Lacertines, most commonly found in Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Insular art, are interlaces created by

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...

forms. While the term "lacertine" itself means "lizard-like," its use to describe interlace is a 19th-century

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

and not limited to interlace of reptilian forms. In addition to lizards, lacertine decoration often features animals such as

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, lions, and

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

s. Although examples of lacertine have been found in stone sculpture and architecture, such as in a fragment from the Church of St. Mary of the Rock, it is more comment to find lacertines in illuminated manuscripts. Notable examples of lacertine decoration can be found in the Book of Kells,

Book of Durrow The Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript dated to c. 700 that consists of text from the four Gospels gospel books, written in an Irish adaption of Vulgate Latin, and illustrated in the Insular script style.Moss (2014), p. 229 Its origin ...

, the

Lindisfarne Gospels The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the B ...

, the Lichfield or St. Chad Gospels, and the

Mac Durnan Gospels The Mac Durnan Gospels or Book of Mac Durnan (London, Lambeth Palace MS 1370) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book made in Ireland in the 9th or 10th century, a rather late example of Insular art. Unusually, it was in Anglo-Saxon England soo ...

External links

Examples of Celtic knots and lacertines

Example of a lacertine in knotwork

References

Celtic art {{Art-stub