Minos and the Heroes of Homer: The Art of the Prehistoric Aegean
	The Art Of The Prehistoric Aegean :: Cycladic Art :: Minoan Art :: Mycenaean Art		Images courtesy of Saskia Ltd.
	MINOAN ART The Minoan civilization flourished on the islands of Crete and Thera in the second millennium BCE. Architecture A palace culture emerges: During the third millennium BCE, both on the Aegean Islands and on the Greek mainland, most settlements were small and consisted only of simple buildings. By contrast, the beginning of the Middle Minoan period on Crete is marked by the construction of large palaces. Following their destruction, probably in an earthquake around 1700 BCE, the palaces were rebuilt as, multi-functional complexes with many rooms serving a variety of functions, grouped around a large, rectangular courtyard. The principal palace sites on Crete are at Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia, Kato Zakro, and Khania. The Minotaur's labyrinth: The largest of the palaces, at Knossos, was the legendary home of King Minos.
	4-3: Aerial view (looking norteast) of the palace at Knossos (Crete), Greece, ca. 1700-1400 BCE. Knossos Knossos Knossos Knossos 4-4: Plan of the palace at Knossos (Crete), Greece, ca. 1700-1400 BCE. plan
	4-5: Stairwell in the residential quarter of the palace at Knossos (Crete), Greece, ca. 1700-1400 BCE. stairwell stairwell stairwell stairwell Painting Minoan palace frescoes: The walls of Minoan palaces and houses, both on Crete and the island of Thera, were painted with frescoes showing various aspects of Minoan life and images taken from nature.:
	4-6: Minoan woman or goddess (La Parisienne), from the palace at Knossos (Crete), Greece, ca. 1450-1400 BCE. Fragment of a fresco, approx. 10 high. Archaeological Museum, Herakleion. La Parisienne La Parisienne La Parisienne La Parisienne Bull-leaping at Knossos: The angularity seen in Egyptian wall paintings is modified by the curving Minoan line that suggests the elasticity of the living and moving being.
	4-7: Bull-leaping, from the palace at Knossos (Crete), Greece, ca. 1450-1400 BCE. Fresco, approx. 2' 8 high, including border. Archaeological Museum, Herakleion. bull-leaping bull-leaping bull-leaping diagram Buried by a volcano: Much better preserved than the Knossos frescoes are those uncovered much more recently in he excavations of Akrotiri on the volcanic island of Santorini. Seafaring in the Cyclades: One especially interesting fresco is filled with dozens of figures, ships, and buildings. Such a detailed representation of the movement of ships and people from port to port does not appear again until nearly two millennia later. 4-8: Flotilla, detail of Miniature Ships Fresco, from Room 5, West House, Akrotiri, Thera (Cyclades), Greece, ca. 1650 BCE. Fresco, approx. 1' 5 high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. ship fresco ship fresco ship fresco detail Celebrating nature: The almost perfectly preserved mural paintings of another room from Akrotiri capture especially well the freshness and vitality of this vision of the Aegean world.
	4-9: Landscape with swallows (Spring Fresco), from Room Delta 2, Akrotiri, Thera (Cyclades), Greece, ca. 1650 BCE. Fresco, approx. 7' 6 high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. landscape landscape landscape Sea life on pottery: The love of nature manifested itself in Crete on the surfaces of painted vases even before the period of the new palaces.
	4-10: Kamares Ware jar, from Phaistos (Crete), Greece, ca. 1800-1700 BCE. Approx. 1' 8 high. Archaeological Museum, Herakleion. Kamares jar - similar type Kamares jar - similar type Kamares jar - similar type Kamares jar - similar type
	4-11: Marine Style octopus jar, from Palaikastro (Crete), Greece, ca. 1500 BCE. Approx. 11 high. Archaeological Museum, Herakleion. octopus jar octopus jar Minoan funerary rituals: Midway in size and complexity between the decorated clay vessels and the monumental frescoes of Crete and Thera are the paintings on a Late Minoan limestone sarcophagus found at Hagia Triada on the southern coast of Crete.
	4-12: Sarcophagus, from Hagia Triada (Crete), Greece, ca. 1450-1400 BCE. Painted limestone, approx. 4' 6 long. Archaeological Museum, Herakleion. sarcophagus-front sarcophagus -back sarcophagus detail Sculpture Joyful farmers: Most surviving Minoan sculpture is in the form of reliefs. The outer surface of a small vase carved from steatite was sculpted in a relief showing harvesters. Sculpture in the round was small in scale.
	4-13: Harvester Vase, from Hagia Triada (Crete), Greece, ca. 1500 BCE. Steatite, greatest diameter approx. 5. Archaeological Museum, Herakleion. harvesters harvesters harvesters harvesters detail Goddess or priestess?: Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, Minoan Crete had no temples, nor any monumental statues of gods, kings, or monsters, although large wooden images may once have existed.
	4-14: Snake Goddess, from the palace at Knossos (Crete), Greece, ca. 1600 BCE. Faience, approx. 1' 1 1/2 high. Archaeological Museum, Herakleion. snake goddess snake goddess snake goddess snake goddess Sculpture in gold and ivory: British excavations at Palaikastro between 1987 and 1990 yielded fragments of one of the most remarkable objects ever found on Crete. The figurine is a very early example of chryselephantine (gold and ivory) sculpture, a technique that the Greeks would later use for their largest and costliest cult images. The ivory and gold were probably imported from Egypt, the source also of the pose with left foot advanced, but the styles and iconography are unmistakably Cretan. 4-15: Young god (?), from Palaikastro (Crete), Greece, ca. 1500-1475 BCE. Ivory, gold, serpentine, and rock crystal, original height approx. 1' 7 1/2. Siteia, Museum. young god (?) young god (?) young god (?)
	The Art Of The Prehistoric Aegean :: Cycladic Art :: Minoan Art :: Mycenaean Art