Mycenaean Art
Mycenaeans produced wheel-made pottery called Minyan Ware
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Gray
Beautiful designs
May have been refinement of already existing more primitive gray pottery
produced by earlier inhabitants of occupied lands
Soapy to the touch
Made in imitation of a metal original
Sharp flanges sliced against a turning wheel
Wider at top than at bottom (unlike Minoan)
Spirals, bands, fish, vegetable life and greater use of human figures to
decorate pottery
Engraved figures show pairs of animals
Mass produced to satisfy enormous demand in Greece and abroad
Naturalistic motifs on pottery evolved into purely abstract patterns with
frequent use of thick black
lines running horizontally round the vessel -- 13th century
Favorite shapes -- 13th century
o Pilgrim flask -- used to hold liquid
o False-necked jar (stirrup jar) -- used to hold liquid
o Small jugs
o Goblets
o Large bowls decorated with chariots or animal scenes -- for Cypriot
market
o Zoomorphic vases (rhyta)
fabricated for the Cypriot market
Styles after 1200 B.C.
o Close style — entire surface of the vessel was covered with
decoration
o Granary style — painted decoration kept to a bare minimum
o Pottery was ornamented in a decorative style that was increasingly
based on rationalistic stylization.
Metal work was the Mycenaean’s greatest achievement. Mycenaean Metalworkers made golden artifacts often with engraved gems showing pairs of
animals
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Thin gold cups from Vaphio— slightly south of Sparta
Gold death masks
Bronze daggers found in shaft graves
Bronze shields, swords, spears, armor
Scarabs and gold rings — found in tombs
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Some scenes depicted show obvious Minoan
influence
Warfare and hunting scenes — uniquely
Mycenaean
"The most magnificent of the status items were the work of the Mycenaean
goldsmiths. A gold cup, an offering vessel in the shape of a lion’s head, gold
tiaras and decorative gold discs that were sewn on to women’ dresses like huge
sequins, and the extraordinary beaten-gold face masks found in some of the
royal graves are the best examples. The masks in particular are intriguing, sine
they give… suggestive glimpses of the actual faces of the Mycenaean rulers —
the features certainly vary enough to make it likely that these are lifelike portraits;
they are certainly not designed to flatter their subjects."
Other Mycenaean Art
Frescoes such as Boar Hunt at Tiryns
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The Mycenaeans borrowed the techniques of wall painting, pottery
decoration and seal-making from the Minoans.
Ivory carving — peaked c. 1400-1200
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boxes
plaques
free-standing groups
Mycenaean Art
Pottery Small clay figurines
"Mycenaean terra cotta figurines are unique and are found in great numbers. The
most common type is a female figure ultimately derived from Crete. The figurines
seem to have been subjected to the same ruthless stylization as were designs on
pottery. The three basic types are named after the letters of the Greek alphabet
which they resemble, Phi, Psi, and Tau, with a number of variations. Psi figurines
are the earliest type and Tau the latest. Found both in cemeteries and in
settlements, the figurines represent standing women dressed conservatively in
an overall garment, either in disc-shaped and armless (Phi type) or with their
arms extended in a crescent (Psi type). Simply modeled and covered with usually
vertical stripes, they have been variously interpreted. Some may represent divine
beings while others were perhaps simply dedications. Other types of figurines are
also known, including bovine animals, horses and riders, oxen and riders,
chariots, and groups including paired female figures similar to the miniature
group from Mycenae.
"A number of large figurines, considered to be idols by their excavator, Lord
William Taylour, were found in Mycenae’s cult area. Seven of the figures are
male, ten female, and two apparently hermaphrodites, having characteristics of
both sexes. They vary considerably in size, clothing, position of arms, painting,
and attitude, from a delicately painted fourteenth century female figurine about 29
centimeters in height to larger, cruder, and fiercer figures some 60 centimeters
high. The idols were made on a potter’s wheel, with the arms and sometimes the
facial features added separately. Most of the larger figures are painted in simple
slashes of black glaze, with areas reserved to emphasize the face. A bust of one
of the female figures, 30 centimeters high, shows clearly the power and
individuality such idols could attain. The holes in the figure are considered by the
excavator to be firing holes, but may also have served to secure decoration to
the figure.
"Various other objects in terra cotta are of course known from Late Bronze Age
contexts throughout the Mediterranean including buttons , spindle whorls, loom
weights for use in weaving, and the like."
"A typical Mycenaean artifact is the small clay figurine, most often fashioned in
the crude shape of a woman but sometimes assuming various animal shapes.
Such figures have been found in very large numbers at Mycenaean sites,
especially in tombs; they may have served as votives, but their exact purpose is
unknown." [Hooker, "The Mycenaeans, p. 212..]
Key Differences between Minoans and Mycenaeans
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Mycenaeans definitely had a slave system
Mycenaeans geared much more toward warfare
Heavily fortified settlements
Ostentatious tombs for Mycenaean kings — weapons in burials
monumental sculpture — Lion Gate