveal the influence of van Gogh.
The color combinations of reds and greens, pinks, violets and maroons, are
increasingly characteristic of O'Connor's paintings. The brushstrokes are
smaller and thinner. Here O'Connor captures the rich profusion, rather
than the burning intensity of summer. Through the trees we glimpse the
sunlit farmhouse and glowing sky. But there is also a sense of pattern, in
the uprights of trees and the horizontal layers of flowers and fields,
areas of light and shadow, and in the overall surface texture of
brushstrokes. These changes may have come about through O'Connor's contact
with Gauguin who had a studio at Lezaven at the time.
Contemporary artist in Ireland -
Louis Le Brocquy (1916 -2012)
·
Born in Dublin in 1916, he worked in his
fathers business before leaving in 1938 to become a painter.
·
He took no formal training, instead he
traveled to London and Paris to work in the major galleries before arriving in
Geneva, the home of the Prado collection in Madrid during the Spanish Civil
War. Spanish painting immediately
captivated him and was to remain a huge influence in his work over his long career. It can be particularly seen in his use of
grey and white, which are such strong elements of Spanish painting.
·
When Le Brocquy returned to Ireland in 1940,
his work was rejected by the Royal Hibernian Academy. This controversial event, however, spurred
him on to become a founding member of the Irish exhibition of living art
before moving to London for the next ten years.
·
After his marriage in 1958 to a young Irish
painter Anne Madden, the couple left London to work for some time in the south
of France.
·
Over ten years, his art has undergone a
series of radical changes. An early
work, ‘girl in white’ in the Ulster Museum, illustrates a preoccupation with the
individual, while a series of ‘Tinker’ paintings from 1946 to 1950 highlight
concerns relating to human isolation and outcasts.
·
During the Grey period from 1950 –
1956 paintings such as ‘A family’ in the National gallery of Ireland relate
to human circumstances in the aftermath of the war. By now the artist had established a
reputation for his thoughtful commentary and inquiry into conditions of life.
·
Louis Le Brocquy had many exhibitions in
Ireland, France, Japan, Belgium, Australia and the US. At the time he was the first and only living
artist ever to be included in the permanent collection of the National Gallery
of Ireland, he has also received many awards over the years, including the
title of Saoi, Asdana, 1994 and the first Irish museum of Modern Art/ Glen
Dimplex award for a sustained contribution to the arts in 1998.
·
Perhaps his best known work is a series that
evolved from work he started in the 1960’s called ‘Ancestral Heads’ and
‘Presences’. As part of these, he made
studies of James Joyce’s head, and in 1975, when he was commissioned to make a
print from portraits of nobel prize winners, he chose W.B Yeats. The result was a long series of probing
images of well known personalities, including those of Francis Bacon, Pablo
Picasso, and Samuel Beckett.
His Paintings –
________________________________________
THE IRON AGE -
The celts in Ireland
- The iron age is
probably the period in Irish history about which there is the most
speculation and the least certainty.
There is no certainty as to when the celts came to
La Tene –
- By the mid fifth
century the centre of power and wealth in Europe had moved northwards and
westwards to the Rhineland and next to the areas of present day
- This was where the La
Tene culture came into being because some of the Celtic people came from
an area known as La Tene in
- This culture reached
far beyond la Tene. It had contact
with many areas, such as the
- This style, which
developed in central Europe around 300 BC was know as the waldalgesheim
style and it was an offshoot of this which reached Ireland.
- Iron was commonly used
at the time for implements and weapons.
Bronze was used more for ornamental objects. Gold was also used for ornament.
- It is not certain when
and where the celtic peoples first came to
Iron age artifacts in bronze and Gold
–
- Many items from this
time which were made of iron have not been very well preserved, as over
the years gold was considered by dealers to be the only valuable find.
- However, some very
fine swords have been found in various parts of
- Several bronze
trumpets were found, but only one now survives. This is a splendid object with a long
large curved stem. The mouth of the
trumpet is decorated in the repousse technique with a curvilinear
pattern, this is called the
Loughnashade trumpet after where it was found in Co.Antrim.
Gold Hair lock ring
The
Petrie Crown
The Petrie Crown is a fine example of Celtic Iron Age metalworking which
displays the curvilinear repeated patterning typical of the La Tene style. It
is made of Bronze pieces which are riveted together. The base is a bronze band
which was bent into a circular shape that fits onto the head.
Circular discs are attached onto the outer circumference of this bronze
band.
Two large outer discs are mounted on top decorated with La Tene spiral
designs, the centre of some of these spirals ends in a bird head design. The
discs are not flat, but are concave in shape. The designs are lined or carved
in – ie the background of each line is carved away and smoothed so the lines
appear raised. These discs have an enamel bead in the centre.
The conical horn was cut from sheet bronze, was formed by rolling into a
cylinder and beating into a cone. Originally there was a second horn that was
broken and lost.
Petrie Crown
Petrie Crown
Discovered in County Cork, the Petrie
Crown - named after its former owner, the Irish antiquarian George Petrie
- along with the Broighter Gold
Collar and Boat, is another masterpiece of early Irish Celtic
metalworking from the pagan Iron Age
(100 BCE - 200 CE). Part of an elaborate horned head-dress, it was created in
the La Tene
style of Celtic art
(repoussé method), influenced by Etruscan and Greek art forms. It exhibits
the repetitive symmetrical design popular with both Hallstatt and La Tene
craftsmen.
Description
The Petrie Crown is composed of numerous bronze pieces connected
with rivets. A circular bronze band forms the basic core, to whose outer
circumference is attached a number of concave roundels or circular discs,
decorated with triskeles or spiral designs centred with birds' heads, and
beadwork. As well as the discs, there is another set of riveted attachments,
namely a series of goblet-shaped bronze pieces, and a single hollow
conical-shaped horn (although marks indicate that a second horn was also part
of the original assembly). The horn itself appears to have been cut from a
bronze sheet before being beaten and rolled into shape. The bird shapes on
the cone were originally filled with red enamel (cloisonné technique), as
were settings in the bosses on the discs, one of which still has an enamel
stud.
Celtic Designwork
The curvilinear patterns on the crown derive from a harmony of
traditional Celtic La Tene designs, including sun symbols, influenced by
Etruscan and Greek motifs. They employ lotus-bud and palmette imagery,
including sinuous trumpet forms terminating in lentoid bosses, along with
spirals ending in three types of birds heads. The latter are very similar to
motifs which appear on Celtic "Dragonesque" brooches found in
northern
|
Part of George Petrie's Collection
The Petrie Crown - which incidentally is not considered by some
scholars to have been used as a headpiece - used to be part of a collection
of artifacts deriving from Celtic culture,
owned by George Petrie, the Irish antiquary, archaeologist and artist of the
nineteenth century. He oversaw the Royal Irish
Academy's acquisition of many illuminated Irish
manuscripts, including a version of the Annals of the Four
Masters, as well as examples of Hiberno-Saxon Insular metalwork, such as the
Cross of Cong. His expertise on early Irish archaeology and architecture,
particularly his book 'The Round Towers of
Other examples of great Celtic metalwork include: the Derrynaflan
Chalice, the Ardagh Chalice
and the Moylough Belt
Shrine, as well as the renowned bronze encased crosses like the
8th/9th century Tully Lough Cross
and the great 12th century Cross of Cong,
commissioned by Turlough O'Connor, High King of Ireland.
|
ring forts
________________________________________
Manuscripts
The importance of books in an Irish
monastery
The
books of the bible were central to the practice of Christianity. A monk in an early Christian monastery needed
a copy of the bible and other texts for the daily readings and singing that
were the centre of his life. Before the
invention of printing in the late 15th century, all books had to be
copied by hand. This included not only
bibles. But books of prayers and services, texts on Latin grammar and all kinds
of scholary works that were needed for the education of members of the clergy
and nobility.
Latin
was the language of educated people throughout Europe; clerics and educated
nobles could join in Church services and communicate with each other anywhere
on the continent. All church ceremonies
were conducted in Latin. Education began
with Latin so that students could read the texts and further their knowledge.
Books
were very precious, not simply because of the time and effort that went into
their making, but as sources of knowledge, and often, as the word of God. Carelessly copied texts would be regarded as
an insult to God, whose words were being transcribed. Monks offered their work as a prayer, so they
tried to make it as perfect and beautiful as they could.
Making books
Not
only had books to be written by hand, but every part had to be produced from
raw materials. There was no source of
ready made pages, inks or pens. The
scribe had to make everything from what was available locally or what could be
imported. Pages had to be made and
assembled into book form.
Vellum (calf skin)
In
Ireland, vellum was the preferred material from which to make pages. Vellum is calf skin. To prepare it, it was placed in a bath of
water and lime for some days to loosen the hairs on the skin. Timing was an important element because if
the skin was left too long in the bath it would become prone to bacterial
attack. (the book of kells has suffered
a little from this problem, for example).
After the bath, the skin was cleaned and scraped free of hair and
impurities with a blade. Next it was
rubbed smooth with a pumice stone. The
hide was then stretched flat and dried before it was cut into pages. The vellum could be sewn into rolls or made
into a codex (groups of pages sewn together into book form). The codex became a more popular form as it
was easier to refer to and to store.
Inks and Pigments
Black
and dark inks were made in a variety of ways.
Carbon inks were made from burnt wood or animal fat and remained black,
but they were prone to flaking off the page.
Iron gall ink was made by mixing iron sulphate with crushed oak galls
and gum to bind them together. This
mixture was carried in a solution of water, wind or vinegar. Disadvantages of iron gall ink were that the
iron etched into the vellum and the gall sometimes faded to shades of brown.
The
earliest books that have survived used very little colour, just a little red or
yellow dotting around the capital letters at the beginning of new sections.
The Cathach (Irish manuscript)
One
of the earliest surviving Irish manuscripts is the Cathach. It is the oldest existing Irish manuscript of
the Psalter (a copy of the book of psalms) and the earliest example of Irish
writing. Traditionally, this book is
from the hand of St Columba, who lived from 521 to 597. He was the founder of the Columbian order of
monks who continued the tradition of manuscript writing and missionary work
begun by their first abbot.
Unfortunately only 58 damaged pages of the work survive.
The
name Cathach, an Irish word meaning battle was given to the book by the O’
Donnells, clansmen of Columba, who carried it with them into battle, invoking
the protection of the saint. This is
reputed to be the book which Columba transcribed in haste without the
permission of his master, Finnian, bringing about a court case which ruled to
every cow its calf, to every book its copy.
Columbas clansmen disputed the court case and fought in battle of Cuil
Dremhne for ownership of the book. The
story goes that Columba was so horrified by the death and destruction of the
battle that he banished himself on permanent pilgrimage and exile from
home. This involved a life of prayer and
self denial while spreading the word of God to the heathen. His travels took him first to Iona, an island
off the coast of Scotland, where he founded a monastery, which was to become
the chief house of the Columban monasteries for the next 200 years. The Cathach, is written in a clear majuscule
script with enlarged capitals introducing psalms.
Q. 2 – Trace
the development of Irish illuminated manuscripts from the Catach to the book of
Kells, referring in your answer to examples of decorations from the manuscripts
you describe.
The Christian communities had to
learn to read and write in manuscript.
The first Irish manuscripts are not written in the ‘unical script’ but
in the distinctively Irish hand of the ‘half uncial’. This Irish hand attained great beauty and
perfection was to be taken abroad by the Irish missionaries to England and
Scotland where it became the national script of the counties. Missionaries and scholars produced small
gospel books which could easily be carried.
These were written in ‘minuscule script’. Manuscripts were produced in a scriptorium
and considerable wealth was required by the monasteries for the production of
luxury books. A large herd of calves was
required for the production of vellum, books were kept in leather satchels
which were hung on the walls but special books were elaborately bound and
sometimes stored in ornate metal boxes or shrines. Scribal activity was of the greatest
importance to colmcille and he and his followers have come to be particularly
associated with manuscript production.
Some Irish manuscripts are:
The Cathach – This is the oldest Irish
manuscript of the psalter and the earliest example of Irish writing. Written in Latin, it contains a vulgate
version of psalms 10 to 13 with interpretative rubic or heading before each psalm. It is traditionally ascribed to St. Columba
as the copy, made at night in haste by a candle light, of a psalter lend to
Columba by St. Finian. It is possible to
date the manuscript late 6th or 7th century from the
script, but modern historical scholarships has cast doubts on the authorship by
St. Columba as well as on the dating.
Between 1062 and 1098 a special shrine was made for it and the
manuscript was named the ‘Cathach’ from the practice of carrying it right hand
wise around the field of battle as a talisman.
The script by one scribe is early majuscule with ornamental capitals,
some of which are in red and like the red in the lettering for the rubics, the
colour has faded. The framework of the
capitals is often outlined by a series of scarlet dotes and the decoration is
mostly by spirals and animal heads. The
capitals do not stand out of letters of dimishing size. The leaves were taken from the casket and
caked together and cockled. In 1920, in
the Brittish museum bindery, the leaves were separated and mounted in paper
frames and the butt joints were overlaid with white net. In 1980-1 further repair and rebinding work
was carried out by Rodger Powell and his assistant, at the cost of 6.150 stg.
The paper mounting from which vellum leaves had come
adrift, was replaced by new vellum mounts specially stained to match the colour
of the original leaves. Pieces of
degreased fish skin were used for joining butted edges in the vellum
mounts. The leaves, assembled in
sections, were sewn within a zig zag of handmade paper onto cards and bound in
English oak boards. The spine was
covered in white alun-tawed pigskin. To keep
the vellum under pressure and to prevent cockling, the rebound manuscript was
put into a special box designed by David Powell and made by George Taylor.
Capital letters from the Cathach (above). These letters show the adaption of motifs
from la Tene metalwork. The letters are
surrounded by dots. The late 11th
century shrine of the Cathach, made by sitric of kells, co. Meath to the order
of Cathbarr O’Donnell, may be seen in the national museum of Ireland (in the
library of the royal Irish academy).
The Book of
Durrow – This book was probably intended for use on an altar
as its too large to be carried around.
Its traditionally associated with the Columban monastery and was
probably produced in a scriptorium there in the mid seventh century. The book of Durrow also introduces to the
third great component of Irish art of the early Christian period, interlaced
bands. They seemed to be Coptic
(Egyptian Christians) as the dots which accompany the,. Many of the pages are framed by a loose
interlace of broad bands of varying colours accentuated by double lines on the
edges. The pages are decorated in red,
yellow, green and deep brown against a black background or the plain velum
page. The book of Durrow is a copy of
the gospels and came origionally from the monastery founded in Durrow, Co. Offly
by Saint Columbia, it was for a time in the possession of the farmer who used
it to dip in the drinking water used by the cattle as a cure for disease. It passed eventually into the hands of the
Cromwellian bishop of Meath who presented it to the Trinity college library,
Dublin. This book is multicoloured using
dark green, bright yellow, red and what now has become a dark brown. The space between the bands is darkened, thus
allowing them room to breathe. Characteristics
of the book of Durrow include the amount of space left free between the
individual elements of the decoration and the use of large scale motifs and
design. Two of the main decorative
elements can occur on the same page, but never all three together and they are
always kept neatly together. Either the
artists felt that motifs which he knew to have different origins or which for
him had different symbolic meanings aught to be kept apart or else he hadn’t
really ‘digested’ all the components sufficiently to feel confident to mix them
together. The animals in the book of durrow
are now rhymetical and free in their design, it was sometimes proven to be
difficult to decide where the book of Durrow was painted and written, however,
its almost certaintly a product of a Columbian monastery. This book was illuminated in a place where
metalwork was practiced. For there are
indications of borrowing from the metal smiths craft. The use of the Celtic spiral ornament is the
most obvious example. Another is the
millegerri pattern produced on the cloak of the symbol of Matthew.
Book of Durrow
Book of Durrow
Book of Kells
Book Of Kells
Book Of kells - decoration
The Cathach
METALWORK – early Christian Ireland
Points to know :
- Colmcilles
monastery in Iona was an important link between
- The
traditions blended with the earlier La Tene style and formed a unique form
of art found in manuscript illumination and metalwork of the late seventh
and eight centuries.
Techniques:
·
Around 600AD the techniques used in fine
Irish craftsmanship changed considerably from that of the Iron age. Solid silver was used in making objects like
chalices, enamel was used more and a new technique of millefiori glass was
adopted.
·
Millefiori was produced by covering a cane of
glass with layers of different coloured glass and cutting them into shorter
lengths. Sometimes lengths of coloured
glass were laid together and fused before cutting and setting into the
metalwork.
·
New types of objects became fashionable, such
as large pins and penannular brooches for fastening garments. There were probably workshops all over they
country, but some are known to have been at the monastic site at Armagh and at Ballinderry crannog Co.Offaly. A small group of penannular brooches, of
which the Ballinderry brooch is the finest, survive from that time. The penannular brooch, so called because of
the gap in the ring, was developed from a Roman military style brooch found in
northern Britain
The 18th
century metalworking techniques
- Motifs
used in manuscripts are also found in metalwork. Similar colouring is applied by using
enamels, and 18th century metalwork shows an astonishing range of
techniques, a love of sumptuous, all over decorations and a combination of
local and borrowed techniques.
- New
techniques of gold filigree, gilding and silvering, kerbschnitt,
die-stamping and a variety of new colours in glass and enamel were added
to the native skills of bronze casting, engraving and colouring with red
enamel.
The golden age of
irish metalwork
- The
early 18th century is the era known as the Golden age and is a
time of perfection in Irish art.
Objects with dazzling array of techniques, such as the
The Tara Brooch
- The
- There
are many examples of this type of brooch n Irish art, but the
- The
famous brooch was not actually found at
- If
the Ardagh chalice can be compared to the Book of Durrow, the
- The
- The
The Tara Brooch
The Ardagh Chalice
- One
of the richest discoveries of early Christian Irish art was made by a boy
digging potatoes near Ardagh, Co.Limerick in 1868. This has become known as the Ardagh
Chalice.
- With
it he found four brooches and a bronze chalice. They must have been part of the
collection of a rich monastery.
- With
its simple design using gold and silver, moulded coloured glass and its
light engraving, the silver chalice is the finest piece of 18th
century metalwork to have been found in
- The
Ardagh chalice can be compared to the Book of Durrow because like the
manuscript, where decoration is set off against the plain vellum, large
areas of silver in the chalice are also plain. The decoration itself, however, is
sumptuous and interlace and animal interlace, scrolls, plaits gold
wire. Other techniques used are
engraving, casting, enameling and cloisonné, a method of enameling which separates
the colours with thin strips of metal.
- Complex
gold filigree work forms a band around the chalice and this is broken by
red and blue glass studs. Under this
band, engraved lightly into the silver, are the names of all the apostles
except Judas.
- The
handles on both sides are a concentrated area of rich colours and
patterns. They are decorated with
coloured glass in panels of red, blue, green and yellow, in between which
are tiny panels of complex and skilled gold filigree work. In the centre of each side is a cross
within a roundel.
- The
design is simple but it is richly decorated using spirals of gold wire
filigree work, colored glass and a cloisonné enameled stud in the centre.
- The
bowl of the chalice is joined to the base by a thick bronze stem. The stem is heavily gilded ( a thin
layer of gold impressed onto the metal), and here the decoration is the
most intricate and involved of all.
- The
base is formed by a cone – shaped foot around which is a decorated flange
for extra stability. This flange
has square blocks of blue glass separated by panels of interlace and
geometric ornament.
- In
the centre of the underside of the base is a circular crystal surrounded
by gold filigree and green enamel.
The outer edge of the flange underside
is divided into eight, with six copper
studs and two silver.
The
Ardagh Chalice.
Manuscripts
- Christianity
is a religion of the book, and the Irish, like every other Christian
community, had to learn how to read and write the scriptures. The standard script of the 4th
and 5th centuries were the ‘uncial script’ but the first Irish
manuscripts are written in the distinctively Irish hand of the ‘half
uncial’ which attained great beauty and perfection.
- This
was taken abroad by the Irish missionaries to
Manuscript Production
In
the period between late 17th and early 19th centuries,
Irish monks produced manuscript books that were masterpieces of calligraphy and
painting, surpassing anything in the rest of Europe . They were produced in a room called a scriptorium
and copying the texts was considered an act of devotion. Monasteries required considerable wealth for
book production, such as a large herd of calves needed for vellum and expensive
colors that were often imported from abroad.
Traditionally, books were kept in leather satchels which were hung on
the walls, but special books were elaborately bound and sometimes stored in
ornate metal boxes or shrines.
The Cathach – An
Irish manuscript
- The
earliest surviving Irish manuscript, now in the library of the
- The
name Cathach means ‘battle book’ and it earned its name when Colmcille
took a rare and valuable book from St. Finian and copied it in the
night. Finian appealed to the high
king of
- The beginning
of the book is missing and its decoration is confined to the first letter
of each paragraph.
- It
shows a very important feature of early Christian art, that of the
adaption of the old celtic motifs used in metalwork to script.
- Another
important feature of the Cathach is the use of stylized animal ornament,
which was to remain a particularly distinctive feature of Irish manuscript
illumination during the next centuries.
The book is in black and white, with a small amount of color such
as red and yellow used here and there.
- The
cathach is written in a clear majuscule script with enlarged capitals
introducing each psalm. The
lettering is in a peculilarly Irish style, different from the Roman
models, examples of whch the first missionaries must have brought with
them. In a few generations Irish
Christians had not only learned to read and write in Latin, ut had created
a style of lettering and decoration of their own, quite different from the
Roman ooks they had first encountered.
- Majuscule
is a style of rounded capital letters written ewteen two ruled lines with
very ascenders or descenders above or below the lines. The decoration employed by the scribes seems
to follow from La Tene style, as it incorportates trumpet ends, spirals
and a few animal and plant forms, along with the Christian cross and fish
symbols.
- The
writing is carried out with reed or quill pens, in dark ink with some
dotting in red and yellow surrounding the capital letters. Folio 6a of the Cathach shows the
diminuendo effect where the letters gradually reduce in size until they
are back to the general text size.
This is a characteristic feature of Irish script, not seen in Roman
models. The opening letter Q of
psalm 91, which begins ‘Qui habitat..’ shows a range of the designs used in
this manuscript. A little spring
spiral, an animal head and a cross are all added to the tail of the Q and
a row of pen flourishes decorates the inside.
- The
diminuendo effect can clearly be seen over these opening words. The letter M, which opens the psalm on
Folio 21a, is decorated with spirals and trumpet ends. The simple decoration employed in the
cathach is echoed in contemporary stone and metalwork. A small repertoire of designs and
patterns forms the basis for the amazingly elaborate work produced by the
following generations of craftsmen.
Manuscripts
– The Book of Durrow
The
insular style: New Irish establishments founded in Britain
and Europe would originally have been stocked with books made in Ireland Ireland Italy
- The
Book of Durrow is the earliest example of a fully decorated manuscript in
the insular style. It is a copy of
the Four Gospels with some preliminary texts. It contains 248 folios (leaves) of
vellum, most of which have writing or decoration on both sides. There are 12 fully decorated pages and
many more with decorated capitals.
The script is in the Irish majuscule style, written in long lines across
the page.
- The
text is a copy of the Latin Vulgate version of the New Testament, which
- There
has been much discussion in the past as to the origins of the book of
Durrow. Its associations with the
early Columban monastery at Durrow can be verified as early as 877Ad as
well as in 916 AD, when it was enshrined in a metal case (which is now
lost).
- The
book seems to be older than these dates, so it was probably written in the
late 7th or 8th century. The interlace pattern relates to designs
on the Carandonagh cross, which was near the Columban monastery of
- The
book we see today is in remarkably good condition considering the ups and
downs of its 1,300 years of existence.
The Book Of Kells (c 800
AD )
The
most famous of all Irish gospel books dates from the mid 18th
century, a century before the book the Durrow.
It is now certain where the sumptuously decorated book of Kells was
produced, but it is presumed to have been at the Columbian island monastery of
Iona in Scotland
It
is thought to have come to Ireland
with valuables and relics at the beginning of the 19th century when
the community moved to found the monastery of Kells after a particularly
disastrous Viking raid on Iona .
The
manuscript contains the four gospels in the Irish majuscule script, brilliantly
illustrated. As well as being larger and
more elaborate than previous manuscripts, the Book of Kells has new features,
such as drawings between lines of quite naturalistic animals, and introduces
new colours and figurative scenes not seen before, such as the virgin and child
and the arrest and temptation of Christ.
Five main colors are used in the book as well
as the browns and blacks which are used to fill in the background of the full –
page illustrations. The colors are:
Red:
which was made from red lead and has kept its brightness very well
Yellow:
made form egg white and a mineral found in the ground. It is called orpiment. This color has a shiny surface and looks like
gold. It was used extensively throughout
the book.
Green:
was made from copper and has an emerald colour.
This color also lasted well but has an acidity which sometimes eats
through the page.
Purple
and Blue: have been imported to Ireland Italy India
Some pages of the manuscript are missing and
all but two of the remaining 680 pages are decorated. The ornate varies from an endless variety of
decorated initials and humorous marginal drawings to pages fully covered with
the most detailed illustrations and designs in strong and brilliant
colors. To an already wide variety of
colors is added the new technique of covering one color with a thin wash of
another.
EUROPEAN ART HISTORY (SECTION 2 OF PAPER)
The
Romanesque Period (1000 – 1200 AD)
- Dominated
- The
term Romanesque which literally means ‘roman like’ was not used until the
18th century when a French art expert used the term to describe
the style.
Life in medieval Europe
- Life
was hard and poverty and disease were common.
- Much
of the year was spent in darkness in horrible living conditions and there
was a widespread fear that the world was going to end in the year 1000
which added even more of a sense of hopelessness.
- There
was little or no education, so hardly anyone could read or write, but
devotion of the Christian faith and the firm belief that life in heaven
would be better than life on earth gave people hope.
The triumph of the
church
- The
church dominated medieval
- Men
of intelligence joined the clergy in great numbers. The church was basically a democratic
organization where clever men could rise from nothing to positions of
immense power and influence.
- The
pope brought in new strict rules governing clergy celibacy, so the
monasteries grew in strength and wealth with no question of divided
inheritance
- The
church was an international institution with no allegiance to any
particular state, so churchmen of ability from all over
Romanesque art
The
new powerful church had a huge influence on art.
- New
orders and monasteries were established throughout
- Pilgrimages
and relics were a huge part of medieval religion. The church encouraged religious
pilgrimages as penance for sins.
- Pilgrims
often lasted many years and frequently involved danger and hardship. Stone church’s were erected to
accommodate for the growing crowds of pilgrims.
What is Romanesque?
Romanesque
Art & Architecture
Because
of the dominant role of the Church, most Romanesque art is religious. Architecture was the main focus of the period
and the 11th and 12th centuries saw a frenzy of church
building activity. Many examples of
Romanesque architecture can be seen today around Europe ,
but some of the finest are detailed below.
- Cluny Abbey in east
central
- The Cluniac order
placed great emphasis on elaborate religious services. Singing and music were essential parts
of its liturgy and the vaulting system was designed to enhance sound.
- It also had an
extremely high regard for art, particularly architectural sculpture, using
it both as ornament and as a means of spreading the message of
Christianity.
- Accounts describe not
only the splendor of its beautiful carved capitals but also its arches,
windows and cornices, which were surrounded by sculptured ornament.
- In addition, there would certainly have
been murals, carpets, huge chandeliers, figures of saints, golden
liturgical vestments and gleaming ornaments set with precious stones.
- In terms of splendor,
no castle or palace of the period would have compared with this abbey in
any way because secular rulers had to invest most of their money in
soldiers and military equipment and also because the church forbade the
faithful to accumulate wealth or display it ostentatiously.
The demolition of Cluny
The
church and its surrounding monastic buildings were destroyed, so the only
remaining part of the abbey church is the majestic clocher de L’Eau – Benite (Holy
Water Belfry)
Churches in the pilgrimage route
The
style of building first explored at Cluny soon
became common throughout France ,
Spain , Italy and England
The
churches built along each of the four main pilgrimage routes in France
Characteristics of a typical Romanesque Church
- Blocky in shape – they
had a solid geometric appearance.
- Rounded arches – Roman
arches were used extensively for doors, windows, on the towers and even
ornamental arcades on walls.
- Stone roofs – The
Romanesque building boom went hand in hand with a number of technological
innovations, but the supreme achievement was the development of the stone
vault, which not only insulated against fire but also greatly improved
acoustics (sound quality)
- Massive walls – A huge
amount of stone was needed to construct high stone roofs, and in order to
carry this weight, walls and pillars
had to be strong and thick.
- Interiors – They had a
dark and solemn aspect because there were few window openings (which would
have weakened the walls)
- Roman basilica – Early
Christian churches were based on the roman basilica rather than roman
temple. The basilica served a
general community purpose in Roman towns and this model was chosen over
the round Roman temples, which had a pagan association. Romanesque builders continued using this
model.
- Cruciform in shape –
Romanesque churches were designed to cater for large crowds of
pilgrims. Crosswire transepts broke
up the long nave and pilgrims could walk about the entire church without
interrupting the monastic liturgy.
An ambulatory of walkway around the back of the altar facilitated
viewing the relics.
- Radiating chapels – A
ring of smaller chapels called radiating chapels extended from the
ambulatory and each one of these contained a minor relic.
- Lighting – A tower or
cupula (dome) on the roof over the central crossing of the transept and
nave lit up this central area and had the effect of drawing pilgrims
towards the altar and choir.
- Cut stone – Many
churches were built with ashlar masonry that is, even, regularly cut
blocks of stone, suitable for monumental architecture.
Vaulting
Stone
vaulting was absolutely necessary in Romanesque churches because fire was a
constant problem and there had been many catastrophes. Romanesque masons were able to vault the
entire width of the church using the Roman model, but the exact technical
knowledge developed by the Romans had been lost. As problems developed, architects could only
solve them by experimentation.
- Barrel vaulting – was
the first method tried, but the heavy stones pressed out as well as down,
causing the semi circular arches to flatten, the walls to push outwards
and the roof to collapse. This
problem is known as outward thrust.
- Broken barrel vaulting
was an improvement as it used pointed transverse arches, but the problem
of outward thrust remained, although it look longer to develop.
- Groin vaulting – was a
further experiment in finding a solution.
This consisted of two barrel vaults intersecting at right
angles. For a while it seems as if
this approach provided a solution, but the problem of outward thrust
continued to plague builders for a century after.
St. Mary Magdalene in
Vezelay
- The
basilica of St Mary Magdalene in Vezelay is the largest Romanesque church
in
- New miracles
associated with the relic soon spread and it was officially designated by
- The
church was rebuilt around 1150, after a devastating fire in which 1,200
pilgrims lost their lives. It
suffered quite an amount of damage during the French revolution when its
façade and one of the towers were destroyed, but it was saved from near
collapse during the 19th century.
- The
restoration was somewhat clumsily executed on the exterior but the superb
sculpture inside the narthex (entrance or outer porch) has survived almost
unscathed.
- The
interior is also well preserved and the impression conveyed on entering
this perfect gem of 12th century architecture is one of stately
Romanesque dignity.
- Semi
circular arches divide the nave into groin-vaulted bays, creating balance,
rhythm and light on a soaring upward structure. One of Vezelay’s most notable
characteristics is ochre and white stone on all its arches, which make a
chequered effect and shows the influence of Islamic architecture, possibly
from
- Supporting
the arches are square piers with engaged (attached) pillars on each side,
surmounted by beautifully decorated carved capitals.
- Romanesque
churches were specifically designed to cater for the needs of
pilgrims.
- Designs
became more sophisticated in the 12th century and many
pilgrimage churches were influenced by
- The narthex is an impressive 1,200 sq. km (4,000 sq.
ft.) and the length of the nave nearly rivals the Notre-Dame in
- Romanesque churches were specifically designed to
cater for the needs of pilgrims.
Designs became more sophisticated in the 12th century
and many pilgrimage churches were influenced by
Cluny Abbey France
Cluny Abbey
Cluny Abbey
The
cluniac order placed great emphasis on elaborate religious services. Singing and music were essential parts of its
liturgy and the vaulting system was designed to enhance the sound. It also had an extremely high regard for Art,
particularly architectural sculpture, using it both as ornament and as a means
of spreading the message of Christianity.
Accounts
describe not only the splendor of its beautiful carved capitals but also its
arches, windows and cornices, which were surrounded by sculptured ornament. In addition, there would certainly have been
murals, carpets, huge chandeliers, figures of saints, golden liturgical
vestments and gleaming ornaments set with precious stones.
In
terms of splendor, no castle or palace of the period would have compared with
this abbey in any way because secular rulers had to invest most of their money
in soldiers and military equipment and also because the church forbade the
faithful to accumulate wealth or display it.
The
church and the surrounding monastic buildings were destroyed, so its only
remaining part of the abbey church is the majestic Clocher de l’Eau-Benite
(holy water belfry)
The
style of building first explored at Cluny soon
became common throughout France ,
Spain , Italy and England
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Art Appreciation -
Art Gallery
Exhibitions
can take months to plan and develop. The
artists want to focus on two things: the message they want to communicate and
the audience it is aimed at. There are
certain things you should think about when visiting an exhibition:
Use of space: This is not just about the elements
of design, but also about the spatial experience. What is the nature, quality and design of the
space used? Is it calm and peaceful or noisy and aimed towards children? How is the spatial experience enhanced by
other design elements such as light, use of colour and the shape and size of
the room? How is the space used to
enhance how you experience the messages or themes in the art work?
Lighting: This can be really important, as
not only does it create or enhance a mood but it can also affect it in negative
ways. Also, textiles and paper are
extremely sensitive to light damage, so conservation is a major issue when it
comes to illuminating objects and displays and they can often be dimly lit for
this reason.
Key messages:
What is the exhibition about?
When visiting an exhibition it’s a good idea to list the main
topics/themes of the artwork.
Interpretive media & technology:
These can be touchpad, interactive, audio, video device. How are these designed and planned to support
the messages or themes?
Who is the audience:
Is it for experts or for people with little knowledge of the
subject? Is it for students, adults,
children or a range of visitors? Have
the items in the exhibition been explained properly or the visitors left
wondering what the artwork was about?
What type of experience is provided?
Are you
being allowed to form your own opinions and thoughts or are you being given a
particular viewpoint? What objects and
themes get priority? Has anything or
anyone’s viewpoint been left out?
Supporting materials:
These can be leaflets, advertisements or catalogues. These materials are important tools for
helping the organizers of the exhibition to get the message across for the
audience. Examine the graphics/text and
images used in support materials.
Directions: Note the directions and signposts
used in the exhibition. Are they
effective?
Placement:
Take some time to look at how paintings are placed/ hung, such as an
open display or in display cases.
A visit to an art Gallery Question –
Here are points but
you will write it out in essay form & you should never re-write it directly as it is here, change it around to suit your answer......
This question is from
the art history & appreciation section of the art history paper (section
three)
1.
My teacher
took us to Dublin Nassau street Dublin
2.
The
paintings in the National gallery of Ireland belong to all the Irish public –
everyones welcome to visit the gallery and entry is free.
3.
The national
gallery is open from mon – fro all day and on a half day on Sunday &
visitors receive a booklet on arrival with the floor plan so that they know the
layout of the gallery, this is helpful as the gallery is huge. All the rooms were named on this plan and the
centuries that the paintings came from.
Each wing is colour coded – the gallery has 4 wings.
4.
Before I
visited the national gallery I thought it was only for wealthy artistic people
but after my visit my opinion has changed.
I now know that an art gallery is a place where works of art are cared
for and displayed for everyone to visit & enjoy.
5.
We had a
guide who showed us around the gallery and explained the different rooms &
paintings to us.
6.
We were not
allowed to touch the paintings as they are very fragile & very old.
7.
The
galleries paintings are all arranged by themes eg: still life / landscapes etc.
8.
When you
walk around the gallery you ask yourself: What is the story of the painting?
Why did the artist create it? Where was it meant to hang, in a palace/
monastery or a house? Does it fall into any of the themes in the history of art
such as portraits, narratives, landscape, mythology etc. We are also told to consider when looking at
the paintings , did it make us feel happy, sad, angry, frightened etc? And did we like the painting or not?
We visited the ‘Yeats room’ the famous Irish painter
Jack B Yeats. This room is different
from the rest of the gallery. The
lighting is low and it is like that to protect & preserve the paintings done
in watercolour and oil. There is also a
glass barrier to protect the paintings,
The low lighting makes the room very peaceful & creates a special
atmosphere. And strong light may damage the paintings. Because the oil paint is applied very thickly
your natural reaction is to want to touch it (the texture) and the paint was
applied with brushes & palette knives.
9.
Yeats love
to paint scenes from the west of Ireland
10. My two favourite paintings by Yeats are ‘The liffey
swim’ & ‘Grief’.
11. The
liffey swim – the subject matter
of this painting is a sporting event in Dublin
12. Grief – this painting is very emotional. The subject matter (what the painting is
about) is about war. It is a painting
about the civil war in Ireland
13. From his traditional period, ‘The Liffey Swim’ captures the excitement of this annual event in
Dublin, but sporting events were always of interest to him.He painted with
loose brush strokes in his later works and emotion became a stronger feature in
his work. He felt that the paintings could speak for themselves, he said ‘It
doesn’t matter who I am or what I am, people may think what they will of my
pictures’.
14. Another of Yeats most common images involved horses,
and though he was never a horseman himself, he had a great affection for
them. ‘For the Road’ expresses the understanding between horse and rider
and the light of hope and optimism at the end of the tunnel. He died in March 1957 and has gained
widespread international recognition as Irelands
15. I really enjoyed my visit to the national gallery and
I hope to return very soon to view all of the fantastic paintings from history.
------------------------------------------------------
Here are the guidelines I would give in relation to answering this
question on the art appreciation section on the paper.
Find out the following information
Artists-
Background information
Style
Influences
Exhibition-
Description of gallery space (shape,floors/wall)
Lighting- natural/artificial-positioning
Layout- Chronological/thematic/other
Information about the exhibition- (work, labelling)
Framing- are the artworks framed/canvas'
Describe 3 pieces-
Title
Medium
Format (landscape/portrait/irregular)
Composition
Colour
Use of Materials
Does the painting show the art elements? (texture/line/shape)
If you gather all this information while at the exhibition you should be able to answer the question successfully.
Find out the following information
Artists-
Background information
Style
Influences
Exhibition-
Description of gallery space (shape,floors/wall)
Lighting- natural/artificial-positioning
Layout- Chronological/thematic/other
Information about the exhibition- (work, labelling)
Framing- are the artworks framed/canvas'
Describe 3 pieces-
Title
Medium
Format (landscape/portrait/irregular)
Composition
Colour
Use of Materials
Does the painting show the art elements? (texture/line/shape)
If you gather all this information while at the exhibition you should be able to answer the question successfully.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Example of Art gallery
Essay - This got an A. It's about the Hughe
Lane Gallery
and two works of Art, but you will discuss the Jack B Yeats exhibition in the
National Gallery of Ireland
I recently visited the Hugh Lane Dublin City Gallery on a class trip. I had visited the gallery once before but on this occasion I gad a better knowledge of art and the techniques used in its appreciation. So I had a better awareness and understanding of the gallery structure.
The gallery is located in Charlemont house in northDublin
Charlemont house was designed for Lord Charlemont by the architect Sir. William Chambers. The building did not become theHugh Lane Gallery Hugh Lane Hugh Lane Hugh Lane
I noticed that the layout of the building is well designed to display works of art as the house is designed with as series of networking rooms. This means that each room leads on to the other as was originally intended for socialising. Although this wasn't part of the original house, it still would of been important toSir Hugh Lane
Today is means that the progression from room to room flows naturally and allows an orders and chronological hanging of the work while allowing the viewer to focus on the paintings in a single room.
Each painting is also given its own space to focus on, with no more than two to a wall. In addition smaller painting are often hung adjacent to larger painting to put emphasis on size and scale. Paintings are usually hung with the centre of the picture being around eye level as this allows the best view of the painting. Tags are never placed near the entrance of the room, rather than the doorway so as not to detract from the paintings themselves.
The information given is usually; the title, the artist, medium, the date painted, birth and death of artist along with a brief history of the artist life and work. To surmise, all of the above techniques mean that the work is presented in a very clear and informative manner which effectively engages the viewer.
Modern technology has allowed for an even more comprehensive background of the artist, such as the interactive video screens in the Francis Bacon studio. There is also a movie room where there is an interview with Francis Bacon shown on screen which is viewed before entering the studio. The gallery also has a book ship with an extensive range of subjects allowing patrons to learn more about the artwork after their visit.
In old galleries the walls are painted in rich victorian colours, in keeping with the period of the displayed. A number of skylights are in place to provide natural lights along with spotlights angles at the wall (to prevent glare).
The newer galleries, such as the Francis Bacon studio, are generally all white with no frames on the paintings, allowing the viewer to focus on the work itself. Large skylight provide a great amount of natural light, along with artificial adjustable spots on sliding mounts.
The gallery also has certain artifacts which are highlighted so as to draw out their characteristics. For example, the Harry Clarke room is devoted entirely to displays of stained glass. The room is almost completely dark with black walls and very soft, low lighting. Each piece of stained glass is placed in front of its own light source, slotted into the wall. This draws out all of the unique colours of the glass and completely focuses the viewer's attention on the work.
The Francis Bacon Studio is one of the only three preserved studios in the world. To do this every detail of Bacon's studio inLondon
was recorded, the disassembled and reassembled in the Hugh Lane Gallery
While visiting the gallery there were two paintings on display that I found particularly appealing. Both were impressionist works, painted by Claude Monet. The first "Lavacourt under snow" is a landscape painting depicting a few small picturesque houses in the countryside covered by snow. The painting is very tranquil with small quick brushstrokes, capturing the fading light and pale pinks of the sky.The painting was hung in its original frame in the style of the late 19th Century.
The second painting is called "Waterloo Brigde", by Monet. Monet spent a considerable amount of time inLondon Thames ,
enjoying the way the fog influenced the light and its effect on the water. The
painting shows waterloo bridge from an obscured angle with part of the bridge
cut off and out of frame. The painting shows the bridge in the early hours of
the morning with a heavy mist present. The pale pinks and reds of the rising
sun can be seen distorted in the water. London
Monet is renowned for his brilliant renditions of light at the different times of day. In addition his penchant for capturing a scene of natural beauty in a man made and industrial environment is clearly evident and particularly effective when viewed in person.
I thoroughly enjoyed my art gallery visit as I was able to fully see the skill and artistry that is used in a gallery to highlight and focus the works of art on display. In addition seeing many of the paintings I have studied in person mean that I now have a better understanding and appreciation of them.
I recently visited the Hugh Lane Dublin City Gallery on a class trip. I had visited the gallery once before but on this occasion I gad a better knowledge of art and the techniques used in its appreciation. So I had a better awareness and understanding of the gallery structure.
The gallery is located in Charlemont house in north
Charlemont house was designed for Lord Charlemont by the architect Sir. William Chambers. The building did not become the
I noticed that the layout of the building is well designed to display works of art as the house is designed with as series of networking rooms. This means that each room leads on to the other as was originally intended for socialising. Although this wasn't part of the original house, it still would of been important to
Today is means that the progression from room to room flows naturally and allows an orders and chronological hanging of the work while allowing the viewer to focus on the paintings in a single room.
Each painting is also given its own space to focus on, with no more than two to a wall. In addition smaller painting are often hung adjacent to larger painting to put emphasis on size and scale. Paintings are usually hung with the centre of the picture being around eye level as this allows the best view of the painting. Tags are never placed near the entrance of the room, rather than the doorway so as not to detract from the paintings themselves.
The information given is usually; the title, the artist, medium, the date painted, birth and death of artist along with a brief history of the artist life and work. To surmise, all of the above techniques mean that the work is presented in a very clear and informative manner which effectively engages the viewer.
Modern technology has allowed for an even more comprehensive background of the artist, such as the interactive video screens in the Francis Bacon studio. There is also a movie room where there is an interview with Francis Bacon shown on screen which is viewed before entering the studio. The gallery also has a book ship with an extensive range of subjects allowing patrons to learn more about the artwork after their visit.
In old galleries the walls are painted in rich victorian colours, in keeping with the period of the displayed. A number of skylights are in place to provide natural lights along with spotlights angles at the wall (to prevent glare).
The newer galleries, such as the Francis Bacon studio, are generally all white with no frames on the paintings, allowing the viewer to focus on the work itself. Large skylight provide a great amount of natural light, along with artificial adjustable spots on sliding mounts.
The gallery also has certain artifacts which are highlighted so as to draw out their characteristics. For example, the Harry Clarke room is devoted entirely to displays of stained glass. The room is almost completely dark with black walls and very soft, low lighting. Each piece of stained glass is placed in front of its own light source, slotted into the wall. This draws out all of the unique colours of the glass and completely focuses the viewer's attention on the work.
The Francis Bacon Studio is one of the only three preserved studios in the world. To do this every detail of Bacon's studio in
While visiting the gallery there were two paintings on display that I found particularly appealing. Both were impressionist works, painted by Claude Monet. The first "Lavacourt under snow" is a landscape painting depicting a few small picturesque houses in the countryside covered by snow. The painting is very tranquil with small quick brushstrokes, capturing the fading light and pale pinks of the sky.The painting was hung in its original frame in the style of the late 19th Century.
The second painting is called "Waterloo Brigde", by Monet. Monet spent a considerable amount of time in
Monet is renowned for his brilliant renditions of light at the different times of day. In addition his penchant for capturing a scene of natural beauty in a man made and industrial environment is clearly evident and particularly effective when viewed in person.
I thoroughly enjoyed my art gallery visit as I was able to fully see the skill and artistry that is used in a gallery to highlight and focus the works of art on display. In addition seeing many of the paintings I have studied in person mean that I now have a better understanding and appreciation of them.
______________________________________________________
2009 paper
17. A visit to an exhibition is best
judged by the quality of art work on display and by the
gallery space itself..
- Discuss this statement with reference to any
named exhibition you have
visited.
and
- Discuss two specific works from this
exhibition in detail.
Use
sketches to illustrate your answer.
2009 Q17 Marking scheme
A Name of
Gallery/Exhibition. 10
B Discussion
of statement with reference to visited exhibition . 10
C Detailed
discussion of work 1. 10
D Detailed
discussion of work 2. 10
E Sketches 10
Total : 50
Sample Answer:
The gallery I have visited and will discuss in my answer is the National
Gallery of Ireland. The national gallery is just off Nassau street
The paintings in the
National gallery of Ireland belong to all the Irish public, everyone’s welcome
to visit the gallery and entry is free.
I noticed that the structure and layout of
the building is well designed to display all of the different works of art, as the gallery
flows from room to room so that each room leads on to next. This gallery is very well laid out and on
arrival visitors receive a booklet with
the floor plan so that they know the layout of the gallery and can find their
way around easily, this is helpful as the gallery is very large and spacious
and you could easily get lost. All of the
exhibition rooms in this gallery were named on the plan and the centuries that
the paintings came from. Each wing is
colour coded & the gallery has 4
wings. We had a guide who showed us
around the gallery and explained the different rooms & paintings to us. The galleries paintings are all arranged by
themes eg: still life / landscapes etc.
The overall atmosphere in this gallery is very calm and peaceful and the
rooms are very large and spacious with lots of room for visitors to walk around
and enjoy the Art work on display. .
I agree with the statement above that ‘a visit to an art exhibition
is best judged by the quality of art work on display’ and one exhibition on display in
particular caught my attention and I feel this is the reason I really enjoyed
my visit to this gallery. Before I visited the national gallery I thought it
was only for wealthy artistic people but after my visit my opinion has changed. I now know that an art gallery is a place
where works of art are cared for and displayed for everyone to visit & enjoy.
We visited the ‘Yeats
room’ featuring the art work of the famous Irish painter Jack B Yeats. This room is different from the rest of the
gallery. The lighting is low and it is
like that to protect & preserve the paintings done in watercolor and
oil. There is also a glass barrier to
protect the paintings. The low lighting makes the room very peaceful &
creates a special atmosphere. And strong light may damage the paintings. Because the oil paint is applied very thickly
your natural reaction is to want to touch it (the texture) and the paint was
applied with large brushes & palette knives. Yeats loved to paint scenes from the west of Ireland
My two favourite paintings on
exhibit in the national gallery of Ireland in te ‘Yeats room’ by Yeats are ‘The
liffey swim’ & ‘Grief’.
The liffey swim – the subject matter of this painting is a sporting
event in Dublin
Grief – this painting is very emotional. The subject matter (what the painting is
about) is about war. It is a painting
about the civil war in Ireland
From his traditional period,
‘The Liffey Swim’ captures the excitement of this annual event in Dublin, but
sporting events were always of interest to him.He painted with loose brush
strokes in his later works and emotion became a stronger feature in his work.
He felt that the paintings could speak for themselves, he said ‘It doesn’t
matter who I am or what I am, people may think what they will of my pictures’.
Another of Yeats most common images involved
horses, and though he was never a horseman himself, he had a great affection
for them. ‘For the Road’ expresses the
understanding between horse and rider and the light of hope and optimism at the
end of the tunnel. He died in March 1957
and has gained widespread international recognition as Irelands
In conclusion I really enjoyed my visit to
the national gallery of Ireland & the Yeats room and I hope to return very
soon to view all of the fantastic paintings from history.
Illustrate your answer - so you would sketch a plan of the layout & strucutre of this gallery & also sketch your two names pieces of work by artist Jack B Yeats.
Art gallery
Question
Exam Paper Questions
2013)
Q. 7. Answer (a) and (b).
A curator’s work involves planning all aspects
of an exhibition whether it is for display
in a
national or local gallery or museum.
(a)
With reference to a named exhibition you have visited, describe and discuss the
main steps
taken by the curator when planning for and mounting this exhibition.
(b)
If you were a curator how would you go about curating an exhibition of
Transition
Year
artwork in your school?
Illustrate your answer
2012
Q. A vast array of art, craft and
heritage images is now available in the Internet. Are visits to galleries/ museums / heritage
sites any longer central to the appreciation of such works? Give reasons for your answer making reference
to internet examples and two specific works from a named exhibition you have
studied. Illustrate your answer.
2011 exam
Q. Answer A) B) & c)
a) Describe & discuss the
presentation and layout of an exhibition in a named gallery, museum or
interpretative centre that you have recently visited.
b) Outline
how the experience could help you to organize an exhibition in your own school
for open day.
c) Briefly
describe one work that impressed you during your visit.
-
Illustrate your answer.
Mock 2011
Q. The layout of an exhibition impacts upon the viewers
understanding & appreciation of the artwork displayed. Discuss this statement with reference to any
named exhibition you have visited.
Discuss briefly your own design ideas that would improve one of the
gallery rooms of your chosen exhibition. - Illustrate your answer
2010
Q. Local, small scale galleries are to be found in
many towns across the country and provide a beneficial service to the
community.
- Discuss
this statement with reference to any named local, small scale gallery. Compare a visit that you have made to a small
scale gallery with a visit to a named national gallery or museum.
- Illustrate
your answer
2009
Q. A visit to an exhibition is best judged by the
quality of art work on display and by the gallery space itself. Discuss this statement with reference to any
named exhibition you have visited.
And
- Discuss two specific works from this
exhibition in detail.
-Illustrate
your answer.
2008
Q. An art gallery/museum is an environment designed to
display artworks and can help us to a greater understanding and appreciation of
art.
A. Discuss this statement with reference to a recent
visit to a named museum or art gallery, describing in detail two named works
And….
B. Discuss briefly how your study of these art works
enhanced your own practical work
-Illustrate
your answer
2007
Q. Answer (a) & (b)
(a) Name a museum or gallery you have
visited recently and discuss, in detail, two works that impressed you,.
(b) If you were offered a number of the
works from this exhibition on loan to your school suggest a suitable location
to display them, and discuss layout, lighting and any other aids you would use
to enhance the display.
-Illustrate
your answer
2006
Q. Exhibition catalogues, information sheets and tourist
guides can provide reference information for a visit to an art gallery, museum
or national monument.
(a) Describe, in your own words, how
such information impacted on your visit to a gallery/museum/national monument
(B)Discuss the characteristics of a good catalogue
-Illustrate
your answer
_____________________________________________________________________________
Here are the guidelines I would give in relation to answering this
question on the art appreciation section on the paper.
Find out the following information
Artists-
Background information
Style
Influences
Exhibition-
Description of gallery space (shape,floors/wall)
Lighting- natural/artificial-positioning
Layout- Chronological/thematic/other
Information about the exhibition- (work, labelling)
Framing- are the artworks framed/canvas'
Describe 3 pieces-
Title
Medium
Format (landscape/portrait/irregular)
Composition
Colour
Use of Materials
Does the painting show the art elements? (texture/line/shape)
If you gather all this information while at the exhibition you should be able to answer the question successfully.
Find out the following information
Artists-
Background information
Style
Influences
Exhibition-
Description of gallery space (shape,floors/wall)
Lighting- natural/artificial-positioning
Layout- Chronological/thematic/other
Information about the exhibition- (work, labelling)
Framing- are the artworks framed/canvas'
Describe 3 pieces-
Title
Medium
Format (landscape/portrait/irregular)
Composition
Colour
Use of Materials
Does the painting show the art elements? (texture/line/shape)
If you gather all this information while at the exhibition you should be able to answer the question successfully.
_______________________________________
Leaving Cert. Art History
- REVISION sheet –
STONE AGE –
·
Background
on the stone age
·
Stone age
architecture
·
Stone age
technology
·
Meslithic,
Neolithic, megalithic periods
·
Portral
dolmen, court cairn & passage grave – be able to draw all
·
Newgrange
– about it/background info., winter solstice, entrance stone, kerbstone,
corbelled roof, basin stones, construction, techniques, decoration, corbelling,
and interpretation – Be able to draw Newgrange & all of the above.
EARLY CHRISTIAN IRELAND –
·
Book of
Kells
·
Ardagh
Chalice
·
Tara
Brooch
·
Manuscripts
THE BRONZE AGE –
·
Background
info – about it
·
Bronze
age structures/ architecture
·
Metalwork
·
Decorative
gold objects
·
Sun disc
– know all & be able to draw
·
Lunula –
know all info & be able to draw
·
Torc –
know all info & be able to draw
·
Broighter
collar - know all info & be able to
draw
·
Gold disc
·
Gorget –
the Gleninsheen gorget
·
Gold hair
lock rings
·
Lizamore
crozier – be able to draw it
·
Dress
fastener – be able to draw it
·
La Tene
Style – know well.
·
Irish
bronze trumpet – be able to draw it also.
·
Bronze
age decoration methods – repousse – incision – twisting and flange twisting.
ROMANESQUE –
·
What is
Romanesque/background?
·
Architecture
·
Know the
church – St. Mary magdelaine in Vezelay (be able to draw it )
·
Sculpture
– background, about it, tympanum of the Pentecost & the weighing of
souls - be able to draw all.
·
Know all
of the characteristics of Romanesque Church- also know a second church Cluny
abbey incase you are asked to talk about a second.
·
Know all
of the following info - Triumph of the church – church organisation – strong
papal authority – monasteries – the 2 prominent orders (be able to name) –
relics and pilgrimages – life in medieval Europe – Romanesque Art.
GOTHIC –
·
Architecture
·
Chartres
Cathedral – know all info on this & be able to draw
·
Notre
Dame Cathedral & be able to draw also.
·
Gothic
stained Glass – rose windows in the chartres cathedral & the blue virgin
window – the technique also.
·
Characteristics
of Gothic Architecture
·
Gothic
Sculpture – the royal portal at chartres, transition from the Romanesque,
column statues, the saints, the royal portal, the north portal – be able to
draw all the sculptures you discuss.
ART APPRECIATION –
·
A visit
to an art gallery – the national gallery of Ireland – yeats room & jack b.
Yeats exhibition
·
Jack B.
Yeats – know very well – background info & biography – know the liffey swim
& be able to draw – And know for the road.
·
You need
to be able to draw both paintings by J. B Yeats in detail – use colour if you
want.
·
Know the
handout I gave you with the following & be able to give your own opinion. –
Use of space – lighting – key messages – interpretive media & technology –
who is the audience – what type of experience is provided – supporting
materials – directions/handouts/leaflets etc – placement of the work –
layout etc....
·
Very
important that you go through the handout I gave out with all the past exam
paper questions on it so you can see the various ways in which this question
has been asked in the past.
Remember
art history is worth 37.5% of your overall Art exam so is very important - the art history paper is 150marks & you
have three sections to answer 1 ) Irish Art – you answer ONE question from this
2) E.U art – you answer ONE question from this 3) Art Appreciation – You answer
ONE question from this.
All
answers should be written in essay format – 2-3 pages & a page for your
sketches – use your drawing skills to add details and fix up the sketches &
very important that all sketches are LABELLED!
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