1. Minoan Art
Beauty of nature
Bulls

2. Palace of Knossos
Crete
Minoan
Labyrinthian
Painting of bull
Minoan columns

3. Minoan Columns

4. Labyrinth
Palace like a labyrinth
Corridors wind around

5. King Minos’s Throne
Room 1700-1400 B.C.
Labrys
Minoan
Represent Minos as life size w/ small throne
Composite forms
Has Minoan columns in the room
More realistic scale to proportions

6. Labrys
Double-sided axe

7. Queen’s Chamber:
“Dolphin” fresco
Human scale
Nature schemata

8. “Toreador fresco” 1450-1400 B.C.
Knossos
Minoan
Bull-dancing explanation
Bull is graceful, not menacing, leaping, elliptical form
Humans are elongated, stretched
Profile face

9. Snake Goddess1600 B.C.
Knossos
Minoan
Women dance with snakes
Narrow waist for men and women

10. “Cupbearer’s Procession”
fresco 1400 B.C.
Knossos
Minoan
Recreated by Arthur’s team

11. “Springtime” fresco
1650 B.C.
Thera
Minoan
Nature schemata
Repetition: same flowers/birds/stencils

12. “Fisherman” fresco1650 B.C.
Thera
Minoan
Profile view
Swelling torso, narrow waist schemata
Composite view

13. “Wrestlers” fresco
1650 B.C.
Thera
Minoan

14. “Blue Monkeys” Fresco 1500 B.C.
Santorini
Minoan
Animals: elongated forms, elliptical, nature, narrow waist, represented like humans

15. Octopus Vase
1500 B.C.
Minoan

16. Harvester’s Vase
1500 B.C.
Minoan
Low-relief carving
Same schemata as frescos

17. Mycenean Art
Warrior-driven
Invaded Minoa and took Minoans as
captives
Ruler is portrayed as overly large,
Propaganada: power and force

18. Citadel1400-1200 B.C.
Mycenae
Megalithic
“Made” by Cyclops (one-eyed, large giant) because humans could not do it

19. Citadel, Shaft Grave Circle
1400-1200 B.C.
Mycenae
Mycenean
Protection for the dead
Importance of afterlife

20. Lions Gate 1300-1250 B.C.
Mycenae
Mycenean
Personification of lions (Mycenean might)
Symmetry
Minoan column referencing Mycenean conquest of Minoa
Celebrating this in Lions Gate

21. Corbeled Gallery
1300-1250 B.C.
Mycenean

22. “Treasury of Atreus”
1300-1250 B.C.
Mycenae
Mycenean Art
Beehive tomb

23. Funeral Mask 1600-1500 B.C.
Mycenean
Repousse
Found in Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae warrior w/ mane of lion

24. Dagger Blades 1600-1500 B.C.
Mycenean
First 2 found in Mycenae but made my Minoans, (schemata: curves, static)
3rd made my Mycenae

25. Warrior Vase 1200 B.C.
Mycenean
Represents war, imagery of war and warriors
Warriors conform to shape of shield
Composite view
Frontal profile

26. Vaphio Cups 1500 B.C.
Mycenean
Repousse technique, found in Mycenae but made by Minoans (schemata, bulls)

27. Important Terms
• Arthur Evans : Found Minos’s throne, rebuilt throne room, archaeologist, room may not have been historically accurate
• Minotaur: Man-bull, imprisoned/protected at center of palace, men did battle/dance w/ minotaur
• Column, base: Foundation
• Column, shaft: Vertical element that rises up
• Column, capital: Connects to structure its supporting, e.g. ceiling,
• Entasis: Idea that shaft is not completely vertical, i.e. swelling or extending outward, appears to expand outward, makes
capital appear taller/more flexible
• Heinrich Schliemann: Excavated Treasury of Atreus by german archaeologist, didn't reconstruct it, just cleared away and
covered it
• Corbelling: Projected so it progressively meets at the top, gradually stack stones slightly outward so that they’re still
supported by stones below and project forward and form corbel arch
• Beehive Tomb: Grave circle that is completely fortified with corbelling so that it meets at the top, complete covering that
protects grave circle
• Repousse: Take a medal, like gold, and put it against a molded form so that it transfers to medal and hammer it