Aegean Art
Cycladic
Civilization
Cycladian female idol, Amorgos,
2700-2300 B.C., Marble,
4 ft. 10 ½ in.
Cycladic male flute player, Keros, 2700 – 2300 B.C.,
Marble
Head with remains of painted decoration,
c. 2500-2000 BCE, marble and red
pigment, 10 in.
Minoan
Civilization
Plan of Palace of Minos, Knossos,
Crete, 1600 – 1400 B.C., Approx.
4 acres, Labrynth, a complex
maze-like structure, assymetrical,
meandering arrangement of
rooms, corridors and staircases
Detail of the palace showing wooden columns and limestone “horns of
consecration” near the south entrance, palace of Minos, Knossos,Crete
Partly restored west portico of the north entrance passage with a
reconstructed relief fresco of a charging bull, palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete
Toreador Fresco, reconstructed fresco from Knossos Crete, c. 1500 B.C., 32 in. high, wall
painting was discovered in fragments and pieced back together, darker areas are
original mural, the abundance of bull imagery at Knossos was almost certainly related
to the myth of the Minotaur and to the worship of the bull in Minoan religion.
The queen’s megaron, palace of Minos, Knossos,
Crete, c. 1600 – 1400 B.C.
View of the “throne room”, palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete, heavily restored fresco
depicting griffins
Reconstruction of the “Palace” complex, Knossos, Crete
New Palace Period 1700-1450 BCE final destruction 1375 BCE
Shrine of the Double Axes
The southern part of the East Wing is an area of small rooms and corridors
that appears to have been religious in character. There are storerooms and
magazines, lustral basins and light-wells. Fragments of painted plaster and
pieces of stucco relief suggest that there was an important hall or set of rooms
upstairs but the only actual cult room that Evans found is the Shrine of the
Double Axes. The room is tiny, barely a metre-and-a-half square, with a
plastered clay bench at the back. It was installed, according to Evans, by
squatters who reoccupied the site of the palace shortly after its final
destruction.
On the bench was a pair of sacred horns with sockets to hold small bronze double-axes.
Around them were a number of terracotta figurines—a goddess with upraised arms, a
pair of priestesses cupping their breasts and a pair of male votaries. In front of the bench
was a raised area, paved with water-worn pebbles, a tripod altar and a collection of
vessels.
Figurine from the Shrine of the Double
Axes; goddess with upraised arms;
terracotta
Snake goddess, Knossos, Crete, c.
1600 B.C., Faience; 13 ½ in. high,
Frontal figure has a thin round waist
and wears a conical flounced skirt.
Her breasts are exposed, and a cat
perches on top of her headdress.
Faience is a technique for glazing
earthenware and other ceramic
vessels by using a glass paste, which,
after firing, produces bright colors
and a lustrous sheen.
Harvester vase, Hagia
Triada, Crete, c. 1650
– 1450 B.C.,
serpentine rhyton
ex. of sistrum: rattle
ex. of rhyton
Bull’s Head Rhyton; Knossos, Crete 15501450 BCE, steatite with shell, rock crystal
and red jasper; gilt horns are
restorations, 12 in high
Libations would be poured into the neck
of the bull and then would flow out of
the mouth.
Pendant with Gold Bees, 1700-1550 BCE Mallia, Crete; Bronze Age artisans show
excellence in metalworking in this piece. Filigree - line work with gold rods; Granules honey comb in center, balls of gold fused to a base layer; Spider-like legs capture the
“sun” at the top center
Spouted jar, Crete, c. 1800 B.C.
Kamares ware, from Kamares Cave,
suggests floral design, motion, pattern
organic, balanced
Kamares ware jug, Phaistos,
Crete; c. 2000-1900 BCE,
ceramic, 10 5/8 in.
Marine Ware
Octopus vase, from Palaikastro,
Crete, c. 1500 B.C. 11 in. high
Swirling arms, stylized suction
cups, large oval eyes echo
handles
Santorini Island, Crete aka. “Thera” or “Thira”
“Flotilla Fresco”Ship Fresco (left
section), Akrotiri, Thera, c. 1650 –
1500 B.C. 15 ¾ in. high
“Flotilla Fresco”Ship Fresco, (detail), shows the cracks where the fresco has
been pieced together, thousands of fragments have been dusted, saturated
with acetone to remove moisture, sent to a conservation laboratory,
photographed, glued to matching fragments and then reassembled on the wall
in an aluminum frame.
Diagram of the
ceremonial hall where
fresco is housed
“Spring Fresco”- Akroteri, Thera, Cyclades; before 1630 BCE
Boxing children, Akrotiri, Thera, c. 1650
– 1500 B.C., 9 ft. x 3ft. 1 in.
Crocus Gatherers, Thera, pre-1500 B.C., fresco, 35 x 32 in., saffron is harvested from the
stigma of the crocus flower, used for yellow fabric dye, medicinal purposes including
mentral cramps; room thought to have been used for coming of age ceremonies
Mycenaean
Civilization
House of Columns
megaron
Great Ramp
postern gate
“Palace” entrance
Warrior
Vase
House
Lion Gate
Grave Circle A
Reconstruction drawing of the
megaron at Mycenae showing
the front porch with two
columns and the interior hearth
enclosed by four columns
“Goddess” from the citadel of Mycenae, c. 1200 B.C., fresco
Lion Gate, Mycenae, thirteenth century B.C.
Limestone, approx. 9ft. 6 in. high corbelled stone with
a relieving triangle, post and lintel construction,
relief carving of the lions (guardians), paws rested
on a Minoan taper column (which is a symbol of
the Nature Goddess) thus again signifying the
“Master/Mistress of the Beasts”
Façade and dromos (roadway) of the tholos (round building) also know as
the Treasury of Atreus or the tomb of Agamemnon, Mycenae, 13th century
B.C. , enormous lintel weighing over 100 tons shown with a relieving
triangle
Vault, interior of the Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae, 13th century B.C., stone,
approx. 43 ft. high, diameter 47 ft. 6 in., beehive, corbelled construction
Reconstructed drawing of how it would
look in the 13th century B.C.
Aerial view of grave circle A
and its surroundings, steles
were used to mark graves,
decoration was not customary
Warrior Krater; Mycenae, Greece; 1300-1100 BCE; ceramic, 16”
Golden Lion’s Head Rhyton
From shaft grave iv, Grave Circle A,
Mycenae 16th cent BCE
Dagger Blade with Lion Hunt, Shaft Grave iv, Grave Circle A, Mycenae, Greece c.
1550-1500 BCE Bronze inlaid with gold silver and niello,
length 9 3/8”
Minoan and Mycenaean cups from Vapheio, near Sparta, c. 16th century B.C.
Gold, 3 ½ in. high, found in shaft graves
Vapheio cup, close up, Minoan or Mycenaean? How can you tell?
Mycenaean inspired Vapheio Cup
Death “Mask of
Agamemnon”,
Mycenae, c. 1500
B.C., beaten gold,
12 in. high,
intended to
guarantee a dead
person’s identity in
the after life, bodies
were wrapped in
shrouds and the
mask would have
been sewn on top
with gold thread.