Minos and the Heroes of Homer The Art of the Prehistoric Aegean
Cycladic Art (from the Cyclades) • Figure of a woman from Syros, Cyclades, Greece 2500 BCE, Marble, 1’6” • Features • Emphasis on certain features • What is it similar to?
Male Lyre Player, from Keros, Cyclades, Greece, 2500 BCE 9”, Marble • Lyre (small harp) • Found in graves of women • Possibly to entertain the deceased
Minoan Art • A palace culture (palaces were rebuilt after old ones were damaged, possibly by earthquakes) • The golden age of Crete started after 1700 BCE – Where the first western civilization emerged
Palace at Knossos, Crete, 1700-1400 BCE
• Palace of King Minos (myth) • Origin of Layout: – Theseus had to battle Minotaur (bull-man) – He was able to find his way out of the labrynth (mazelike) hallways because Ariadne (Minos’ daughter) gave him thread to carry through and use to find his way back
Minoan Fresco • • • • • • •
Painting on wet plaster: Fresco Painting on dry plaster: Fresco secco Minoans painted Frescos Women portrayed with fair skin The youth were painted with dark skin Figures portrayed in profile, but not as rigid Minoan’s use of Fresco allowed for a more spontaneous depiction • Stylized figures: pinched waists, exaggerated features, etc.
Minoan woman or goddess (La Parisienne), palace at Knossos, Fresco, 1400 BCE
Bull-leaping, palace at Knossos, (Crete) 1400 BCE, Fresco 2’8”
Ocher mineral deposit to draw (mixed with iron)
Ocher powder mixed with water to paint
Egyptian Blue Frit: Synthetic glass charcoal
Malachite
Cinnabar
Gypsum
Akrotiri • In the Cyclades (ancient Thera) • Mural paintings • Excellent condition due to the volcanic ash
Miniature Ships Fresco, Thera, 1650 BCE, Fresco, 1’5” high
Spring Fresco, Thera, 7’6”, Fresco, 1650 BCE
First confirmed landscape
Narrative?
Sea Life Pottery, Crete
Minoan Funerary Rituals • Sarcophagus • Honoring the dead
4’ 6” long
Snake Goddess, Palace at Knosses, Crete, 1600 BCE, 1’
Faience: glazed earthenware
Chryselephantine: ivory and gold
How is this Minoan?
Mycenaean Art
Mycenaean citadels • Cyclopean masonry: named for Cyclopes (mythical one-eyed giant) • Corbeled vault: large, irregular blocks made into two walls that form a point at the top • Corbeled arch: arch above the lintel – Creates a relieving triangle: relieves weight of the walls, can be filled with limestone
Megaron: reception room of the king
1400 BCE
Corbeled vaults, Tiryns
Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, 1300 BCE
Relief panel
9’6” high
Relieving triangle (corbeled arch)
Beehive tombs (Tholos Tombs) • Entered through a long passage way (dromos) • Covered by an earthen mound • Dead laid to rest outside the citadel
Earthen mound
Entry to dromos
The Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae, Greece, 1300 BCE, 43’ high
Funerary Mask, 1600 BCE, gold, Mycenae
Repousse
Female head, Mycenae, 1300 BCE
Dagger blade, Mycenae, 1600 BCE, bronze inlad with gold, silver, and niello (mixture of copper, silver, and lead), 9”
Krater: bowl for mixing water and wine
Warrior Vase, Mycenae, Greece, 1200 BCE, 1’4”
1.
2.
3.
4. 5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
