Between 3000-1200 BC, three important civilizations flourished in the Aegean region: the Cycladic civilization on the Cyclades islands, the Minoan civilization on Crete, and the Mycenaean civilization on the Greek mainland. The Minoans were known for their palace at Knossos on Crete, which after an earthquake was rebuilt even more grandly in the New Palace period around 1700 BC. Minoan art showed naturalistic styles and was inspired by nature, as seen in frescoes depicting plants, animals, and rituals like bull leaping. The Mycenaeans on the mainland were known for their fortified citadels and shaft graves containing gold funeral masks and other

1. Chapter 4

2. Survey of Art I
Chapter 4-6

3. THE ART OF THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN
Between 3000 and 1200 BC three important
civilizations flourished on the islands in the Aegean
Sea and on the mainland of Greece: the Cycladic
civilization on the islands of the Cyclades, the
Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, and the
Mycenaean civilization on the Greek mainland.
Homer describes in The Iliad the might and splendor
of the Greek armies poised before the walls of Troy.

4. Aegean
Bronze Age in the Aegean empire.
Hallmarks of Aegean Society was use of
Bronze.
Known for their creation of objects for export out
of bronze

5. Frescos discovered
in the ruins of
volcanic eruption
that destroyed lost
town of Akrotiri.
“Flotilla”
fresco New
Palace
periodc.
1650 BC.

7. Two figures – marble about 13” in height c.
2500-2200 BC.

8. • Surviving art shows the development of original forms and
styles with an interest in nature. This is manifested by items
such as the precious metalwork and carved stone vases of the
second palaces. Some of these are decorated with bull and
lion heads, from which liquids were poured at ritual
occasions. Even much earlier, decorative vitality was
illustrated in the mottled surface colourings of Vasilki ware
(the result of skilful painting and kiln control), and also in the
seals enlivened by linear plant and animal motifs. A large
number of high-quality ceramics were produced during the
time of the first palaces (2000-1700 BC).

9. Seated Harpist
Marble statue
from Keros,
Cyclades,
c.2300 BC

10. Kamares vase
Phaistos
c. 1800 BC

11. THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS
• catastrophic earthquake in about 1700 BC left the
magnificent palace at Knossos in ruins. However,
impressive and extensive reconstruction work
produced an even more glamorous successor. This
second palace was built on the terraced mound
around a central court, with the surrounding
quarters -up to four storeys high in places —
spreading out in a design more concerned with
practicality than symmetry.

12. • Among many imposing features were monumental
entrances, staircases, colonnaded halls, lightwells,
lustral basins, and extensive storage facilities. Lavish
use was made of wooden columns, tapered at the
base, which contributed to the light, airy
atmosphere. The frescos took much of their
inspiration from nature: flowers and animals mingle
with humans in symbolically charged settings.
Colours were bright, if not always strictly realistic,
species were at times hybridized, and human
anatomy was carefully portrayed.

13. • Occasional scenes of court life exist, such as
ritual dances, as well as sporting events, such
as bull-leaping. After about 145O BC,
development towards a more static and
formalized style (found also in pottery) is
evident in friezes, such as the Campstool and
Cup-Bearer frescos: reliefs like the Lily-Prince
retain the older, naturalistic style.

16. Knossos Interior

17. • This work, pan of the Taureador fresco from the east side of
the Palace at Knossos. shows a sport invoking three figures
and a bull. From Persia to Egypt. the bull was an important
animal in ancient symbolism, and was often ritually sacrificed.
In Crete, contests pitting bull against athletes (in a ritual
activity termed taurokathapsia, or bull-leaping) arc portrayed
in various media: the danger seems to apply solely to the
humans. This painting, made with pigments on lime plaster,
features a beautiful palette of subdued colours, including
ochre and blue.

18. Minoan gold
pendant of bees
encircling the
Sun, showing
the use of
granulation, from
a tomb at Mallia,
17th century BC.
c. 1700-1550
BC.

19. The history of saffron
in human cultivation
and use reaches back
more than 3,000 years
and spans many
cultures, continents,
and civilizations.
Saffron, a spice
derived from the dried
stigmas of the saffron
crocus (Crocus
sativus), has remained
among the world's
costliest substances
throughout history.
Young Girl Gathering crocus Flowers Fresco 1630BC.
With its bitter taste, hay-like fragrance, and slight metallic notes,
saffron has been used as a seasoning, fragrance, dye, and medicine.
Saffron is native to Southwest Asia, but was first cultivated in Greece.

20. Detail of facade of the house

23. CRETAN MASTERS: "BULL-LEAPING"

24. Minoan Snake
Goddess
from Knossos, Crete
c. 1600 BC.
faïence,
height 13 1/2 inches
(34.3 cm)

25. "Snake Goddess"
• The faïence figurine known
today as the "Snake
Goddess" was originally
identified as a "votary".
When found it was missing
its head, most of its hat, the
right arm, the lower part of
the snake held in the right
hand, and large segments of
the skirt.

26. Stone Rhytons
• Stone Vases
• Vessels for pouring liquids
• Carved from steatite (greenish or brown
soapstone

27. "Harvester Vase,"
From Aghia Triada in south central Crete (new
palace period), showing harvesters returning
from the fields singing, with big sheaves of
grain. While agricultural labor is often
depicted negatively in later Greek writing and
art, this positive depiction is again typical of
the Minoan attitude toward life and nature--as
far as we can tell.

28. Harvester Vase New Palace period c. 1650-1450 BC.
Steatite, diameter 4 ½ “

30. This is a ritual vessel
made of carved stone,
with inlaid shell, jasper
and crystal. The horns
have been restored;
they were probably
originally made of
wood. The piece is
hollow with a hole in the
top where liquid could
be poured in; when the
head was tipped the
liquid would pour out
from the mouth. It dates
between the 17th-15th
centuries B.C. and was
found at Knossos.

31. Octopus Flask
(Marine Style),
c. 1500 B.C.

32. • At the end of the Middle Minoan era the
Kamares style has been relegated to
background and a new style stealing from wall
paintings of this period was developed. This
new style delt mainly with vivid
representation of human and animal figures in
dark colors on light colored clay.

33. Vapheio Cup, c. 1650-1450 BC. Gold

34. Metalwork
• The relief style is executed in the repousse’ –
the technique of hammering from the back of
the sheet.

35. CITADEL AT MYCENAE
• The primary remains at Mycenae are walls and
tombs--the palace itself has largely been destroyed.
• Citadel of Mycenae, once the most powerful
kingdom in Greece (1600 - 1200 BC). The citadel is
known for its walls, so thick that the ancient Greeks
thought they must have been built by Cyclops, the
mythical one-eyed giants. The picture shows a
passage through the wall to a secret cistern.
Mycenae, Greece

38. • The palace where Agamemnon was murdered by his
wife and her lover after he returned victorious from
the Trojan war. One of the most impressive features
of the citadel is the Grave Circle A which contains six
royal shaft graves. It is located just inside the Lion
Gates to the right, and it contrasts beautifully with
the angular designs of all the other adjasent
structures. A great number of Kterismata (objects
buried alongside the dead) and gold death masks
were unearthed from this grave site and they are
now located at the Archaeological museum in
Athens. All that remains today of the acropolis are
the building foundations that outline the ancient
palace quarters, and the immense wall that crowns
the top of the hill.

39. Funerary Mask (Mask of Agamemnon) c. 1600-1500 B.C.

40. Tholos – The treasury of Atreus, Mycenae, Greece c. 1300-12 BC.

41. Reconstruction of the Interior of a Megaron

42. The Lion's (Lioness) Gate, Mycenae, c. 1250 (Cyclopean)

43. Interior of "Treasury of Atreus" (corbeled arch)

44. One thing the Myceneans
did not copy or adapt from
the Minoans was their skill
in metalwork, especially
inlay on swords or dagger
blades. The top two
examples show a dagger-blade
from Grave Circle A
at Mycenae, with lion-hunting
scenes on opposite
sides (16th century); the
example below that is from
Pylos (15th century). The
scenes are reminiscent of
similes and descriptions in
Homer.
Dagger Blade With Lion Hunt –c. 1550-1500 BC. Bronze inlaid with
gold, silver, and niello 9” (23.8 cm)

45. (Alternant view) Dagger Blade With Lion Hunt –c. 1550-
1500 BC. Bronze inlaid with gold, silver, and niello 9” (23.8
cm)

46. • Niello is a black metallic alloy of sulphur,
copper, silver, and usually lead, used as an
inlay on engraved metal. It can be used for
filling in designs cut from metal.
• Decoration with inlaid scenes attest to the
wealth of a ruling elite.

47. Creto-Mycenaean,
found in Mycenae,
fifteenth century BC.
Two goddesses sit
with arms intertwined
while a divine child
plays on their laps. It
has been suggested
that this tiny figurine
(3" high) represents
Demeter and
Persephone, while
the infant is Iacchus
or Zagreus.

48. Warrior vase from Mycenae

49. Warrior vase from Mycenae
• "Apart from these figured representations,
one may say that Cretan vase-painting, after
its brilliant achievements in the Kamares,
shaft graves, and Palace styles, sinks down to
that primitive level from which it started: it
becomes once more a geometric style."