Chapter 4
Seafarers in the bronze age
Traded widely with other cultures in the Mediterranean including Egypt
Cycladic art
Marble abstract female figures 3,000 BCE. (perhaps Mother goddess figures)
originally painted, found mostly in graves
male figures more 3-dimensional but with same simplified stylization
Minoan art
“Old Palace” period c. 1900 -1700 BCE.
Discovered and excavated by Sir Arthur Evans 1900 CE.
Knossos architectural complex, succession of buildings since Neolithic
Rubble and mud brick faced with dressed stone, columns/beams of wood
“Palace” of Knossos
organized around central courtyard possibly used for periodic religious rite
walls were plastered, true fresco, sophisticated plumbing, food storage
Ceramics
Invention of the potter’s wheel, Kamares ware, extremely thin and light
Painted decoration perfectly adapted 2-d design to 3-d shape
Motifs derived from plant life and sea creatures
“New Palace” period
palace rebuilt over destroyed “Old Palace” c. 1700 BCE.
Complex “maze-like” plan and elevation
Double axe motif (labrys) used by Minoans source for word Labrynth
Organized around central courtyard, archives, business center, residences
Also used for religious rites
Bull Leaping fresco of Knossos
“buon fresco” or true fresco, water based paint applied to damp plaster
linear contours filled with unshaded color
bull leaping game, initiation or fertility ritual, prefer profile views
ornamental frame evokes sea plants
Woman or Goddess with snakes
faience, (fine glassy ceramic) Minoan women’s fashion of open bodice
tiny “wasp” waist
The Harvester Rhyton (vessel for pouring liquids in religious ceremonies)
exuberance, “fisher king” cloak with scales, wasp waists, steatite
Bull’s Head Rhyton from Knossos
Steatite with shell, rock crystal and red jasper, fluid poured from mouth
Octopus Flask
continued Kamares ware after New Palace period, octopus “hugs” bottle
“Marine style”, stylized sea creatures, harmonizes with vessel’s shape
Vapheio cup
Metal work, repousse’ (hammered from back) Minoan style, wasp waist
Wall painting in Akroteri on Thera (modern Santorini)
“Spring Fresco”, first use of pure landscape in antiquity
Mycenaean culture
Architectural fortifications needed on mainland, shaft and vaulted tombs
Cultural contact with Egypt, would dominate the whole Aegean, Minoans
Mycenae
Defensive walls, 3 gates, “Cyclopean” masonry of huge stones
Lion gate emblematic of Mycenaean power
Shaft graves held gold objects, weapons, masks, rhytons
Tholos tomb “Treasury of Atreus”
“corbel vaulting” , beehivve shape