Chapter 4: Aegean Art

Largest Minoan architectural structure can be found at

Knossos excavated by Sir Arthur Evans who called it "The Palace of Minos", as related to Greek Mythology claiming King Minos dwelled in a palace at Knossos even prior to Evans Knossos was associated with the legendary King Minos and the labyrinth which was built to house the minotaurs was the ceremonial and political center of Minoan civilization

Cycladic marble figures

aka Cycladic "Idols" were usually female varied in size but consistent in form indicating a canon of proportions of marble highly geometric minimalist in design abstract and stylized, not naturalistic exceptions to femininity and canon were pregnant and male figures male figures often seated and playing musical instrument ~ in action and seated

Funerary Practices

buried their dead in shaft graves at the end of the middle Helladic Period began to bury their dead in tholos "beehive" tombs grave goods were rich ranging from gold death masks, to highly decorated weapons, cups ad jewelery

corbel technique

each course of masonry projects outward slightly more than the layer below until walls meet yielding an irregular arch when corbel technique covers an entire space yields a corbel vault like a hallway or dome the corbel dome/ vault is exemplified by the tholos tombs and Treasury of Atreus

Mycenae And Heinrich Schleimann

excavated Mycenae believed original excavation site to be the great city of Troy as described by Homer in The Illiad uncovered "Priam's Treasure" a hoard of jewelry and weapons then turned his attention to Mycenae uncovering Grave Circle A where he found the Mask of Agamemnon in a shaft grave ~ not actually, predated Trojan War

tholos tomb

monumental tombs a building with a circular plan, often with a sacred nature later Mycenae elite best preserved example is the Treasury of Atreus

All Aegean Art featured

naturalistic, appreciation of nature and environment, dynamic (meandering/undulating), colorful, includes people and animals showed evidence of multiculturalism both amongst each other, as well as with other Mediterranean, Egyptian or Near East art forms

Cycladic Culture

on islands forming irregular circle b/w Greek mainland and islands of Crete 3000-1600 BCE known for their stylized marble representations of the human figure and frescos

All 3 Aegean Civiilzations/Cultures were a part of what time periods

the neolithic era and bronze age

3 Aegean Civilizations/Cultures

Cycladic Minoan Mycenae *general term for mainland culture was Helladic

Frescos and the Frescos at Knossos

a fresco is technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid or wet lime plaster ~ painting becomes part of wall durable paintings which still survive today because paint bound with the paster upon drying casual quality of all images, much less rigid and timeless like the Egyptians appreciation of environment and nature evident inspired by natural world of the Aegean featuring sea creatures, vivid colors, w/ life and movement ~ naturalistic and dynamic lively representing rituals and nature technique of buon fresco: wide bands of geometric pattern serve as elaborate frames of main image painted on palace walls ~ elegance at Knossos, have organic quality ~ earth worship (in conjunction w/ statues of woman goddess holding snakes) "sea motifs" ~ close relationship and dependence on the sea

Mycenaen Cities

heavily fortified unlike the Palace at Knossos and other Minoan cities, which had the Sea as a natural barrier for protection from invasion as well as the fleet Built using Cyclopean Masonry ~ only cyclops could best the walls corbel technique

Minoan Culture

on Island of Crete 3000-1450 BCE named for King Minos, son of Zeus ~ Homer tells us he was the legendary ruler of Crete known for their large palaces w/ elaborate adornments on walls, tapering columns, light and airy architecture, lack of concern for fortification, appreciation of nature and lack of warfare, naturalistic but stylized w/ beautiful elements scholarly debate over demise...Mycenae invasion OR volcanic eruption on neighboring Thera brought about decline and devastation

Figure interpretations

originally thought to carry religious meaning serving as idols recent opinion is that they are funerary objects representing servants or the deceased given discovery outside of funerary context, may have served dual function: cult figure prior to burial with the deceased lack of knowledge about their provenance renders it difficult to determine exact purpose

Mycenae Culture

replaced the Minoans 1500-1100 BCE on mainland, around Peloponnese, west of Athens known for their citadels w/ concern of invasion, grave goods and monumental tholos tombs employing corbel technique (corbel arches, vault and domes) Homer mentions 3 Mycenaen "palaces" on the mainland: Mycenae, Pylos and Tiryns

Purpose of Minoan architectural palaces

served as royal residences and distribution centers where raw goods refined and then exported to sea 3 complexes on Crete: Knossos, Phaistos and Mallia of the 3, Knossos was the ceremonial and political center of Minoan Civilization