Editing Celtic knot (section)

== History ==
The use of [[interlace (visual arts)|interlace]] patterns had its origins in the late Roman Empire.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Language of Ornament|last=Trilling|first=James|publisher=Thames and Hudson|year=2001|isbn=978-0500203439|series=World of Art|url=https://archive.org/details/languageoforname00tril}}</ref> Knot patterns first appeared in the third and fourth centuries AD and can be seen in Roman floor [[mosaics]] of that time. Interesting developments in the artistic use of interlaced knot patterns are found in [[Byzantine architecture]] and [[Illuminated manuscript|book illumination]], [[Coptic art]], Celtic art, [[Islamic art]], Kievan Rus' book illumination, [[Ethiopian art]], and European architecture and book illumination.

[[Spiral]]s, step patterns, and [[key pattern]]s are dominant motifs in Celtic art before the Christian influence on the Celts, which began around 450. These designs found their way into early Christian manuscripts and artwork with the addition of depictions from life, such as [[animal]]s, [[plant]]s and even [[human]]s. In the beginning, the [[pattern]]s were intricate interwoven cords, called [[Braid|plaits]], which can also be found in other areas of [[Europe]], such as [[Italy]], in the 6th century. A [[Gospel Book Fragment (Durham Cathedral Library, A. II. 10.)|fragment]] of a Gospel Book, now in the [[Durham Cathedral]] library and created in northern [[Great Britain|Britain]] in the 7th century, contains the earliest example of true knotted designs in the Celtic manner.

Examples of plait work (a woven, unbroken{{clarify|date=January 2018}} cord design) predate knotwork designs in several cultures around the world,<ref name=georgebain>{{cite book |author=George Bain |title=Celtic art: The methods of construction |year=1951 |publisher=Constable Press|location=London }}{{cite book |author=George Bain |title=Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction |year=1973 |publisher=Dover Publications, Inc |isbn=0-486-22923-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/methodsofconstru00bain }}</ref> but the broken and reconnected{{clarify|date=January 2018}} plait work that is characteristic of true knotwork began in northern Italy and southern Gaul and spread to [[Ireland]] by the 7th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/TheBookOfKells|title=The Book of Kells|author=Sullivan|first=Sir Edward|publisher="The Studio" Ltd.|year=1920|isbn=1-85170-035-8|edition=Second|pages=[https://archive.org/details/TheBookOfKells/page/n38 39]|author-link=Sir Edward Sullivan, 1st Baronet#Family_and_personal_life}}</ref> The style is most commonly associated with the Celtic lands which included England and was then exported to Europe by Irish and Northumbrian monastic activities on the continent. [[J. Romilly Allen]] has identified "eight elementary knots which form the basis of nearly all the interlaced patterns in Celtic decorative art".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/celticartpagan00alleiala|title=Celtic Art in Pagan and Christian Times|author=Allen|first=J. Romilly|publisher=Methuen & Co|year=1904|isbn=1-85891-075-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/celticartpagan00alleiala/page/265 265]|author-link=John Romilly Allen}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thinkythings.org/knotwork/jra-knots.html|title=Eight Basic Knotwork Patterns|author=Ivan|first=Drew|date=10 August 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130091801/https://www.thinkythings.org/knotwork/jra-knots.html|archive-date=30 January 2018|url-status=live|access-date=2007-01-10}}</ref>

The Celtic knot as a tattoo design became popular in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/11/25/366584255/the-american-origins-of-the-not-so-traditional-celtic-knot-tattoo|title=The American Origins Of The Not-So-Traditional Celtic Knot Tattoo|last=Shapiro|first=Ari|author-link=Ari Shapiro|date=25 November 2014|website=[[NPR]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223441/https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/11/25/366584255/the-american-origins-of-the-not-so-traditional-celtic-knot-tattoo|archive-date=23 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>