Minos and the Heroes of Homer: Prehistoric AegeanART ID 111 | Study of Ancient Arts

Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD NYIT Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology

With modifications by Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAP

The Bronze Age civilization that developed in the basin of the Aegean Sea

Had three (3) major cultures:

1. Cycladic culture on the islands of the Cyclades

2. Minoan culture on the island of Crete3. Mycenaean culture on the Greek mainland

The sea-dominated geography of the Aegean contrasts sharply with that of the Near East, as does its temperate climate.

Prehistoric Aegean

Aegean art is noticeable for its naturalistic vivid style, originated in Minoan Crete.

Not much was known about the Aegean civilization until the late 19th century, when archaeological excavations began at the sites of the legendary cities of Troy, Mycenae, Knossos, and other centers of the Bronze Age

Prehistoric Aegean

Cycladic Culture(About 3000-2200 B.C.)

Cycladic Culture

flourished at about the same time as the early Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.

considered the forerunner of the first truly European civilization - Greece.

On the mainland, their villages have been small independent units, often protected by thick walls.

Over time, the buildings on Crete and in the Cyclads became more complex.

Cycladic Culture

developed pottery, often decorated with rectangular, circular, or spiral designs.

also produced silver jewelry

sculpture produced was very unique compared to the art being produced by the Egyptians & Mesopotamians.

Cycladic Culture

These sculptures, commonly called Cycladic idols, were often used as grave offerings: o all were made of Parian marbleo had geometric, 2D nature, which has

a strangely modern familiarity. o the Cycladic artists made obvious

attempts to represent the human form.

o Cycladic sculpture: the first truly great sculpture in Greece.

Cycladic female figurine

ca. 2,500-2,300 B.C.E.Parian marble

approx.18 in. high

Cycladic female figurine

ca. 2,500-2,300 B.C.E.Parian marble

approx.18 in. high

Cycladic female figurine

ca. 2,500-2,300 B.C.E.Parian marble

approx.17.3 cm. highhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cycladic_female_figurine_2.jpg

Cycladic female figurine

ca. 2,500-2,300 B.C.E.Parian marble

approx.18 in. high

Cycladic female figurine

ca. 2,500-2,300 B.C.E.Parian marble62.79 cm high

Cycladic Harp Player

ca. 2,800-2,700 B.C.E.Parian marble11 1/2 in. high

Cycladic Harp Player

ca. 2,800-2,700 B.C.E.Parian marble11 1/2 in. high

http://www.antiquitiesexperts.com/greece3000.html

Cycladic group of 3 figurines

ca. 2,800-2,700 B.C.E.Parian marble

19 cm high http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cycladic_three_figurines_group.jpg

Head from the figure of a woman Spedos type, Early

Cycladic II.

ca. 2,700-2,300 B.C.E.Parian marble10 1/2 in. high

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Head_figurine_Spedos_Louvre_Ma2709.jpg

Minoan Culture(About 2200-1800 B.C.)

Minoan Culture

Newcomers arrived in the Cyclades and on the mainland and caused destruction. For about two centuries civilization was disrupted.

New pottery and the introduction of horses at this time indicate that the invaders were of the Indo-European language family.

Minoan Culture

What the Minoans called themselves is unknown.

The term "Minoan" was coined by Arthur Evans after the mythic "king" Minos.

Minos was associated in Greek myth with the labyrinth, which Evans identified with the site at Knossos.

Minoan Culture

Developed on Crete in 2 B.C.

Evidence of that flourishing culture were:

o Impressive buildingso Frescoes o Vaseso Early writing

Focal points: Great royal palaces (anaktora) built around large courtyards

Minoan Culture

Maintained a marine empire, trading not only with the Cyclades and the mainland but also with Sicily, Egypt, and cities on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.

Minoan religion featured a female snake deity, whose worship involved the symbolism of fertility and the lunar and solar cycles.

Minoan Culture

Minoan art is unusual for the time:

o It is naturalistic, quite different from the stiff stereotypes of contemporary art elsewhere.

o The vibrant colors, smooth lines, and sense of nature make Minoan art a pleasure for eyes even today.

o Minoan artists broke away from the 2D expression of figure and created 3D figures.

Minoan Culture

o The easy pleasure-loving lifestyle comes across in their art.

o The frescoes are art of exceptional beauty, their fluidity makes the figures dynamic.

o The frescos include many depictions of people, with the genders distinguished by colour: the men's skin is reddish-brown, the women's white.

Minoan Culture

o The Minoan culture rivaled that of Egypt.

o Minoan palaces: • Knossos - the largest Bronze Age

archaeological site on Crete• Phaestos - the second largest palatial

building on the island• Malia - a palatial centre which affords a

look into the development of the palaces in the protopalatial period

• Zakros or Kato Zakros• Galatas - most recently confirmed palatial

site

Palace at Knossos | Crete, Greece | ca. 1,700-1,400 B.C.E.

Palace at Knossos | Crete, Greece | ca. 1,700-1,400 B.C.E.

Palace at Knossos | Crete, Greece | ca. 1,700-1,400 B.C.E.

Palace at Knossos | Crete, Greece | ca. 1,700-1,400 B.C.E.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Knossos_-_09.jpg

Palace at Knossos | Crete, Greece | ca. 1,700-1,400 B.C.E.

Plumbing in Palace at Knossos | Crete, Greece | ca. 1,700-1,400 B.C.E.

fresco of Minoan woman (La Parisienne)

from the Palace at Knossos, Greece

ca. 1,450-1,400 B.C.E.fresco

approximately 10 in. high

fresco of 3 women | from the Palace at Knossos, Greececa. 1,450-1,400 B.C.E. | fresco

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Knossos_fresco_women.jpg

fresco of Bull-leaping | from the Palace at Knossos, Greececa. 1,450-1,400 B.C.E. | fresco | 32 in. high

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Knossos_bull.jpg

fresco of Bull-leaping | from the Palace at Knossos, Greececa. 1,450-1,400 B.C.E. | fresco | 32 in. high

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Knossos_bull.jpg

Dolphin Fresco | from the palace at Knossos, Greece | ca. 1,450-1,400 B.C.E. | fresco

Flotilla, detail of Miniature Ships Fresco

from Room 5, West HouseAkrotiri, Thera, Greece

ca. 1,650 B.C.E.Frescoapproximately 17 in. high

Marine style octopus jar

from Palaikastro, Greece

ca. 1,500 B.C.E.ceramic

11 in. high

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AMI_-_Oktopusvase.jpg

Minoan dolphin krater

from Palaikastro, Greece

ca. 1,500 B.C.E.terracotta, in a multicolor finish

12-1/2 in. high

http://www.talariaenterprises.com/6400_6599/6457a.jpg

Snake Goddess

from the palace at Knossos, Greece

ca. 1,600 B.C.E.faience

13 1/2 in. high

Mycenaean Culture(About 1600-1200 B.C.)

Mycenaean Culture The last phase of the Bronze Age Aegean

Period, it is the historical setting of much ancient Greek literature and myth, including the epics of Homer.

It is believed that the Mycenaeans were responsible for the end of the Minoan culture with which they had many ties.

The architecture and art of Greek mainland was very different from the one of Crete.

Mycenae and Tiryns were the 2 major political and economic centers at the time.

Mycenaean Culture

CYCLOPEAN ARCHITECTURE is the Mycenaean type of building walls and palaces:

o Palaces were built as large citadels made of piled up stones, as opposed to the openness of Minoan palaces.

o The citadel of Mycenae is an ACROPOLIS - a citadel on raised area.

Mycenaean Culture

CYCLOPEAN ARCHITECTURE:

o THE LION GATE - entrance to the Acropolis of the city of Mycenae is an excellent example of this building practice combined with a corbelled arch - the triangular arch shape that the lions stand within.

Mycenaean Culture

o MEGARON is the fortress palace of the king at the center of a typical Mycenaean city.

• characteristic form of Mycenaean palace found at many sites, including Troy.

• very symmetrical• its basic form is a forerunner of

later Greek temple forms

Mycenaean Culture

o THOLOS TOMBS are conical chambers with the subterranean burial chambers.

• The stonework of the tholos is very much influenced by Egyptian masonry techniques.

• There are 9 at Mycenae. • There were found the gold death

masks, weapons, and jewelry at the royal burial sites similar to Egyptian practice.

Mycenaean Culture

Mycenaean civilization mysteriously disappeared shortly after 1200 B.C. most likely, due to widespread fighting among the Mycenaean Greeks.

Mycenaean cities:

o Mycenaeo Tirynso Troy

Lion Gate

Mycenae, Greece

ca. 1,300-1,250 B.C.E.limestone9 ft. 6 in. high

Lion Gate

Mycenae, Greece

ca. 1,300-1,250 B.C.E.

limestone9 ft. 6 in. high

Treasury of Atreus (entrance) | Mycenae, Greececa. 1,300-1,250 B.C.E. | approximately 43 ft. high

Treasury of Atreus | Mycenae, Greececa. 1,300-1,250 B.C.E. | approx. 43 ft. high

Treasury of Atreus Mycenae, Greececa. 1,300-1,250 B.C.E. approx. 43 ft. high

Funerary Mask

from Grave Circle A, Mycenae, Greece

ca. 1,600-1,500 B.C.E.beaten gold

12 in. high

Inlaid dagger blade with lion hunt

from Grave Circle A, Mycenae, Greece

ca. 1,600-1,500 B.C.E.bronze, inlaid with gold, silver and niello9 in. long

Glossary

acropolis. Greek, “high city.” In ancient Greece, usually the site of the city’s most important temple(s).arch. A curved structural member that spans an opening and is generally composed of wedge-shaped blocks (voussoirs) that transmit the downward pressure laterally. attic The uppermost story of a building.

Glossary

corbel. A projecting wall member used as a support for some element in the superstructure. Also, courses of stone or brick in which each course projects beyond the one beneath it. Two such walls, meeting at the topmost course, create a corbeled arch or corbeled vault.corbeled vault. A vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in horizontal courses, cantilevered inward until the two walls meet in an arch.

Glossary

Cycladic Art. The pre-Greek art of the Cycladic Islands.Cyclopean masonry. A method of stone construction, named after the mythical one-eyed giant Cyclops, using massive, irregular blocks without mortar, characteristic of the Bronze Age fortifications of Tiryns and other Mycenaean sites.

Glossary

dome. A hemispheric vault; theoretically, an arch rotated on its vertical axis.dromos. The passage leading to a tholos tomb.

fresco. Painting on lime plaster, either dry (dry fresco or fresco secco) or wet (true or buon fresco). In the latter method, the pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster. Also, a painting executed in either method.

GlossaryGeometric. An ancient economic and elegantly simple artistic style where figures are depicted in geometric forms such as a rhythmic arrangement of horizontal and vertical shapes.

Iconography.Greek, the “writing of images”. The term refers both to the content, or subject, of an artwork and to the study of content in art. It also includes the study of the symbolic, often religious, meaning of objects, persons, or events depicted in works of art

Glossary

Idol. A material effigy that is worshipped as a god or an image used as an object of worship.

krater. An ancient Greek wide-mouthed bowl for mixing wine and water.

megaron. The large reception hall in a Mycenaean palace, fronted by an open, two-columned porch.

Minoan Art. The pre-Greek art of Crete, named after the legendary King Minos of Knossos.

Glossary

Mycenaean. The late phase of Helladic art, named after the site of Mycenae.

portico. A roofed colonnade; also an entrance porch.

repoussé. Formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back, leaving the impression on the face. The metal is hammered into a hollow mold of wood or some other pliable material and finished with a graver.

GlossarySculpture in the round. Freestanding figures, carved or modeled in three dimensions.Terracotta. Hard-baked clay, used for sculpture and as a building material. It may be glazed or painted.tholos (pl. tholoi). A temple with a circular plan.tholos tomb. In Mycenean architecture, a beehive-shaped tomb with a circular plan.treasury. In ancient Greece, a small building set up for the safe storage of votive offerings.

Sources

• http://www.wadsworth.com/art_d/templates/student_resources/0155050907_kleiner/studyguide/ch04/ch04_2.html

• http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436

• http://www.aldokkan.com/art/art.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycladic_art• Art Through the Ages, 12th/11th ed., Gardner